Dr. Kambiz Hamadani

Dr. Hamadani received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from UCLA in 2008 and completed his undergraduate and post-doctoral training at University of California Berkeley. His research involves the development and application of single molecule biophysical methods to the study of protein folding, function, structure, dynamics, and evolution. He is currently Principle Investigator of the first primarily undergraduate single molecule biophysics research lab in the world at California State University San Marcos. Dr. Hamadani is a highly dedicated teacher-scholar and is excited by the prospect of developing and using virtual labs and immersive virtual reality experiences to enhance student learning in his courses. He has assessed the impact of commercially available virtual labs in two different Course Redesign with Technology projects. In 2016-2017 he redesigned a lecture-only general biochemistry course by adding virtual lab activities (designed by Labster, Inc.) and found that certain well-aligned virtual lab activities significantly enhanced student learning of applied skills/concepts and improved student engagement with course content in this non-majors biochemistry course. In 2017-2018 Dr. Hamadani redesigned his general, organic, and biological chemistry lecture/lab course for non-science majors. This time, however, he replaced some pre-existing face-to-face lab activities with combinations of low-cost reusable take-home lab kits/experiments and virtual lab activities in order to reduce the laboratory space-time required to offer course seats. This approach can potentially increase student throughput by 40%, improve the quality of the students passing the course, and all without requiring additional lab space-time or resources. In his more recent Lab Innovations with Technology course redesign project (ongoing), Dr. Hamadani- together with an interdisciplinary team of computer scientists, engineers, and digital artists-- is developing and assessing the impact of a new class of highly immersive mixed-reality science labs on student learning. Dr. Hamadani's enthusiasm about innovative instructional technologies and his fearless experimentation in the classroom is driven by his commitment to reach as many students as possible.

1. E-portfolio 2016-2017 Course Redesign with Technology for General Biochemistry lecture course using and assessing used and Assessed the impact of Virtual Biochemistry Labs.
2. E-portfolio 2017-2018 Course Redesign with Technology for General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Lecture/Lab course where Dr. Hamadani developed, used, and assessed the impact of combining virtual labs and customized take-home lab kits.
3. Recent Nature Outlooks article highlighting use and assessment of virtual biochemistry labs for teaching.
4. Recent Webinar put together by Labster, Inc. on usage of their virtual lab tools.
5. Video Summary of Course Redesign with Technology redesign of General Biochemistry course using Labster, Inc. Virtual Labs