People

Josh Chien is a doctoral student in the Learning Sciences program at Adelphi University, adjunct professor, and elementary school music teacher. His research involves seeing how strategy and technical execution evolve and improve through discourse in competitive eSports. He is also interested in the learning processes involved in the memorization and execution of Rubik's Cube algorithms with the goal of improving solve times.

Claire M. D'Emic is the STEM Initiatives Program Director at the Long Island Children's Museum and a doctoral student in Learning Sciences. Her research interests include cocreating informal science programs with local communities, the role of imagination and curiosity in learning, and the importance of play.

Gabriella Deninno is a computer science teacher at Mineola UFSD and a doctoral student in Learning Sciences. Her research interests include embodied learning as it relates to mental representation building in K-12 computer science and mathematics education.

Grace Hu is a doctoral student in Learning Sciences at Adelphi University. Her research focuses on teaching expertise in makerspaces. Her broader interests include instructional design, accessibility, and the thoughtful integration of generative AI in education.

Ryan Foley is the Director of Undergraduate Programs in the Robert B Willumstad School of Business at Adelphi University and a doctoral student in Learning Sciences. His research includes the embodied experiences of learning as related to the arts and how these learning practices can applied to other domains.

Sultana Yasmeen Jamal is a doctoral student in Learning Sciences at Adelphi University. She brings over a decade of experience in education and instructional leadership across Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates, with a focus on early childhood and primary education. Her research interests include AI-supported instructional design for multilingual learners, inclusive education, and equity in educational technology.

Areeba Khalid is the Director of Graduate Business Programs in the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business at Adelphi University, an adjunct professor, and a doctoral student in Learning Sciences. Her research interests include technology-supported learning, mathematical problem solving, and generative AI in higher education, with a focus on how learners use and evaluate AI as part of the learning process.

Salih is a Communications Officer @ Design & Technology SIG (AERA). His interests lie at the intersection of artificial intelligence, educational technology, and the psychology of learning, with a focus on human-centered AI and digital literacy.

Jared Mroz is an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley, an Adjunct Professor in the Wilumstad School of Business at Adelphi University, as well as an Adjunct Professor in the Business School at Molloy University. He is a doctoral student in Learning Sciences at Adelphi University with a research interest in the role of music in learning and cognition, artificial intelligence, as well as developing and suporting learning in a professional technology setting.

Erin Puglisi is an adjunct professor of marketing at Sacred Heart University and a doctoral student in Learning Sciences at Adelphi University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of generative AI, neurodiversity, and teaching and learning in higher education, with a focus on how AI can support diverse learners and educators. Her broader interests include experiential and play-based learning, instructional design, and innovative approaches to teaching marketing.

Nikki Roda is an interaction designer who is interested in solving tough usability problems by drawing on her background in research, data science, and user experience design. Nikki currently works as an education librarian at the American Museum of Natural History.

Jennifer Southard is the Assistant Director of the Faculty Center for Professional Excellence at Adelphi University, adjunct professor, and Adelphi University PhD candidate. Her research examines how writing is shifting from a static response to an immediate exigency into a distributed, sense-making process among human, technological, and environmental agent, redefining AI as a partner in co-composition to better prepare writers for increasingly complex, post-human communication milieus.