Vanessa A. Coote

I study how artificial intelligence can support, rather than replace, students' reasoning, confidence, and collaboration as they learn computer science.

Ph.D. student, Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies, Florida State University Instructional Designer, FSU Office of Digital Learning Co-lead, Supporting Inclusivity Strategic Team, The POGIL Project
Portrait of Vanessa A. Coote
Career path from 2010 to the present A branching line showing teaching in Belize in 2010, full-stack development from 2013, teaching at FAMU from 2018, program coordination from 2022, NSF-funded research from 2023, and, from 2026, work as an instructional designer and doctoral study at FSU, continuing toward a research faculty career. Teaching Research Industry 2010 Lecturer, Belize 2013 Full-stack developer 2018 Instructor, FAMU 2022 Program coordinator 2023 NSF CUE-T Co-PI 2026 Instructional designer and Ph.D. student, FSU Goal Research faculty
My path runs through classrooms, software development, and funded computing education research. In 2026 these threads came together at FSU, where I work as an instructional designer while completing my Ph.D.

Doctoral portfolio

This site holds the seven documents required for my Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies (ISLT) qualifying review. Each one can be printed or saved as a PDF from its own page.

  1. Program of studyAll intended coursework, by requirement area and by semester
  2. Curriculum vitaeEducation, employment, grants, presentations, and service
  3. Statement of research interestFour research strands and my plan for the next two years
  4. Statement of career interestMy goal of a research faculty role spanning education and computer science
  5. Self-assessmentStrengths and growth areas in design, research, writing, and technology
  6. Summary of research activitiesCompleted, current, and planned projects, and submissions in preparation
  7. Proposed degree timelineCoursework, examinations, prospectus, and dissertation defense

Current work

I am co-authoring a paper with Florida A&M University computer science faculty on POGIL-style activities that build AI tasks into students' inquiry. I am also reading the literature on self-efficacy, motivation, and AI-mediated learning as I develop my dissertation focus on introductory programming, and I am a member of the LINKer research group at FSU.