Marcus Masternak, M.S.Ed.

Experience

My views on learning theory come from experience as a(n):

• Senior Instructional Design Specialist at Erie Insurance
  • Working with leaders to design enterprise initiatives on leadership development, Agile, and cloud transformation.
  • Conducting needs analysis, ideating solutions to complex problems, designing and developing solutions, supporting delivery, gathering feedback, and maintaining and improving products based on that data.
• Instructional Designer for graduate level online courses at Mercyhurst University
  • Worked with 30+ subject matter experts to develop/maintain 60+ online college courses.
• Certified 7-12 English teacher
• Graduate of a Master of Science in Education program studying learning theory
• Assistant Director of Sail Training at Flagship Niagara League
  • Developed a curriculum for Tall Ship Summer Camp in which 10-14 year olds learn how to sail an antique schooner, immersing themselves in tall ship culture, history, and marine science.
• Store Manager at Tractor Supply Company
  • Responsible for PNL performance and for all training in the store.
  • Attended leadership training events at district and company level.
• Assistant Manager at Walmart
  • Led retraining initiative for Power Lifting Equipment at store level.
  • Attended numerous leadership training events.
  • 9 years experience in all aspects of Walmart store-level retail systems.
• Mechanic
  • Worked as a mechanic for cars, trucks, and motorcycles, navigating various processes and regulations.
• Musician and Educator
  • Experienced musician trained in classical guitar and live sound production.
  • Taught lessons for guitar and basic recording.
• Sail Trainee on historic tall ship U.S. Brig NIAGARA
  • Completed NIAGARA’s rigorous sail training program.

Theories

In addition to embracing established concepts like Backward Design, ADDIE, and Working Memory, I am developing my own learning theories:

• Essence of Meaning: Language as Foundation for Knowledge
• Scaling Systems
• Timeline and Hourglass
• Evolutionism
• Skill Trees and Paths of Learning
• Aurora Core

Thesis

I would be glad to discuss any of these theories with you. For a view into one of them, please feel free to read my thesis titled “Applying the Gaming Concept of Skill Trees to Taxonomies Real-World Skills and Arrange Them in Incentivized Paths of Learning”.