1. Kassie Ducharme Introduction EDU671: Fundamentals of Educational Research Instructor: Aaron Deris March 29, 2016

2. WHO AM I? My name is Kesondra Ducharme but please call me Kassie. I live in Michigan where I was born and raised. I am happily married with two children. I have a two year old son and a five year old daughter. In my free time (that I don’t have), I enjoy the outdoors. I love to fish, hunt, shoot my bow, spend time at the gun range, go tubing, and camping. The thing I enjoy most is just spending time with my family.

3. professional background & experience I currently hold a Bachelors in Education from Ashford University and My RMA Certification through AMT or the American Medical Technologist Association. I have worked in health care since 2008. I started as a direct care worker, certified nursing assistant, and then a medical assistant. In grade school, I was not interested in my education. I did well but I could have done much better if I tried harder. I honestly didn’t have a teach who really inspired me to learn until my last two years of high school. I will never forget my 11 th grade English teacher. He pushed me to be a better learner. He was one of the only teachers that told me I can do better. He didn’t except my lack of effort. He told me that I could do better and that he believed in me. He told me that I was smart and could turn in better work.

4. professional background & experience CONTINUED… I received my medical assistant certification through Ross and that was a turning point in my professional career and goals. The teachers I had at Ross, did not just hand me material to memorize and regurgitate but taught me how to learn. This sparked my love for learning!!! I knew I wanted to become an instructor one day so that I could teach other people how to learn. I have since received my BA and am now working for my masters. I have been working as an instructor for the career college that I went to for a little over a year now. I teach an accelerated program for Medical Assisting.. I teach a variety of things including Medical Terminology, Anatomy and Physiology, Keyboarding, and Word processing. I also teach clinical things like blood draws, injections, taking vitals, CPR, EKGs and much more. It has been a challenge but I LOVE IT!

5. Why the MATLT PROGRAM IS RIGHT FOR ME? I hope to become an online instructor for a community college or university. I will use this degree as another building block towards that goal. I also want to work with curriculum building so that I can use my knowledge and skills to help create the best learning experience for future learners!

6. Action Research VS Traditional Research My understanding between Action Research and Traditional research is the purpose of the research. Traditional research is more to be published for others. Action research is for yourself. I am a life long learner, medical professional and educator. Action research is crucial for the survival in any of these fields.