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When the University moved strictly to distance learning last March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many professors worried about teaching online courses.

Scott Seidman was ready and willing to help.

糖心传媒淲e were given a few weeks糖心传媒� notice that this might happen,糖心传媒� says Seidman, a professor in the . 糖心传媒淚 knew what a hurdle the other faculty would be facing, so I emailed our chair (Diane Dalecki) and quoted Liam Neeson in the movie Taken. I told her, 糖心传媒業 have a particular set of skills.糖心传媒櫶切拇�媒櫶切拇�媒�

Seidman, a member of the department since its inception 20 years ago, held an orientation for his BME teaching colleagues and introduced them to 糖心传媒渢ools they had access to that they糖心传媒檇 never known about.糖心传媒� The next day, he held a Zoom session for other faculty members in the Hajim School.

糖心传媒淪cott糖心传媒檚 expertise and experience in online education was critical to us last semester as we suddenly transitioned to online learning,糖心传媒� Dalecki says. 糖心传媒淪cott was on the forefront helping faculty learn necessary skills and tools for moving their courses online. His willingness to dive in to share his expertise was truly invaluable and he糖心传媒檚 now a recognized leader in the University for online engineering course design and laboratory-based education.糖心传媒�

Seidman is being recognized this year with a Goergen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. 糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檓 absolutely humbled by this award,糖心传媒� he says.

Seidman糖心传媒檚 distance-learning skills were honed five years ago, when he took courses on how to develop online classes at the . He redesigned BME 150糖心传媒擨nterfacing with Microcontrollers糖心传媒攁s a two-credit online course, allowing students to access the simulation on their own time by purchasing inexpensive kits and turning personal desktops into laboratory space. It was the Hajim School糖心传媒檚 first online course for credit and one of the few online labs offered anywhere.

糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 fortuitous that the skills I糖心传媒檝e developed over the past few years really came into play,糖心传媒� Seidman says. 糖心传媒淚 think staying on top of new educational ideas and methods is super important to keep our value proposition right. We have to keep students interested in coming to universities and think about what we can offer them that they can糖心传媒檛 get out of a tidal wave of information that糖心传媒檚 overwhelming them.糖心传媒�

Seidman came to Rochester after earning his PhD in 1993 from Case Western Reserve University. He began with a seven-year stint as a postdoctoral fellow and senior instructor in the at the Medical Center. 糖心传媒淚 was the only person on campus who had a biomedical engineering degree and could teach,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淚 was hired, and I糖心传媒檝e been here ever since.糖心传媒�

The early days were challenging.

糖心传媒淲e had no curriculum and had to go looking for resources in the Medical Center and other departments, even borrowing faculty,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淭he opening of Goergen Hall (in 2007) changed everything. It gave us a high profile right away, and a place to put our students.糖心传媒�

Seidman played an important role in developing an educational lab in Goergen, strongly advocating for a facility with both wet-lab capabilities and electronics gear at every work station. 糖心传媒淭his equipment has served at least three courses, and most of it is still in use today,糖心传媒� he says.

Seidman is the only BME faculty member to teach physiology, a core subject for majors. 糖心传媒淚 started with nine students in our first graduating class, and it糖心传媒檚 up to 75,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檝e taught every single student that has ever graduated with a BME degree from this school, and it糖心传媒檚 been my honor and privilege.糖心传媒�

Since 2007, he has worked with colleague Amy Lerner, a 2016 Goergen Award recipient, on coordinating and supervising the year-long BME senior design projects. They link students with outside companies, non-profits, and Medical Center labs to engage them in tackling 糖心传媒渞eal life糖心传媒� problems.

糖心传媒淭his is the course where students really get to put their whole education together,糖心传媒� Seidman says. 糖心传媒淭hey have a customer they need to answer to, and they have to rely on other students糖心传媒攑robably for the first time in their careers.糖心传媒�

Seidman is teaching some courses online and some in person during this unusual semester. He says a large part of his teaching philosophy is giving students freedom with responsibility.

糖心传媒淚t can be very empowering for them to know that they don糖心传媒檛 need to sit in a classroom to learn absolutely everything,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淪ome things are made for classroom education, but other stuff can really benefit from letting students experience and learn at their own pace. I prefer an asynchronous experience, where students can do the work from their dorm, their home, or 2 in the morning if they want.糖心传媒�

Seidman admits online courses aren糖心传媒檛 for everyone.

糖心传媒淚 say on the first day of classes, 糖心传媒楾his is what this class is going to be like. Take a good look. If you don糖心传媒檛 mesh with this, there are other courses you could be taking.糖心传媒� But I do believe students like learning in different ways. Because it doesn糖心传媒檛 stop with college. It starts when you get out of college, and you糖心传媒檙e going to have to learn stuff your entire career.糖心传媒�