By: Claire Quigle

Happy “Where Do You Work” Wednesday! Meet alumnus Ethan Valentine (M.A, ‘15 and Ph.D. ‘18 Educational Psychology).

Valentine was born in Cedar Rapids but spent time living in Wisconsin, Kansas, and Minnesota before coming back to Iowa. He currently works as an instructor at Kirkwood Community College. Here, he teaches a mix of psychology and education coursework and has also recently taught the UI College of Education’s qualitative research methods course as an adjunct. He has been teaching since 2016.

Valentine says that one of the things that stands out to him about Kirkwood is their strong emphasis on student success through close relationships with faculty.

“Whether working with students in standard courses like our Educational Psychology course or guiding research projects as part of the Honors Program, Kirkwood does a fantastic job of providing opportunities to build relationships and mentor students,” Valentine says.

As an instructor, Valentine also loves the opportunities he gets to engage with the wider college community, including students, faculty, staff and local partners.

“ I’ve had the privilege to work alongside a wonderful group of colleagues and student leaders as a member of the Tech Scouts (supporting our colleagues by investigating new technologies) and as an advisor for the Kirkwood Esports Club,” Valentine says.

Valentine is grateful for the faculty he got to know during his time at the UI College of Education. He says the faculty in Educational Psychology & Learning Sciences program provided not only in-class mentorship but wonderful opportunities to engage in research and teaching practice as well. Valentine says faculty members like Ben DeVane and Kathy Schuh continue to be fantastic mentors.

“My time at the UI College of Ed was great, and it allowed me to explore the questions and issues that mattered to me while also giving me the chance to gain invaluable experience and develop crucial skills, including the ability to take on different perspectives and to apply complex ideas to problems we face in the study and practice of learning,” Valentine says.

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