Ying ChenDoctoral Portfolio

IDE 401

Introduction to Information Technologies

I supported three course sections across two semesters: one in-person section in Fall 2024, followed by one in-person and one asynchronous online section in Spring 2025.

Teaching Assistant

Fall 2024 – Spring 2025

School of Education, Syracuse University

Faculty Advisor: Jing Lei, Ph.D.

Course Instructor: Fasika Minda Melese

Course Summary

IDE 401: Integrating Technology into Instruction III is the third course in a three-course technology integration sequence for preservice teachers. The course prepares future PreK–12 educators to make purposeful, inclusive, and responsible uses of emerging technologies in instruction. Students explore visualization, collaboration, assessment, and generative AI while connecting technology choices with pedagogy and content through the TPACK framework. Course activities include technology-integrated lesson planning, design cases, microteaching, and portfolio development.

My Role & Contributions

Course preparation and review

  • Reviewed syllabi, module plans, schedules, assignments, point values, deadlines, Blackboard materials, instructional links, and other course resources for consistency and clarity.
  • Identified inconsistencies or outdated information and flagged them for instructor review.

Online course adaptation

  • Considered how activities originally designed for synchronous or face-to-face instruction would function in an asynchronous learning environment.
  • Reviewed discussion structures, assignment timing, student-question channels, instructional resources, and assessment formats from the perspective of online learners.
  • Suggested possible adaptations where existing activities might not transfer directly to asynchronous delivery.

Student support and course facilitation

  • Supported students through course questions, consultation, discussion activities, and coursework grading.
  • Assisted with teaching materials and class activities across the course sections.
  • Observed and supported students as they developed technology-integrated lessons and completed their microteaching activities.

Spring 2025

Course Feedback

Selected course evaluation results from the Spring 2025 in-person and online sections are presented below.

What I Learned

Working across three sections of the same course gave me different ways of seeing how a course works for students. This became especially clear when I helped prepare the asynchronous section. Some activities that worked naturally in a face-to-face classroom needed much more thought when they were moved online. I began paying closer attention to how students would move through the materials on their own, where instructions might need to be clearer, and what kinds of support would be available when an instructor was not physically present. Reviewing the course from this perspective made me think beyond whether the materials were complete and consider more carefully what the experience might actually feel like for a student.

Being part of a U.S. undergraduate classroom was another important part of this experience for me. The classroom atmosphere was different from what I had experienced before, and I enjoyed seeing how willing students were to participate in discussions, share their ideas, and talk through questions with one another. Over time, I became more comfortable talking with students, answering their questions, and offering feedback based on what I knew. I especially enjoyed the final microteaching sessions. Watching students present the technology-integrated lessons they had developed gave me a small window into how they imagined teaching in U.S. K–12 classrooms. I found myself learning from them as well.