Facebook
Foundation Board of Advisors
Derrick Mears; Ph.D., A.T.C
Dr. Mears is currently the coordinator of the multi-disciplinary Educational Specialist Degree program in Curriculum and Instruction which includes areas of study in Applied Behavioral Analysis, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Technology, Gifted and Talented, Special Education Leadership and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages at the University of Arkansas. He oversees recruitment, advising, program reviews, scheduling, admissions and record maintenance. Teach graduate and undergraduate courses in Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Technology. Earlier, Dr. Mears was an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education in the Department of Physical Education, Health and Recreation at Western Washington University and specializes in secondary physical education pedagogy. Earlier, he was a physical educator, athletic trainer, science and gifted education teacher for twelve years in public schools in Missouri. His research interests are the influence of school physical education programs on life-time physical activity and the impact of instructional technology on improving teacher behavior, monitoring physical activity and providing physical activity opportunities (aka: active gaming), as well as, software development for K-12 and university level physical education courses. He has multiple publications in professional journals including: The Physical Educator, American Secondary Education, Perceptual Motor Skills, Strategies: A Journal for Sport and Physical Educators and Update Plus as well as for on-line health related websites such as Shape-Up America. He currently serves as the Chair of the Physical Education Steering Committee for the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and has been involved in multiple national level projects as well as presenting at national and international conferences. He holds a Ph.D. in Kinesiology-Pedagogy with specializations in Adapted Movement Science & Educational Technology from the University of Arkansas, and both M.S. and B.S. degrees in Physical Education, Exercise and Sport Science, with Athletic Training Emphasis and Physical Education-Biological Science respectively from the University of Central Missouri.
