Steering Committee

Ira-Caspari–Gnann

Ira Caspari–Gnann

Assistant Professor, Departments of Chemistry and Education

Ira uses a sociocultural perspective to study instructors’ facilitation practices, student in-the-moment learning during interactions, and the integration of individual interactions and personal experiences into larger activity systems of teaching and learning, particularly in introductory chemistry lectures.

Faculty Profile  Research Website

Brian Gravel

Brian Gravel 

Associate Professor, Department of Education

Brian uses design research approaches to study how people learn with representations, materials, and processes in making spaces and with expressive computational technologies. This includes exploring how making fosters relational work in undergraduate STEM classrooms and how computational making enriches the learning experiences of college-level science majors.

Faculty Profile 

David Hammer

David Hammer

Professor, Departments of Education and Physics & Astronomy

David studies education in STEM fields, mostly physics. He focuses on the dynamics of students’ and instructors’ “framing” what they are doing: How can STEM classes focus more on helping students’ develop expertise as learners?

Faculty Profile Personal Website

Trevion Henderson

Trevion Henderson

Assistant Professor, Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Education

Engineering education; diversity, equity, and inclusion; team-based engineering pedagogies; engineering design thinking

Faculty Profile

Andrew Izsak

Andrew Izsák 

Professor, Departments of Education and Mathematics; Chair of Education

Andrew studies teaching and learning around topics that involve multiplication, broadly understood. His worked has included studies of classrooms in situ, development of instructional materials, and development of assessments.

Faculty Profile Research Website

Milo Koretsky

Milo Koretsky 

Co-Director of IRLI; McDonnell Family Bridge Professor, Departments of Chemical & Biological Engineering and Education

Milo studies learning and engagement in the formal, post-secondary classroom targeted at the development of disciplinary practices. His work includes organizational change projects targeted at shifting instructional practices and institutional policy and practices. Both research threads draw on social practice theory.

Faculty Profile Research Website

Greses Perez

Greses Pérez 

McDonnell Family Assistant Professor in Engineering Education, Departments of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Education

Greses is an engineer, learning scientist, and educator. She received her PhD in Science Education with a focus on learning sciences and technology design from Stanford University. Her scholarship specializes in the interdisciplinary study of language and cognition for students who experience a cultural and linguistic mismatch between the practices of their communities and those in engineering and science.

Faculty Profile

Takeshia Pierre

Takeshia Pierre

Assistant Professor, Department of Education 

Dr. Takeshia Pierre is an Assistant Professor of Critical STEM Education at Tufts University. Centering race, gender, and culture, Dr. Pierre is engaged in scholarship serving to enhance Black student experiences within the context of [STEM] education spaces. This includes showcasing the cultural assets of Black learners as a means to successfully engage in STEM, interrogating discriminatory practices across educational institutions, and amplifying the voices of Black learners across K-16 and professional careers. Dr. Pierre seeks to engage, support, and affirm Black learners by sharing their unique stories. Through these efforts and mentorship, she hopes to support their matriculation, retention, and overall success in [STEM] education spaces.

Faculty Profile

Julia Svoboda

Julia Svoboda

Associate Professor, Departments of Education and Biology; Director of STEM Education

Julia studies undergraduate students’ development of scientific practice and reasoning, especially around modeling, experimentation, and argumentation.

Faculty Profile Research Website

Kristen Bethke Wendell

Kristen Wendell

Co-Director of IRLI; Associate Professor, Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Education

Kristen studies knowledge construction in engineering classrooms. Her research involves both curriculum and pedagogy development and focuses on supporting productive and equitable discourse among engineering learners in both K-12 and university contexts.

Faculty Profile Research Website