Dr. Joseph Akpan
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Distinguished Professor Dr. Joseph Akpan is a professor of Science Education in the College of Education and Professional Studies. His primary responsibilities have included teaching graduate and undergraduate courses, conducting research, practicum observations, and internship reflective practices. He advised graduate and undergraduate students in science education programs. Dr. Akpan is the Chair of graduate programs in Secondary Education. He has developed a PLT program to help students successfully fulfill the Praxis requirements for teacher certification. He is also responsible in developing and teaching Praxis Core Academic Skills and Praxis II Content Area classes to help education candidates successfully pass these certification exams. Dr. Akpan is well known in the Jacksonville community for community Garden outreach project. The goal of this project is to help members in the local community learn to grow gardens, produce healthier foods, and learn to develop a healthier diet and lifestyle. To these ends, the gardening project donates fresh produce to the local food bank to support lower-income residents in the Jacksonville community. Dr. Akpan earned a B.S. in Biology from Lane College, Jackson, TN, a M.A. in Biology-Education from Drake University, Des Moines, IA, and a Ph.D. in curriculum instruction with an emphasis in science education from Iowa State University in Ames, IA. As medical mission coordinator for Mkpat-Abasi Group in America, Dr. Akpan's commitment, competent and compassion are well-known the Nigerian community home and abroad. The overall objective of the group is to provide free healthcare to assist the under-privileged people in his home country of Nigeria. The project is on-going. Dr. Akpan has published extensively on the use of computers to improve teaching learning and how assistive technology can break down classroom walls for both students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers in different academic journals and has made numerous presentations at the national and international levels. He is on the editorial board of several academic journals. Dr. Akpan's recent research interest focuses on investigation of how assistive technology can break down classroom walls for both students and their non-disabled peers. |
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