{"id":20655,"date":"2026-06-22T14:20:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T19:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/opid\/?page_id=20655"},"modified":"2026-06-22T14:20:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T19:20:29","slug":"benjamin-fine","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/opid\/wisconsin-teaching-fellows-scholars-program\/2026-27-wisconsin-teaching-fellows-scholars-2\/benjamin-fine\/","title":{"rendered":"Benjamin Fine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"cfct-build-20655\" class=\"cfct-build grid\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row\"><div class=\"col-md-9 cfct-block\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"cfct-module uwsa-rich-text\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cfct-mod-content copy\"><h3>UW-Eau Claire<\/h3>\n<p><strong><em>Associate Professor of Computer Science<br \/>\n<\/em>Computer Science<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Benjamin Fine is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Eau Claire in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. His current scholarly focus is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), where he investigates equity-oriented grading practices and Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) in the computer science classroom. This work examines how alternative, transparency-driven approaches to grading and inclusive course design shape student learning, motivation, and access, with particular attention to capturing students&#8217; own perspectives on inclusive teaching.<\/p>\n<p>Alongside his SoTL work, Fine maintains an active research program analyzing, understanding, modeling, and controlling distributed systems that display social behaviors. He has published on biologically inspired multiple-robot systems, group manipulation using static environments, robotic theater, sensing requirements for flocking motions in homogeneous groups, and the current state of the flocking and swarming literature.<\/p>\n<p>Fine received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Texas A&amp;M University (College Station, TX) and his B.S. in Computer Science from the University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC).<\/p>\n<h6><strong>Teaching and Learning Philosophy<\/strong><\/h6>\n<p>My teaching is guided by a simple conviction, captured in the saying &#8220;involve me, and I understand&#8221;: students learn most deeply when they are active participants in their own learning rather than passive recipients of it. I build my courses around inquiry, using project-based work, interviews, discussions, and a flipped-classroom format so that students investigate and wrestle with ideas rather than simply memorize them. My goal is for them to develop knowledge and skills they can transfer to new problems, including ones far beyond the classroom, because that adaptability is what serves them as computer scientists and as people.<\/p>\n<p>Central to this work is a hybrid grading system that combines competency and equity. Rather than penalizing students for where they start, I organize each course around clearly communicated core competencies and give students multiple, penalty-free attempts to demonstrate mastery. This honors the varied backgrounds and learning needs students bring and keeps the focus on genuine understanding rather than a single high-stakes performance.<\/p>\n<p>I also see computer science as broader than programming. I see it as a medium for problem-solving and self-expression and I design my courses around critical thinking, creative thinking, and communication. Above all, I try to connect with students as people, expressing real concern for their learning, their futures, and their well-being, and creating a welcoming, flexible environment where curiosity can take hold.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><div class=\"col-md-3 cfct-block\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"cfct-module uwsa-rich-text\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cfct-mod-content copy\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/opid\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/129\/2026\/06\/Fine-Benjamin-headshot.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-20654 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/opid\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/129\/2026\/06\/Fine-Benjamin-headshot.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of Benjamin Fine\" width=\"200\" height=\"266\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":0,"parent":20310,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20655","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","cfct-can-haz-build"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/opid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/opid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/opid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/opid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/opid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20655"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/opid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20656,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/opid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20655\/revisions\/20656"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/opid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/opid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}