David Kephart

Biography

In 2015, Kephart's paper refining earlier research into topological and syntactic aspects of specific pseudo-metrics in the space of formal languages was published in Proceeding of the14th Meeting on the Mathematics of Language. In 2011, he co-authored a study with members of the University of South Florida math education department into the efficacy of online tutoring in improving student achievement and retention, which was published in Mentoring and Tutor: a Partnership in Learning . Prior research includes demonstration in a program of certain formal language conclusions about the “words” used in DNA computing.Kephart led the online tutoring department and, subsequently, the research department of a local distance-learning software development company founded by mathematics faculty members from USF.

Research Interest

David Kephart's main specialty is formal language theory – in particular, language distances. He is also interested in the use of online educational supports to quantify learning outcomes.