Student Profile Archives

Ben Mayock
"Applied Learning"

Since 1999, Ben Mayock, an ISD Master's student, has been teaching computer networking at the Community College of Baltimore County-Catonsville (CCBC). Mayock earned a BA in English in the seventies and has been working in the computer-networking field since 1984, providing installation, support and training. Two years ago, he started looking into graduate education programs and was impressed with the ISD-Training Systems Graduate Program because it looked like it offered skills that he could apply to his job, teaching and creating courses.

According to Mayock, “The other programs I looked into primarily addressed elementary and secondary school education. I am currently half-way through the ISD Master's program, specializing in the area of Computer/Web-based Training, and I have created CBT/WBT projects in my classes that I can use to teach my students.”

One particular project that Mayock has created for CCBC combined information technology with human diversity. He used ISD assessment techniques to determine the subject content by creating questionnaires sent out to the CCBC students, interviewing diversity consultants, staff and faculty at CCBC and other community colleges/ universities and textbook publishers to get input on what they thought should be in a Diversity/IT course. Mayock created a lesson plan for a fifteen-week course that has recently been approved as a General Education/Diversity course that will be offered this fall on the Catonsville and Essex campuses of CCBC. Mayock hopes to continue both improving his teaching skills and creating new courses. One of his goals is to serve on his college's Curriculum and Instruction Committee or General Education Review Board.

One of the reasons he chose the ISD Training Systems Program at UMBC is the combination of face-to-face and on-line courses. “After being out of school for many years, I'm glad I chose to take my first course in a face-to-face classroom setting. Not only was the professor an expert in ISD who could teach well, but it was heartening to be in a classroom with other students. I have taken subsequent classes online and appreciate the convenience of completing the coursework outside a traditional classroom. I appreciate the online camaraderie of students and professors,” says Mayock.

“Instructional Systems Development is aptly named,” Mayock concludes. “If you follow the guidelines presented in the program you will create a successful course. I would recommend the program to others because I find it to be well-rounded -- it combines educational theory with real-life projects.”