Aankit Patel, Director of STEM Education Programs

Aankit (he/him) is a creative bureaucrat. He is currently the Director of STEM Education Programs @cunyteachered leading the CUNY Computing Integrated Teacher Education initiative along with other programs to boost math and science instruction in NYC schools. He is formerly the Senior Director of Computer Science Academics at the NYC Department of Education Computer Science for All initiative, and an @NYU-ITP alum. Cares about #EthicalCS, accessible ways to talk to computers, and public education.

Aman Yadav, Co-Investigator, Consulting Researcher

Dr. Aman Yadav (he/him) is a Lappan-Phillips Professor of Computing Education in the College of Education and College of Natural Science at Michigan State University with extensive experience in research, evaluation, and teacher professional development in computer science education. He also serves as the Associate Director of Computing Education in the CREATE for STEM Center at MSU. His research and teaching focus on improving student experiences and outcomes in computer science and engineering at the K-16 level. His recently co-edited book, Computational Thinking in Education: A Pedagogical Perspective tackles how to integrate computational thinking, coding, and subject matter in relevant and meaningful ways.

Anne Drew Hu, Research Assistant

Anne Drew Hu (they/them) is a PhD student at Michigan State University’s Educational Psychology and Educational Technology department, researching K-12 computer science education. Outside of the CITE project, their research focuses on integrating ethics in K-12 CS, including concepts like algorithmic bias, justice, and techno-solutionism. They have a double degree in CS and Education, Communities, and Organizations (ECO) from University of Washington in Seattle, where they were born and raised.

Anthony Wheeler, Professional Learning Research and Development Associate

Anthony (he/him) is a Doctoral Student of Urban Education + Digital Humanities at The Graduate Center, CUNY. In addition to his role as a Professional Learning Research and Development Associate with the CITE Initiative, he serves as a member of the CUNY Academic Commons Team and was a Learning Experience Designer with Lehman College’s Office of Online Education. His research focuses on digital pedagogical practices for integrating advanced digital literacies through culturally sustaining methods within education.

Ifeoma Nwoke, Research Assistant

Ifeoma is a CITE Research Assistant and also a second year doctoral student in Urban Education at the CUNY Graduate Center. She has over a decade of experience as an urban educator working in different sectors such as the environmental field and one on one educational space with adults and youth of all ages. She is particularly passionate about opportunities for learning that take place outside of the traditional classroom and the knowledge and community building that is generated from those experiences. On a typical weekend, you can find her indulging her inner tree hugger at a nearby farmer’s market or hiking trail.

Indranil Choudhury, Research Assistant

Indranil Choudhury (he/him) is a media artist working in sound, sculpture and video. He teaches at Hunter College and Marymount Manhattan College. He is a candidate for an MFA in Integrated Media Arts at Hunter College, CUNY. As the Professional Learning Digital Producer, Indranil designs and develops resources like the Summer ’23 PD website to help faculty on their CITE journey.

Learn more at https://indranilchoudhury.com

Jenia Marquez, Undergraduate Research Assistant

Jenia is a sophomore at Princeton University from New York City majoring in Linguistics with certificates in Vocal Performance, Conducting, French, and Translation Studies. She has specific interests in phonetics and phonology and linguistic anthropology, and currently works as a French translator for the Princeton University Language Project (PULP) and as a Fellow at the Writing Center. When she isn’t learning two-letter Scrabble words, she spends most of her time performing around campus as Manager of the Glee Club, Assistant Music Director of the Princeton Tigerlilies, and Music Manager of the Princeton University Players. She is particularly passionate about language and education justice, and is the co-Director of Communications of Diversimento, a summer concert series dedicated to fundraising for organizations that promote diversity in the arts and education.

Jessica Velez Tello, Research Associate

Jessica (she/her) is a doctoral student in Urban Education at The Graduate Center, CUNY. She is a former bilingual teacher and currently teaches at CUNY-Brooklyn and Queens College in their teacher educator programs. Jessica’s work and pedagogy focuses on bi/multilingual students and families of immigrant-origin, culturally sustaining literacy approaches, and community-based education.

Meg Ray, Research Assistant

Meg (she/her) is a Doctoral Student of Educational Psychology & Educational Technology (EPET) at Michigan State University. In addition to her role as a Graduate Research Assistant for the CITE project, she is a Faculty Lecturer in the Career and Technology Teacher Education department at New York City College of Technology (City Tech), CUNY, where she integrates computing and digital literacy into all of her courses. She is a former high school Computer Science (CS) Teacher and Special Educator and founded the CS coaching Teacher-in-Residence program at Cornell Tech. Her research interests include Universal Design for Learning (UDL) from a DisCrit lens, Including Students with Disabilities in Computer Science Education, and Justice-centered pedagogies for in-service and pre-service CS teacher development.

Nicole Walker, Research Assistant

Nicole Walker is a student in the English PhD program at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Olamide Ogungbemi, Research Assistant

Olamide (She/Her) is a doctoral student and research assistant in the Educational Psychology and Educational Technology (EPET) program at Michigan State University (MSU). She is a former computer science instructor in a K–12 school in Nigeria and a program manager in an international non-profit organization based in Nigeria. She has experience working on projects focused on teachers’ professional development, technology training for African women and girls, and equity-centered teacher education. Her research focuses on culturally relevant computing for black girls and justice-centered teacher education.

Rosa Calosso, Research Assistant

Rosa Angela Calosso (she/her/ella) is a doctoral student at the CUNY Graduate Center in the department of Urban Education. Rosa’s upbringing informed a strong understanding of immigration issues, Blackness, and gendered politics, leading her to serve as a participatory-action researcher  immigrant communities in the Bronx. She has served as an academic consultant for first and second-year college students and a social media curator for a social justice center. Her research focuses on Black Latinidad/Dominicanidad, gendered racism, digital media, communal pedagogy, and digital feminism.

Sara Vogel, Director of Research, Computing Integrated Teacher Education

Dr. Sara Vogel (she/her) is a born-and-raised Brooklynite, a (teacher) educator, and an education researcher focusing on computing-integrated learning environments that center bi/multilingual learners, their literacies, and communities. Prior to joining the CUNY CITE team to lead faculty professional learning and research, she was faculty in the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) residency program at Bank Street College and an Associate Research Scientist at New York University. She also supports the National Science Foundation-funded projects, Participating in Literacies and Computer Science (PiLa-CS), which centers bi/multilingual students in Computer Science for All initiatives, and CT to CS, which guides elementary teachers to incorporate computational thinking and CS into their subject areas. A former bilingual teacher and practitioner of innovative digital “out-of-school-time” programs for youth, she has a PhD in Urban Education from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Sarane James, Undergraduate Research Assistant

Sarane James is a student studying Creative Writing at the Macaulay Honors College at CUNY Hunter College. She has had both creative and journalistic writing published in places such as the Girls Write Now annual anthology and Newsweek magazine. She is currently writing a novel and aims to use the power of storytelling to provide greater understanding of each other and bring us closer as human beings.

Our Faculty Associates

Daisuke Akiba, Associate Professor

Daisuke Akiba is an acting Chairperson in the School of Education at Queens College, with joint appointments to programs in Urban Education and Educational Psychology at CUNY Graduate Center. Akiba received doctoral training in an Experimental Psychology setting at Brown University, studying Social Cognition–based upon which he expanded his area of expertise to include Developmental Psychology.

David Crismond, Associate Professor

David Crismond is an Associate Professor at the City College of New York’s School of Education, and has a courtesy appointment with CCNY’s Grove School of Engineering. After 11 years as a classroom teacher, he earned an MS from MIT’s mechanical engineering department and an EdD in human development and psychology from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. At City College, he teaches elementary science and engineering methods courses for pre- and in-service teachers, an inquiry and writing seminar for freshmen where students use design thinking to plan their college and vocational careers, and an Introduction to Engineering course at the School of Engineering. His research interests include K–16 integrated STEM teaching and learning, the use of high quality instructional materials to support STEM concept building and computational thinking in the context of doing hands-on science investigations and design activities. He and colleagues have developed and use a framework that outlines key dimensions of students’ informed design thinking, and which catalogs a wide range of teaching strategies that can help build engineering pedagogical content knowledge in teachers.

Laura Gellert, Associate Professor

Dr. Laura M. Gellert is an Associate Professor and currently the chair of the Department ofTeaching & Learning at The City College of New York. She has taught all levels of mathematics from elementary to college mathematics. She has worked in partnerships with schools throughout the years beginning as a MetroMath Graduate Fellow at the CUNY Graduate Center working with the New York City Mathematics Teaching Fellows. Research projects included a study on inclusive practices in 4th and 5th grade ICT mathematics classes, the impact of professional development on mathematics instruction and the development of a mathematics teachers’ identity through a community of practice. Laura has developed professional development workshops for the NYCDOE STEM institute. She has developed, created, and implemented a course for mathematics education students that focuses on current policies and reforms that affect the teaching and learning of mathematics. Most recently, she has been involved in developing the Elementary Mathematics Education Leadership Master of Science in Education (MSEd) program at City College.

Laura Scheiber, Adjunct Assistant Professor

Educator and advocate with authentic commitment to empowering young people, Laura Scheiber is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Kingsborough Community College. Her areas of expertise span learner-centered social justice education, sociology of education, equity and education, youth participatory action research, youth media education, and learning communities. She also REALLY loves dogs.

Linda Tribuzio, Adjunct Assistant Professor

Linda Tribuzio has been an educator at the college level for over 20 years. Her areas of interest are special education and urban education. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Kingsborough Community College.

Line A. Saint-Hilaire, Associate Professor

Line A. Saint-Hilaire is a science educator in the Elementary and Early Childhood Education Department at Queens College, CUNY. Line received her doctorate degree in Chemistry (with a chapter of her dissertation on science education) and did a post-doc on Science Education at the Graduate Center, CUNY. Her research interests focus on broadening participation in STEM and promoting equity in STEM teaching. Her primary scholarship goal is to help teachers understand how culture impacts the learning of science and to develop a mechanism by which cultural capitals can be utilized to promote better teaching and learning environment for greater dispositions towards science. Her secondary goal is to facilitate the integration of Computational Thinking across elementary curricula and training teachers on how to integrate it in their teaching practice, fostering an educational climate in which thinking skills are promoted among children, regardless of their cultural backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses.

Maria Savva, Associate Professor and Director of the International Studies Program

Maria Savva is an Associate Professor and Director of the International Studies Program at LaGuardia Community College. She has over 25 years of teaching experience in K-12 and post-secondary settings both in the United States and abroad. Her research interests include the study of virtual exchange models as pedagogical tools, the intercultural development of educators and methods for teaching culturally and linguistically diverse learners. She is a New York State certified teacher and also holds Qualified Teacher Status in England and Wales. Her scholarly work is available at https://cuny.academia.edu/MariaSavvaPhD

Marta Cabral, Assistant Professor

Marta Cabral works with people of all ages exploring play & art materials, processes, and ideas in diverse settings. Marta’s 20+ years of teaching young children inspire her work in teacher-education and research on ownership of learning, pedagogies of listening, and art-based learning. As an Assistant Professor at the City University of New York, Marta works with future classroom teachers. As speaker and consultant, Marta works with organizations to create and strengthen artistic engagement worldwide.

Melissa Garcia, Assistant Professor

Melissa L. García Vega teaches at CUNY – Lehman College. Her research interests examine Children’s literature with emphasis on the Caribbean region, multilingual learners, and the global context.

Michelle Fraboni, Assistant Professor

Michelle Fraboni is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Elementary & Early Childhood Education at Queens College of the City University of New York (CUNY), where she teaches digital literacy and other courses to aspiring teachers. Her teaching aligns closely with her research, which focuses on preservice teachers developing knowledge of and attitudes about their learning of computational thinking concepts and digital literacies. With a focus on creating welcoming learning spaces, Dr. Fraboni has guided many learners to become literate users of digital tools over the years, working with elementary, middle school, and college students. She spent more than ten years working with the Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) at Queens College, providing QC faculty opportunities to enhance their teaching in online and face-to-face environments. Serving as Associate Director for two years and as Director for five, Dr. Fraboni and her CTL colleagues guided 1500 QC faculty in converting over 3000 in-person course sections to online/remote courses in March 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. She earned her doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College in Instructional Technology & Media. A Minnesota native, she has lived in Queens for many years and considers herself an honorary New Yorker.

Nadia Stoyanova Kennedy, Associate Professor

Nadia Stoyanova Kennedy is an Associate Professor in Mathematics Education in the Department of Mathematics at the New York City College of Technology. She directs the Mathematics Education program and has the privilege of working with future NYC mathematics teachers. Her research interests are in philosophy of mathematics education, dialogic teaching, teacher professional identity and teacher professional learning.

Sunyata Smith, Assistant Professor

Sunyata Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Middle and High School Science Education Department at Lehman College, CUNY. She has a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and over 15 years of scientific research experience. Due to her deep abiding belief that proper education is key to unlocking the door of inequality, in 2012 Dr. Smith transitioned from a scientist into the field of education through the vehicle of Teach for America (TFA). As a TFA corps member Dr. Smith taught science in under-resourced public schools in Harlem and Brooklyn before joining the Middle and High School Education Department at Lehman College.

William H. Carr, Associate Professor

William H. Carr, D.V.M., Ph.D., Professor with Tenure, joined the Biology Department of Medgar Evers College, CUNY, in 2012. He received his B.S. in Zoology/ Russian (Duke University), D.V.M. (N.C.S.U. College of Veterinary Medicine), and Ph.D. in Immunology (Stanford University). He has over 30 publications in peer-reviewed journals in HIV pathogenesis. His research interests also include educational strategies to increase learning outcomes among under-represented minority undergraduate students in STEM fields. He is currently a CUNY STEM Pedagogy Institute Fellow in Computational Methods 2022-2023. He also serves on the American Association of Immunology Education Committee 2019-2022, and contributes active learning exercises to Parham Immunology and Immunobiology textbooks published by W.W. Norton.

Consultants

Rafi Santo, Consultant

Rafi Santo, PhD, (he/him) is a learning scientist focused on the intersection of digital culture, education, and institutional change. As principal researcher at Telos Learning, he partners with education institutions, foundations, intermediaries, coalitions and government agencies to generate insights through basic and applied research, develop novel strategies for impact, and create new designs for equitable, justice-centered learning. He’s collaborated with a range of organizational networks related to digital learning, computing, and technology in education including the Mozilla Hive NYC Learning Network, CSforALL, NASA, the City University of New York, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Rafi holds a PhD in Learning and Developmental Sciences from Indiana University.

David Phelps, Consultant

David Phelps, PhD, (he/him) brings a holistic view of how young children learn and develop from his experiences working in a Reggio-Emilia preschool in Vermont, a community school in Peru, a care farm in the Netherlands, a philosophy for children program along the Ohio River, and a full-service community school in Seattle. He has spent the last 10 years designing equitable and rigorous inquiry-based learning environments for young children that privilege relationships to land, to community, and to play. His research on young children’s incredible yet under-recognized inquiry competencies has been published in academic journals, presented at academic conferences, and taught at district-wide PD workshops. Simultaneously, he researches how issues of power and equity are navigated by educational partners attempting to design and implement innovative learning environments. He received a PhD in Learning Sciences and Human Development from the University of Washington.

Colin Angevine, Consultant

Colin Angevine (he/him) is a networks and strategy consultant whose work is grounded in equity, design, and collaboration. His work at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and the Connected Learning Alliance focuses on field-building by leveraging catalytic innovation programs, continuous improvement research, and data infrastructure. As a designer and facilitator at Onward, Colin supports the DEI initiatives of nonprofits and philanthropies, and prototypes new tools for developing skills to navigate racially stressful situations. Colin’s perspective draws from previous work experiences as an educator (in middle and high schools), a technologist (in edtech and legal tech startups), and as a researcher (in researcher-practitioner partnerships). In previous work, Colin was the project director for Challenge Collaboratives at Digital Promise, where he developed and facilitated new models for equity-driven R&D in education. Colin holds a B.A. from Dickinson College in Classics and an M.S.Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania in Learning Sciences and Technologies. He lives in Seattle, WA.