Rob Branch, Ed.D.

Robert Maribe (Rob) Branch is a Professor of Learning, Design, and Technology. Rob was born and raised by a mother from Newberry, South Carolina and a father from Augusta, Georgia. He graduated in 1974 from Aviation High School in New York City, becoming airframe and powerplant (A&P) certification eligible. Rob completed his initial higher education studies at New York City College of Technology prior to earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina.

Teaching After completing his Master of Arts degree at Ball State University, he taught high school in Botswana as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and later joined the University of Botswana as a lecturer in the Technology Education Department. Rob taught the College Success Strategies course for the Corps of Cadets and served as an Associate Director for the summer residential Virginia Governor’s School for the Gifted at Virginia Tech while completing his Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree (1985-1989). Dr. Branch joined the faculty at Syracuse University, and taught graduate courses in the Department of Instructional Design, Development, and Evaluation, rising to a tenured Associate Professor. Rob joined the University of Georgia (UGA) in 1996 and has routinely taught undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of Message Design, Technology for Teachers, Project Management, Instructional Design and Doctoral Research Seminar. Rob co-chaired an academic conference on successful instructional strategies for managing large classrooms that was held at Cape Coast University in Ghana, and recently, he co-directed a robotics education curriculum development project in Tanzania. Dr. Branch has supervised more than 30 doctoral students as major professor and more than 40 as dissertation Committee member. He has also mentored over a hundred Master’s students. Dr. Branch was inducted into the UGA Teaching Academy in 2017 as a Senior Teaching Fellow.

Research Dr. Branch’s research focuses on using diagrams to deconstruct complex conceptual relationships and other complicated flow processes associated with STEM education. Dr. Branch worked as a Fulbright Lecturer/Researcher during 1995 at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, conducting research on the complexities of student centered learning spaces. He has co-edited the Educational Media and Technology Yearbook annually since 1997. He is also the co-author of the book, Survey of Instructional Design Models. He is particularly noted for authoring the book: Instructional Design: The ADDIE Approach. In addition, Professor Branch has published over 86 papers in refereed journals, edited other 9 books, written 15 book chapters, and delivered many presentations at national and international scholarly forums. Dr. Branch was selected to the inaugural cohort (2018-2020) as a University System of Georgia Chancellor’s Learning Scholar.

Service Dr. Branch concluded service in 2019 as Head for three different departments in the college during a span of 15-years. He has served on several college and university committees over the years such as Faculty Senate, and Promotion and Tenure Review. He is a Past President of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) , a 2,600-member national professional organization of information and communications technology scholars. Dr. Branch is a certified Mediator for the State of Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution and a trained Facilitator in the practice of Reflective Structured Dialogue.