Dr. Carolyn Bergman and Dr. Vincent Chen have been named two of the 51 nationwide recipients of Course Hero’s Teaching Grant for Digital Learning.
Dr. Bergman, who holds a B.S. in Genetics and a Ph.D. in Immunology, has been at Georgian Court since 2004. She is currently the Chair of the university’s Department of Biology. Her Course Hero grant project involves creating a digital study guide on the stages of mitosis, with the grant funding a new laptop and four digital microscope cameras.
“Students used these cameras by replacing one of the eyepieces on their microscope which allowed them to view samples in a live video feed onto the attached computer,” said Bergman. “The result was a much more interactive and exciting lab experience for the students, as they discussed what they found with each other and the live video stream allowed me to quickly identify students who were unable to properly locate the sample on the microscope slide and assist as needed.”
Dr. Chen, who has served as an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at Georgian Court since 2017, holds a B.S. in Kinesiology and a Ph.D. in Health and Kinesiology. He is also the Vice President of the North America Taiwanese Professors’ Association.
“With support from the Course Hero Teaching Grant, we purchased three iPads and Apple pencils,” said Chen. “In this project, students worked as groups to create images explaining complex contents in Exercise Physiology while they were encouraged to consider diversity and inclusion, being that the audience for their projects would be random people on social media with different gender, educational, sociological, and racial backgrounds.”
While digital learning can be considered challenging for some, many teachers have been able to establish new methods of teaching while maintaining students’ motivation and attention.
Course Hero sought to celebrate innovative teachers keeping digital pedagogy afloat, while also make the college experience community-oriented and tangible for students. As noted by the organization, “The more we can learn to use technology for the betterment of ourselves and society, the sooner we can view digital tools as an ally and not an enemy”.
