Jennifer Doherty, Ph.D.
Biology
Faculty
West Holmes
- LB Course Subject Area: Biology
- Department of Physiology
- pronouns: she/her
- Holmes Hall, W-28
- 919 E. Shaw Lane
- East Lansing, MI 48825
- (517) 884-5071
- dohert59@msu.edu
LBC COURSES
- LB 145: Biology II: Cellular and Molecular Biology
- LB 348: Biology Research Internship
INTRO
I use a mechanistic approach to teaching biology and my exams ask students to synthesize information and solve complex problems. I use alternative grading strategies, such as allowing exam retakes without penalty, in all my courses to improve equity and inclusion and align my teaching with my beliefs about how people learn: we learn from our mistakes! I am a physiology education researcher who investigates how students develop principle-based mechanistic reasoning. My research seeks to coherently link students’ developing reasoning, data from assessments, and instructional tools.
EDUCATION
- Ph.D. in Biology, University of Pennsylvania with Certificate of College Teaching and Learning
- B.A. cum laude in Biology, with Distinction, University of Pennsylvania
Awards
In my previous position as a teaching professor at the University of Washington, I received the all-University Distinguished Teaching Award.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
- Doherty, J.H., Scott, E.E., Cerchiara, J.A., Jescovitch, L.N., Mcfarland, J., Haudek, K.C., & Wenderoth, M.P. 2023. What a difference in pressure makes: A framework describing undergraduate students’ reasoning about bulk flow down pressure gradients. CBE Life Sciences Eduction, 22(2), ar23. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.20-01-0003
- Doherty, J.H., Cerchiara, J.A., & Wenderoth, M.P. 2023. Undergraduate students' neurophysiological reasoning: What we learn from the attractive distractors students select. Advances in Physiology Education. 47(2), 222–236. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00128.2022
- Doherty, J.H., Cerchiara, J.A., Scott, E.E., Jescovitch, L.N., Mcfarland, J., Haudek, K.C., & Wenderoth, M.P. 2023. Oaks to arteries: The Physiology Core Concept of "flow down gradients" supports transfer of student reasoning. Advances in Physiology Education. 47(2), 282–295. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00155.2022
- Scott, E.E., Cerchiara, J.A., Mcfarland, J., Wenderoth, M.P., Doherty, J.H. 2023. How students reason about matter flows and accumulations in complex biological phenomena: an emerging learning progression for mass balance. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21791
- Scott, E.E., Wenderoth, M.P., & Doherty, J.H. 2020. Design-based research: A methodology to extend and enrich Biology Education Research. CBE Life Sciences Education. 19(3), es11, 1–12. DOI: 10.1187/cbe.19-11-0245
- Cerchiara, J.A., Kim, K.J., Meir, E., Wenderoth, M.P., & Doherty, J.H. 2019. A new assessment to monitor student performance in introductory neurophysiology: Electrochemical Gradients Assessment Device (EGAD). Advances in Physiology Education. 43(2), 211–220. DOI: 10.1152/advan.00209.2018
LINKS