Instructional Consultant
Assessment Specialist
Higher Education Professional
I collaborate with higher ed faculty, instructional designers, and administrators to develop curriculum, instruction, assessments, and policies that reduce barriers to student learning.
Accessible and inclusive instruction
Student engagement
Evidence-based instruction
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Learning assessment
Class, course, and program assessment
Outcomes-based course design & curriculum development
In-person, online, hybrid, and mixed-mode course design
Faculty development
I also write and speak about the works of Charles Dickens, other 19th-century British authors, neo-Victorian pop culture, and teaching English composition and literature courses.
Ph.D. English Literature
Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
Late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British literature
M. A. English Literature
Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN
Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British literature
B. A. English Literature and Classical Civilizations
Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
A. S. B. Fashion Merchandising
Duff’s Business Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
“Building and Maintaining Partnerships with Non-Academic Departments,” webinar, Building the Capacity of Teacher Development Centers in Higher Education Forum, Leadership Society to Support Teacher Development, Mongolia. January 23, 2026.
Tobin, M. A. & Tobin, T. J. “Practical Strategies for Universal Design for Learning in Ukraine.” Virtual Service Pilot UKR1041: Support Teacher Skills in Digital Tools & Online Teaching. Peace Corps. June 15, 2023.
“All in Good Time: Strategies for Making the Most of Each Minute.” (2022). Educators Forum, Certified Medical Assistant Today.
“Teach to Reach with Mary Ann Tobin.” (2021). ThinkUDL Podcast.
“Student Disability Resources Survey Report: Spring 2021.” (2021).
“A Mystery Unto Itself: Drood in Matthew Pearl’s The Last Dickens.” (2021). Dickens Society Virtual Symposium.
“Teaching for Deep Learning with Universal Design for Learning (UDL).” (2021). Modern Language Association Annual Convention.
A Guide to Item Analysis. (2018).
“Curriculum is the Key to Faculty-Driven Assessment.” (2015). Assessment Institute.
“300 Ways to Teach the Epic.” (2012). Teaching Comics and Graphic Narratives: Essays on Theory, Strategy and Practice.
“From Sham to ‘Gentle Christian Man’ in Great Expectations.” Ed. Eugene Goodheart. (2009). Great Expectations. Critical Insights.
“Dickens, Poe and the International Copyright Battle.” (2002). The Dickensian.
Associate Research Professor & Senior Instructional Consultant
Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence
The Pennsylvania State University
Director of Teaching and Learning
Instructor, Department of English
Triton College, River Grove, IL
Instructor
Department of English
School of Leadership and Professional Advancement
Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
Instructor
Department of English
Community College of Allegheny County, South Campus, West Mifflin, PA
Penn State
Accessibility Liaison, Undergraduate Education
Member, Accessibility Learning Path Committee
Resource Member, Committee on Curricular Affairs
Volunteer Instructor, Osher Lifelong Living Institute
Leader, Universal Design for Learning Team
Professional
Conference Team, Virtual Gathering for Educational Developers, 2024 - 2026.
Member Ad Hoc Virtual Conference Committee, Professional and Organizational Development Network, 2024.
Conference Team, UDLHE Digicon, 2022.
Accessibility and Disability SIG, Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education.
Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education
International Dickens Fellowship, Pittsburgh, PA, Branch #97
Neuroinclusive Higher Education Special Interest Group (SIG).
Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education