Education and Work Experience - In Brief

Look at me on my first day of elementary school! I'm the serious little girl in the first row, holding a flower and beaming with pride. I was so eager to start school that I enrolled a year earlier than my classmates. And what luck I had! From the very beginning of my formal education and all the way through high school, I had amazing teachers who inspired me. The teacher in this photo is the legendary Ms. Nada Grujic, who was my main teacher for the first four years of primary school. She developed in me a true passion for learning and a deep respect for the teaching profession.

These little first graders in the photo are now accomplished medical doctors, journalists, geneticists, engineers, artists, architects, and more. I'm so grateful to Ms. Grujic for setting us on the right path!

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HIGH SCHOOL: MATHEMATICS AND NATURAL SCIENCES

My secondary education was focused on mathematics, natural sciences, and humanities in the hometown of Mileva Maric-Einstein. Maric-Einstein was a Serbian physicist and mathematician, and the first wife of Albert Einstein, who collaborated with him during his most productive years, including the "annus mirabilis" of 1905.

After graduating from the renowned grammar school for Mathematics and Natural Sciences, "J. J. Zmaj," and defending my paper on Geometry, I earned a Research Assistant in Mathematics Diploma.

I have always had an interest in languages. Besides being fluent in English and Serbian/Croatian (my native language), and reaching intermediate proficiency in Spanish, I spent years studying German and Old Latin in grade school and university.

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This photo shows Gymnasium "Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj", a school founded in 1810 located in Novi Sad, Serbia. It's where I received a well-rounded education with a strong emphasis on mathematics, natural sciences, classical languages, and art.

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UNIVERSITY: ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
(Europe, in Serbo-Croatian language)

I pursued my electrical engineering degree at the Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, located in Novi Sad, Serbia. During my time there, I specialized in Electronics and Telecommunications, ultimately earning my Master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering (MEng).

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University of Novi Sad, with 14 faculties and 50 000 students is one of the most important educational and research centers in South-Eastern Europe.

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The highlight of my engineering studies was when I defended my master's thesis in Electrical Engineering, titled "Active Filter in CMOS Technology," in front of a large audience and received a perfect score of 10/10. It was truly one of the proudest moments of my life!

WORK: ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

While I had been tutoring mathematics and other subjects since I graduated from high school, my professional career commenced when I joined Nortel Networks in Ottawa, Canada. There, I worked as a Verification Engineer for several years, initially in the HW/SW Early Integration group, and later as a Hardware Verification Engineer in the Hardware Emulation group.

This is my first business card from Nortel Networks, where I launched my engineering career. It was a fantastic place to work and being part of the design and testing of telecommunication switches at the core of high-speed internet networks was a dream come true for a recent engineering graduate like me.

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UNIVERSITY: EDUCATION
(Canada, in English language)

When I had the chance to switch career paths, I found myself drawn towards education, which is in my blood. I attended the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Education and received my Baccalaureate in Education (BEd) degree. After passing my certification exam, I became a member of the Ontario College of Teachers and an Ontario Certified Teacher (OCT). It was a childhood dream of mine to become a math teacher, and I finally realized it!

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I gained a solid theoretical and practical foundation in teaching and learning at the University of Ottawa, where I also gained teaching experience. I specialized in teaching Computer Science and after graduating, I returned to earn additional qualifications in Senior Mathematics and Special Education.

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UNIVERSITY: DISTANCE EDUCATION, INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
(Canada, in English language)

While working full time at Carleton, I went back to school part-time and fulfilled all graduate program requirements at the Athabasca University Centre for Distance Education, earning a Graduate Diploma in Instructional Design (GDID) as partial fulfillment of the Master in Education (Distance Education) program. As I have been involved in research and scholarship in teaching and learning, I plan to continue with graduate studies in this field.

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Athabasca University is one of four comprehensive academic and research universities in Alberta. Founded in 1970, it was the first Canadian university to specialize in distance education.

WORK: EDUCATION/TEACHING

In the years that followed, I worked for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board as both a Teacher and a Corporate Application Support Specialist in the Business & Learning Technologies department.

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WORK: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & CORPORATE TRAINING

I then spent several years in the private sector, building my skills and career in information technology at e-academy Inc. (today Kivuto), a vibrant Ottawa EdTech company focused on the higher education software market. During that time, I progressed from a Technical Support Specialist to Senior Operations Specialist, and my work included project management and corporate training.

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WORK - HIGHER EDUCATION

In January 2012, I joined the Carleton University Educational Development Centre (today Teaching and Learning Services), where I have been working on instructional design projects, educational development, and scholarship of teaching and learning, with a focus on student engagement and success. My position progressed from Instructional Designer to Supervisor of Instructional Design, the position I held for five and a half years, before focusing fully on educational development in 2022. Throughout my career, I have been nominated for many individual and team service excellence awards, and as a member of a team, I received a Service Excellence Award for LMS Migration in 2012.

For a few years I have been a member of the Teaching and Learning Council Action Team on Inclusivity, Diversity, and Equity, and I have been involved in several Carleton initiatives related to mental health.

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ADDITIONAL EDUCATION, TRAINING AND WORK

My interest in different aspects of teaching, learning, and education is continuing. I completed all five existing credit courses in the Spanish Language Program (receiving an Algonquin Certificate of Completion) and some in Project Management at Algonquin College in Ottawa. Additionally, I became a Certified Hatha Yoga Teacher (CYT) after graduating from a 220+ hour program at Rama Lotus Yoga Center in Ottawa. The experience of learning, practicing and teaching yoga revealed to me new dimensions of teaching and, in particular, the nuances of teacher/learner relationship, greatly broadening my skills as an educator.

My interest in art led me to taking continuing education courses in classical music and drawing. Recently, I took up Serbian Folk Dancing, and it has been a lot of fun (in my youth, I trained in ballroom and Latino-American dances). Years of stage acting and dancing as well as choir singing were also an integral part of my youth.

The latest endeavor is improving my sailing skills - in 2024 I completed a training for a Royal Yachting Association RYA Competent Crew while sailing the Ionian Sea. It was very intensive - but fun!

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With Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman Lee at the International Yoga Conference // Teaching yoga to kids at The Children's Place // Sailing the Ionian Sea, Greece

My broad educational and professional background and training in several fields, in two different languages and from two continents, provides me with a fertile ground from which I derive knowledge, inspiration, and ideas for my everyday work. When you are a teacher, learning never stops!

Email address: maristela.petrovicdzerdz@carleton.ca LinkedIn profile: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/maristela

Education and Work

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