Instructional Designer and Research Associate
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Short Biography – Education – Current Projects – Selected Presentations
Short Biography
Mindy Johnson participates in the formative development and research of technology-based universally designed learning environments. She also provides knowledge and expertise in the use of web-based social networking and collaborative tools.
Prior to joining CAST, Ms. Johnson was a high school special education teacher in Chapel Hill, NC, providing direct instruction to special-needs students and co-teaching in inclusive classrooms with content-area teachers. During this time she also developed and delivered in-person and on-line curriculum for teacher professional development workshops in her school and district. Recently, she was the Head Teaching Fellow for an undergraduate psychology course at Harvard University where she received the Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching in 2005 and 2006.
Ms. Johnson also works at the Boston Museum of Science as an instructor and mentor in their Overnight Program, planning and conducting hands-on science workshops and activities for elementary school-aged children and assisting newer instructors with workshop planning and teaching strategies based on Universal Design for Learning.
Education
Ed.M., Technology in Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA
B.A., Sociology, Minor in Education, William Smith College, Geneva, NY
Certified, K-12 special education and K-6 elementary education, North Carolina
Current Projects
UDL Science Notebook – In partnership with the Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) at the University of California, Berkeley, CAST is developing and investigating a universally designed, web-based science notebook that supports 4th- and 5th-grade students in learning science. Science notebooks are a common component of activity-based science learning; students use them to emulate the activities of professional scientists by recording, organizing, analyzing, and interpreting data. Yet, for students with disabilities these are often difficult tasks that impede learning. The intervention—including a prototype universally designed science notebook (UDSN), a teacher training module, and a teacher guide—will embody the essential characteristics of traditional science notebooks enhanced by Universal Design for Learning principles and research-validated approaches to support science learning, content area writing, and formative assessment. For the purposes of the research, the Magnetism and Electricity (M&E) module from the Full Option Science System (FOSS), the most widely used hands-on elementary science program, will be the instructional curriculum in which the UDSN is studied.
UDL Inquiry Science Collaborative – Currently in the first of four years of National Science Foundation Funding, this project will create both the knowledge and the infrastructure necessary for cost-effective, efficient development and production of universally designed inquiry-oriented science curricula. Science curriculum developers and publishers will be able to apply the design heuristics and utilize the authoring system to incorporate into their curricula UDL features such as highlighting critical text; categorizing and organizing notes from reading, experiments, and discussions; and multimedia coaches that provide models of successful practice. Teachers will have access to exemplar units in Chemistry and Biology that demonstrate universally designed science curriculum. Students with learning disabilities will have the embedded supports necessary for them to make progress in science thereby enabling them to reach their full academic potential.
Science Writer – an OSEP-funded project to create a technology-based writing approach to meet the challenge of supporting students (grades 6-10) with and without disabilities in the science report-writing process. The project integrates research-based writing strategies and curriculum based measurement into a flexible, technology-based writing environment.
Selected Presentations
Presenter, UDL in Secondary Education, the National Down Syndrome Congress Conference, Boston, MA (July 2008).
Presenter, Supporting the Scientific Inquiry Process with UDL, the Council for Exceptional Children National Convention, Boston, MA (April 2008).
Presenter, A UDL Approach to Monitoring Student Progress in Writing Students’ Science Reports, the Council for Exceptional Children National Convention, Louisville, KY (April 2007).
Presenter, Universal Design for Learning: Applications in the Classroom, Harvard Extension School, Cambridge, MA (November 2006).
As an Instructional Designer and Research Associate at CAST, Mindy Johnson participates in the formative development and research of technology-based universally designed learning environments. She also helps coordinate the activities of the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) Development and Technical Assistance Centers at CAST.
Before joining CAST in 2006, Ms. Johnson was a high school special education teacher in Chapel Hill, NC, provided direct instruction in academic strategies to special-needs students and taught biology tutorial classes. Ms. Johnson collaborated with content-area teachers in science, history, and math. She also developed, wrote, and presented professional development opportunities for a Collaborative Handbook that modeled successful collaboration between special educators and content area teachers in her school and district.
Recently, she was the Head Teaching Fellow for an undergraduate psychology course at Harvard University where she received the Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching in 2005 and 2006.
Ms. Johnson also works at the Boston Museum of Science as a Camp-In Instructor and Summer Traveling Programs Instructor, conducting hands-on science workshops and activities for elementary school-aged children.
Ms. Johnson is certified in elementary education and special education. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from William Smith College and a Master of Education in Technology in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
