Cohort 5 – Page 2

Rachel Henderson

Rachel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the CREATE for STEM Institute at MSU. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in physics from Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania and her Master’s and PhD in physics from West Virginia University. Rachel was a former post-doctoral researcher working with Danny in the Physics Education Research Lab (PERL) before joining the faculty at Michigan State. Her research focuses on developing and implementing inclusive and equitable assessment tools that can be used to improve learning for all students within the physics classroom. Specifically, she’s most interested in developing the next generation of physics assessments, particularly with an eye to equity and inclusion. Her work employs psychometric theory through large datasets and theoretically-grounded measurement models with an aim to ensure inclusive assessment practices within physics education.

Jonathan Hardy

My name is Jonathan Hardy and I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Michigan State University. I teach a 300-level course in Microbiology with about 480 students per semester. The course is team-taught with another professor and is a flipped course, with all lectures in the form of 10 to 20-minute videos. We use the online Desire to Learn (D2L) program to provide the lectures and for formative assessments. The course includes one 80-minute in-person section for the students each week, where they are broken into groups of four for active learning. The groups are carefully assigned using CATME to match the students and form productive groups. I greatly enjoy teaching this class, although it is a lot of work. The sections are…

Neal Hammer

Neal Hammer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Michigan State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Michigan. The Hammer laboratory studies Staphylococcus aureus pathogenesis and antibiotic resistance from a metabolic perspective. Dr. Hammer’s teaching appointment began in 2017 and focused on Introductory Microbiology, an upper level science course with an enrollment that exceeds 400. The format of the course was initially a didactic lecture, but active learning was impeded by poor attendance. To enhance student learning by increasing active participation, in 2018, the course was ‘flipped’ to a hybrid online, in-person format. Since then Dr. Hammer and his colleagues have been fine-tuning the format and content. His major goal is to help students appreciate the importance…

Patti Hamerski

Patti Hamerski (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering (CMSE) department at Michigan State University. She got her PhD at Michigan State University, where she employed student-centered research methodologies to identify curricular challenges that impact students’ affect in computation-integrated physics classrooms. Her work in CMSE involves teaching introductory computational and data science courses where students learn computational practices and applications to real world problems. Her research focuses on characterizing students’ self-efficacy for doing computation and building an understanding of how computational self-efficacy can develop during CMSE 201: Introduction to Computational Modeling and Data Analysis. During the 3DL program, she intends to collaborates with Dr. Rachel Frisbie and Dr. Tom Finzell to design new ways to support students’ self-efficacy in CMSE 201 and also build robust…

Rachel Frisbie

Rachel Frisbie is a Fixed-term Assistant Professor in the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science & Engineering (CMSE) at Michigan State University. She earned her PhD in Astrophysics from Michigan State University in 2020 and has been teaching courses in CMSE and engaging in computational science education research with the Computational Education Research Lab (CERL) at MSU since 2020. Her interests include exploring how students problem solve using computational concepts as they progress through their education as well as how those findings can be applied to courses like the ones we teach in CMSE to improve student outcomes. Rachel is excited to collaborate with Tom Finzell and Paul Hamerski within the Fellowship to learn new teaching and assessment practices and apply them to both her teaching and research. Outside of work,…

Tom Finzell

Tom Finzell is an instructor in the Computational, Mathematics, Science, and Engineering (CMSE) Department at Michigan State University. He received his PhD from MSU in Astronomy. His research currently focuses on student problem solving in introductory computational classes. Tom has taught physics, astronomy, and computational classes and is currently teaching the introductory sequence CMSE 201/202. He is passionate about his teaching, working to improve access and increase the diversity of the fields he’s a part of, and trying to ensure a just and equitable learning environment.

Jennifer Doherty

I am an Assistant Professor in Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Physiology at Michigan State University. I earned my Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and was previously a Teaching Professor at the University of Washington where I won the university-wide Distinguished Teaching Award. I use evidence-based teaching strategies in all of my teaching and have taught in a variety of courses and settings, including introductory and advanced science courses for majors and pre-service teachers, methods courses, individual student research projects, and professional development for K-16 teachers and mentored co-teaching with grad students and postdocs. I use a mechanistic approach to biology and my exams are at higher Bloom’s levels where students’ must synthesize information and solve novel problems. I am a biology education researcher and…

Phillip Delekta

Phillip Delekta is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Michigan State University. He is also the Course Director of MMG 301 Introductory Microbiology and MMG 494L Summer Undergraduate Research Institute in Genomics. Phillip earned his Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Michigan. During his postdoctoral studies in virology at the University of Michigan, he completed the Postdoctoral Short-Course on College Teaching in Science and Engineering by the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching at UM and gained his first lead instructor experience teaching part time at Eastern Michigan University. During a second postdoctoral fellowship in bacteriology at MSU, he received certification with distinction for completion of An Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching by the Center for the Integration…

Brittany Busby

Brittany Busby serves as a Laboratory Coordinator at MSU. She is a co-coordinator for the Survey of Organic Chemistry lab and a co-coordinator for both semesters of general chemistry lab. These are large-scale courses that serve about 2000 students each semester. She is interested in developing labs that are more relevant to students’ lives and majors. Additionally, she hopes to continue improving the training for teaching assistants, providing them with the tools to be successful helping students. She received her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Montana–Missoula under the guidance of Mark Cracolice and Chris Palmer, where her chemistry education research focused on graphing skill transfer between math and chemistry. During this time, she also had the opportunity to restructure a pre-nursing lab course, creating a data-to-concepts curriculum. She…

Beth Brisco-McCann

Beth Brisco-McCann is an instructor in the Department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University. She completed her Bachelors in Plant Biology at the University of British Columbia, her Masters degree in Biotechnology from the University of Toronto, and her Doctorate in Plant Breeding and Genetics from MSU. She currently teaches PLB105 (Introductory Plant Biology) and ISB202 (Applications of Environmental and Organismal Biology). In these large lecture courses, Beth employs multiple active learning methods to engage students with the material, including iClicker questions and group activities. She has taught both online and in-person formats and is always seeking ways to improve the educational experience of her students. Her ultimate goal is to impart the importance of science in her students’ lives and wonder of the world around them.

Category: Cohort 5