Robert Griffiths

510.725.7907
[email protected]
________________________________________________________________________________

Summary

Multilingual ESL instructor with over fifteen years of diverse experience designing curricula and
delivering innovative and effective classroom, hybrid, and online instruction at California Community
Colleges and international universities, as well as in vocational ESL, adult education, and intensive
English programs. Dynamic, analytical, responsible, resourceful, diplomatic and highly organized.
Work well in teams, communicate effectively across cultures and languages.

Demonstrated strengths include:

 Identifying student goals and needs  Fostering active and collaborative learning
 Creating real-life, scenario-based learning  Applying technology to improve learning outcomes
activities  Evaluating student success

Professional Experience

CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO 2008- Present

Tenure Track ESL Instructor
Have taught non-credit ESL, Vocational ESL, and Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL).
 Created innovative curricula for CALL and ESL Bridge classes, including collaborative, real-life
activities allowing students to experience the work place and learn necessary language,
communication, computer, and job skills through experiential learning.
 Taught Vocational Office Training Program course for select students in this 1-year program.
 Conducted student surveys to determine educational, academic, and life skill goals, as well as
access to computers and the Internet. Created student profile from this data to track student
needs and achievement.
 Delivered presentation at CCSF’s ESL Colloquium for San Francisco Bay Area community
colleges on Using a Wiki-Based Class Website and Collaborative, Experiential, Real-Life
Activities to develop Language, Communication, Computer, and Job Skills.

GENENTECH, CORP., South San Francisco, CA 2003 - 2008

Sr. Instructional Designer
Primary liaison between training and customer groups. Identified client needs, designed appropriate
learning solutions. Led team of four in development and delivery of learning programs that included
instructor-led training, just-in-time tutorials, recorded presentations, job aids and tip sheets.
 Enabled successful completion of annual portfolio planning, by training over 400 employees on
new software to manage clinical trial schedules, resources, and costs.
 Helped ensure quality and safety of drugs and compliance with FDA guidelines by training over
150 IT employees involved in software validation process.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING CENTER, Foothill – De Anza Community Colleges, CA

Sr. Instructional Designer 2003 - 2004
Instructional designer for National Science Foundation (NSF) grant-funded project to develop hybrid
course, Enterprise Network Security, based on experiential, learn-by-doing model.
 Identified industry gap not filled by university graduates, and which could be filled by community
college program, by working with consortium of community colleges and industry representatives.
 Collaborated with cognitive scientists, researchers, network security engineers, and college
faculty members from Carnegie Mellon University-West, SRI International, Bay Area Information
Technology Consortium, Socratic Arts, Foothill and De Anza to design and develop course.
 Created video of Experiential Learning project & presented at NSF conference.
 Created and managed Experiential Learning Center web site: http://elc.fhda.edu/.
FOOTHILL & DE ANZA COLLEGES, Los Altos Hills & Cupertino, CA 2003
ESL Instructor
Designed, developed and taught innovative Advanced Grammar and hybrid (classroom + online)
Writing the Personal Statement classes.
 Collaborated with composition instructor to design grammar assignments closely coordinated with
his class’s writing assignments.
 Developed rubrics for grammar writing assignment to guide students and evaluate their work.
 Designed, developed and co-taught innovative new hybrid class, collaborating with counseling
instructor to teach students how to write personal statements for university transfer application.

FOOTHILL – DE ANZA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT, Learning Technologies

Instructional Designer 2000 – 2003
Teamed with faculty to design and develop online classes or web enhancements to existing classes.
Designed and delivered faculty training and workshops.
 Designed and developed three of ten 2002 California Virtual Campus Best Online Teaching Site
award-winners (Children’s Literature, Introduction to College, and Elementary Statistics).
 Trained faculty how to teach online effectively, design hybrid instruction, and use best practices in
instructional design and online teaching.

CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO 1994 - 1999

Adjunct ESL Instructor
Taught all levels and skills of ESL. Created curriculum and taught Computer Assisted Language
Learning (CALL), created web-based training with Contract Ed, conducted regular faculty and staff
technology training.
 Created innovative CALL curriculum, which focused on developing computer literacy and
communication skills to enhance job prospects and career mobility of working immigrants.
 Developed computer based jetway training for new San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
terminals, enabling operators to safely operate complex machinery.

CHINA AGRICULTURE UNIVERSITY, Beijing, China 1996

English Writing Instructor
Developed curriculum and taught academic writing skills to scholars from prestigious universities
across China, preparing them for PhD program in Agricultural Economics, taught in English.

JEWISH VOCATIONAL SERVICES, San Francisco, CA 1994 - 1995

Vocational ESL Instructor
Developed curriculum and taught communication and job search skills, as well as English for nursing.

CAREER RESOURCE & DEVELOPMENT CENTER, San Francisco, CA 1993 - 1994

Instructional Designer, Instructor
Worked with local hotel management to identify learning needs of staff, and with managers and staff
to develop learning objectives and scenarios. Developed entire curriculum and all teaching materials
(Resulting in a customized manual with photos of workers, jobs, tasks, and locations specific to these
hotels and their workers, as well as language items to learn and practice activities) and taught site-
specific courses to hotel housekeepers, convention set-up staff, and restaurant workers at Westin St.
Francis and Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf hotels.

KHON KAEN UNIVERSITY, Khon Kaen, Thailand 1990 - 1992

English Lecturer
Full-time English lecturer at large public university in northeastern Thailand. Also, developed
curriculum and taught academic English skills courses preparing scholars from Indonesia, Thailand,
Laos, Cambodia, China, and Sri Lanka for Masters Degree program in Rural Development.
 Presentations & Workshops

CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO Jan 15, 2010

FLEX workshop – Showcase of Online and Tech-Enhanced Courses
Showed my course website and explained how I use it and email, along with multiple instructional
strategies to teach my ESL, CALL, ESLB, and VESL classes.

CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO Sept 21, 2009

Teacher Training Presentation to Teachers of Zhonshan, China
Gave presentation, Using Wiki to teach EFL, on how to use a class wiki to promote EFL learning.

CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO Aug 14, 2009

FLEX workshop – Using a Class Website, Task-Based Projects based on Real-life Scenarios,
Multiple Motivators & Student Helpers to develop language, communication, computer & soft
skills
Gave FLEX workshop on how to use a class wiki, as well as other learning strategies to promote
learning of English language and communication, as well as computer and soft skills.

Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal, Lima, Peru Aug 6, 2009

Computer Literacy in Teaching and Learning English
Gave presentation to graduate students in Education on how to use a the Internet, email, a class
website, wikis, and other innovative techniques to promote English learning.

Universidad de Cesar Vallejo, Lima, Peru July 10, 2009

Workshop delivered to students of translation and interpretation
Designed and delivered workshop to graduate students in Translation & Interpretation in which
students responded to a real-life interpretation scenario and role-played the situation, in which a
visiting mining executive from the United States met with a local Peruvian mining company executive
to discuss a future joint-business venture.

Universidad Catolica de Seves Sapientiae, Lima, Peru July 2, 2009

Presentation to faculty and students of the Graduate School of Education
Gave presentation on innovative methods using Computer Assisted Language Learning to motivate
young university students and improve learning outcomes in the teaching of EFL.

Universidad de Santiago Chile June 24, 2009

Presentation to graduate students of TEFL
Gave presentation to graduate students in Education on how to use a the Internet, email, a class
website, wikis, and other innovative techniques to promote English learning.

Comunicorp Language & Communication Services, Santiago, Chile June 25, 2009
Teacher Training – how to use wiki
Trained the teachers of this private business English training company how to develop and use an
instructional wiki with their corporate clients.

CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO April 2, 2009

Downtown campus staff meeting
Gave presentation on how to use a class wiki and other innovative methods to improve learning
outcomes.

CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO February 21, 2009

ESL Colloquium
Gave presentation with 6 of my students to a group of Bay Area ESL teachers on how to use a class
wiki and other innovative methods to improve learning outcomes.

FOOTHILL COLLEGE April 25, 2003

ESL from an Instructional Design Perspective
Gave presentation at ESL Dept meeting about how I design my instructional activities (leveraging my
experience as a instructional designer and academic technologist).
BERKELEY ADULT SCHOOL Jan 25, 1999
Using the Internet and ESL-Related Websites
Gave presentation to ESL faculty on resources they can use in their teaching, as well as how to
conduct effective Internet searches.

Education

MA, Teaching English as a Foreign Language, San Francisco State University, CA.
BA, German, UC Davis, CA.
TESOL Certificate, UC Davis, CA.
Languages
English, Spanish, German, French, Thai, Swahili, Mandarin, Luhya, Lao.