Connie Varnhagen

Connie Kendall Varnhagen
Born 16 December
Residence Edmonton, Alberta
Nationality American
Education Kenyon College (BA), University of Notre Dame (MA), UC Santa Barbara (PhD), San Juan College (AAS)
Occupation Professor of Psychology
Employer University of Alberta
Website http://www.psych.ualberta.ca/~varn/research.htm

Connie Kendall Varnhagen (born 16 December) is an American professor of psychology and academic director of the undergraduate research initiative at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta.[1] Her research has centred on around how children, adolescents and adults develop and use cognitive strategies.

In 2009 she became a qualified veterinary technician after graduating from a veterinary technology distance learning program with San Juan College. Since June 2012, she also works as a technician and researcher with the Edmonton Humane Society's "Prevent Another Litter" program, which is trying to combat pet overpopulation in Alberta by neutering and spaying household pets to stop them from breeding.[2]

Early life and education

Varnhagen grew up in Evanston, Illinois where she attended the Evanston Township High School. She studied psychology at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 1977. That year she was also awarded both the Psychology and Humanitarian awards from Kenyon College.It was there that she met her husband to be, Stanley Varnhagen, whom she married in December 1978. Her husband also works at the University of Alberta as an academic director.

Varnhagen earned a Master's degree in psychology at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana in 1980. and a PhD in Psychology at UC Santa Barbara in 1985. Her thesis for her PhD was on text relations and prose comprehension.

Career

Varnhagen was an associate professor of psychology at the University of Alberta for 11 years from 1993 until she became a professor of psychology in 2004.

Varnhagen has conducted research in the area of spelling development, developing the theories of cognitive development and design instruction, materials, and technology that maximise the acquisition of this literacy skill. In particular she compares the contributions of text spelling and text speak to successful reading and spelling development.[3] She conducted and published research on the usefulness of spell checkers, ‘Spelling and Grammar Checkers: Are They Useful?’.[4][5]

Varnhagen also researches the interaction of children with the internet.[6] She co-authored the book Psychology and the internet: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Transpersonal Implications, which discusses social development, unwanted exposure to harmful content, bullying and predation. Varnhagen also researched elements of web design and web dynamics, and the effectiveness of children's online research and online teaching.

Varnhagen researches, teaches and writes about the human animal bond, its history and effect on society through the ages.[7][8] She is affiliated with the Centre for the Human Animal Bond at Purdue University of Veterinary Medicine. In 2016, she is working with the organization to help low income people keep their pets.[9]

Varnhagen was named a 3M National Teaching Fellow, an honour given to selected university professors in Canada.[10]

Publications

Varnhagen has published one book, Making Sense of the Web (ISBN 0716753596) in 2002. She has also co-authored books with other researchers including Don H. Hockenbury, Sandra E. Hockenbury, Cornelius Rea, Peter O. Gray, Thomas Ludwig, David G. Myers, Kathleen Stassen Berger on various child development and psychology topics.

References

  1. "Eureka! Discovery learning works". Macleans, Josh Dehaas, May 1, 2012
  2. "Prevent Another Litter Subsidy (PALS) Program". Edmonton Humane Society. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  3. Heift, T (2008). Learner responses to corrective feedback for spelling errors in CALL. Burnaby, BC: Elsevier. pp. 196–213.
  4. "Spellers: From Beginning To Proficiency" (PDF). Literacy Secretariat. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  5. Ulusoy, Mustafa (October 2006). "THE ROLE OF COMPUTERS IN WRITING PROCESS" (PDF). The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology. 5 (4): 58–66. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  6. Mark E. Ware; Charles L. Brewer (26 November 2013). Handbook for Teaching Statistics and Research Methods. Psychology Press. pp. 142–. ISBN 978-1-317-75934-8.
  7. "Why do we love cats so much? It comes down to science, professor says". CBC News, Aug 16, 2016
  8. "Edmonton students connect low-income people with free vet housecalls". Edmonton Sun, By Janet French, February 11, 2016.
  9. "Low-income Edmontonians get veterinarian support to keep pets" Sarah Kraus Global News, February 12, 2016
  10. "3M National Teaching Fellowship". STLHE. Retrieved 8 March 2013.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.