About The CAFLS Office of Teaching and Learning Scholars
This initiative arose from discussion among members of the CAFLS Teaching and Learning Committee during the 2020-21 academic year. The Teaching and Learning committee includes one faculty member per department and advises the the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies on issues related to teaching.
The committee is composed of Catherine DiBenedetto (Agricultural Sciences), Marge Condrasky (Food, Nutrition & Packaging Science), Alan Johnson (Forestry & Environmental Conservation) and Dara Park (Plant & Environmental Sciences).
Meet Your Co-Directors
Dr. Catherine DiBenedetto
Associate Professor of Agricultural Education
Dr. DiBenedetto's teaching is focused in the areas of instructional methods, curriculum design, and teaching in agriscience laboratories. She is passionate about advising, mentoring, and working with pre-service teachers to prepare them to be effective instructors in successful school-based agricultural education programs. Her research agenda is focused on the study of student readiness in the 21st century to provide teacher professional development and effectively prepare students with the 21st century employability skills needed to become career ready. Her research interests also include inquiry-based instructional methods, teacher self-efficacy/effectiveness, and interdisciplinary education. She is the Executive Director of STEM it Up, a professional development program that provides strategies to agriscience teachers throughout the nation to enhance effective teaching practices, design innovative instructional materials and disseminates her research findings to better prepare pre-service and in-service agriscience teachers with opportunities to increase their instructional self-efficacy and highlight inquiry-based instruction and STEM education in their school-based agricultural education classrooms and laboratories. She has served on the CAFLS Teaching and Learning committee since its inception in the Fall of 2016
View Dr. DiBenedetto's Full ProfileDr. Marge Condrasky
Professor in the Department of Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciences
As a registered dietitian and certified culinary educator, research, education and outreach within culinary nutrition has been Dr. Condrasky’s focus. Some of her projects include collaboration with the University of South Carolina and the African American Methodist Episcopal church of South Carolina in the Faith, Activity, and Nutrition project (FAN) which has been presented by the National Cancer Institute as a program that demonstrates best practice for increased vegetable and fruit consumption as well as increased physical activity. The CU CHEFS™ program encompasses trainings which have been delivered throughout SC to caregivers and cooks in preschool, grade school, and healthcare environments. Dr. Condrasky’s focus on culinary research within the University over the past 15 years has been applied in schools, churches, and the food service arena. Most notably, reception within the healthcare sector has blossomed over the past 10 years in that her and her colleagues’ projects and research have been redirected towards health care providers.
View Dr. Condrasky's Full Profile
