Professor Michelle Marchant Selected as IRIS Trainer

Michelle Marchant

Increased knowledge provides increased opportunity. Because of her in-depth knowledge in the field of special education, Michelle Marchant has been selected as one of fifteen national trainers for the prestigious Vanderbilt University IRIS Center.

IRIS (Idea ’04 and Research for Inclusive Settings) is a center that offers information and educational resources to all types of educators. It specializes in online resources through its website, http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu, which provides a significant number of resources, tools, and information sources including modules, research, theories, and documentation designed to facilitate student research, along with interactive training intended to convert theory into action.

As with most specialized software, the powerful tool is not easily accessible to those who are unfamiliar with its intricacies. For that reason the IRIS Center selected national trainers to assist instructors and professors in using its applications. “I am now part of a cadre of trainers who can travel nationally when they are requested to conduct training,” said Marchant.

Marchant’s deep knowledge of the IRIS system is evident. “Research is embedded into it, but what is especially impressive about it is that classroom modules are included,” she said, visibly excited about the effectiveness of the tool. “I recently had my students use a module out of class. I excused them from one class period and had them complete it on their own. It gave them a challenge to work through as they went online and they walked through all the pieces. It is a great teaching technique.” She went on to highlight the website’s many other resources, including case studies, a search engine, an online dictionary, and a web-resource dictionary—one of Marchant’s favorites.

College-level educators face what some consider a major obstacle: teaching students to use evidence-based practice and information. Students in today’s world tend to do a lot of research online, where good information can be found in abundance. But one can also find a lot of unreliable information, and students can sometimes be confused in distinguishing. “What I like about the web-resources dictionary is when I am working in my specific classes, I can be sure that the information the students work with is very sound. If I want them to reference good sound documents, I can have them use the web-resource dictionary, and it will link them to evidence-based websites. It’s a fabulous learning resource.”

An important feature of the website is its versatility. “There are a plethora of ways that you can use these materials,” explained Marchant. “There is not one right way, and so a trainer can show you various ways to use it.” Her new appointment allows her to train others in the basic uses of the website, so that they in turn can adapt its use to their specific classroom needs. That is the thing that most excites Marchant. “I was really excited to be selected,” she said. “It wasn’t just to do the training. That was great, but the best thing was how much I learned to inform my own classes. Can you imagine what I have been able to do since I was trained? It’s been exciting!”

13 March 2008