Marcos D. "Danny" Caballero is a Professor in Physics and Astronomy and Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering. He holds the Lappan-Phillips Chair of Physics Education, co-directs the Physics Education Research Lab, and leads research in the Learning Machines Lab and Computational Education Research Lab. Danny studies how tools and practices influence learning in physics and computational science.

He earned his B.S. in physics from the University of Texas and his M.S. from Georgia Tech, where he co-founded the Physics Education Research group. His Ph.D. from Georgia Tech focused on computational modeling instruction. Danny moved to the University of Colorado Boulder as a postdoctoral researcher and helped transform upper-division physics courses to more active learning environments.

Danny conducts research from the high school to the upper-division and is particularly interested in how students learn through their use of tools such as mathematics and computing. His work employs cognitive and sociocultural theories of learning and aims to blend these perspectives to enhance physics and computational science instruction at all levels. His projects range from the fine-grained (e.g., how students engage with particular computational ideas) to the course-scale (e.g., what kind of computing students are able to do after instruction) to the very broad (e.g., how do departments value computation). His work includes the use of data science to address questions in STEM education.

Michael Lachney is an associate professor in the Educational Psychology and Educational Technology program in the College of Education. He has a PhD in Science and Technology Studies from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he learned about critical theories of technology and qualitative methods. 

His research explores the cultural politics of educational technology, including how technology and race co-shape each other in school and out-of-school contexts. In addition, he works on educational technology design strategies and implementation tactics to help educators collaborate with community experts (e.g., braiders, urban gardeners, youth sports coaches, etc.) in culturally responsive science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. 

Michael's research has appeared in the journals, Computer Science Education, Interactive Learning Environments, Learning, Media and Technology, Science as Culture, among others in the fields of STS and educational technology. His most recent project explores how to theorize and ethically construct relationships between humans, nonhuman animals, plants, and technologies in educational technology research.

B.S., 1975, Univ. of Manchester, England

M.S., 1976, Univ. of Manchester, England

Ph.D., 1978, Univ. of Manchester, England

Melanie Cooper holds a joint appointment in the departments of Chemistry, Teacher Education and the CREATE for STEM Institute. Dr. Cooper conducted postdoctoral work in organic chemistry before moving to a focus on chemistry education research. Her current research focus is the development and assessment of evidence-based curricula in order to improve the teaching and learning of chemistry within large-enrollment undergraduate chemistry courses.