PCF Fellows
Eric Y. Ma, PhD – Assistant Professor, Physics
About Eric: Eric is an Assistant Professor in Physics and EECS and holds the Georgie Lee Chair in Physics. He is also a Faculty Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research focuses on probing and controlling wave-matter interactions in condensed matter systems using cutting-edge instrumentation and AI/ML techniques. As an educator, Eric is passionate about using modern software and hardware tools to enhance undergraduate physics research and education, especially in laboratory courses.
Research Project: Eric’s project, Evaluating Large Language Models for Grading and Feedback in Advanced Physics Laboratories, evaluates whether large language models (LLMs) can generate grading and formative feedback for PHYSICS 111B (Advanced Experimentation Laboratory) lab reports. This study specifically considers whether these LLM outputs align with instructor/Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) grading and provide feedback that students and GSIs perceive as helpful for learning. His research team is focusing on a post-hoc analysis of archived and newly collected reports that also incorporates student/GSI perspectives.
Gina Ann Garcia, PhD – Professor, Berkeley School of Education
About Gina: Dr. Gina Ann Garcia is a professor in the Berkeley School of Education. Her research centers on issues of equity and justice in higher education with an emphasis on understanding how Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) embrace an organizational identity for serving minoritized populations. She explores how HSIs transform their organizational structures to create a culture that values the lived realities of people of color and investigates the processes and practices that enhance the outcomes and experiences of students attending these institutions. Dr. Garcia is the author of four books, including Becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Opportunities for Colleges & Universities for which she won the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Book of the Year Award in 2020. She is also the host of the popular podcast ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? and directs the Higher Education Action Research for Transformation (HEART) Lab. In the classroom, she is passionate about enhancing student’s understanding of social justice issues and developing their critical consciousness and racial-ethnic identity.
Research Project: Gina’s project, Exploring Liberatory Experiences and Outcomes of a Latines/xs in Education Course, examines how exposure to liberatory teaching practices influences students’ understanding of self, family, and community, and the undergraduate course outcomes related to these experiences. In a course focused on critical issues and perspectives on Latines/ex in education, this study considers how an interdisciplinary group of students in said course may develop their racial-ethnic identity and critical consciousness. Her research team, representing graduate and undergraduate student and staff perspectives, explores themes of advocacy and Latine/x joy as relates to and is impacted by their course experiences.
Mohamad M. Halal, PhD – Assistant Teaching Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
About Mohamad: Mohamad Hallal is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley specializing in data science and computation in the context of civil and environmental engineering. As the civil and environmental engineering field undergoes a revolution fueled by the proliferation of data, Mohamad aims to match this perspective by transforming the learning environment so that future scientists and engineers have the strength to respond to the world's most pressing challenges to the broader benefit of a resilient, equitable, and globally connected society.
Research Project: Mohamad’s project, Evaluating Students’ Sense of Belonging and Utilization of Assignment Extensions in a Computer Programming Course, examines the relationship between students’ sense of belonging and their engagement with a flexible assignment structure in an introductory computer programming course (ENGIN 7) at UC Berkeley. This study investigates the importance of student sense of belonging in shaping motivation, achievement, and persistence particularly in a course that offers a flexible assignment structure. His research team is investigating to what extent sense of belonging differs between student populations or predicts academic performance or the use of assignment extensions, or vice versa.
Julie Shackford-Bradley, PhD – Lecturer, Legal Studies
About Julie: Julie Shackford-Bradley is a Lecturer in Legal Studies, where she teaches courses in Restorative Justice and Truth, Justice and Reconciliation. Julie has been the Director for the Restorative Justice Center at UC Berkeley for 10 years, developing and facilitating workshops, trainings and processes aimed at understanding and embracing conflict as an opportunity for learning and transformation, improving communication and increasing empathy in the workplace, and repairing harm. She is currently focusing on research for applying these approaches in classroom settings where students and faculty are encountering difficult knowledge and pathways for acknowledgement and racial healing.
Research Project: Julie’s project, Assessing Students’ Emotional and Affective Responses to Content and Class Discussion of Historical Harms and Current Legacies as Pathways to Collective Understanding, examines the way diverse undergraduate students make sense of a course on Restorative Justice. Specifically, Julie will be exploring how and to what extent students’ learning is mediated by their emotional response to course content on historic harms. Her research team, which includes undergraduate researchers, will analyze surveys, student writing, focus group data, and classroom observations to offer a rich portrait of how an affective lens on learning can help inform the ways we foster meaningful discussions about challenging topics with undergraduates.
Kyongmi Park – Lecturer, East Asian Languages & Cultures
About Kyongmi: Kyongmi Park is a lecturer of Korean language in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. She earned her BA in Business Administration at Hosei University in Tokyo, Japan, and an MA in Education at Northeastern University. Before coming to Berkeley, she taught Korean at the University of Michigan. Kyongmi Park’s interests include the theory and practice of distance learning, the uses of technology in the classroom, and the efficacy of different teaching modalities in Korean language pedagogy.
Research Project: Kyongmi’s project, Post-Pandemic Learning Outcomes and Course Choice Factors in Elementary Korean: The Roles of Teaching Modality, Motivation, and Learning Environment, analyzes survey and lesson-test data collected from Korean language courses between the start of the pandemic and the post-pandemic stabilization period. This study explores whether fully remote and hybrid approaches lead to similar learning outcomes as fully in-person courses. This study also aims to examine how shifts in course modality influence students’ perceptions, learning outcomes, and course selection behaviors. Her research team is investigating whether course modalities impact student interest or persistence in a language course series, as well as how student perceptions of learning modalities align with course offerings.
Michal I. Shuldman, PhD – Assistant Teaching Professor, Integrative Biology
About Michal: Michal Shuldman is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Integrative Biology Department, who is passionate about collaborative efforts to enhance undergraduate and graduate education. Her primary objective is to foster a supportive and inclusive learning environment where all students feel a sense of belonging. By implementing active learning strategies within authentic contexts, Michal strives to motivate and engage students, empowering them to build upon their prior knowledge and learn in a social setting with their peers.
Research Project: Michal’s project, Listening for Learning: Using Think-Alouds and Reflection to Track Metacognitive Growth in a Co-Curricular Biology Tutoring Program, examines how participation in co-curricular, metacognition-focused tutoring sessions might affect learners’ growth and transfer of metacognitive skills over time. This study focuses on Biology, an introductory, general biology course, and the optional, co-curricular tutoring program (“Study Sleuth”) that accompanies it. Her research team is investigating whether students engaged in this tutoring program demonstrate improved metacognition in addition to improved sense of belonging, scientific identity, and course-related outcomes.
Christyna Serrano, PhD – Lecturer, Berkeley Changemaker and School of Education
About Christyna: Dr. Christyna Serrano received her PhD in Education from the University of California, Berkeley. She has over ten years of teaching, curriculum, and program design experience. Christyna has collaborated with, developed, and managed faculty, technical experts, thought leaders, and content partners to produce dynamic, interactive, and transformative learning experiences and educational solutions (in-person and online).
Research Project: Christyna’s project, AI‑Enabled Changemaker Learning at UC Berkeley: Comparing Asynchronous Individual Work vs. Synchronous Team‑Based Work, addresses the critical gap between AI adoption and pedagogical effectiveness. This study examines how specific, intentionally designed uses of generative AI in two Berkeley Changemaker courses (a 6‑week asynchronous “Gateway” course and a 15‑week team‑based W190A course) influence development and enhanced learning of the 3Cs: critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. Her research question aims to unpack the teaching practices and learning activity implementations that support effective use of GenAI in teaching. A notable innovation in her research project is how it will enlist iterative use of GenAI to support an ethnographic study of her teaching to illuminate these best practices. The research team will compare patterns of student AI use, instructional design choices, and learning artifacts to identify simple, replicable practices that enhance—not replace—human capacities.