Department of Adult, Career and Higher Education

Dr. Victor Hernandez-Gantes   Associate Professor   Career and Technical Education   Office:  EDU 151B   Phone: (813) 974-1277   Fax:    (813)  974-3366   Email:  vhgantes@coedu.usf.edu   Link to Personal Webpage

Background

Dr. Hernandez was born and raised in southwestern Mexico where he completed a B.S. Degree in Agronomy. His connection to education began as a Fulbright scholar at Virginia Tech where he earned an M.S. in Agricultural Education with concentration in International Agricultural Development, and a Ph.D. in Educational Research and Evaluation. For several years he served as Associate Researcher at the Center on Education and Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison and has since become a fan of Big Ten football. He later served as Associate Professor at Florida State University where he primarily supported the Vocational Education and Educational Leadership programs. Prior to joining the USF faculty, he served as Senior Educational Researcher in the Center for Educational Technologies (CET)-a center sponsored by NASA-at Wheeling Jesuit University.

Over the past decade he has collaborated with organizations and faculty at a number of universities nationally and internationally. This synergistic collaboration has resulted in a number of research and demonstration projects in the areas of professional development, vocational and technical education, and the integration of mathematics and career education supported by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Research in Vocational Education, and NASA.

Teaching

At Florida State University he taught courses on research methods, vocational education, and educational leadership. At USF he is contributing to both classroom and online teaching related to the following courses:

EVT 4651 Equity in Schools and the Workplace

EVT 6264 Administration of Vocational Programs

EVT 6265 Supervision of Vocational Programs

Research and Publications

His research interests focus on the interface that integrates the design, implementation, and evaluation of educational strategies designed to connect curriculum, teaching, and learning in work contexts as a means to maximize career-oriented learning for all students. He has published numerous articles on the impact of programs designed to connect school- and work-based learning on student learning and career development. Recent articles have been published by the Journal of Vocational Educational Research and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Service

Over the past decade he has also served on national advisory groups (e.g., National Design Group for the New Designs for Career and Technical Education project led by Oregon State University), and as Chair of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Vocational Education Research.