Dr. Hamadani's research involves the development and application of single molecule biophysical methods to the study of protein folding, function, structure, dynamics, and evolution. He is the 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. He redesigned a lecture-only general biochemistry course by adding virtual lab activities 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. He 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, 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. His enthusiasm about innovative instructional technologies and fearless experimentation is driven by his commitment to reach as many students as possible.
