Dorothy Zhang

Dr. Zhang is an associate professor and program Chair (MS ABA) in the ABA Online Department. She received a Ph.D. in Education from George Mason University, specializing in Educational Psychology and Applied Behavior Analysis in 2015. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (Doctoral level) and a Licensed Behavior Analyst in the state of Virginia. Aside from teaching, she has nearly 20 years of experience working with children and young adults with special needs. Dr. Zhang is also actively involved in the development of Behavior Analysis training courses and certification systems in mainland China and was the Subject Matter Expert for the Behavior Analyst Certification Board.

Dr. Zhang enjoys working with her students domestically and internationally, with the belief that teaching is a scientific endeavor that can take place everywhere, including distance learning. Through teaching, students can acquire the knowledge and skills, which may finally lead to living a better life in the sense that learning is a pleasurable and lifelong pursuit. The best educational outcomes come from having motivation, communication, and an environment that allows and supports learning to occur. When students and teachers work in a bi-directional way, great ideas will be generated, and learning becomes challenging yet fun.

Dr. Zhang's research interests include self-management, skill acquisition through stimulus equivalence, executive functioning, parent and staff training and supervision, telehealth, social skills development among students with autism, evidence-based classroom management practices, teacher efficacy, and cultural issues relating to ABA.