Faculty Profiles

Dr. Marisa Exter has 15 years of experience in software design, development, and project management, and BS and MS in Computer Science, along with a PhD in Instructional Systems Technology. Her research interests focus on formal and non-formal educational experiences professionals who use design processes to create technology (such as Instructional Design, Computing, and Engineering/Technology), with an aim to improving undergraduate education, especially through interdisciplinary programs and learning experiences.

Marisa takes a mentorship approach to teaching and co-leads an active research family group with members from a wide range of backgrounds and interest areas (https://disruptive.education.purdue.edu/). Marisa is a member of the Computing Curriculum 2020 Task Force and its Competencies committee, and co-coordinator of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology Summer Research Symposium. She is currently the Purdue PI for a $3M multi-institutional grant related to developing a model for computing competencies. She is a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor.

Dr. Exter’s research aims to provide recommendations to improve or enhance university-level design and technology programs (such as Instructional Design, Computer Science and other Computing programs, and Engineering). Some of her research has focused on the formal and non-formal educational experiences of software designers, experienced instructional designers’ beliefs about design character, and instructional design competencies. She is particularly interested in interdisciplinary programs and experiences, and preparation for life-long learning.

She is also interested in program-level supports within online graduate programs that serve adult/non-traditional learners. This includes advising and other mechanisms that help students feel more connected with faculty and peers at a program level, and supports for preparing and supporting instructors within the program.

In addition to traditional research papers, Dr. Exter pursues alternative forms of scholarly writing, including design cases. Design cases are rigorously written descriptions of the successes and failures within the design and design process of educational resources and experiences. The purpose of a design case is to describe a unique design, allowing the reader to draw their own meaning and determine which aspects of an existing design may inform their own work.

Selected Publications

• Exter, M. E., & Ashby, I. (2021). Lifelong learning by design: Heutagogy and Learning Design and Technology professionals. TechTrends. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-021-00657-x
• Ashby, A., Exter, M., Varner, D. (2020). Developing cross-cutting competencies for a transdisciplinary world: An extension of Bloom’s Taxonomy. In Hokanson, B., Clinton, G., Schmidt, M., Grincewicz, A. & Tawfik, A. (Eds.) A New Focus for Learning: Educational Technology Beyond Content (pp. 107-118). Springer-Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37254-5
• Exter, M., Gray, C., Fernandez, T. (2020). Conceptions of design by transdisciplinary educators: disciplinary background and pedagogical engagement. International Journal of Design and Technology Education. DOI: 10.1007/s10798-019-09520-w
• Exter, M., Ashby, I., Caskurlu, S. (2019). Elusive expectations for a novel program design: Contrast between program intentions and student recruitment and retention. The Journal of Competency-Based Education. 4(3). DOI: 10.1002/cbe2.1192.
• Exter, M. E., & Ashby, I. (2019). Using cognitive apprenticeship to enculturate new students into qualitative research. The Qualitative Report, 24(4), 873-886. Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol24/iss4/16
• Ashby, I, Exter, M. (2019). Designing for interdisciplinarity in higher education: Considerations for instructional designers. Techtrends. DOI: 10.1007/s11528-018-0352-z
• Exter, M., & Ashby, I. (2019). Preparing today’s educational software developers: Voices from the field. Journal of Computing in Higher Education. DOI: 10.1007/s12528-018-9198-9
• Exter, M., Caskurlu, S., & Fernandez, T (2018). Comparing computing professionals’ perceptions of importance of skills and knowledge on-the-job and coverage in undergraduate experiences. Transactions on Computer Education, 18(4). 1-29. DOI: 10.1145/3218430
• Exter, M. (2018). Developing multi-disciplinary skills through a course in educational software design. International Journal of Designs for Learning 9(1), 49-79. DOI: 10.14434/ijdl.v9i1.23413.
• Caskurlu S., Exter, M., Ashby, I. (2016). Importance of lifelong learning skills and degree covered in undergraduate programs: faculty and practitioners’ perspective. AERA 2016, Apr. 8- Apr. 12, Washington, DC.
• Exter, M. E., Korkmaz, N., Boling, E. (2014). Student Support and Advising in a New Online EdD of Instructional Systems Technology Program: A design case. Techtrends, 58 (4).
• Exter, M. E. & Turnage, N. M. (2012). Exploring experienced professionals’ reflections on computing education. Transactions on Computing Education, 12 (3).
• Exter, M.E., Korkmaz, N., Harlin, N.M., & Bichelmeyer, B.A. (2009). Distance education students’ responses to sense of community within a fully online graduate program. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 10 (2), 177-194.

• EDCI 52800 — Human Performance Technology
• EDCI 56600 — Educational Applications of Multimedia
• EDCI 66000 — Learning Design and Technology Seminar
• EDCI 57700 — Strategic Assessment and Evaluation
• EDCI 62700 — Special topics: Educational Software Design (which uses an interdisciplinary, team-based approach) – temporary course number
• EDCI 59100 — Unpacking Research: Writing a Research proposal – temporary course number