Biography

Dr. Mary Elizabeth “M.E.” Jones has been a full-time faculty member at Immaculata University since 2002. She has been involved in Information Science and Technology since 1985. Her industry experience includes: software engineering, project management, technical leadership, computer systems validation, system analysis, developing training programs, and designing/developing software applications in commercial and government industries.

In her current position, she is responsible for teaching courses in mathematics, computer science, and information technology, as well as academic advisement of undergraduate students. She shares her interest in learning and research with her students. With support from IU’s Office of Sponsored Research, she invites interested students to participate with her on research projects. Her current research area is interdisciplinary computing. She seeks to connect computing topics with other academic disciplines.

Courses Taught:

• MATH 203 – Intermediate Mathematics I
• CIS 105 – 3-D Computing
• MATH 204 – Intermediate Mathematics II
• CIS 218 – Software Design & Programming
• MATH 207 – Introductory Analysis I
• CIS 224 – Database
• MATH 208 – Introductory Analysis II
• CIS 331 – Software Project Management
• MATH 301 – Calculus I
• INFO 404 – Human/Computer Interaction
• MATH 302 – Calculus II
• CIS/MATH/INFO 408 – Research Fundamentals
• CIS/MATH/INFO 409 – Directed Reading
• CIS/MATH/INFO 410 – Senior Seminar

Research Interests:

Dr. Jones’ current research interest is “interdisciplinary computing”. As a result of this interest, she was awarded a National Science Foundation grant entitled “Pilot Project: Teaching Introductory Programming Utilizing the Liberal Arts” from the Division of Information & Intelligent Systems, CreativeIT program, July 2009. (NSF – IIS CreativeIT program [NSF 08-572], award number 0855870.) This NSF grant allows her and Dr. Melanie Kisthardt, chair of the English/Communication Department, to co-teach programming concepts using creative exercises and approaches that aid creative writers. Dr. Jones’ and Dr. Kisthardt’s grant work continues with teaching and outreach pilot programs. Currently, Dr. Jones is collaborating with teachers and students at St. Stanislaus School, Lansdale Catholic High School, and the Achievement House Cyber Charter School in order to teach “Creative Programming” courses.

Publications:

• Mary Elizabeth “M.E.” Jones, Melanie Kisthardt, Marie A. Cooper, “Interdisciplinary Teaching:  Introductory Programming via Creative Writing.”  Proceedings of the 42^nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (March 2011). ACM New York, NY USA 2011.  ISBN: 978-1-4503-0500-6  doi>10.1145/1953163.1953313
• M.E. Jones and Il-Yeol Song, “Dimensional Modeling: Identifying, Classifying, and Applying Patterns.” Decision Support Systems Journal. Volume 45, Issue 1, April 2008, pp. 59 – 76 [ISSN 0167-9236].  (Also available online at www.sciencedirect.com).
• Richard Cosgriff, Jr. Lori Monk, Mary Elizabeth Jones, “Wild Things”.  Proceedings of the 45th Annual Southeast Regional Conference (March 2007).  New York, NY, USA ©2007 ISBN: 978-1-59593-629-5 doi>10.1145/1233341.1233461.
• M.E. Jones and Il-Yeol Song, “Dimensional Modeling: Identifying, Classifying, & Applying Patterns.” Proceeding of the Eight ACM International Workshop on Data Warehousing and OLAP, November 2005, Bremen Germany, pp 29 – 37 [ISBN: 1-59593-162-7], (Also available online at: http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1097002.1097008&coll=ACM&dl=ACM&CF…).
• M.E. Jones and Il-Yeol Song, “Dimensional Modeling: Identifying and Classifying Patterns.” Information Resource Management Association (IRMA), May 2005, San Diego, CA. Managing Modern Organizations with Technology – Volume 1, pp 16 – 19, [ISBN 1-59140-822-9].
• M.E. Jones and Il-Yeol Song, “Dimensional Modeling: Initial Approach for Identifying and Classifying Patterns.” Information Resource Management Association (IRMA), May 2003, Philadelphia, PA. – Doctoral Symposium.

Presentations:

• Presentation at: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Computer Science Education Conference in Dallas, Texas on March 9 – 12, 2011. Mary Elizabeth “M.E.” Jones, Melanie Kisthardt, Marie A. Cooper, “Interdisciplinary Teaching:  Introductory Programming via Creative Writing.”  Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (March 2011). ACM New York, NY USA 2011.  ISBN: 978-1-4503-0500-6  doi>10.1145/1953163.1953313
• Pennsylvania Council of Teacher of English and Language Arts (PCTELA) with Melanie Kisthardt on October 22 – 23, 2010.  The presentation was entitled “Computer Animation and Creative Writing: An Interdisciplinary Tale”.
• Poster Presentation with Melanie Kisthardt at: The 26th Annual Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges – Eastern Conference (Juniata College – Huntingdon, PA) on October 15 – 16, 2010.  Awarded “Best Poster”.
• Presentation at the 16th Annual Technology Conference at Montgomery County Community College on October 1, 2010:  Title: “Interdisciplinary Teaching: Introductory Programming via Creative Writing.”
• Delivered the SEPCHE 2010 (May 13 – 14, 2010) Math-Science Grant program entitled:  Using the Alice Programming System to Apply Mathematics.
• Presentation at the 15th Annual Technology Conference at Montgomery County Community College on October 2, 2009.  Title: “Did you ever wonder if it was possible for your students to develop a fascination about computer programming by inspiring their creativity and imaginations?”

Grants:

Awarded a National Science Foundation grant (CreativeIT – 08-572). The grant is pilot program used for teaching introductory programming by aligning and integrating creative skills with analytical skills. (July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2012).

• Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Member of the IEEE Computer Society
• Member of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA)
• Member of National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)

Awards:

The Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching – May 2010.

Dissertation:

Title:  Dimensional Modeling: Identifying Patterns, Classifying Patterns, and Evaluating Pattern Impact on the Design Process

Advisor: Il-Yeol Song, Ph.D. – Professor – Drexel University (College of Information Science and Technology).

Abstract: Software design is a complex activity.  A successful designer requires knowledge and training in specific design techniques combined with practical experience.  Designing a dimensional model embodies this challenge.  This paper presents Dimensional Design Patterns (DDPs) and their application to the design of dimensional models.  We describe a metamodel of the DDPs and show their integration into Kimball’s dimensional modeling design process so they can be applied to design problems using a known practice.  By providing a metamodel and a method for DDP use, we combine theory and a practical design technique with the goal of increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the software designer.  The experimental results regarding the classroom use of DDPs revealed an increase in the effectiveness and efficiency of students when designing a dimensional model.  The next phase of research will apply the DDPs to dimensional models in an industry setting.