Casey L. Henley

I've spent my career figuring out how to make neuroscience education work better—for more students, in more contexts, with fewer barriers.

I'm the Director of Online Programs in the Neuroscience Program, an Associate Professor of Physiology, and the Digital Accessibility Coordinator for the College of Natural Science at Michigan State University. In practice, that means I teach, build academic programs, design curriculum, coordinate accessibility initiatives, and research factors that improve student learning.

I teach both undergraduate and graduate neuroscience using evidence-based approaches: 3-Dimensional Learning, active learning, Universal Design for Learning, and grading practices designed to consider student needs and responsibilities outside of the classroom. I direct a fully online graduate certificate program, Medical Neuroscience, and I'm currently developing an online Medical Neuroscience Master's degree at MSU.

Much of my curriculum work lives outside my own courses. In 2021, I published Foundations of Neuroscience, a free, open-access textbook written for undergraduates new to the field. It's been accessed by hundreds of thousands of readers, received multiple OER awards, and is still growing—a second edition is currently in progress. Removing cost as a barrier to learning is something I care about, and the OER is one of the most direct ways I've been able to do that.

My education research focuses on how course design affects student outcomes. As a Co-PI on an NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education grant, I'm examining how different components of blended learning influence student success with particular attention to students who are historically underrepresented in STEM.

Outside of research and teaching, I coordinate neuroscience outreach for the Neuroscience Program, including the Brain Bee at MSU and the Neuroscience Fair.

Before moving into teaching full time, I completed my undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral training at MSU, where my research focused on the effects of hormones on nervous system development.