Jessica Sandland

Jessica Sandland serves as Principal Lecturer in MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering, where she leads online learning initiatives and digital education innovation. After earning her PhD in electronic materials from MIT, she has established herself as a pioneer in materials science education through developing massive open online courses (MOOCs) and blended learning experiences. Her work includes overseeing numerous DMSE online courses, including Innovation and Commercialization, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, and Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Properties of Materials. As co-founder of the MICRO program and senior member of Open Learning's Digital Learning Laboratory, her research on peer review in online courses and use of humor in MOOCs has earned multiple honors, including Best Paper awards at IEEE LWMOOCs Conference and the 2019 MITx Prize for Teaching and Learning in MOOCs. Through her innovative approach to digital education and course development, she continues to advance materials science education while making technical knowledge more accessible to learners worldwide.