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Jason McDonald

Jason McDonald

CID Co-chair
Email: jason@byu.edu

A native of Provo, Jason is currently an Associate Professor of Instructional Psychology & Technology at BYU, having started in Fall 2016. He also received his PhD from BYU in Instructional Psychology & Technology in 2006. He currently teaches Introduction to Instructional Design, Project Management, Advanced Instructional Design, Design Theory and Learning Theory.

Before coming to BYU, Jason worked for the LDS Church and Church-owned businesses for 10 years. One of his most notable positions was as a director in the Publishing Services Department, overseeing the development of media and publications for the Priesthood Department (this portfolio published the scriptures, Church curriculum materials, Mormon Messages, Mormon Channel and Bible videos). Currently, his research involves understanding design studio pedagogy. His purpose is to understand for how instructors shape the curriculum in a studio, meeting the disciplinary requirements and meeting the expectations from their students as well as the constraints from their institution. Jason has also researched the role of storytelling and narrative in learning and at the core, as well as the nature of the design process.

He is interested in better understanding how design is a mode of inquiry for understanding the world, and how it manifests itself across disciplines. How is design different from other forms of inquiry? How can we, as a design community embrace what makes our processes unique? How can designers resist the pressures they face to give up the core of innovative practices, and carry out their work in a way that allows them to best achieve the ideals they have for the world?