About the Institute

We bring together scholars from across the university as well as community partners to transform learning. Our work is distinguished by being interdisciplinary, sustained, and systemic. from across the region, to develop systemic and sustainable solutions that get at the root cause of our society’s biggest challenges.

Leadership

Partnering Deans

Suzanne Rosenblith, PhD
Dean and Professor
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo

Kemper Lewis, PhD, MBA
Dean and Professor
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
University at Buffalo

Robin G. Schulze, PhD
Dean and Professor
College of Arts and Sciences
University at Buffalo

Julia E. Czerniak, PhD
Dean and Professor
School of Architecture and Planning
University at Buffalo

Meet the Staff

Director

Christopher Hoadley, PhD

A member of the faculty in both the Graduate School of Education and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Hoadley specializes in computer science education and empowering people to collaborate and learn through technology. With a lifetime of experience in designing and building educational software, his expertise lies at the intersection of technology, learning, and collaboration. Hoadley founded the dolcelab, the Laboratory for Design Of Learning, Collaboration & Experience. He cofounded the International Society for the Learning Sciences (ISLS) and was an affiliate scholar for the National Academy of Engineering’s Center for the Advancement of Scholarship in Engineering Education (CASEE). With a focus on research-practice partnerships, computer support for cooperative learning, and design-based research methods, Hoadley explores the connections between technology and learning, shaping the future of educational innovation through work on how people and technologies can be smarter together.

Learn More About Professor Hoadley

Administrative Operations Coordinator

Lindsay Gallson

Lindsay brings a wealth of experience from her previous roles in the non-profit sector and operational management of small businesses. Known for her problem-solving skills and ability to bridge gaps within organizations, Lindsay thrives on optimizing processes to achieve peak performance. Outside of work, she cherishes time with her family and indulges her passion for cooking, always seeking out top-quality ingredients to create wholesome, nourishing meals.

Postdoctoral Researcher

Heather Killen, PhD

Heather Killen is motivated to help people navigate the ever-increasing challenges of climate change. Her transdisciplinary learning sciences research unites science and data science education, climate science, civic engagement and design to explore the space between science and community, and how each can support the other. A former biologist with a master’s degree in biology from the Boston University marine program at Woods Hole, Heather earned her PhD in technology, learning and leadership from the College of Education at the University of Maryland. Prior to her focus on understanding how communities engage in science learning, she worked as an ecologist for federal, state and tribal governments, served as biology faculty for a rural community college in Arizona, and led citizen science and curriculum development for the Fossil Atmospheres Project, housed within the Paleobiology Department of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Heather has also lived and taught abroad, primarily in Japan, and spent time living and working at the U.S. research station McMurdo in Antarctica.

Postdoctoral Researcher

Ari Hock, PhD

Ari studies learning "in the wild"—in public spaces, neighborhoods and cities. He is interested in how communities coalesce and align their work through collaboration, conflict and storytelling to address large, societal challenges. Ari earned his PhD in learning sciences and human development from the College of Education at the University of Washington. Previously, Ari worked on the digital marketing team at KABOOM!, the national nonprofit that co-designs playspaces to increase equitable access for kids and families.

Postdoctoral Researcher

Xintian Tu, PhD

Xintian Tu is a postdoc at the UB Institute for Learning Sciences, where she explores the cutting edge of how young children learn through play and technology. With a PhD in learning sciences and a doctoral minor in inquiry methodology from Indiana University, Xintian specializes in designing immersive and interactive learning environments, including mixed reality, to foster and capture children's learning in dynamic ways. Her research interests include embodied learning, play and advanced technology, aiming to create transformative educational experiences for young learners.

Our Vision

The learning sciences at the University at Buffalo can significantly enhance expansive learning at scale to address pressing societal problems through technology research and development, community engaged research-practice partnerships and transformation of the university's role in learning.

Our Mission

Our mission is to conduct sustained, systemic and interdisciplinary research and design in the learning sciences in order to transform learning to be more impactful and equitable. We draw on what the literature terms “expansive learning.” Expansive learning is transformative learning; it involves not old ways to learn new things, or new ways to learn old things, but rather new ways of learning new things that can potentially transform communities, institutions and cultures to address problems we’ve never solved before.

How We Work

Our institute works simultaneously on three areas of impact to ensure our research is relevant and responsive.

Community engaged research: We work through research-practice partnerships with community institutions. This ensures our community-focused work serves the needs of the community, and allows us to do research on sustained, systemic change.
Technology research and development: We explore new possibilities for the technologies of the future, and not just those of today. We contribute to ensuring technologies that serve societal needs are developed, and help ensure that best available learning sciences research is incorporated into technology creation.
Transforming the university: As an anchor institution for knowledge and learning, the university plays a unique role in supporting learning, through our formal degree programs, but also through outreach and original research the helps create a more informed government and citizenry. UB ILS aims to envision what the university of the future could look like, both in terms of pedagogies and helping foster knowledge building in society on our four themes.

Our institute contributes to research, design, training, and pedagogy. We welcome inquiries for collaboration. Prospective doctoral students may wish to apply to any of the academic programs with which ILS faculty are associated, including: