James W. Vander Zanden is Professor Emeritus in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Ohio State University and previously taught at Duke University. He holds a Ph.D. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Professor Vander Zanden is the author of the first four editions of Sociology: The Core. His other published works include eight books and more than twenty professional articles. After earning a B.A. from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre and an M.A. in counseling psychology from Scranton University, Tom taught a variety of undergraduate psychology courses at Broome Community College and worked in college admissions and then as a college counselor for several years. At age 34, he continued his formal education at Cornell University in pursuit of a Ph.D. in psychology and education. While at Cornell, Tom received a research assistantship sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, and he subsequently helped to initiate and develop one of the most productive reading research programs in the country. His experimental findings on learning styles and instructional design have been adopted by researchers and practitioners worldwide. He first won international recognition when his doctoral dissertation was selected as one of the top five in the country by the International Reading Association. Tom’s focus as a college professor and educational psychologist has been on individual differences in learning and atypical development in children and adults. He takes great pride in a course he developed and teaches on human exceptionalities to over 2,000 undergraduate students who have become special education teachers, psychologists, sociologists, social workers, nurses, physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, clergy, managers of non-profit agencies, and informed parents.
Students often return to him to tell him that his course has changed their entire career plans and how much they enjoy working with individuals in a wide array of jobs that include a broad understanding of human development. In addition to being a professor, he has been a consultant in educational, business, and legal settings for the past 30 years and has authored numerous articles on the design of online educational materials for ease of learning and ease of use. Many of these design strategies have been incorporated into the Eighth Edition of this text.
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