Dissertation in Practice Defense for Mandy Austin

Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Time: 3 - 4:30 p.m. ET

Zoom Link: Available upon request. Contact Mandy Austin at ada131@pitt.edu

Dissertation Title: "Humanizing Health Science Education: Developing Empathy through Experiential Learning in High School Classrooms"

Dissertation Description: This dissertation explores how intentionally embedded empathy-focused instruction can bridge the gap between technical biomedical mastery and the lived experiences of patients in high school health science classrooms. Utilizing a mixed-methods improvement science framework with three iterative Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles, the study examined the impact of explicit instruction, disability simulations, and emotional regulation training on 44 twelfth-grade students in a Health and Medicine III course. Quantitative results demonstrated a 7.6% increase in overall empathy scores, including a 17.2% gain in affective empathy. Qualitative data indicated that experiential activities supported perspective-taking and the recognition of implicit bias, while also contributing to students’ understanding of emotional regulation as part of sustaining empathy in healthcare contexts.

Dissertation Committee:

Chair: Cassie Quigley, Ph.D., Chair and Professor, Department of Teaching, Learning, and Leading, University of Pittsburgh

Sally Sherman, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Health & Human Development, University of Pittsburgh

Michael Schwartz, Ph.D., Science Department Chair and Health Science/Biology Teacher, Downingtown Area School District