Education professor Jon Wagner's career has its roots in his student days — and his disenchantment in the classroom.

"I was first interested in education by being a student and being unhappy about some of the things I was asked to do," said Wagner, who became the Teaching Resources Center's new director at the beginning of spring quarter.

That interest was rekindled while Wagner was studying sociology at the University of Chicago when he took a year off to teach at a newly opened experimental school for African-American high school dropouts.

"I became engaged in issues of equity and justice," Wagner said, "but also instruction and how to get students to learn about things they may or may not care about."

Wagner returned to get his master's and doctoral degrees, and later worked in the Office of the University President, before coming to UC Davis in 1990.

Wagner had an acute awareness of the Teaching Resources Center before applying for the position — he had received instructional improvement grants and had taught freshman seminars offered through the center. And, two of his graduate students had served as teaching assistant consultants there. When the director position became available, a former director encouraged Wagner to apply. He jumped at the chance.

"I was interested in part because of what the TRC has done in the past," Wagner said, "and because of what it could do in the future."

Wagner said he would like to see faculty members conduct not only traditional research, but also study teaching and learning in their disciplines — to find new strategies to help students learn.

"There's a mismatch between campus practice and campus needs," Wagner said. "We reward research that builds new knowledge but we don't reward research done on how to teach that disciplinary knowledge to students."

Wagner hopes the center will "stimulate inquiry about teaching on campus" and support faculty members who conduct research on their students' learning techniques.

The center already offers a variety of programs and services to campus instructors, offering grants to improve instruction, workshops for teaching assistants and course evaluations for professors, as well as running the Freshman Seminar Program.

Wagner will now split his time between the center and his professorial duties in the School of Education. On top of teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, Wagner researches the material culture of students, among other topics.

Wagner said students are constantly engulfed in technology, whether they are text messaging, downloading music or chatting on cell phones.

"Professors think of logging on and logging off," Wagner said. "Students don't think of logging off. If that's the environment they're in, what problems and opportunities does that create for instruction on campus?"

Wagner has suggested various opportunities for using technology in — or as a substitute for — the classroom. Straightforward uses, such as podcasting lectures, can be valuable, Wagner said. But he is also interested in non-traditional uses. He asks his students in one class to design a Web site, for instance.

Wagner would like the center to encourage the use of technology in instruction — though not too heavily. "The challenge for many of us — and for the TRC — is to help people move ahead as thoughtfully as possible on whatever instructional improvement paths they pick and regardless of where they start."

Wagner noted that faculty members also care about other things that can have a "big payoff" for improved teaching, such as intensified writing assignments, student research projects or small group work.

What are your interests outside of education?

Photography. I've done it since grad school. I used to be photo editor of Contexts and president of the International Visual Sociology Association. So I'm an image enthusiast. I'm also a road cyclist. I have moments of bike lust. I followed the Tour of California with a lot of affection.

If you weren't in this field, what would you do?

Something in the visual arts. I'm a great fan of documentary studies, both films and photo work.

Read any good books lately?

I'm reading one right now: Ken Kesey's Jail Notebooks.Ken Kesey spent some time in jail and made these notebooks. And then he turned these illustrated manuscripts into a book. It's a combination of insightful writing and over-the-top drawings. I have a taste for text and images interspersed.

What's your most treasured possession?

My great grandfather grew up in Romania and sold brandy, and he used my grandfather as a salesperson. I have a brandy flask that my grandfather used to take door to door for customers to sample. It's a bit of family history.