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Bridging Technology and Equity with Research Practice Partnerships: Dr. Ali Raza's Mission to Transform STEM Education
December 17, 2024
In June 2024, Dr. Ali Raza began collaborating with GVSU College of Computing faculty on a new degree proposal in Human-Centered Computing—an initiative he took on even before officially joining GVSU two months later. This early involvement highlights Raza’s dedication to developing innovative, interdisciplinary programs that connect technology with human-centered design.
Raza’s journey to this point is deeply rooted in perseverance and passion. Raised in Lahore, Pakistan, in a humble background, he was encouraged by his family members and local teachers to strive for excellence and pursue meaningful work. During his undergraduate studies, Raza built a learning management system for connecting school parents, teachers, and students in under-resourced settings, an experience that sparked his interest in scaling technology solutions. This passion led him to explore the interdisciplinary research agenda in Computer Science Education, where he began identifying research opportunities that would shape his future career.
Raza earned his doctoral degree in computer science and cognitive science from the University of Colorado Boulder. He also worked there as a research scientist, where he received training in interdisciplinary research groups in human-centered computing. This exposure to cutting-edge fields—including Learning Analytics, Learning Sciences, Artificial Intelligence in Education—fueled his mission to integrate emerging technologies into K-12 education. His dissertation work, which focused on co-designing and developing visual learning analytics to support equity of participation in science classrooms, focused on developing deep partnerships with educators to support improvement in context. Further, the intervention that his colleagues and he developed called Student Experience Improvement Cycle, earned a $650,000 funded grant to embed this work in the organizational routines of two different school districts, set the stage for his ongoing contributions.
Dr. Raza’s unwavering commitment to creating equitable educational opportunities is exemplified through his latest achievement: the LA4Equity Spencer Mini-Project Stipend. This competitive grant provides funding to support a graduate student who will collaborate with Dr. Raza on groundbreaking research aimed at fostering equity in K-12 STEM education.
The project focuses on establishing a Research Practice Partnership (RPP) with a school district to explore the use of Learning Analytics—data-driven insights that can help identify and address learning disparities. By leveraging data driven instruction, Raza’s work aims to create more inclusive and effective educational strategies that support underrepresented students in STEM fields.
This initiative reflects Raza’s broader vision of integrating technology, data, and human-centered design in RPPs to improve educational outcomes. By partnering directly with educators and school systems, his research bridges the gap between academic scholarship and real-world impact, ensuring that advancements in learning sciences can be applied to benefit students and teachers alike.
During his time here at GVSU, Dr. Raza has established the EdTech Partnership Lab as an interdisciplinary hub for advancing equitable learning solutions. The lab’s work spans fields such as Human-Computer Interaction, Visualization, Learning Analytics, Artificial Intelligence in Education, and Learning Sciences, with a strong focus on applications in Science and Computer Science Education for K-12 and higher education. By collaboratively designing and developing learning technologies, curriculum and professional experiences, the lab partners with local educators and students to study their use and impact. Rooted in rigorous theories from the learning sciences, the lab’s mission is to support equitable STEM learning environments, ensuring that innovations in technology address real-world educational challenges and create opportunities for all learners.
The current team is Colin Nagley (Lab Manager), Mariam Tariq, Sharon Mungania, Sudha Sura, Finnete George, Matthew Vansloten, Vincent Nittolo, and Lakshmi Teja Yadlapalli. Together, they work to advance solutions that bridge technology and education to make meaningful, lasting impacts. One of the lab members, Sharon Mungania, recently was hired at University of Colorado Boulder to support the larger interdisciplinary team to work on a funded project building out of his dissertation work. She will be working as an “system assistant” for supporting development of a visual learning analytics tool to support equitable instruction in high school science classrooms.
When asked for advice, Dr. Raza emphasized to current and future
students to be a “good listener.” He believes that listening—whether
to peers, educators, or communities—is the foundation for meaningful
collaboration and impactful solutions.
If you are motivated to do interdisciplinary research with
application to education. Please reach out to Dr. Ali Raza at
[email protected] or visit his office at Allendale Campus MAK D-2-218 to
learn more about the open positions or projects.
Article written by Shelby Harrison.