Dr. James Cooke

Biography

James Cooke received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia in 2010, where he researched a novel analgesic compound using electrophysiology. Following his doctoral studies, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. In 2015, Dr. Cooke joined the Department of Neurobiology at the University of California, San Diego, where he has focused on research centered on undergraduate student learning as a teaching faculty member. His ongoing projects include examining collaborative exams aimed at improving long-term retention of course content, and understanding student strategies for answering open-ended exam questions. Early results from his research indicate that writing answers in groups offers varied benefits for individual students' learning. By measuring student behaviors during collaborative exams, he aims to identify specific actions that promote beneficial learning outcomes and guide future students in engaging in effective study strategies.

Research Interests