The PBL 2025 Workshop is hosted by the Institute for Transforming University Education (ITUE) at the University of Delaware. The workshop facilitation team is comprised of highly effective university faculty who have successfully integrated and refined Problem-Based Learning experiences into their own courses.  (more details coming soon). 

Dr. Philip Duker is the Director of the Institute for Transforming University Education (ITUE) at the University of Delaware. He is an avid proponent of problem-based learning and has also published pedagogical research on: standards-based grading, just-in-time teaching, flipped pedagogy, and using clickers to capture dynamic thinking. His current pedagogical research interests include: ways to foster curiosity in the classroom and the role of scaffolding and backwards design in the creation of PBL problems. Dr. Duker remains active as a classroom instructor and continues to pursue research in music theory around repetition and temporality. He holds a Ph.D. in Music Theory from the University of Michigan where he was the James A. Winn Fellow at the Institute for the Humanities.

Dr. John Jungck is the Associate Director of the Institute for Transforming University Education (ITUE) at the University of Delaware. He was the founder of the Society for Mathematical Biology Education Committee/Sub-Group and is well-known for his contributions to mathematical and theoretical biology education, and promoting interdisciplinary work at the interface between science, technology, and the humanities. Dr. Jungck is the former director of the Dupont Interdisciplinary Science Learning Laboratories. He is a tenured full Professor of Biological Sciences and holds joint appointments in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, the Bioinformatics/ Computational Biology Program, and the Delaware Environmental Institute (DENIN). Dr. Jungck’s research interests include Mathematical Biology, Evolution, Bioinformatics, Image Analysis, Education, Citizen Science, Crowdsourcing, and Constructivist Pedagogy.

Dr. Agnes Ly is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Delaware. She is an advocate for the use of mixed pedagogies and tools, such as problem-based learning, team-based learning, and clickers, to tailor and enhance student engagement and learning. Dr. Ly’s current pedagogical interests are in developing methods to engage and support students taking large-enrollment introductory courses and the use of technology to support student learning both inside and outside of the classroom. She holds a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Adebanjo Oriade utilizes his background in computational condensed matter physics to engage in the challenge of designing, implementing, and assessing learning tools for science educational purposes. Much like moments in simulations of nanomagnetic films in his research, tools for student-centered learning present challenges in the spatial, temporal, and competing energies/objectives dimensions of implementation. These tools include project-specific rubrics that serve the needs of both students and graduate teaching assistants, design of group tasks, micro-experiment PBL, and development of ten new laboratory exercises grounded in the 5Es instructional model.

Dr. Mark A. Serva is an associate professor of management information systems at The University of Delaware.  Professor Serva received his MBA from Syracuse University, and his Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin.  He has published numerous articles in the areas of e-commerce trust, latent growth modeling, and the improvement of student learning.  He is also the recipient of many teaching awards, including the Lerner College’s Outstanding Teacher.  Dr. Serva is the former director for UD’s Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education, a leading advocate for the integration of student-centered pedagogies into higher education.  He is also a well-traveled educational consultant, having conducted teaching improvement workshops on five continents, including Egypt, Brazil, South Korea, Turkey, and India. In 2019, Professor Serva earned his Teacher-Consultant Certification in Team-based Learning from the TBL Collaborative.

Dr. Lydia Timmins is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication. She brings more than 20 years of experience as a professional television journalist to the University. She worked in large and small-market TV stations in the Midwest and East Coast of the United States, spending 14 years at Philadelphia’s NBC10 as a producer, writer and digital editor. She is a strong proponent of learning through experiencing and doing. She uses traditional problem-based learning strategies, as well as client-based projects and other ways in which to engage students in learning and doing. Dr. Timmins earned a PhD in Mass Media and Communication from Temple University in 2010 and a MJ (Master’s of Journalism) from Temple in 2001.