Getting to Know: Meryl Motika

Today we are highlighting Lead Analyst for the Center for Educational Effectiveness at the University of California, Davis, Meryl Motika. In her own words:

I’ve been involved in program evaluation since studying Public Policy Analysis as an undergraduate. Along the way I’ve worked for a nonprofit intermediary in Oakland and the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, earned a PhD in Economics from UC Irvine, and been a professor in upstate New York. At CEE, I lead the data analysis team in measuring the effects of new teaching practices and other aspects of the academic experience at UC Davis. Academically, I’m a behavioral/experimental labor economist with an interest in counter-productive motivations (eg., procrastination and anxiety). In both arenas I like to highlight the experiences of people who are poorly served by mainstream systems.

I want OER to become an example of great practices in supporting under-served students –those who struggle to afford textbooks but also students with learning disabilities, whose previous schools left them under-prepared for college, and other groups whose effort and capacity to learn may not be reflected in their grades.

In my off hours I like to bike, play games (tabletop and video), and bake with my family and sing in the Davis Chorale.

To get in touch with Meryl, you can visit her Facebook page here.