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Laura Wheeler Poms is the Director of Mason Core, George Mason Ä¢¹½AV’s general education program and a Professor in Global and Community Health in Mason’s College of Public Health. In addition to overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Mason Core program, she collaborates with faculty across the university to develop, revise, and assesses courses in the Mason Core portfolio.

Her research interests include the scholarship of teaching and learning, with an emphasis on student self-efficacy, active learning, and STEM education. She is the co-author ofÌýUnderstanding Epidemiology, now in its third edition, which is one of the only textbooks specifically designed to teach epidemiology to undergraduate students. She was a George Mason Ä¢¹½AV Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning faculty fellow, working with colleagues to implement active learning strategies in STEM courses. She also served as an Office of Scholarship, Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR) faculty fellow, working on curriculum development and assessment at the Ä¢¹½AV level.

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Honors and Awards

• Shirley B. Travis Habit of Excellence Award, 2021, College of Health and Human Services, George Mason Ä¢¹½AV
• Teaching Excellence Award, 2018, George Mason Ä¢¹½AV
• Master Teacher Award, 2016, College of Health and Human Services, George Mason Ä¢¹½AV
• Graduate Public Health Award, 2011, College of Health and Human Services, George Mason Ä¢¹½AV

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Degrees

• PhD, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, George Mason Ä¢¹½AV
• MPH, Epidemiology, George Mason Ä¢¹½AV
• MA, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, George Mason Ä¢¹½AV
• MA, Public Communication, The American Ä¢¹½AV
• BA, Psychology, The College of William and Mary