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Joel C. Corbo

Senior Research Associate
Center for STEM Learning
Joel is a senior research associate in the Center for STEM Learning at CU Boulder. His work at CU focuses on implementing and studying mechanisms that align with the institutional change literature for improving undergraduate education in STEM departments and on researching issues of equity and inclusion in physics, in particular the views of white male physicists about race and gender. He also helped to found and lead the Berkeley...

Karen Falkenberg

Director of Curriculum and Instruction
The Institute for Learning and Teaching • Colorado State University
Karen Falkenberg is a member of The Institute for Teaching and Learning (TILT) Senior Leadership team, acting as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction and leading a group of instructional designers and educational researchers at Colorado State University. The instructional designers develop tools and practices to support exemplary teaching, consult with faculty on a wide range of pedagogical, technological, and curricular enhancements, and support individuals’ and groups’ work on culture,...
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Noah Finkelstein

Professor, Department of Physics • Co-Director, Center for STEM Learning
Noah Finkelstein is a Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder and conducts research is in physics education, specifically studying the conditions that support students’ interests and abilities in physics – developing models of context. In parallel, he conducts research on how educational transformations get taken up, spread, and sustained. He is one of the PIs in the Physics Education Research (PER) group and a co-director of CU’s...
Chris Geanious

Chris Geanious

Instructional Designer
The Institute for Learning and Teaching • Colorado State University
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Courtney Ngai

Postdoctoral Researcher
Mathematics • Colorado State University
Courtney is a postdoctoral researcher at Colorado State University. She completed her graduate work at University of Massachusetts Boston, and previous work at UMB includes research into understanding and characterizing how students classify and differentiate substances. Courtney also worked on a collaboration with science and chemistry teachers affiliated with Boston Public Schools to assess and foster students’ chemical thinking . Outside of research, Courtney volunteers for i-Trek , a nonprofit...
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Alanna Pawlak

Research Associate
Alanna graduated in 2018 with a Ph.D. in physics from Michigan State University. Her research has focused on collaborative learning environments in introductory physics, studying areas such as student reasoning, student interactions, and undergraduate learning assistants' approaches to teaching in these environments. She is currently working on a project investigating departmental change in higher education, and participating in departmental change efforts at CU Boulder by facilitating departmental action teams.
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Mary Pilgrim

Assistant Professor
Mathematics • Colorado State University
Mary E. Pilgrim is an Assistant Professor at the Colorado State University and conducts research in mathematics education, specifically studying students who are at risk of failing (DFW) Calculus I. She has done pedagogical and curriculum intervention research with Calculus I students, and currently she is part of a research team that is applying Zimmerman’s (2000) self-regulated learning model in conjunction with learning analytics to more deeply understand the learning...
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Gina Quan

Research Associate
Center for STEM Learning
Gina graduated in 2017 from the University of Maryland, College Park in physics. Her interests include understanding community and identity formation, cultivating reflective communities that holistically support members, and understanding institutional change. Currently Gina is working on a project studying departmental change in undergraduate education through facilitated Departmental Action Teams (DATs). She is also a founding member of the Access Network, a research-practice community dedicated to fostering supportive communities in...
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Daniel Reinholz

Assistant Professor
Department of Mathematics and Statistics • San Diego State University
Dr. Reinholz specializes in STEM education transformation with the aim of increasing equity and diversity in STEM fields. His work is grounded in a holistic design perspective, which draws on research in disciplinary learning, equity, and organizational change. At the classroom level, he focuses on how reflection and peer feedback can deepen disciplinary learning. Beyond the classroom, he studies how cultural and structural features of higher education can support and...
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Clara Smith

STEM Departmental Change Consultant
Academic Technology Design Team • Office of Information Technology
Clara Smith graduated in 2017 from the University of Colorado Boulder with a Ph.D. in Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity. Her research interests have focused on the underrepresentation of gifted students who are bilingual in gifted programs. Other interests include Universal Design for Learning principles and Collaborative Education in her part-time role as Post Doctoral Associate for the School of Education at CU. Other roles that Clara has had on...
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Sarah Wise

STEM Departmental Change Agent
Academic Technology Design Team • Office of Information Technology
Sarah Wise is a STEM Departmental Change Agent working with the Departmental Action Team project, which is an NSF-funded collaboration between the ATDT and the Center for STEM Learning at CU. In her prior positions on campus, Sarah conducted educational research for ASSETT , worked with faculty to transform courses with the Science Education Initiative , surveyed teachers to understand how they engage students in learning about climate change and...