My profile
My profile is characterized by the threefold of roles I can take on, namely a designer, design researcher and an educational practitioner. I am an ambitious, creative and hard-working academic professional with a passion to promote and support psychological well-being, particularly during learning experiences, for young women and girls. My research areas range from the analysis of psychological experiences of the learning process to how technology can support learning.
Education Background
New York University, New York City, NY, United States
Ph.D. in Educational Communication and Technology
Co-chairs: Dr. Camillia Matuk and Dr. Carol Gilligan
Dissertation Title: “How do you see yourself as a learner? Exploring High-Achieving Middle School Girls' Relationship to Themselves as Learners”
Award for Outstanding Scholarship
August 2025
Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Master of Science in Science Education and Communication
Advisors: Elise Quant and Dr. Marieke Thurlings
Thesis Title: “The Dialogue Tool: Studying the effect of a new intervention method on feedback dialogues between teacher and student”
2017 to 2020
Cum Laude distinction
Won Dutch National Talent Award for Secondary Education in 2019
Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Master of Science in Industrial Design
Advisor: Dr. Tilde Bekker
Thesis Title: How peripheral data visualisation systems support secondary school teachers during VLE-supported lessons
2017 to 2019
Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design
Advisor: Dr. Tilde Bekker
Thesis title: “Supporting metacognition for primary education: a playful self-reflection app for 5th grade students”
2013 to 2017
Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
Exchange as part of Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design
2015 to 2016
Work Experience
Research Assistant
Google Research and New York University
Working with research team at Google
Google’s research team conducted a research project on collaboration problem-solving between human participants and Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents, particularly in how different AI agents' personalities impact the human’s skill development in terms of conflict resolution and project management, during the participation in educational tasks. I am part of a two-person data analysis team that assesses the human’s interactions within the team of AI agents on conflict resolution and project management skills.
October 2025 to January 2026
(Hourly) Research Assistant
New York University New York City, NY, United States
Working with Dr. Camillia Matuk and Dr. Suzanne Dikker
The MindHive’s educational research group focused on supporting high school student’s knowledge and skills in conducting academic neuroscience and environmental research studies through the online platform MindHive. As an hourly research assistant for the MindHive project, I was responsible for educational research (incl. data collection and analysis), IRB protocols, organizational aspects of the project.
January 2023 to April 2024
(Hourly) Research Assistant
New York University New York City, NY, United States
Working with Dr. Alyssa Wise
The NYU LEARN research group conducted a study on the learning experiences of students in the NYU School of Professional Studies. As a research assistant for the NYU LEARN research group, I am responsible for conducting interviews with the participants of our study, as well as the qualitative analysis and synthesis of interview data.
January 2023 to April 2023
Researcher
New York University New York City, NY, United States
Working with Dr. Alyssa Wise, Dr. Yeonji Jung & Dr. Qiujie Li
As part of the research team I studied characteristics of teachers who utilize learning analytics dashboards. I contributed to the qualitative data analysis process and writing of our publication on teacher’s profiles, which received the best short paper award, see publications below.
December 2021 to December 2022
Research Assistant
Eindhoven University of Technology Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Working with various professors
My different roles as research assistant for various professors included:
- Executing a systematic literature review on “Play Theory” in fantasy play papers, with prof. Helle Skovberg and prof. Tilde Bekker
- Data analysis of content and nature of feedback conversations between teacher and students of the course “Cultural Sensitivity” at the department of Industrial Design, with prof. Maarten Versteeg and prof. Johanna Kint
- Data analysis and documentation of educational research into a Design-Based Teaching Tool for prof. Tilde Bekker and prof. Ruurd Taconis
June 2017 to December 2021
Volunteer
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Brooklyn, New York
Working in the Domestic and Other Violent Emergencies (DOVE) Program
Next to my academic career, I supported survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence in my Brooklyn community. As part of the Domestic & Other Violence Emergencies (DOVE) program at New York Presbyterian - Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, I support survivors who come in for treatment at night after experiencing sexual assault or domestic violence. My role involves rape crisis counseling, advocating for their needs to other professionals, providing resources, and most importantly listening to them in times of crisis.
October 2022 to September 2025
Teaching Experience
Adjunct Instructor
New York University New York City, NY, United States
Course: Foundations of Learning Sciences
As adjunct instructor of the graduate course "Foundations of the Learning Sciences", I teach history of the field of Learning Sciences and different theoretical perspectives on how people learn. For example we discuss learning theories such as constructivism, constructionism and situativity.
September 2023 to Current
Teaching Assistant
New York University New York City, NY, United States
Course: Designing for Learning Experiences
As a teaching assistant for the graduate course focused on understanding learning design processes for learning experience designers, taught by dr. Maaike Bouwmeester, I am responsible for providing formative feedback and grading of students’ weekly reflections. The feedback aims to support students rigor and depth in self-reflection on the content and material taught in the course each week.
January 2025 to Current
Teaching Assistant
School of Education, University of Technology Eindhoven
Course: Pedagogy for Design and Research
As a teaching assistant for this graduate course, I was responsible for setting up a theoretical pedagogical framework for the graduate course on pedagogy of design and research, which included finding theoretical grounding in literature for the course.
September 2019 to December 2019
Teaching Assistant
University of Technology Eindhoven, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Course: Design Research
As a teaching assistant for this undergraduate course across multiple semesters, I mentored 15+ groups of undergraduate students of the Industrial Design department who were conducting their first academic design research projects. I was also responsible for the administrative and logistical support for this course.
September 2017 to December 2019
Awards & Recognitions
Award for Outstanding Scholarship
New York University Steinhardt, 2025
Dissertation Finishing Award
New York University Steinhardt, 2025
Master of Science
Cum Laude Distinction
Eindhoven School of Education, 2020
(Dutch) National Talent Award in Secondary Education
National Education Organization, 2019
Student Testimonials
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Bernice is a very knowledgeable person, and I am so happy that I took it with her. Her feedback helped me improve on my assignments and made me a better student. I will definitely take another class with her if there's one. 10/10 class!!
Anonymous Student Review on Albert, Fall 2024, FOLS Class
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I had a great experience with Bernice as my instructor. She is great at explaining abstract concepts (which were a lot in this class) by being articulate and sometimes with real–life examples. She also facilitated her class well in weekly discussions to create engaging conversations (not just short Q and As, but a conversation that flows!) and encourage/give everyone an equal chance to participate. Her feedbacks are constructive and she gives clear directions for our assignments. I also like how she puts effort into designing clear, engaging PowerPoint slides every week. It's been a pleasure to learn with Bernice. Any future student would be lucky to have her as an instructor!
Anonymous Student Review on Albert, Fall 2023, FOLS Class
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Wonderful professor –– she really made the subject matter come to life, and created an open and supporting environment for all of the students. She explained difficult concepts in an easy to understand manner, and challenged us with interesting coursework. I loved taking her class
Anonymous Student Review on Albert, Fall 2023, FOLS Class
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Bernice was an amazing instructor, she was so understanding but also challenged us to produce the best work we could. I always felt able to approach her if I had any questions or clarifications.
Anonymous Student Review on Albert, Fall 2024, FOLS Class
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Thank you very much for your patient guidance in this course. This is a highly demanding course that requires a lot of reading, observation and writing, and many of the concepts in the class are quite abstract. ] Although the course was very challenging, it was precisely because of your guidance that I was able to constantly find my way and build confidence during the learning process. I am extremely grateful for your dedication and efforts throughout the semester. This course has been very beneficial to me.
Anonymous Student Review on Albert, Fall 2025, FOLS Class
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This was an incredibly well–organized course! I appreciate the segementation of each lens. It felt that each lesson built on each other nicely. I also appreciate the organization of assignments, and felt that each assignment set up students for success in the final report. Additionally, I really enjoyed the readings chosen for each week. In a theory class, I understood the amount of reading that would be required, however I thoroughly enjoyed each article. The intention behind each chosen article and video was clear, and helpful for each lesson. I also appreciate that you include weekly slides after each class. Overall, I really enjoyed this course, and hope to take another course of yours in the future!
Anonymous Student Review on Albert, Fall 2025, FOLS Class