Xiuwen Wu, Ph.D.

Programs/Classes Taught:

Undergraduate Special Education Program Courses:

• SPE 300 Introduction to Special Education and Methods of Teaching Students with Disabilities
• SPE 405 Advanced Practicum II in Inclusive Education
• SPE 410 Literacy in Inclusive Education
• SPE 470 Practicum III Student Teaching

Graduate Special Education Program Courses:

• SPE 500 Introduction to Special Education and Methods of Teaching Students with Disabilities (online and face-to-face)
• SPE 501 Educational and Diagnostic Assessment of Exceptional Children and Adolescents
• SPE 508 Literacy Across the Curriculum for Students with Disabilities (online and face-to-face)
• SPE 509 Literacy Instruction for Diverse Learners
• SPE 523 Teaching Students with Math Disabilities
• SPE 545 Assistive Technology
• SPE 592C Student Teaching Seminar
• DEE 690 Special Topics in Disability and Equity Studies

Areas of Expertise:

Visual literacy
Co-teaching
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Math instruction methods (K-5)

Biography:

Dr. Wu joined the Special Education faculty in fall 2003. At National Louis University, Dr. Wu has taught and helped design courses at undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. The students in these courses vary in backgrounds from those who just graduated from high schools, teachers and administrators pursuing a Master's or Doctoral degree in education, career changers, to teacher candidates in alternative certification programs such as Chicago Teaching Fellows and Teach for America. Dr. Wu had a Bachelor's degree in English and a Master's Degree in Applied Linguistics from China, where she taught English to children as young as five years old and to adult English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. She also was a lecturer for a year in the English Department at her Alma Mater, Harbin Institute of Technology, before pursuing her Ph.D. in Special Education at Michigan State University.  Dr. Wu enjoys sharing with her students cross-cultural comparisons of educations in China, U.S., and other countries whenever possible. Dr. Wu's research has been mostly revolved around assistive and instructional technology, visual literacy, visual primary sources, and co-teaching.

Education:

Ph.D., 2003: Special Education, Michigan State University
M.A., 1996: Applied Linguistics, Beijing Foreign Studies University
B.A., 1993: English, Harbin Institute of Technology

Research and Interests:

Dr. Wu has expertise in research-based instructional practices and frameworks that lead to enhanced performances in reading and mathematics, and greater access to the general education curriculum for students with learning disabilities and those who are English learners. Over the years, Dr. Wu has been dedicated to both teaching and research in the following areas: visual literacy, instructional/assistive technology, and co-teaching. In the past several years, Dr. Wu has focused her teaching and research endeavors on the practice-based teacher education framework and teacher preparation in the implementation of effective content and pedagogical practices in elementary mathematics classrooms. 

Selected Presentations & Publications:

Wu, X., Zilla, K., Kotel, K., & Salmon, D. (2022). High-leverage practices (HLPs) and implications for teacher preparation: Voices from first year teachers. Presentation at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.

Wu, X. (2022). Go game in elementary classrooms: Teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the Go’s benefits for mathematics. Presentation at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.

Wu, X. (2022). Using the ancient board game “Go” (Weiqi, Baduk), to enhance math learning in elementary classrooms. Presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Regional Conference & Exposition, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Wu, X., & Guo, X. (2022). Game-based learning: Using Weiqi/Go to support students in K-3 in meeting CC, NBT, and OA math standards. Presentation at the Metropolitan Mathematics Club of Chicago.

Wu, X. (2022). An explorative study on the implementation of Go game in third-grade classrooms. Virtual presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Research Conference.

Wu, X. (2021). Incorporating Feedback as Core Practice in Math Methods Course from the Practice-Based Teaching Perspective. Virtual paper presentation at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting.

Wu, X., Zilla, K., Kotel, K., & Salmon, D. (2021). Embarking on Practice-Based Teaching: Surveying Special Educators About High-Leverage Practices. Virtual paper presentation at the Annual Convention of the Council for Exceptional Children.

Wu, X., Zilla, K., Kotel, K., & Salmon, D. (2020). Zeroing in on providing student feedback as a core practice: A study of its potential impact on special education teacher candidates. NCE Research Residencies. 15. https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/nce_residencies/15

Guo, X. & Wu, X. (2020). Covering 60% of math content in K-3 with just one game – Weiqi/Go. Workshop presentation at the Metropolitan Mathematics Club of Chicago - Conferences of Workshops, Chicago, IL.

Wu, X. (2019). Visual literacy for students with special needs. In M. Newman & D. Ogle, Visual literacy: Reading, thinking, and communicating with visuals (pp.145-172). Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.

Wu, X. (2019). What should special education preservice teachers know about assistive/instructional technology? Voices from the field and implications for teacher preparation. Paper presented at The Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education Conference (SITE), Las Vegas, NA.  

Wu, X. (2019). Book Review: Grossman, P. (Ed.). (2018). Teaching core practices in teacher education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. 215 pages. i.e.: inquiry in education: Vol 11: Iss.1, Article 3. Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/ie/vol11/iss1/3   

Wu, X. (2019). What should special education preservice teachers know about assistive and instructional technology? Voices from the field and implications for teacher preparation. In K. Graziano (Ed.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 2659-2668). Las Vegas, NV, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved April 26, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/208027/.

Newman, M., Degener, S., & Wu, X. (2015). How are teachers using primary sources to meet Common Core literacy standards in English/Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science? NCE Research Residencies. Paper 1. http://digitalcommons.nl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=nce_residencies 

Wu, X. (2012). Promoting interface and knowledge sharing: A joint project between general and special education preservice teachers. Inquiry in Education, 3(2). http://digitalcommons.nl.edu/ie/vol3/iss2/4/

Wu, X. (2010). Universal Design for Learning: A Collaborative Framework for Designing Inclusive Curriculum. Inquiry in Education, 1(2), Retrieved from: http://digitalcommons.nl.edu/ie/vol1/iss2/6

Wu, X. & Newman, M. (2010). Connecting dots through a field-based project with preservice teachers: Using an all-learner visual literacy curriculum to promote Universal Design for Learning. The TPS Journal, issue 2. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED502353.pdf 

Wu, X. (2009). Picturing American Industrialization: The Chicago Stockyards—A secondary level learning activity. Library of Congress: Teaching with Primary Sources Quarterly. http://www.loc.gov/teachers/tps/quarterly/pdf/Fall2009SecondaryLevelLearningActivity.pdf

Wu, X. (2006). Social studies for all learners: Universal design and visual literacy. Vol. 66. Journal of the Illinois Council for the Social Studies.

Englert, C. S., Wu, X., & Zhao, Y. (2005). Cognitive tools for writing: Scaffolding the performance of students through technology. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice. Vol. 20 Issue 3, Page 184.

Contact Information: 

Tel: (847) 947-5735
Email: xwu@nl.edu
Office: Room 277, 1000 Capitol Dr, Wheeling, IL 60090
National Louis University