Our Team

“I learn – or try to – by spreading things out, mentally and physically, and then seeing how they connect. Then I try to arrange and rearrange the things and make an outline of how they touch and inform each other.”

Bio
Quinn Burke is a Senior Research Scientist in the Learning Sciences at Digital Promise. Quinn’s research examines the effectiveness of different coding activities by which to introduce computer science and computational thinking (CT) to students. Quinn’s research has been supported by a number of state and federal grants. He has written a number of articles and co-authored two books through MIT Press around integrating computing and CT into the school day. Prior to joining Digital Promise, Quinn taught at the college and high school levels. He hails from Chicago originally and has a beautiful wife, daughter, and the worst behaved dog in the Bay Area. He can be reached at qburke@digitalpromise.org.

“I’ve learned the most from my youngest collaborators—preschoolers. Young children are naturally curious and interested in understanding the world around them; often posing questions and not afraid of failure (which I try to model).”

Bio
Ximena Domínguez, PhD, is Director of Early STEM Research at Digital Promise. Her research examines child-level factors and classroom-level processes that influence young children’s learning and STEM readiness, with the goal of informing early childhood education practices at home and school. Her work involves partnerships with educators and families from disadvantaged backgrounds and in culturally and linguistically diverse communities. To conduct her work, she draws on her expertise in early childhood education, STEM readiness, design- based research, assessment development, and mixed method research design. Her portfolio of work includes research and development projects, evaluation efforts, and assessment development initiatives – all focused on early STEM and exploring the unique affordances of developmentally appropriate technology for early teaching and learning. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), and foundations such as Heising-Simons. Ximena earned an M.S.Ed. in education from the University of Pennsylvania and her Ph.D. in applied developmental psychology from the University of Miami. She can be reached at xdominguez@digitalpromise.org.

“When faced with learning something new, I research everything about the topic or product to be learned. Whether it’s an extensive Google search, networking with experts on the subject, or analyzing media, I use all resources to learn.”

Bio
Jessica Fischer is the Executive Assistant for the Learning Sciences Research team at Digital Promise Global. Jessie has five years of operations experience within the hospitality, nonprofit and technology industries. She places a high value on attention to detail and organization. With her upbeat attitude and ability to multi-task she helps keep the operation smooth within the LSR team. Jessie is thrilled to work in the education technology industry at DPG. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with emphasis in Marketing and minor in Communications from Saint Mary’s College of California. You can reach Jessica at jfischer@digitalpromise.org.

“I love to think about learning. Because there are so many different ways to learn, I don’t think there is ever one best place or way to learn.”

Bio
Judi Fusco has spent much of her career using technology to support learning and collaboration and to help close the gap between teachers and researchers. After receiving her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology, she joined SRI International to help co-found and direct the community development of Tapped In, one of the first online communities for education professionals; the community ran from 1997-2013. Since 2008, she has also taught learning theories courses for educators and supervised dissertation students at Pepperdine University in the Education Doctorate for Learning Technologies program. In the last few years, she has been thinking with practitioners about professional communities, such as ones for maker educators; how to create activities for learning with new technologies like virtual reality; and how computational thinking might play a role in classrooms. As one of the team members for the Center for Innovative Research in Cyberlearning (CIRCL), she works to broaden the impacts of NSF-funded projects that are building future learning technologies by bringing teachers into the community and writing about the projects for a broader audience. At Digital Promise, she continues to try to help bring researchers and practitioners together in ways to support learning. You can reach Judi at jfusco@digitalpromise.org.

To learn something new, I sometimes try to get some orientation from experts that I like and trust, especially on why they think the topic matters, and why they decided to pursue it. It’s neat and gratifying to get to learn something new AND connect more deeply with someone that I already like and trust.

Bio
Emi Iwatani is a Learning Sciences Researcher who studies and evaluates scalable, technology-supported educational initiatives that might benefit cultural minorities, domestically and abroad. She is particularly interested in why and how students and teachers use technology to refine their craft, invent new things, forge meaningful connections, and cultivate ownership of their knowledge and work. She is also interested in improving approaches to data collection and analysis, so that great teaching and learning can be identified clearly and well. Prior to joining Digital Promise Global, Emi conducted research and evaluation at SRI International’s Center for Technology in Learning, and University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Development Center. She has consulted with a number of educational organizations, including the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, Persistence Plus, Boston Arts Academy Center for Arts in Education, and Shadow Student Athletes, on topics such as teacher professional development, student empowerment, and program efficacy. In addition, Emi has taught biology and physics at Boston Arts Academy, helped run a youth advocacy organization in Pittsburgh’s Hilltop area, and taught core academic subjects in a tutoring center in Tokyo. Emi holds a Ph.D. in Educational Research Methodology and an M.A. in History and Philosophy of Science, both from the University of Pittsburgh; an M.A.Ed. in Science Education from Wake Forest University; and an Sc.B. in Biology with honors from Brown University. She can be reached at eiwatani@digitalpromise.org.

“I try to remain open and not make too many assumptions about what I know or need to know, as these things change and transform all the time.”

Bio
Danae Kamdar is an Early STEM Education Researcher at Digital Promise. She is engaged in multiple research and development projects that aim to better understand how to promote STEM teaching and learning in public early childhood settings. Danae’s work focuses on the design of technology-integrated curricular systems; delivering professional development workshops; and the development of child assessments that are intended to examine what young children are capable of learning and what resources and instruction may lead to increased learning – with an ultimate goal of translating research findings about early STEM education into innovative resources that impact children’s learning and teachers’ practices. She holds an M.S. in Early Childhood Education from New York University. Prior to becoming a researcher, she was a teacher and classroom coach in diverse early learning classrooms, and this experience informs her work each and every day. She can be reached at dkamdar@digitalpromise.org.

“Many technologies offer new ways of measuring and understanding learning like never before—at scale and with high resolution. Partnerships between researchers and practitioners are key to taking advantage of these new sources of data in order to improve learning environments for more and more students.”

Bio
Andrew Krumm, Ph.D., is Director of Learning Analytics Research at Digital Promise, where he specializes in developing data-intensive research-practice partnerships with educational organizations of all types. Andrew has received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Lucas Education Research, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and SRI International. As a learning scientist working at the intersection of school improvement and data intensive research, Andrew develops tools and strategies that partnerships can use to engage in collaborative data-intensive improvement work. Many of these tools and strategies are detailed in a forthcoming book, Learning Analytics Goes to School: A Collaborative Approach to Improving Education, written with Barbara Means and Marie Bienkowski. He can be reached at akrumm@digitalpromise.org. 

“Tuning into podcasts can be a great entry point into learning more about topics of interest. Some of my favorite podcasts invite people to share their expertise or personal experiences providing me with an opportunity to hear from others I would not have access to otherwise.”

Bio
Tiffany Leones joins Digital Promise as an Early STEM Education Researcher after completing her M.Ed. in Educational Psychology – Applied Developmental Science from the University of Virginia. While pursuing her graduate studies, she served as the Spatial Learning as Play Coordinator at a local children’s museum investigating children’s interactions with spatial play materials, and worked as an America Reads tutor. Prior to this, she worked for several years as a research analyst contributing to a wide array of education research studies, ranging from pre-K to adult learners. In her role at Digital Promise, Tiffany looks forward to engaging in research aimed at promoting equity through high-quality early STEM teaching and learning innovations while also bridging and strengthening research to practice connections. She can be reached at tleones@digitalpromise.org.

“I learn by doing. When I am faced with something new, I like to dive in, mess around, and work my way into making the strange familiar. Failure is a necessary part of my learning process, as the road blocks are key to helping me stop, reflect, ask questions, and look for help.”

Bio
Savitha Moorthy is the Director of STEM Equity Research at Digital Promise. Her work focuses on science and mathematics education, particularly on the design of tools that promote science and math talk. Equity is a central concern in Savitha’s research, and her projects emphasize the experiences of educationally disenfranchised populations, including low-income families, English Language Learners, and students and teachers in diverse, urban school districts. Signature projects in Savitha’s portfolio include a research-practice partnership with Clark County School District in Las Vegas, NV aimed at improving elementary English Learners’ science learning experiences and a collaboration with the Jim Henson Company aimed at developing an app to promote science talk and science learning among families. She holds a PhD in Education from Stanford University; she was an English and English as a Second Language teacher before becoming a researcher. She can be reached at smoorthy@digitalpromise.org.

“With the internet just a few taps away on a variety of devices, my learning isn’t limited to formal settings like classrooms or conferences. Moments to learn are all around us, and with access, drive, and opportunity, I strive to be a life-long learner.”

Bio
Julie Neisler, Ph.D., is a Quantitative Researcher for the Learning Sciences Research team. After several years as a practitioner in student affairs in higher education, Julie sought to pursue her passion for research by earning her doctorate in Measurement, Quantitative Methods, & Learning Sciences from the University of Houston. She is excited to apply her knowledge of rigorous data collection methodologies, analytic techniques for institutional data, and collaborative relationship building to support the efforts of institutions, educators, and students. Additionally, she has authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles that focus on areas of homelessness, health disparities, and social justice, intersectional topics that influence education and society nationwide. Julie earned her Masters in Higher Education from Florida State University and double-majored at UNC Chapel Hill for a BA in Psychology and Management & Society.

“I love losing myself in a problem or challenge that I’m trying to overcome — that feeling when you’re so absorbed in an activity that you lose track of time. I’m excited about the opportunities technology can provide for designing learning experiences that can optimize our sense of flow.”

Bio
Vanessa Peters, Ph.D. is a Senior Learning Sciences Researcher at Digital Promise Global. Her research focuses on how emergent uses of technology can create opportunities for teaching and learning, especially in science. Vanessa applies an interdisciplinary lens to her work and has extensive experience with design-based, qualitative, and mixed methods research designs. Prior to joining Digital Promise, Vanessa was an education researcher at SRI International’s Center for Technology in Learning, where she worked on research and evaluation projects in K-12 and postsecondary education. She was also a Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she led an interdisciplinary climate change education research team. Vanessa has an M.A. in Educational Technology and a Ph.D. in Education and Knowledge Media Design from the University of Toronto. You can reach her at vpeters@digitalpromise.org.

“I try to learn from everyone, but I particularly value connections with colleagues through professional associations which have accountability to professional standards for practice and peer review.”

Bio
Jason Ravitz is Senior Research Scientist on the Dynamic Learning Project. His pioneering educational technology research has influenced district, state, national and international initiatives. At Google from 2014-2018, Jason developed evaluation capacity and led research for university relations, K-12 computer science (CS) outreach, and social impact. He founded programs with non-profits like the National Girls Collaborative Project and co-founded the CS Impact Network to bridge three National Science Foundation initiatives, large private/public partnerships, and the American Evaluation Association (AEA) STEM education community. Jason led studies at the Buck Institute for Education on project- and problem-based learning for 12 years and chaired the American Educational Research Association (AERA) group on this topic. He has taught graduate courses, advised students, lectured, consulted and published widely, and his measures have frequently been re-used internationally. Jason began his career as a social studies and computer teacher before joining the National School Network Testbed project at BBN Educational Technologies. He earned a Ph.D. (1999) in Instructional Design, Development & Evaluation at Syracuse University and completed postdoctoral positions on national teaching reform surveys at UC, Irvine, and technology-supported assessments for learning at UC, Berkeley/SRI International. Jason studied sociology and teaching at Harvard, graduated from Detroit’s Cass Technical HS, and was raised by activist civil rights lawyers. He plays several musical instruments and has an artist wife and two accomplished daughters. You can reach Jason at jravitz@digitalpromise.org.

“I like to learn by questioning assumptions and intuitions. Would I prefer something to be true? Am I mostly looking for evidence to confirm it? It helps to brainstorm alternatives, invite other perspectives, and make predictions and test them. If I’m lucky, I’ll learn something surprising. Surprise makes information memorable, and leads to more lasting revision of beliefs and preferences.”

Bio
Dr. Schank specializes in the development of learning environments using best practices and findings from user-centered design, software development, and learning sciences research. In her previous role as a computer and cognitive scientist at SRI International’s Center for Technology in Learning, she led the design and development of online communities for educators and researchers, workspaces to support collaborative learning, software and curriculum to help students visualize nanoscale phenomena, online tools to support evidence-based assessment design, and interactive assessments to measure science learning. Patti has received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and co-authored more than 40 publications on the design, evaluation, and implementation of learning technology. She has an M.S. in computer science and a Ph.D. in education from the University of California at Berkeley, where her dissertation work focused on modeling and promoting scientific reasoning through an integration of theory-based cognitive simulations, experimental studies, and instructional curricula. You can reach Patti at pschank@digitalpromise.org.