Dr. Li-Jen Lester

Dr. Li-Jen Lester

Associate Professor
Li-Jen Lester

Office: AB1-216H, LDB-200H
Phone: 9362941582, 9362941326
Email: lester@shsu.edu

Dr. Lester received her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership (2007), M.A. in Industrial Technology, and minor in Vocational Education (1995) from Sam Houston State University. She graduated in Civil Engineering from Dahan Institute of Technology in Taiwan (1988). Prior to 2000 joining the SHSU, she worked as a computer programmer on survey databases, a high school math teacher, and an engineer assistant in Civil Engineering. She taught Computer Aided Drafting, Cisco Network, and MCSE programs at the Technology Department from 2000 - 2003. Since 2003, Dr. Lester teaches Introduction to Computer and Educational Multimedia graduate courses at Computer Science Department. Areas of research interests include computing education curriculum alignment from secondary to higher education graduate levels, cybersecurity education research, and robotic drones hacking system study.

Education
  • Executive Educational Leadership (SHSU, Ed.D. 2007)
  • Industrial Technology (SHSU, M.A., 1995)
  • Civil Engineering (Dahan Institute of Technology, 1988)
Research Interests
  • Computing education curriculum alignment from secondary to higher education graduate levels
  • Cybersecurity education research
  • Robotic drones hacking system study
Experience
  • Associate Dean of College of Science Engineering Technology (2022 - )
  • Interim Associate Dean of College of Science Engineering Technology (2021 – 2022)
  • Associate Director for Assessment, Professional and Academic Center for Excellence (2019 -2022)
  • Assistant Chair of Computer Science Department (2016-2018)
  • Director of SouthEast Texas BEST Robotics Hub (2012 – 2016)
Honors and Awards
  • Service Award for Rotary Club at Huntsville, TX, 2021
  • Outstanding Faculty Sponsor (SHACS, 2016)
  • Best Paper Awards (ISAF 2015, ISECON 2009)
  • Meritorious Paper Awards (ISECON 2011)
  • Distinguished Paper Awards (EDSIGN 2007,2010)
  • Outstanding Paper Award (GBC, 2009)
Grants
  • NSF: RET Site: RET-CCT at SHSU (Research Experiences for Teachers in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, and Technology) 2022 – 2024 ($599,474 – Pending)
  • NCAE-C, GenCyber 2022: GenCyber Capacity Building – GenCyber Training Center at SHSU ($99,402 – Pending)
  • Texas Workforce commission, 2021-2022: Governor’s Summer Merit Program, Drone Pilot at SHSU ($49,822 – Pending)
  • SHSU Internal Grant 2021: College Students’ Self-Regulated Learning in Online Computer Science Courses ($12,134 – Awarded)
  • SHSU Teaching Innovation Grants (TIGs) 2021: Developing a New Course in Deep Learning and Computer Vision with Active Learning and Capstone Projects ($9,000 – Awarded)
Publications
  • Dallat-Ward, Y. & Lester, L.Y. (2022). Identity Attributes in Teaching Privacy. Information System Education Journal. In press.
  • Lester, L.Y. & Dallat-Ward, Y. (February 2019). Teaching Professionalism and Ethics in Information Technology by Deliberative Dialogue. Information System Education Journal. 17(1). 4-17.
  • Dallat-Ward, Y., Ward, J., Lester, L.Y., & Tao, M. (June 2019). A Preliminary Study: The Use of VoiceThread in Online Business Courses. Information System Education Journal. 17(3).29-40.
  • Rice, M., Shannon, L. Y. (2018). Project-Based Learning: A Structure to Facilitate Service Learning in an Online Interdisciplinary Project. In Community Engagement Best Practices Across the Disciplines: Applying Course Content to community Needs. H.E. (Ed). Chapter 11. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
  • Lester, L.Y. Sustainability in Greening IT for Educational Systems, 2017 Proceedings of the EDSIG Conference, (3). 4353.