Instructional Design Team

ATS instructional designers (IDs) can guide you in exploring instructional technology tools to support your teaching practice. Our team is well-versed in quality assurance standards.

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Instructional Designer Profiles

mariza hernandez

Mariza Hernandez
Assistant Director, Instructional Design & Accessibility

Mariza is the Assistant Director of Instructional Design and Accessibility at ATS and has worked on campus since 2007. She received a BS in 3D Computer Animation, BA in Media Arts from Chico State University, and an MS in Instructional Design and Technology from CSU Fullerton

Mariza is enthusiastic about and actively involved in applying innovative technology that enhances learners’ involvement through dynamic and interactive experiences. Before joining the ATS team, Mariza worked with students with disabilities, where her passion for accessibility and equal access to digital content and technology grew. She loves developing and learning about new e-learning technologies and developing learning environments that are appealing to the varied needs of adult learners. She is a member of the CSU Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI) Steering Committee and is committed to creating a culture of inclusive learning and working environment.

When Mariza is not working, she enjoys traveling and learning about new cultures. She appreciates trying unusual foods and has often been labeled as an adrenaline junkie by friends and family. When she is not traveling, you can find her at the park having a picnic and people watching with her Shih Tzu, Lucille.

afifa alawi

Afifa Alawi

Afifa Alawi has been in the field of education technology for the past 20 years and at CSULB for the past 6 years. She started her career at El Camino College as an educational technologist. She has also tutored students in different levels of mathematical concepts. She has a BS in Business Finance and an MA in Educational Technology and Media Leadership, both from CSULB. She is a lifelong learner and eager to learn new and upcoming educational technology trends. Afifa’s passion is to support faculty and the campus community with their technological needs.

In her spare time, Afifa enjoys reading and spending time with her husband, daughter, and son.

Yovanna Cifuentes-Goodbody

yovanna

Yovanna is an advocate for the learner experience and is passionate about helping others in their learning journey. She holds a master's in education from Carthage College and a Master's in Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University. Her journey into instructional design began with her decade-long career as a language teacher, where she found joy in helping fellow teachers integrate technology and pedagogical best practices into their classrooms. Yovanna is particularly interested in harnessing the potential of immersive technologies like VR and AR for learning.  

When Yovanna is not working, she enjoys traveling, watching movies, reading, and taking long walks with her dog! 

sabrina

Sabrina Dean

Sabrina holds a BA in Social Science and a Master’s in Business Administration has and has been working in the Academic Technology field for over 14 years. She started her career as an Academic Technology Support Specialist with Brandman University (now UMass Global) in 2007 and became an Instructional Designer when she joined the CSULB ATS family in June of 2020. She is passionate about supporting faculty and students to enhance their teaching and learning experiences and recognizes there is not a “one-size-fits-all” formula when it comes to technology and pedagogy. Each experience is unique.

Sabrina also enjoys video games, puzzles, walks, books, and movies.

roger strang

Courtney Engle

Courtney began her journey as an educational expert at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles as a Health Educator and transitioned to K-12 where she taught science and health. As a product of the California State University System, Courtney holds a BS in Health Sciences with an option in Health Education and a BA in Spanish from CSU Chico! Further, Courtney received her Master's in Education with an emphasis on Curriculum and Instruction from CSU Dominguez Hills! Courtney’s goal as an instructional designer is to maximize the learning experience for all students. The 21st Century Skills (critical thinking, communication, creativity, collaboration) drive Courtney’s pedagogy philosophy to make every learner a Global Digital Citizen. Embracing every challenge with a growth mindset, Courtney believes learning is meant to be a lifelong passion, therefore designing courses must persist to be user-friendly and engaging!

When Courtney is not working, she enjoys getting active in yoga or fitness, spending time at the beach, and of course, traveling. Courtney has visited 13 countries and will encourage anyone to just book the flight!

chad harris

Chad Harris

Chad joined CSU Long Beach as an Instructional Designer in September of 2020. Chad obtained his Ph.D. in Communications from UCSD and since 2006, Chad has taught Communications at UC San Diego, San Diego State University, Clovis Community College, and other online institutions. While teaching at San Diego State University, he began replicating and adapting principles of learning theory to the design of online courses and multi-media learning spaces as a Faculty Fellow in the Course Design Institute. His training and experience in instructional design include coaching faculty at various institutions including SDSU, Tulane University, Wake Forest University, and Cal State Northridge. He has also built and directed instructional design teams at various higher education institutions.

In his spare time, Chad enjoys reading history, science fiction, and noir crime novels. He also likes to listen to music at a high volume, spend time attempting to comprehend his teenage kids and try his best to stay in shape.

joel-miskiel

Joel Miskiel

Joel holds a MS degree from California State University, Fullerton in Educational Technology and has been in the education field for three years. Joel started off doing technical and A/V support in higher ed and K-12, but now has made the jump to instructional design. Joel’s passion as an instructional designer is to empower educators by teaching them the intricacies of the video creation process and helping them harness technology to achieve their teaching goals while maximizing student engagement.
 
In his free time, Joel enjoys reading fiction and informative nonfiction, video games, programming, working on various creative projects, and all things tech.

adam mitchell

Adam Mitchell
Instructional Design Team Lead

Adam Mitchell has been in the Educational Technology field for over 10 years and enjoys being on staff at CSULB as an instructional Designer. He holds an undergraduate degree from California State University, Monterey Bay in Liberal Studies, and an MS degree in Educational Technology from California State University, Fullerton. In addition, he has earned multiple certificates from Quality Matters, most notably certified as a Master Reviewer and Course Facilitator. Adam also has higher education teaching experience facilitating upper-division courses in multiple modalities including hybrid and online. Adam believes a continuous improvement model is best when approaching course design and enjoys the time spent with CSULB faculty in facilitating the course design process.

In his free time, Adam also enjoys studying and applying automotive engineering, exercising, and spending time with his wife and two sons.

angel

Angel Pablico-Kobayashi

Angel Pablico-Kobayashi holds a Master of Science degree in Instructional Design and Technology (MSIDT) from CSU Fullerton and a Master of Arts degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from CSU Los Angeles. She has taught English as a Second Language (ESL) at CSULA, Cal Poly Pomona, and various community colleges in the Los Angeles metro for over 18 years. Angel has taught courses in different modalities, including online asynchronous/synchronous, hyflex, hybrid, and in-person.  Her research interests include gamification of learning and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Her career passion is to support faculty in designing and developing equitable and engaging courses in all types of learning environments. 

In her free time, Angel enjoys traveling, camping, and cheering for her kids as they play basketball and soccer.  

brielle plump

Paul Quezada

Paul Quezada is a committed advocate for creating inclusive and accessible course design. After earning a bachelor's degree in Social Work from CSULB, he began working full-time for the CSULB Technology Help Desk in 2013 and went on to receive an MS in Educational Technology and Media Leadership in 2018. Combining his education and professional work experience, Paul is excited to provide extensive user support and introduce faculty to innovative tools which help improve course accessibility and foster an inclusive learning environment. An area of focus for Paul is the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, which informs his teaching philosophy that every learner can thrive in a pedagogically sound online learning environment. During his time with Academic Technology Services (ATS), Paul’s goal is to collaboratively work with faculty and provide course design consultation to successfully implement best practices unique for each course.

When he is not working, Paul can be found training for a marathon, practicing his photography composition, or lounging in a hammock.

roger strang

Roger Strang

Roger is passionate about educational values like critical thinking and self-directed learning. He studied education at Boston College in the Donovan Urban Teaching Scholars Program and taught 6th grade in Massachusetts before becoming interested in multimedia and technology for learning. His next stop was Carnegie Mellon University where he earned an MS in Educational Technology and Applied Learning Science. After working at an educational technology company for a couple of years, he joined the CSULB Instructional Design team and couldn’t be happier. Roger loves working with instructors and being a part of an educational institution.

One of his favorite projects has been co-creating a faculty spotlight with his colleagues and several professors. He takes pride in facilitating enjoyable faculty development sessions. For fun, Roger likes to stay in shape, practice improv, and listen to music.

 

joanna

Joanna Zendejas

Joanna Zendejas is an alumna of Cal State Long Beach where she received her bachelor’s in art education and single-subject teaching credential in 2012. Throughout her nine years teaching at public, charter, and magnet schools she was able to sharpen her pedagogy and guided colleagues on how to merge technology with their teaching strategies and curriculum. By the end of 2022 Joanna finished her MA in Educational Technology Leadership at CSULA and spoke at the California Art Education Association conference on an interactive lecture titled “Community Transformation: Student Public Art Proposals”. Her background in education paved the way for her instructional design career with the goal of empowering educators to cultivate learning in a way that caters to them and ultimately students of all abilities and backgrounds.
 
If the instructional design hat is hung up for the day, she’s probably cooking up something creative, laughing at her spouse’s dad jokes, or playing on the family Nintendo Switch with her favorite people on earth.