We remember 20% of what we hear; yet 90% of what we teach others is retained. As such, I utilize high-impact pedagogies, such as, flipped class, peer-teaching, game-based learning, active learning, etc. to ensure retention and application of learned materials. Often, these approaches are integrated into each other for more effective outcomes. I am also a strong advocate for innovative instructional designs and have employed several technology-based modes of lecture delivery, such as: lightboard, softchalk, etc.
Selected Examples of Pedagogical Initiatives
o Big data analytics, including Google Trends
o Critical and systematic literature reviews
o E-portfolios
o Flipped class pedagogy in epidemiology and biostatistics
o Mock supreme court cases
o Mock congressional testimony
o Online video game for infectious disease control
o Photovoice project in epidemiology (#epiiselfie)
o Policy brief
o Policy debate
o Poster symposium
o Social media campaign
o Service-learning
o SPSS lab guidebook which continues to be used by current instructors
Selected Examples of Pedagogical Initiatives
o Big data analytics, including Google Trends
o Critical and systematic literature reviews
o E-portfolios
o Flipped class pedagogy in epidemiology and biostatistics
o Mock supreme court cases
o Mock congressional testimony
o Online video game for infectious disease control
o Photovoice project in epidemiology (#epiiselfie)
o Policy brief
o Policy debate
o Poster symposium
o Social media campaign
o Service-learning
o SPSS lab guidebook which continues to be used by current instructors
Courses taught at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB)
Selected list of courses as tenured Full Professor (for full list, please review CV):
Quarter system-
Quarter system-
- HSCI 271: Introduction to Public Health, undergraduate
- HSCI 342: Nutrition for You, undergraduate
- HSCI 367: Human Disease Mechanism, undergraduate
- HSCI 455: Health Policy and Law, undergraduate
- HSCI 595: Independent Study, undergraduate and graduate (individualized supervision)
- HSCI 607: Cross Cultural Aspects of Health, graduate
- HSCI 612: Public Health Statistics, graduate
- HSCI 699: Thesis, graduate (individualized supervision)
- HSCI 3200: Foundations of Public Health Education, undergraduate
- HSCI 3201: Health Behavior, undergraduate
- HSCI 3206: Public Health Law and Ethics, undergraduate
- HSCI 3207: Social Determinants of Health, undergraduate
- HSCI 4202: Epidemiology, undergraduate
- HSCI 4203: Public Health Program Planning and Implementation, undergraduate
- HSCI 4205: Advanced Professional Development, undergraduate
- HSCI 4209: Complementary and Alternative Medicine, undergraduate
- HSCI 4210: Cultural Competency, undergraduate
- HSCI 6150: Health Law and Medical Ethics, graduate
- HSCI 6190: Graduate Research Methodology in Health Science, graduate
- HSCI 6954: Administrative Residency, graduate (individualized supervision)
- HSCI 6974: Thesis, graduate (individualized supervision)
Examples of Innovative Pedagogy
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
DEI Faculty Learning Community: The goal of the learning community was to enhance faculty's ability to include initiatives related to diversity, equity, and including in classroom. In order to expand the definition of diversity, I focused on whether public health professional curriculum is prepared to serve LGBTQ population.
Results of this initiative was presented at CSUSB on May 10, 2019.
Peer-reviewed publication related to DEI:
Mshigeni, S. K., Okolo, S., Mshigeni, D., & Becerra, M. (2020). What Diversity Means to Undergraduate Health Science Students. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 20(6), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.33423/jhetp.v20i6.3131
DEI Faculty Learning Community: The goal of the learning community was to enhance faculty's ability to include initiatives related to diversity, equity, and including in classroom. In order to expand the definition of diversity, I focused on whether public health professional curriculum is prepared to serve LGBTQ population.
Results of this initiative was presented at CSUSB on May 10, 2019.
Peer-reviewed publication related to DEI:
Mshigeni, S. K., Okolo, S., Mshigeni, D., & Becerra, M. (2020). What Diversity Means to Undergraduate Health Science Students. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 20(6), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.33423/jhetp.v20i6.3131
Affordable Learning Solutions: Course-specific textbooks have consistently been a limitation for students, primarily due to the cost, but also due to materials and content becoming quickly outdated. As part of the CSU Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$) initiative, I created online modules and videos for graduate epidemiology course (HSCI 617) in order to reduce course-specific textbook cost to students. Results of this initiative was presented at AL$ workshop on April 28, 2017 at CSUSB.
Flipped Class Pedagogy
Presentations:
Becerra M.B. & Mshigeni S. (2018). Teaching epidemiology in a flipped class: A quasi-experimental study. Oral presentation at American Public Health Association, San Diego, CA, USA.
Becerra M.B & Mishigeni S. (2017). Efficacy of flipped classroom in undergraduate epidemiology course. Poster presentation at Lilly Conference, Traverse City, MI, USA.
The results of this implementation were also presented at the Faculty Showcase on Innovative Course Development (Spring 2016) by Dr. Becerra and won second place.
Peer-review publication:
Becerra, M., & Mshigeni, S. (2022). A quasi-experimental evaluation of a flipped class in a public health course. Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching, 5(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2022.5.1.11
Project details:
As part of CSUSB's teaching resource center's summer innovative course redesign grant, I incorporated the flipped class pedagogy for undergraduate epidemiology (HSCI 451) course. Course lectures, in text format, were provided online utilizing SoftChalk technology, thus enabling integration of quizzes that allowed students to assess their learning. The videos and lectures also complemented each other, instead of repeating material; thus ensuring students would need to review both prior to class. Before attending class, students were also required to take an online quiz that assessed basic knowledge from lectures (formative evaluation). In class, students were provided a learning activity prior to any review of content. This allowed me to evaluate retention of content from online modules. Immediately after the first learning activity, class discussion ensued to review content that was unclear from online materials. These discussions were led by students and I provided prompts to continue discussions if there was inactivity. Following this, case studies were provided where students would be required to work in groups, thus incorporating peer-teaching and group discussions, to answer questions based on their interpretation of epidemiologic data. As part of summative evaluation, in addition to standard exams, pre- and post-tests were developed to evaluate students’ perception of epidemiologic skills,. The Statistics Attitude Survey was adapted for the epidemiology course to evaluate students’ attitude, perception, and self-efficacy related to epidemiology; thus in turn providing a foundational validation for such an assessment.
Students’ attitude and perception towards epidemiology as a subject matter and its usefulness significantly improved after the end of the class. For example, on average, more students reported agree or strongly agree on the usefulness of epidemiology in testing validity of studies heard in the media as well as the epidemiology course being a requirement for their chosen profession. When asked whether taking additional epidemiology courses would be worrying, more students disagreed, which was further supported when significantly more students reported agreed or strongly agreed to taking additional epidemiology courses, even if not required by their academic program.
Similarly, students’ self-efficacy in epidemiology problem-solving also significantly increased after the end of the class. For example, more students agreed or strongly agreed that they were confident when solving epidemiologic problems, finding health determinants, and identifying limitations and biases in research studies.
Student perception of their study practices also showed differences in post-test, when compared to pre-test results. For instance, at the beginning of the class, more students reported they did not find group work, in-class individual work, or online lectures useful. On the other hand, after the end of the class, significant increases in reporting agree or strongly agree was noted for all factors (group work, in-class individual work, and online lectures).
Furthermore, historical data demonstrate a change in grade distribution. I have taught the class since Fall 2014. While content was often updated throughout the quarters, flipped class was not employed. During each of these quarters, the average grade in the course was consistently B+. On the other hand, upon implementation of the flipped class in Fall 2015 and Winter 2016 the average grade in the course rose to A minus.
Additionally, qualitative evaluation of student feedback showed two major emergent themes: pace of the course and collaborative learning. For example, students consistently reported that online lectures allowed them to learn content on their own time and review materials as needed throughout the course. Students also noted that the online quizzes allowed for further continuous review of materials without the fear and stress of in-person exam settings. Additionally, students stated that the in-class group activities were informative as the diverse student population (different majors) allowed them to problem solve a topic with different perspectives. Students further reported that the group activities provided scope for collegiality in a primarily commuter school. Examples of comments on the course are as follows:
“I enjoy your presence and instruction. The subject is definitely not easy and requires a lot of understanding in order to succeed. I appreciate the fact that you thoroughly go through what we need to learn and make sure we understand what we are learning, whether it is through your instruction or through in-class group work.”
“Genuinely this was one of the most educational classes I have taken this whole quarter. The material is easy to understand and it hits points in many other classes as well. The online sections were clear when it came to the online quizzes.”
“I feel that the online lectures were very useful and preferable to me because it let me go at my own pace. I thought the use of group work to do case studies was useful because we can help each other with questions, however, I didn't like having group quizzes. I found that responsibility is not divided equally when taking quizzes.”
Presentations:
Becerra M.B. & Mshigeni S. (2018). Teaching epidemiology in a flipped class: A quasi-experimental study. Oral presentation at American Public Health Association, San Diego, CA, USA.
Becerra M.B & Mishigeni S. (2017). Efficacy of flipped classroom in undergraduate epidemiology course. Poster presentation at Lilly Conference, Traverse City, MI, USA.
The results of this implementation were also presented at the Faculty Showcase on Innovative Course Development (Spring 2016) by Dr. Becerra and won second place.
Peer-review publication:
Becerra, M., & Mshigeni, S. (2022). A quasi-experimental evaluation of a flipped class in a public health course. Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching, 5(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2022.5.1.11
Project details:
As part of CSUSB's teaching resource center's summer innovative course redesign grant, I incorporated the flipped class pedagogy for undergraduate epidemiology (HSCI 451) course. Course lectures, in text format, were provided online utilizing SoftChalk technology, thus enabling integration of quizzes that allowed students to assess their learning. The videos and lectures also complemented each other, instead of repeating material; thus ensuring students would need to review both prior to class. Before attending class, students were also required to take an online quiz that assessed basic knowledge from lectures (formative evaluation). In class, students were provided a learning activity prior to any review of content. This allowed me to evaluate retention of content from online modules. Immediately after the first learning activity, class discussion ensued to review content that was unclear from online materials. These discussions were led by students and I provided prompts to continue discussions if there was inactivity. Following this, case studies were provided where students would be required to work in groups, thus incorporating peer-teaching and group discussions, to answer questions based on their interpretation of epidemiologic data. As part of summative evaluation, in addition to standard exams, pre- and post-tests were developed to evaluate students’ perception of epidemiologic skills,. The Statistics Attitude Survey was adapted for the epidemiology course to evaluate students’ attitude, perception, and self-efficacy related to epidemiology; thus in turn providing a foundational validation for such an assessment.
Students’ attitude and perception towards epidemiology as a subject matter and its usefulness significantly improved after the end of the class. For example, on average, more students reported agree or strongly agree on the usefulness of epidemiology in testing validity of studies heard in the media as well as the epidemiology course being a requirement for their chosen profession. When asked whether taking additional epidemiology courses would be worrying, more students disagreed, which was further supported when significantly more students reported agreed or strongly agreed to taking additional epidemiology courses, even if not required by their academic program.
Similarly, students’ self-efficacy in epidemiology problem-solving also significantly increased after the end of the class. For example, more students agreed or strongly agreed that they were confident when solving epidemiologic problems, finding health determinants, and identifying limitations and biases in research studies.
Student perception of their study practices also showed differences in post-test, when compared to pre-test results. For instance, at the beginning of the class, more students reported they did not find group work, in-class individual work, or online lectures useful. On the other hand, after the end of the class, significant increases in reporting agree or strongly agree was noted for all factors (group work, in-class individual work, and online lectures).
Furthermore, historical data demonstrate a change in grade distribution. I have taught the class since Fall 2014. While content was often updated throughout the quarters, flipped class was not employed. During each of these quarters, the average grade in the course was consistently B+. On the other hand, upon implementation of the flipped class in Fall 2015 and Winter 2016 the average grade in the course rose to A minus.
Additionally, qualitative evaluation of student feedback showed two major emergent themes: pace of the course and collaborative learning. For example, students consistently reported that online lectures allowed them to learn content on their own time and review materials as needed throughout the course. Students also noted that the online quizzes allowed for further continuous review of materials without the fear and stress of in-person exam settings. Additionally, students stated that the in-class group activities were informative as the diverse student population (different majors) allowed them to problem solve a topic with different perspectives. Students further reported that the group activities provided scope for collegiality in a primarily commuter school. Examples of comments on the course are as follows:
“I enjoy your presence and instruction. The subject is definitely not easy and requires a lot of understanding in order to succeed. I appreciate the fact that you thoroughly go through what we need to learn and make sure we understand what we are learning, whether it is through your instruction or through in-class group work.”
“Genuinely this was one of the most educational classes I have taken this whole quarter. The material is easy to understand and it hits points in many other classes as well. The online sections were clear when it came to the online quizzes.”
“I feel that the online lectures were very useful and preferable to me because it let me go at my own pace. I thought the use of group work to do case studies was useful because we can help each other with questions, however, I didn't like having group quizzes. I found that responsibility is not divided equally when taking quizzes.”