Elizabeth Hartmann, Ph.D.

Degrees:

• Ph.D. Special Education, University of California at Berkeley with San Francisco State University
• M.A. and B.A. Elementary and Special Education, Boston College

Courses:

• ED 219 Supporting Learner Variability
• ED 231 Cultural Competence and Global Schools
• ED 338 Inclusive Education
• ED 771 Understanding and Using Educational Research
• ED 772 Teacher as Researcher

Biography:

Elizabeth S. Hartmann, PhD, is a Professor of Education and Chair of the Graduate Education Program at Lasell University. She also serves as a Co-lecturer of T560: Universal Design for Learning at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Hartmann’s scholarship focuses on teacher implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and other educational innovations to support learners with multiple and complex disabilities.

A teacher of students with visual impairment and deafblindness, Dr. Hartmann brings extensive classroom and field experience to her work with preservice and in-service educators. Her research examines how UDL can be used to design flexible learning environments, develop accessible materials, and build educator capacity to meet the needs of all learners, particularly those with multiple disabilities and complex support needs.

Dr. Hartmann is the editor of a book published by the American Printing House for the Blind on early intervention for infants and toddlers with cerebral visual impairment. She regularly collaborates with schools, early intervention programs, and state and national organizations to support inclusive educational practices and improve outcomes for children with disabilities and their families.

What is your teaching philosophy for Lasell courses?

“I aspire to create engaging opportunities through pedagogy that leverage my students’ variability and diverse backgrounds. I believe that students’ skills, knowledge, dispositions and experiences partner with theory in ways that sustain and foster each other.”

What do you like about teaching at Lasell?

“What I love about teaching at Lasell is that I am able to implement and model the pedagogy that I teach to my pre-service and in-service teachers. The class sizes allow me to get the students actively involved in understanding theory and frameworks, like Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and connecting these to their practice in K-12 public schools.”

What is important for your students to take away from your classes?

“I see each course that I teach as an opportunity for my students to develop inquiry-focused perspectives that shift the emphasis of learning away from the superficial receiving and obtaining of content knowledge to the building of lifelong habits of learning. I want my students to leave my courses knowing that they are resourceful, strategic, and purposeful in their learning.”

Do you have any publications you would like students to be made aware of?

Fazzi, E., Molinaro, A., & Hartmann, E. S. (in press) Visual impairment and child development including the potential impact of CVI. A. Lueck & G. Dutton (Eds.) Impairment of Vision Due to Disorders of the Visual Brain in Childhood: A Practical Approach, New York: American Foundation for the Blind.

Hartmann, E. (2012). A scale to measure teacher self-efficacy in deafblindness education.  Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 106, 728-738.

Hartmann, E. (2012). A socio-cognitive approach to how children with deafblindness understand symbols. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 59, 131-144.

Do you have a blog/website you’d like visitors to Lasell.edu to visit?

You can follow me on Twitter @profhartmann