Mentors
As a VERSA fellow, you will have two mentors:
Faculty mentor, who will be one of UC San Diego's faculty who are leaders in STEM education. They will teach the Bootcamp sessions and other professional development activities. Most importantly, they will supervise and guide your research.
Pod mentor, who will be a graduate student in DBER or STEM education research. Each pod mentor will work with 3-4 VERSA fellows. They will supervise virtual co-working times, lead reflection and social activities, and be available as an additional resource.
Faculty mentors
Saharnaz Baghdadchi
Saharnaz Baghdadchi does research on electrical engineering and engineering education. Her VERSA project focuses on whether giving students choices in how they are assessed improves self-confidence and engineering identity.
Thom Bussey
Thomas Bussey studies chemical education. His VERSA project is about how an augmented reality tool helps students learn about the chemistry of biomolecules.
Nate Delson / Lelli Van Den Einde
Nate Delson and Lelli Van Den Einde study engineering education. The VERSA project they are jointly supervising focuses on using data mining techniques to analyze how to improve a new software program for teaching students spatial visualization.
Emma Geller
Emma Geller studies the psychology of learning and psychology education research. Her VERSA project focuses on how students learn from prompts to discuss with peers and/or explain their own thinking in writing.
Quinn Konopacky
Quinn Konopacky is an astrophysicist. Her VERSA project is evaluating whether a mobile planetarium can help astronomy students learn spatial geometry and better understand the night sky.
Stanley M. Lo
Stanley Lo is a STEM education researcher and learning scientist. Their VERSA project examines the intersection of undergraduate student sociocultural identities, learning experiences, and career aspirations in biological sciences. (2 students)
Claire Meaders
Claire Meaders studies biology education. Her VERSA project focuses on analyzing the impact of discussion section structure on student experiences within section.
Liam Mueller
Liam Mueller is a biology education researcher. His VERSA project focuses on developing computational models to classify the content of student "note sheets" for exams.
Melinda T. Owens
Melinda T. Owens studies biology education research. Her VERSA project focuses on how student identity may affect how students respond to Scientist Spotlights, homework assignments that feature counter-stereotypical scientists.
Katie Petrie
Katie Petrie studies biology education research. Her VERSA project explores what motivates, guides, and challenges instructors who incorporate discussions of race and genetics in their courses in an effort to reduce scientific racism. (2 students)
Pod mentors
To be determined!