Suraj Uttamchandani | Faculty Profiles

Diplomas/Degrees

Ph.D., Learning Sciences, Indiana University (2020)

M.S.Ed., Learning Sciences, Indiana University (2016)

B.A., Mathematics, SUNY Geneseo (2014)

Personal Statement

Hi! I’m Dr. Suraj Uttamchandani. I’m a learning scientist whose work centers on equity-oriented theories of learning, participatory forms of research, and critical qualitative methodologies.

Currently, I am an Assistant Professor of Learning Sciences at Adelphi University. Previously I was a Visiting Research Scientist at the Center for Research on Learning and Technology at Indiana University, where I worked on game-based learning environments to support problem-based inquiry in science. I completed my Ph.D. in the learning sciences, also at Indiana University, in 2020. My work has appeared in Journal of the Learning Sciences, International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, and Discourse, Context, & Media. I also holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from SUNY Geneseo. Outside of work, I love to cook, read fiction, write, and play games (board and video).

Recent Courses

First Year Seminar: Maps That Matter: Exploring Inequality And Place With Code

Technology And Instructional Design

Technology And Society

Courses Previously Taught

At Adelphi University:

♦ Technology & Instruction Design

♦ Urban Education & the Adolescent City

♦ Technology & Society

At Indiana University:

♦ Learning: Theory into Practice

♦ Educational Psychology for Teachers of All Grades

♦ General Educational Psychology

♦ Political and Ethical Perspectives on the Learning Sciences

Specialization/Interests

♦ Space, Place, Place-Based Theories of Learning, and Spatial Justice

♦ LGBTQ+ Learning and Well-Being

♦ Critical Qualitative Methodologies

♦ Feminist Perspectives on Education

Teaching Philosophy

As a learning scientist, I believe that people learn best when they engage with material in ways that matter to them, whether for a desired career path or for a new perspective on something everyday. I recognize the power of relationship building among students and between students and teachers as fundamental to the learning that can take place in the college classroom. Across my teaching, I focus on supporting consequential and collaborative learning by creating experiences in which students can take up identities as teachers, researchers, and critics. I build on apprenticeship and community of practice models, common in the learning sciences, that blur the line between teaching and mentoring. To do so, I support learning by treating students respectfully and honoring their educational dignity.

Research Interests

My research seeks to advance connections among the learning sciences, educational technologies, and equity. To this end, my scholarship has two related threads: (1) projects that advance sociopolitical theories in the learning sciences through research with minoritized youth who seek educational justice for their communities, and (2) projects that advance justice-centered learning technology designs in formal schooling contexts to support students and teachers in more equitable learning with and about technology. Through these two threads, I aim to understand learning processes that are highly consequential for minoritized communities and to build the relevance of the learning sciences for teachers, practitioners, and social justice movements.

Across my work, I deploy critical qualitative methodologies.

From a theoretical perspective, I variously position learning as changes in discourse, changes in participation, and changes in possible futures. My dissertation work was rooted in understanding how politics, activism, and relational forms of learning came together to advance the social justice work of an LGBTQ+ youth group. More recently, with the South Asian Learning Sciences Collective, I have begun to engage non-Western orientations to learning and development (specifically, through a grant funded by the International Society for the Learning Sciences). In my postdoctoral work, I worked on in NSF-funded design-bard research studies that aimed to support students and teachers in deep scientific inquiry and problem-based learning through a video game-based learning environment called Crystal Island: EcoJourneys.

Methodologically, I explore what forms of inquiry most generatively and generously illuminate issues relevant to equity and learning. How can we engage in learning sciences research with rather than on folks? In addition to more common forms of participatory action research, I am interested in sustainable and equitable relationships between university-based researchers and community stakeholders. I draw primarily on discursive psychology, participatory research, and critical ethnography.

Other areas of interest for me include higher education math (for example, my SUNY-funded work on undergraduate math proofs courses) and higher education learning spaces (for example, my work with Indiana University’s Mosaic Initiative).