U I C Home

 
Learning Sciences Graduate Students
Cohort One

Stephanie Cunningham Ryan

Stephanie Cunningham

Discipline: Chemistry
Entered Program: I entered the program before it ever existed because I believed that it would be the right program for me, whenever it started.
Degree(s): M.S. (with thesis) in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago. B.S. in Chemistry from Saint Mary's College.
Hometown: Hartford City, IN
Professional Goals: I would like to work in Assessment and/or Chemistry Education Curriculum Development. I want to find better ways to teach science to urban students.
Hobbies & Interests: I am a Notre Dame fan (football and basketball). I also love music, my iPod and going to concerts! I really enjoy traveling and being near large bodies of water!
Why Learning Sciences? I really like UIC's LS program because it is so different from the others out there. Rather than just talking about how people learn, we talk about how they learn different disciplines. It also seemed to fit into my interests perfectly, teaching and chemistry.
Contact Information: s.a.cunningham@gmail.com
312-996-4606
4138 SES

Mike Dianovsky

Mike Dianovsky

Discipline: Chemistry
Entered Program: August, 2006
Degree(s): Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Masters is Science in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Hometown: Hanover Park, IL
Professional Goals: I would like to work either at a community college teaching chemistry or work for the Regional Education Laboratories (REL) on science educaiton projects.
Hobbies & Interests: I am quite the movie lover. I also enjoy spending time with my pets and volunteering at local animal shelters.
Why Learning Sciences? Interested in how students learn chemistry and understanding various teaching methods used to teach students chemistry.
Contact Information: dianovsk@uic.edu
312-996-4606
4138 SES

Kathleen Pitvorec

Kathleen Pitvorec

Discipline: Mathematics Education
Entered Program: Fall 2007
Degree(s): MST from the University of Chicago, 2001.
B.S., Anthropology, University of Chicago, 1987.
Hometown: Downers Grove, IL.
Professional Goals: To connect research about teaching and teachers.
Hobbies & Interests: Skiing; scuba diving; travel; biking; great books.
Why Learning Sciences? The emphasis on learning in communities; the role of semiotic systems; and situated learning.
Contact Information: kapitvor@uic.edu
312-996-9874
3168 SES
Cohort Three

Catherine (Cathy) Kaduk

Catherine Kaduk

Discipline: Mathematics Education
Entered Program: Fall 2008
Degree(s): C.A.S. Mathematics Ed. @ National Louis Univ.; M.S. Ed. Psychology. @ Northern Illinois Univ.; B.S. in Elementary Education @ Northwestern Univ. (Evanston, IL)
Hometown: Wauwatosa, WI
Professional Goals: I hope to contribute to understanding and implementing how assessment can be used to improve students’ thinking skills, problem-solving, & conceptual understanding, especially in mathematics.
Hobbies & Interests:   I like to sew, draw and go to museums; to be with family especially.
Why Learning Sciences? Reading Jim Pellegrino’s work on knowing what students know, meeting great faculty, valuing the present research projects, and sensing the potential to improve connections between researchers & practitioners are some of my reasons for joining this Learning Sciences community.
Contact Information: ckaduk2@uic.edu
312-996-5258
2064 BSB

Wenjuan Li

Wenjuan Li

Discipline: Mathematics
Entered Program: Fall 2008
Degree(s): BS in Mathematics and MS in Curriculum and Instruction.
Hometown: Hezhou, Guangxi, China
Professional Goals: To be a researcher in mathematics education.
Hobbies & Interests:   swimming, music, travel.
Why Learning Sciences? Learning sceinces is an interdisciplinary field. It provides me with a broad foundation and strong motivation to do my research.
Contact Information: liwenjuan1023@gmail.com

Sara Marchlewicz

Kim Richards

Discipline: Chemistry
Entered Program: I started taking classes in Spring of 2008 but I will officially be in the program in the Fall of 2008
Degree(s): M.S. Chemistry from UIC;
B.S. Biochemistry from Oakland University
Hometown: Bay City, MI
Professional Goals: I came to grad school to find out what I want to do with my life. After being in many different settings, I have found my passion of teaching chemistry at a community college and developing curriculum.
Hobbies & Interests: I love being outdoors and doing anything active. I like playing beach volleyball, biking, working out, etc. I enjoy watching sports - Chicago Cubs and Detroit Pistons. I also love puzzles, reading for fun, and hanging out with friends.
Why Learning Sciences? I like that we focus on researching how students learn rather than how teachers teach. Understanding how students learn can be transferred to any type of setting.
Contact Information: smarch2@uic.edu
312-996-4606
4138 SES

Kim Richards

Kim Richards

Discipline: Discipline, Language, Literacy, and Culture.
Entered Program: Fall 2008
Degree(s): BA in Sociology from UIC.
Masters of Education from DePaul University.
Hometown: Skokie, IL
Professional Goals: To work within both academia and 6-12 grade schools to collaborate and design digital assessments & learning environments.
Hobbies & Interests:   Listen to music; watch movies; ride my bike; laugh; improv; yoga.
Why Learning Sciences? I joined Learning Sciences in order to learn how to design socially just assessments that are focused on multiliteracies. The goal is to collaborate with schools and other educational program communities to design locally situated, formative assessments.
Contact Information: kricha4@uic.edu
312-355-1323
2040 BSB
Cohort Four

Matthew Lira

Matthew Lira

Discipline: Biology
Entered Program: Fall 2009
Degree(s): MA, Northwestern University: Learning Sciences BS, Ball State University: Biology
Hometown: Griffith, IN
Professional Goals: Informal/formal learning environment designer Educational Researcher.
Hobbies & Interests:   Avocational:
    Music (Guitar/Singing/Songwriting)
    Weightlifting/Nutrition
    MMA
    Diablo III (eagerly awaiting its arrival)
Vocational:
    Natural Sciences
    Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience
    Child Development
    Cognitive Development
    Epistemology
    Technology use & Artifact Design
Why Learning Sciences? My interests in the learning sciences are fairly traditional and are largely the result of Piagetian influences. Like Piaget, I am first and foremost a biologist. My current interests originated from previous interests in human origins and human uniqueness. My immigration to the behavioral sciences is the result of two major experiences in my professional life. First, working in neuroscience, I conducted cellular imaging of a phenomenon known as synapse elimination, a cellular process whereby the nervous system prunes established neuronal connections in a largely experience-dependent fashion. For me, experience-dependent synapse elimination highlighted how more complex forms of learning might manifest themselves in the nervous system and motivated me to understand learning processes at multiple levels of organization. Second, working as a physiology instructor, I began to see the difficulties in creating authentic, engaging, and meaningful learning environments in the context of science classrooms. My experience as an instructor highlighted the mismatch between how science is practiced in the lab and how science is practiced in the classroom. I then became motivated to better understand the development of science curriculum and instruction. Today, I want understand the cognitive processes that underpin the development of scientific reasoning and internal representations as they occur vis-a-vis external representations commonly found in science instructional materials.
Contact Information: melira42@gmail.com

Chandan Dasgupta

Chandan Dasgupta

Discipline: Computer Science
Entered Program: Fall 2009
Degree(s): M.S (Human-Computer Interaction) from Georgia Tech;
B.E (Computer Science and Engineering, India)
Hometown: New Delhi, India
Professional Goals: After completing my Ph.D., I am interested in seeking an academic position or research appointment that encourages inter-disciplinary research in a wide range of fields and departments, such as education, Human-Centered Computing, learning sciences and educational psychology.
Hobbies & Interests:   Photography, Blogging, Travelling, Teaching underprivileged children, Reading
Why Learning Sciences? My interest in the area of Learning Sciences stems from my dual passion for helping children learn and making education accessible to under-served communities.
Contact Information: cdasgu2@uic.edu
http://ltg.evl.uic.edu/chandan

Jackie Popp

Jackie Popp

Discipline: Literacy
Entered Program: Fall 2009
Degree(s): BA in Psychology and Education, University of St. Thomas
Hometown: St. Cloud, MN
Professional Goals: I would like to teach in-service and pre-service teachers at a college or university while continuing to do research.
Hobbies & Interests:   I am passionate about photography, especially trying to capture emotion in people and animals. I am very active and enjoy sports such as volleyball, basketball, and swimming. My favorite social pastime is going out to eat with friends; I love good food, dark beer, interesting conversation, and trying new restaurants.
Why Learning Sciences? I’m curious about all facets of learning, from learning to play a sport to making sense of symbolic representations to how our emotions (self-efficacy, anxiety, emotional events) can impact learning. But since it’s more practical to focus on one area, I gravitate toward literacy learning. Some of my current interests in this domain include reading comprehension and emergent language. The LS program at UIC is a great fit for me because of the flexibility of the program and the diversity of perspectives among students and staff.
Contact Information: jpopp4@uic.edu
http://ltg.evl.uic.edu/chandan

Jessica Roberts

Jessica Roberts

Discipline: Social science/informal learning environments
Entered Program: Fall 2009
Degree(s): BS in Theatre Lighting Design, Northwestern University
Hometown: Quincy, IL
Professional Goals: I hope to work in (by which I mean run) a museum education department or some other informal/non-traditional learning environment.
Hobbies & Interests:   I love running, watching football, camping/hiking/canoeing, road trips or really any travel, cheesy movies and music, and nerding out with my friends (preferably over a bourbon or Guinness)
Why Learning Sciences? I found Learning Sciences by asking the woman with the job I want how she got there. Once she pointed me to the program I immediately saw it was a great fit for me. I had been looking for a program with an interdisciplinary focus and just hadn't been able to find anything that matched my interests. Finding LS in general and UIC in particular was one of those great "AHA!" moments.
Contact Information: jrober31@uic.edu

Emma Hospelhorn

Emma Hospelhorn

Discipline: Music and Literature
Entered Program: Fall 2009
Degree(s): B.A. in English, Columbia University; B.M. in Flute Performance, CUNY Queens College
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Professional Goals:
Hobbies & Interests:  
Why Learning Sciences? I have always been fascinated by the ways in which people understand stories as they are told through music, literature, and art, as well as the more practical aspects of music and literacy learning. UIC's Learning Sciences program is great because its interdisciplinary nature allows me to explore all of these things.
Contact Information: ehospe2@uic.edu

José W. Meléndez

José W. Meléndez

Discipline: Urban Planning & Policy
Concentration: Learning in community development
Entered Program: I first took Learning Sciences 512 in the spring of 2007, and was admitted into the program in Fall 2009
Degree(s): Oberlin, BA, History/Slavic Studies, Modern Dance/Choreography UIC, M.Ed., Educational Studies in Instructional Leadership,
Concentration: Curriculum Studies outside school settings.
Hometown: Santa Ana, El Salvador, Raised in New York City
Professional Goals: My career goals, like much about me, are not linear. From being an executive director of a community based organization, to consulting work on organizational development, I can see myself involved in a vast array of labors that are in critical need of a perspective that includes the current demographic shifts of U.S. society. My vast program development expertise lends itself to being combined with theoretical and practical approaches to learning and teaching in an organizational setting. Without a doubt, my facilitating and training passion, which combines my dance/choreography background with a critical pedagogical methodology to teaching, allows me to approach topical issues on race, class, and sexual orientation with a comfort that invites participants to challenge themselves and view things from a different perspective. Finally, I could see myself as a professor in the right kind of institution. One where teaching students is prized over publications. Finally, working for a foundation or a think tank would be invaluable. At the heart of it all is my commitment to social justice.
Hobbies & Interests:   I consider myself queer from a cultural orientation perspective; as such I enjoy turning things upside down/inside out and stepping outside the box. I am a long time runner; enjoy sunbathing, travel, throughout the states and around the globe, experiencing different cultures, people and ways of being. I have studied modern dance and love the theater and arts. Reading the New York Times with my morning coffee is a weekend tradition. Museums are a great cultural asset to any worthwhile destination; some of my favorites are MOMA, Centre Pompidou, The MALBA, MAM, and the Salvador Dali Museum. I have a deep appreciation of the human body and all its sensuality, hence I enjoy sports: college wrestling, March Madness, big Jets fan and the Olympics. Finally, I am a political junkie and enjoy riding my motorcycle when the weather is nice enough.
Why Learning Sciences? Throughout my professional experience, I have been trained and mentored using Paolo Freire’s and Albert Bandura’s contributions to critical pedagogy and social cognitive theory respectfully, as well as the knowledge of one’s true self. During my Master’s degree studies, the practical theoretical foundations of Joseph J. Schwab also become instrumental in looking at how learning becomes impaired when pedagogy becomes too theoretical. As such, Schwab’s addresses how policy decisions and organizational theory affect learning. Schwab’s analysis of how policies originate and their affect on organizations involves the dialogical, dialectical and deliberate; all emphasized as core requirements for critical inquiry to occur. Thus, I am interested in how deliberate inquiry (Schwab) and Critical Pedagogy (Freire), come together in urban policy and planning to create a synergy of community development as a learning enterprise. This analysis aims implicitly to design learning environments of adult participatory/popular education, designing a community of practice where the facilitator acts as a means to give voice to the knowledge that already exist within and create praxis. Thus, I seek to understand and build on Jürgen Habermas communicative action theory as a process of interpersonal, socio-cultural and practical critical exploration in urban planning & policy and community development. Finally, my approach to learning is centered around Lev Vygotsky’s work, specifically activity theory and sociocultural theory.
Contact Information: Jmelen5@uic.edu

Dave Becker

Catherine Kaduk

Discipline: Museum Education; Conservation Psychology
Entered Program: Fall 2009
Degree(s): B.A. Humaities & Psychology. Currently work as the Senior Manager of Learning Experiences for the Chicago Zoological Society; previous museum experience as Lead Exhibit Developer for DuPage Children's Museum, and additional professional experience as a Social Worker
Hometown: Adrian, Mi
Professional Goals: I am interested in research, program development, and conceptual design development in non-formal learning environments such as zoos, museums, aquariums, as well as other public spaces where informal learning occurs for children, youth, families, and communities.
Hobbies & Interests:   Friends and family, visiting museums and nature centers, really dark beer, jogging from time to time with a marathon thrown in for good measure, and a bit of a world religion geek and active unitarian universalist
Why Learning Sciences? I really see learning as a fundamental part of human development that continues througout our lives and in many contexts. Learning Sciences is interested in the full range of learning experiences and learning environments- individual and public, formal and informal, school, home, museums, work. Learning Sciences isn't just about understanding learning though, it's about creating new opportunities and new environments; it's about enacting change.
Contact Information: dbecke4@uic.edu

 

 
Home | About Learning Sciences | People | New Applicants | Current Students | Other Links

Learning Sciences Research Institute
1007 W. Harrison St. Room 2048 (MC 057)
Chicago, IL 60607
312.355.3077 | 312.355.3930(Fax)

UIC Home page