Mary Ann Fitzgerald, Ph.D.
I am currently an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology, in my seventh year at the University of Georgia. I teach school media courses and computing courses for teachers. My current research involves the cognitive processes individuals use to evaluate information, usability of web-based educational resources, and inquiry as a pedagogical model. I teach school library media courses and direct the School Library Media Program. My dissertation, The Cognitive Process of Information Evaluation: A Collective Case Study, won a Certificate of Recognition Dissertation Award from the Association for Library and Information Science Education. My article, Evaluating information: An information literacy challenge, published in School Library Research, won an award as one of the top Twenty Library Instruction Articles of 1999. With Dr. Michael Orey and Dr. Robert Branch, I edited and co-edited the Educational Media and Technology Yearbook several years. My research focuses on the process of critical thinking, strategies for evaluating information, and assessing higher order thinking skills, especially within the context of digital information environments. In addition, I was actively involved in evaluating The Gateway, an online indexed lesson plan repository sponsored by the US Department of Education and the ERIC Clearinghouse for Information and Technology. I worked on the NASA-funded NLIST Project for several years, helping construct inquiry-based leadership materials for science education programs, tying in scientific habits of mind with interdisciplinary higher-order thinking skills.