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

Research And Evaluation Of Educational Technology

Teaching With Social Media

The Learning Sciences

Urban Education And The Adolescent City

Courses Previously Taught

At Adelphi University:

♦ Technology & Instructional Design

♦ Urban Education & the Adolescent City

♦ Technology & Society

♦ Research and Evaluation of Educational Technology

♦ First Year Seminar

♦ Learning on Social Media

♦ The Learning Sciences

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).

Chapters

Uttamchandani, S., and Dennis, B. (2025). Complexifying Positive Youth Development in the context of an LGBTQ+ and Allied Youth Group. In D. DiGiacoma & E. Van Steenis (Eds.), Equity-oriented Positive Youth Development. Information Age Publishing.

Uttamchandani, S., & Quick, J.D. (2022). An introduction to fairness, absence of bias, and equity in learning analytics. In G. Siemens, A. Merceron, D. Gasevic, A. Wise, & C. Lang (Eds.), Handbook of learning analytics (2^nd ed.) (pp. 205-212). Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR).

Uttamchandani, S., Bae, H., Feng, C., Glazewski, K., Hmelo-Silver, C., Brush, T., Mott, B., & Lester, J. (2022). Teacher orchestration systems supported by AI: Theoretical possibilities and practical considerations. In F. Ouyang, P. Jiao, B. McLaren, & A. Alavi (Eds.), Artificial intelligence in STEM education: The paradigmatic shifts in research, education, and technology. CRC Press.

Uttamchandani, S. & Lester, J.N. (2021). Language - Qualitative approaches to language in CSCL. In U. Cress, C. Rosé, A. Wise, & J. Oshima (Eds.), International handbook of computer-supported collaborative learning (pp. 605-623). Springer.

Hickey, D.T., Uttamchandani, S. & Chartrand, G. (2020). Competencies in context: New approaches to capturing, recognizing, and endorsing learning. In M.J. Bishop, E. Boling, J. Elen, & V. Svihla, (Eds.), Handbook of research in educational communications and technology (5th Ed.) (pp. 574-592). Springer.

Hickey, D. T., & Uttamchandani, S. (2017). Beyond hype, hyperbole, myths, and paradoxes: Scaling up participatory learning in a big open online course. In E. Losh (Ed.), MOOCs and Their Afterlives (pp. 1-13). The University of Chicago Press.

Articles

Curnow, J. & Uttamchandani S. (2025) The Uses of Hopelessness: Responding to Røkenes and Jornet. Science Education.

Learning Towards Justice Team [Curnow, J., Scipio, D., Uttamchandani, S., and Vea, T., in no particular order] (2025) Avoiding equity detours on the way to a more justice-oriented learning sciences. Journal of the Learning Sciences.

Copridge, K., Uttamchandani, S., & Birdwell, T. (2021). Faculty reflections of pedagogical transformation in active learning classrooms. Innovative Higher Education 46, 205-221.

Panos, A., Uttamchandani, S., & Lester, J.N. (2021). Beyond “doing no harm”: Saddle points in anonymization and masking as socialized practices for new researchers. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 34(9), 871-885.

Uttamchandani, S. (2021). Educational intimacy: Learning, prefiguration, and relationships in an LGBTQ+ youth group’s advocacy efforts. Journal of the Learning Sciences 30(1), 52-75.

Uttamchandani, S., & Lester, J.N. (2020). A discursive psychology study of epistemic primacy in an LGBTQ+ youth group’s textual educational materials. Discourse, Context & Media, 33.

Uttamchandani, S., Bhimdiwala, A., & Hmelo-Silver, C.E. (2020). Finding a place for equity in CSCL: Ambitious learning practices as a lever for sustained educational change. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 15(3), 373-382.

Birdwell, T. & Uttamchandani, S. (2019). Learning to teach in space: Design principles for faculty development in active learning classrooms. Journal of Learning Spaces, 8(1), 19-27. [

Uttamchandani, S., Pfingston, I., Smith, B., & Dennis, B. (2019). LGBTQ+ youth expertise on allyship and advocacy for educators. The Assembly: A Journal for Public Scholarship on Education, 2

Dennis, B., Uttamchandani, S., Biery, S., & Blauvelt, A. (2019). LGBTQIA+ youth as multicultural educators. Ethnography and Education, 14(3), 360-376.

Roman, T.R., & Uttamchandani, S. (2018). Researching pedagogy within small active learning classrooms: Examining enacted pedagogies of learner and instructor interactions. International Journal of Research and Method in Education, 41(4), 447-467.

Invited Presentations

Seven Introductions to Alan Turing. Hosted by Skidmore College Department of Mathematics and Statistics – Saratoga Springs, NY.

Spatial Justice as a Bridge to Responsible Computing (with M.X. Curinga and J. Drew). Hosted by KamiLimu – Kenya

LGBTQ+ Lives and the Learning Sciences: Questions, Then Answers, Then More Questions. Hosted by the Lunch and Learn Learning Sciences talk series at Rutgers University – New Brunswick, NJ.

Make a With: Methodological Togetherness in an LGBTQ+ Youth Group (with Barbara Dennis). Hosted by the University of Florida talk series on Culturally-Situated Qualitative Research with Youth and Children – Gainesville, Florida

Understanding and Animating Political Perspectives on Learning Analytics. Hosted by the LASER Institute at North Carolina State University (NCSU) – Raleigh, NC

LGBTQ+ Lives and the Learning Sciences: Questions, Then Answers, Then More Questions. Hosted by the Educational Communication and Technology (ECT) program at New York University (NYU) – New York, NY

“More Happy Endings and Fluff”: Educational Intimacy, Prefiguration, & Learning in an LGBTQ+ Youth Group’s Advocacy Efforts. Hosted by the CU Women and Gender Center, CU Denver – Denver, CO.