Meet the Instructors
Learn More ÃÛÌÒtv Our Instructors in the STEM Certificate Program
"For educators, by educators" that's our motto. We emphasize the importance of having skilled instructors that have a variety of educational experiences, including current classroom teaching in order to better meet the needs of our students. Many of the faculty and instructors in the STEM Certificate Program have P-12 experience, with some currently teaching and learning in their own classrooms throughout the tri-state area alongside our students in the program.
The STEM Certificate Program curriculum was designed by the expert faculty and instructors to be project-based, and employ relevant application of course content in diverse, transdisciplinary areas of P-12. Provided fully online, the program is designed for the working educational professional in mind. The faculty and instructors provide a ÃÛÌÒtvive learning community through optional synchronous sessions, choice in how learners engage with content and others in the courses, and targeted advisement to ensure learner success.
What's more, the faculty in the STEM Certificate Program have also pledged their individual ÃÛÌÒtv of the Raise the Bar: STEM Excellence For All Students federal initiative by ÃÛÌÒtving our Department's organizational Commitments to the U.S. Department of Education and the program.
Instructors
Dr. Damiano Mastrandrea
Dr. Damiano Mastrandrea is the Career & Technical Education (CTE) Director for the New York City Department of Education's (NYCDOE) Brooklyn STEAM Center, an innovative shared instruction CTE workplace immersion model that prepares high school scholars for in-demand careers through robust training, work-based learning opportunities, and industry certifications as part the young person's journey to obtain a high school diploma.
Dr. Mastrandrea has 10 years of experience in P-12 education, specifically at the high school level. In addition, he has operated in higher education for over three years. Dr. Mastrandrea holds an NYSED teaching certificate "Computer Technology 7-12" and the Extension Certificate for "Coordinator of Work-Based Learning Programs for Career Development". Beyond state certification, Damiano holds 25+ industry certifications, including credentials from Adobe, Microsoft, and CompTIA. Dr. Mastrandrea's areas of expertise include Career & Technical Education and Career Advisement, providing scholars with the tools (e.g. Degree Maps) to build their pathway to a robust and economically stable career.
Dr. Mastrandrea currently serves as an ambassador for Certiport, a Pearson Vue Business, and as Champion for Schoology, a Powerschool Solution, in which he advocates for efficient implementation of solutions that benefit educators and their students. Dr. Mastrandrea has also contributed to master curricula for use in the New York City Department of Education, including courses such as "Career & Financial Management," "Cybersecurity Foundations," and "Ethical Hacking Introduction."
Dr. Mastrandrea has been honored with several awards, including the “C-Tech Business and Education Partnership Award," “Edwin Espalliat Award," and "UFT CTE Teacher of the Year." Two projects that Dr. Mastrandrea is particularly proud of are his innovation in the development of the "Career Pathways Portal", a platform used by all NYCDOE high school students for tracking performance and participation in paid experiences, as well as modernizing the protocols and processes of the Success Via Apprenticeship (SVA) Program, the premier teacher recruitment and retention model for CTE teachers in New York City.
Dr. Karen J. Cotter
Dr. Cotter has been involved in education for over 25 years teaching STEM/STEAM-related courses in grades 6 -16. Dr. Cotter has also run workshops and professional development and training for faculty and staff. She currently works as an adjunct professor and consultant in Educational Technology, and Instructional Design, as well as incorporating social-emotional learning into her practice. Her work in science education (both private and public schools) focuses on incorporating innovative practices to engage and challenge students in active learning. Not only is she enthusiastic about sharing new and innovative ways to help students, but her incorporation of technology has been a mainstay. Her love of sharing student-centered strategies focuses on nurturing 21st-century skills (collaboration, creativity, communication, and problem-solving). Dr. Cotter has also been involved in curriculum writing and revisions aligned with NGSS. Her doctoral focus was on using hybrid gamification throughout a summer STEM program to foster a sense of community among diverse and first-generation college students. Dr. Cotter is passionate about innovative approaches to teaching and learning and modeling her love of learning to engage all students and faculty.
Dr. Cotter has presented at numerous conferences: NJSAL, ASHIE, HACU, ISSOTL, ISTE, Montgomery Community College Technology, and Learning Conference, and the New Jersey State Science Convention. She has conducted multiple project-based workshops, new-teacher training seminars, and has worked with faculty to design lessons that focus on student-centered learning using innovative practices infused with Educational Technology. She currently runs training for Supplemental Instructions Leaders three times a year. Dr. Cotter serves as a CODiE and International Serious Play judge to keep abreast of all things innovative and exciting. She also serves on the NJCU College of Education Advisory Board.
Dr. Remberto Jimenez
Dr. Remberto "Rem" Jimenez is an instructional designer, educational technologist, and active learning strategist that has work experience in both teaching students across K-12 and at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Jimenez has also taught in a variety of settings including corporate learning environments, nonprofit children's organizations, and in higher education for over 10 years. Dr. Jimenez has also consulted in various learning & development projects and managed teams of instructional designers, media producers, and LMS administrators.
Dr. Jimenez has designed, implemented, and evaluated learning programs in both public education and corporate environments. His professional experience lends a unique perspective in terms of discovering what companies of the future are looking for when they hire new talent, and also informs about the skill gaps that may exist. Dr. Jimenez's understanding shapes his learning strategies with students and the key areas of focus that employees need. STEAM and 21st Century skill development are critical pieces to this understanding. The skills that are needed for the future of work are grounded in STEM. His work with professional teams has helped many companies rectify many of the gaps that current employees are facing in the workplace-whether it's coding, developing critical thinking skills, computational thinking processes, and understanding fair technology use.
Dr. Jimenez's area of focus has been on synchronous and asynchronous online learning, active learning strategies for distance learning, and workplace learning. He emphasizes the intersection where sound pedagogically strategies and technology-use ÃÛÌÒtv overall learning function.
Dr. Jimenez continues to author and co-author academic articles and book chapters on variety of topics ranging from online learning environments, active learning strategies in synchronous and asynchronous environments, and educational technology implementations. He will be the co-editor of the upcoming book from IGI publishing entitled, Current Trend in Cybersecurity And Educational Technology (2023).
Dr. Dana Mason
Dr. Dana Mason holds a bachelor of music in music performance from New York University, and a Master of Arts in Educational Technology from New Jersey City University, where she also earned her Doctorate in Educational Technology Leadership. Dr. Mason became passionate about STEAM education after completing the Honeywell Educators at Space Academy program where she experienced aspects of astronaut training as well as STEAM education training at the NASA center in Huntsville, AL for two summers, earning the Commander's Cup Award for teamwork and leadership.
Dr. Mason's dissertation focused on concerns and solutions in STEAM education professional development, and she has been presenting results associated with this research at a variety of conferences in New Jersey as well as at the Space Exploration Educators Conference at the NASA Space Center in Houston, TX. She has also had her research featured in three publications, and was selected to teach STEAM education to middle school students in Shenzhen, China in 2019.
Dr. Mason also serves as a board member for the North East Digital Learning Association (NEDLA), developing educational programming. Dr. Mason is the lead educator and board member of We are GUTSY, Inc., a non-profit organization that works with teachers in Guyana to integrate social and emotional learning and character education to their curriculum. There, she designed 21st-century learning experiences for teacher training, and traveled to Guyana to launch their curriculum and introduce teachers to training ÃÛÌÒtv they will receive virtually throughout the year.
Dr. Barbara Green-McCarty
Dr. Barbara McCarty has been teaching middle school since 1997, entering the profession as a 7th grade LA teacher and currently working as a middle school media specialist and an adjunct professor in the Educational Technology department of New Jersey City University. Dr. McCarty was also a faculty member of the Association of Middle Level Education's Institute for Middle Level Leadership. With a love of literature, technology and the complexity of the adolescent mind, she strives to encourage students to actively engage in their learning experience through the use of technology and problem based learning.
Her dissertation, "Applying Situated Professional Development to the Implementation of an Emerging Technology: A Case Study of Integrating Drones into the Curriculum," highlighted just one aspect of her passion to ÃÛÌÒtv teachers in the innovative use of technology. With a focus on encouraging teachers to become effective curators and creators of digital content, Dr. McCarty not only provides ed tech ÃÛÌÒtv and professional development for the staff in her school, but she also collaborates with a variety of educational professionals presenting at conferences like AMLE, NJASL, PETE&C and ISTE.
Because of her active contributions to her students and school community, Dr. McCarty has been honored by the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of New Jersey as a New Jersey Teacher of the Year as well as by Axalta and the Philadelphia Eagles as an All-Pro teacher.
Dr. Hayet Bensetti-Benbader
Dr. Hayet Bensetti-Benbader is the Director of Computing and STEM Career Initiatives and Director of the Computer Science Living-Learning Community at Douglass Residential College, Rutgers University.
Dr. Bensetti-Benbader teaches courses in Intro to Computer Science, Business Applications, Business & Entrepreneurship, and Knowledge and Power. Dr. Bensetti-Benbader comes to us with a wealth of knowledge and experience, including a doctorate in Education Technology Leadership, degrees in Financial Management and Computer Science, and ten years of teaching experience. Dr. Bensetti-Benbader is a technology steward with a mission to improve learning experiences through successful instructional design.
Dr. Samantha Kozar
STEM Certificate Program Director
Dr. Samantha Kozar is an UX/UI designer and coach with over 15 years of K-12 experience in teaching and leadership, and over 5 years of experience in higher education. She is a podcast host, and is a licensed sUAS drone pilot with the FAA. She has specialized in working with students with behavioral and emotional challenges, and has pioneered socially-assistive robots for social-emotional learning and rehabilitative measures to combat recidivism for justice-impacted individuals with Princeton University's PTI Program. Dr. Kozar has leveraged instructional technologies, pedagogical approaches, and human learning theories to enhance teaching and learning segments and assessments that are results-driven, and empower diverse learners.
Dr. Kozar has designed and developed programs in online settings, and has facilitated training for administrative stakeholders on stages end-users undergo in adopting and implementing new programs or procedures. Dr. Kozar's dissertation was entitled, "'Zoom-bie Nation': Higher Education Attitudes and Concerns Using Videoconferencing for Remote Instruction During COVID-19." In relationship, Dr. Kozar was a co-author on an article with the faculty at the Department of Educational Technology called, "When School Bells Last Rung: New Jersey Schools and the Reaction to COVID-19" that was published by the National Institutes of Health in 2021, and presented at the American Education Research Association (AERA) Conference in 2021.
Dr. Kozar is the host of a podcast that amplifies best practices and teaching highlights of educational professionals in STEAM education and career fields. She has co-authored publications on podcasting with Dr. Christopher Shamburg entitled, "Podcasters Who Educate: The New Wave of Teaching and Learning," and assisted in Dr. Shamburg's research on "Cases of Successful, Independent, Educationally Oriented Podcasters." She is a podcast and social media instructor at Princeton's adult school.
Dr. Kozar has an extensive background in professional presentations at the local, state, and national levels. She has been awarded honors as a HACU Scholar, and a Graduate Merit Scholar by the Executive Women of New Jersey. She has served as an Advisory Council Member for the Monmouth University Human Rights Advisory Council (HRAC), and serves as a SIIA CODiE Awards Judge on new and emerging technologies in education and business, and is a member of a number of professional affiliations.