Vitae

In addition to experience as an electrical engineer, in 30 years of teaching Shay Cardell developed curriculum for math, computers, electronics, physics, biology, geology, chemistry, tech prep, and faculty development. For the last twenty-five years she used technology extensively in the classroom, beginning with computer tutorials, and progressing to graphing calculators, a calculator based laboratory (CBL), an interactive computer response pad system, multimedia lessons and quizzes, and Internet resources. She authored and published multimedia computer programs, tutorials, quizzes, and other educational software.

She served on many college committees, including curriculum, facilities development, instructional technology, faculty development, educational program review, college advisory council, scholarship, tech prep, personnel appeal, and learning outcomes assessment. She served two terms as faculty senate president and for three years as division chair for academic programs. She was nominated for Who's Who Among American Teachers and twice received the NISOD award for Excellence in Teaching.

Her math classes were activity based, with an emphasis on real life applications and hands-on experiences with math concepts. Assessment of student learning outcomes was based on NCTM and AMATYC standards, including rubric grading and essay problems.

Cardell participated in the STACN project, an eight-year NSF grant to Educational Testing Systems, Stanford University, Princeton University, Apple Computers, and High Performance Systems, to develop integrated math curriculum with computer simulations of system dynamics.

She served as National Affiliate Website Director and President of the Arizona affiliate of the American Mathematical Association for Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) and as Vice President for the Zeta chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma. In 2009 she received the AMATYC National Teaching Excellence Award.

She helped to create and teach in the Aravaipa Learning Community, an integrated college curriculum combining social studies, math, computer science at Central Arizona College. Besides increasing enrollment, success and student retention at the college, the program received four national awards for its unique interactive approach to learning.

Extensive travel provided her with global multicultural experience. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Malaysia, an equity intern for the state of Arizona, and developed the Women in Technology program at the college. She taught in locations where the majority of students were Chinese, Malay, Hispanic and Native American, and appreciates the contributions diverse cultures make to the community.