Open SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2020: Binghamton – Miesha Marzell

Miesha Marzell is an assistant professor in social work and public health at Binghamton University. Miesha completed her MSW at the University of Southern California and her PhD in Biobehavioral Health at the Pennsylvania State University. Prior to joining the faculty of the Binghamton University Department of Social Work, she was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health and Prevention Research Center and was subsequently an assistant professor in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health at the University of Iowa College of Public Health.

Her goal is to educate students to fight for justice, human dignity, health equity and well-being for all people, and cultivate students’ achievements with her authentic interest in them and with her teaching efforts. Those efforts are realized through online education. She enjoys the opportunity to teach first-year MSW students a course on research methods. She feels it is often a topic students are not always eager to learn, but with the help of Binghamton University’s Center for Learning and Teaching, she has developed a course that she is extremely proud of and students are having a meaningful educational experience.

Initially, I wasn’t a full believer in online learning because I wasn’t sure how students could have a good experience when we can’t see them face to face.  I am definitely a believer now. I recognize how it helps our nontraditional students complete their degrees in social work. And, even if it’s not in a face-to-face way, I feels I am able to deliver strong passionate teaching.