# PhD Program Targets — Faculty Dossier **Last verified:** 2026-04-10 **Selection frame:** PIs whose current-year research overlaps at least one of the three papers (MER 2.0 hardware, Matrices → Networks, Anti-Racist AI Tutoring), who are actively supervising PhD students, and whose funding is not solely riding on a 2023-cohort NSF grant. --- ## Field-wide funding caveat (read before contacting anyone) The CS-Education / Learning-Sciences PI community is in NSF turbulence as of 2025. DOGE-driven grant terminations hit multiple labs this spring — most visibly, Amy Ko (UW iSchool) publicly stated on her UW page in June 2025 that she is *not sure* she will recruit for 2027-28 because one of her NSF grants was terminated and a postdoc line was cut. This is not unique to her lab. **Every PI on this list must be asked the same opening question in the first email**: *"Are you planning to recruit a PhD student to start Fall 2027, and is that cohort contingent on a specific grant renewal?"* A five-second skim of their site cannot answer this. Field hedge: weight PIs whose funding is diversified across NSF + foundation + institutional sources (CMU Simon Initiative, Columbia TC, GT Constellations) over PIs whose only live money is a single DRK-12 award. --- ## Primary 5 (ranked by fit to Henry's 3-paper program) ### 1. Paulo Blikstein — Columbia Teachers College (TLTL + FabLearn) - **Program:** TC Communication, Media, and Learning Technologies Design (EdD / PhD). Reads as Learning Sciences + HCI on an application, not CS. - **Tier:** Reach. - **Paper fit:** Paper 01 (MER 2.0 hardware) and Paper 02 (SVD-first NN intro). - **Why he is #1:** His June 2025 papers are *"Making to Empower Teacher Problem Posing and Design"* and *"Making Sensor Data Dear: Accessible Sensing Platforms as Conduits to Localized, Personally Meaningful Data Science."* That is a one-year-earlier version of Henry's $80 open-hardware kit + computer-vision tracking paper, written by someone else. FabLearn's constructionist / open-access / hands-on-verification ethos is a near-perfect overlay on Jeff's "kitchen-table checkable" and "anti-racist learner-centered" frames. - **Live funding signal:** 2020 NSF DRK-12 Level-2, ~$2M, 3 years, for "technological ecosystem for students to create, test, and compare their own ideas about science." Two books under contract with MIT Press for 2025-26. Lab currently supervises ~13 PhDs and ~100 MS students (per TLTL about page). - **Must verify before emailing:** Has the 2020 DRK-12 been renewed past its 3-year window? Is there a new DRK-12 or CAREER-scale award covering 2026-29? Search NSF AwardSearch for "Blikstein" with Active=true. - **First read (do before the email):** Both June 2025 TLTL papers. Then pull one specific claim from each and write the one-sentence "this is how my Paper 01 extends your 2025 work" hook. - **Links:** [TC faculty](https://www.tc.columbia.edu/faculty/pb2755/) · [TLTL publications](https://tltlab.org/publications-listing/) · [FabLearn](https://fablearn.org/) ### 2. Michelle Wilkerson — UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education (CoRE Lab) - **Program:** Berkeley GSE, Education in Mathematics, Science, and Technology (EMST) doctoral program. - **Tier:** Reach. - **Paper fit:** Paper 02 (Matrices → Networks) is a near-textbook instance of her research frame — computational modeling as epistemic practice. - **Why she fits:** Wilkerson runs the Computing, Reasoning, and Expression (CoRE) Lab. Her whole research program is about treating computational models as knowledge objects students build, critique, and rebuild — exactly the move Paper 02 makes by reading an SVD of a trained weight matrix as an explanatory artifact. She also collaborates with Blikstein + MIT on NSF DRK-12 A2S, so Blikstein + Wilkerson is a single ecosystem, not two independent bets. - **Live funding signal:** NSF DRK-12 Award 2010413 *"From Access to Sustainability"* (A2S) — co-PI. *Writing Data Stories* (NSF, 2019-start). 2014 NSF CAREER. - **Must verify before emailing:** Is A2S 2010413 still within its funded window? Is Wilkerson on the 2026-27 GSE admissions faculty list? GSE publishes this yearly. - **First read:** Her most recent A2S or *Writing Data Stories* paper from 2024-2025. Goal: write one sentence explaining how Paper 02's SVD move is a computational-modeling epistemic practice in her sense, not a CS education intervention. - **Links:** [Berkeley School of Education profile](https://bse.berkeley.edu/michelle-hoda-wilkerson) · [CoRE Lab / NSF Writing Data Stories](https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~mwilkers/blog/2019/02/20/new-nsf-grant-writing-data-stories/) ### 3. Mark Guzdial — University of Michigan (CSE + Program in Computing for Arts and Sciences) - **Program:** Michigan CSE PhD, with Guzdial's joint role in LS&A's PCAS. - **Tier:** Reach. - **Paper fit:** The whole program — his "teaspoon of computing" frame is a near-identical linguistic sibling of Jeff's "I teach students how to learn, and I do it using linear algebra." - **Why he fits:** Guzdial's current NSF work is *Task-Specific Programming* ("Teaspoon languages") — tiny DSLs that let a discrete-math class, a social-studies class, or a linear-algebra class get 20 minutes of computing without a full CS curriculum. Henry's CVC-OEI day job and Math 2BL reality are the same problem: how do we add a teaspoon of computing to a class that is not a CS class. Guzdial also led the multi-state ECEP alliance — he thinks at the 115-college infrastructure scale Henry already operates at. - **Live funding signal:** Active NSF grant *"Task-Specific Languages as Scaffolding for Programming in Discrete Mathematics Classes."* Past: multi-million ECEP. Present at SIGCSE TS 2025. - **Must verify before emailing:** (a) Active Michigan CSE students in his group, their thesis topics, their year — indicates what he actually funds and whether there is an open slot. (b) Explicit PCAS vs CSE application path for an LS-leaning applicant. - **First read:** His most recent Teaspoon languages paper. Also read his *Computing Education Research Blog* for current public positions — Guzdial writes his own voice there and it reveals what he cares about in a student. - **Links:** [UMich CSE profile](https://cse.engin.umich.edu/peoplenews/guzdial-mark) · [Teaspoon NSF news](https://cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/nsf-grant-to-add-a-teaspoon-of-computing-to-non-cs-classes) · Blog: computinged.wordpress.com ### 4. Betsy DiSalvo — Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing (CAT Lab) - **Program:** Georgia Tech Human-Centered Computing (HCC) PhD. - **Tier:** Reach. - **Paper fit:** Paper 03 (Anti-Racist AI Tutoring) — her *maker-oriented learning for transfer and reflection* NSF language is the exact frame Paper 01 and 03 need. - **Why she fits:** DiSalvo founded DataWorks in 2020 — a paid data-wrangling workplace for young adults from minority communities — and her research thread is participatory design with Black and Latina learners in informal CS settings. She is currently Interim Chair of IC: seniority + institutional pull = she can get students funded when others can't. Her anti-racist-learner-centered alignment is the strongest on this list. - **Live funding signal:** Multiple NSF-funded CS-Ed projects (maker-oriented learning, DataWorks). Interim Chair = institutional permanence, not winding down. - **Must verify before emailing:** Specific NSF award IDs underwriting DataWorks and the maker-oriented-learning project today (her GT Research profile links to them). 2024-2026 papers on the CAT Lab publications page — student first authors indicate placement track. - **First read:** Her most recent 2024-2026 CAT Lab paper with a student first author. Pull one methodological move from the paper and write the sentence "Paper 03's LLM audit protocol adapts your [X] method to Jeff Anderson's five anti-racist objectives." - **Links:** [GT IC profile](https://www.cc.gatech.edu/people/betsy-disalvo) · [GT Research profile w/ grants](https://research.gatech.edu/people/betsy-disalvo) · [betsydisalvo.com](https://betsydisalvo.com/) ### 5. Ken Koedinger — Carnegie Mellon University (HCII, LearnLab) - **Program:** CMU HCII PhD. Hardest reach on this list. METALS is a realistic on-ramp if the PhD is a no. - **Tier:** Reach. - **Paper fit:** Paper 03 is a younger sibling of his PLUS project. - **Why he fits:** Koedinger directs LearnLab (the research arm of CMU's Simon Initiative). His PLUS project is hybrid human-AI tutoring for middle-school math, deployed in real classrooms around the country. Paper 03 is the same architecture scoped to community college and audited against Jeff's five anti-racist objectives. Koedinger has also, for 25 years, been the person in CS who cares whether the tutor *improves learning*, not whether students like it. LearnLab's funding is diversified across NSF + IES + Simon Initiative institutional money — a hedge against 2025 DOGE risk. - **Live funding signal:** PLUS deployed across multiple districts. LearnLab is the scientific arm of the Simon Initiative (post-NSF-center funding). 45+ grants lifetime, 250+ papers. - **Must verify before emailing:** (a) Does PLUS itself have an active NSF IES award? Institutional funding for classroom trials is often IES, not NSF. (b) Who is the day-to-day co-advisor? Koedinger often co-advises with Vincent Aleven or Bruce McLaren; the co-advisor matters more than the named PI on a CMU thesis. - **First read:** One PLUS paper from 2024-2025 + one older Koedinger foundational paper on the KLI (Knowledge-Learning-Instruction) framework. The KLI is the conceptual spine Paper 03's audit rubric should cite. - **Links:** [CMU HCII profile](https://hcii.cmu.edu/people/ken-koedinger) · [LearnLab](https://learnlab.org/ken-koedinger/) --- ## Honorable mentions (add these to complete a 3/5/3 target portfolio) | PI | Institution / Program | Paper fit | Tier | Key signal | |---|---|---|---|---| | Philip Guo | UC San Diego, Cognitive Science (joint Design Lab + CSE) | Paper 03 | Reach | 2025 O'Reilly piece *"Using Generative AI to Build Generative AI: Adding AI Chat to Python Tutor."* 20M+ users of Python Tutor. Cog Sci admissions surface is friendlier than CSE. | | Eleanor O'Rourke | Northwestern, joint CS + Learning Sciences | Paper 03 | Reach | 2021 NSF CAREER ($597,870, 5yr), *"Intelligent Learning Environments That Support the Practice of Programming"* — runs through ~2026. Joint CS/LS advising is rare and valuable. | | Stephen MacNeil | Temple University, Computer & Information Science | Paper 03 | **Match** | Assistant prof. Active on LLMs in CS ed: buggy-code generation, recursion analogies, AI copilot pedagogy. Temple is a match, not a reach — essential for the 3/5/3 split. | | Colleen Lewis | UIUC, Siebel School of Computing and Data Science | Paper 03 | Reach | NSF CAREER + $500K NSF co-PI with Paul Bruno on CS-ed policy analysis. Strongest "CS teaching + equity" fit at a top-10 CS department. | | David Weintrop | University of Maryland, joint College of Education + iSchool | Paper 02 | Reach | Active NSF CAREER 2141655 ($1.04M, 2022-2026), *"Situating Computational Learning Opportunities in the Digital Lives of High School Students."* Joint Ed+iSchool home is unusual and flexible. | --- ## Verification protocol (do this before the first email to any PI) For each PI on the primary or honorable list, fill in the following before emailing. If any row has an ❌, downgrade or drop the PI. ``` PI: ____________________________ Institution: ____________________ Program: _______________________ Application deadline: __________ GRE policy: ____________________ [ ] Active NSF (or IES) award verified on nsf.gov/awardsearch — award #, title, end date [ ] Two 2024-2026 papers read — one-sentence hook written for each [ ] Recent PhD student placements checked — names + year + destination [ ] GradCafe thread from last cycle checked — funding/admission signals [ ] Bluesky / Twitter checked — any public signal about recruiting for this cycle [ ] Faculty listed on 2026-27 admissions page for the program [ ] Fit narrative paragraph written — why this PI, not a peer in the same tier One-sentence research question to ask (NOT on their website): _________________________________________________________________ ``` --- ## The first email (template — stays inside Henry's mentor-protocol style) Use this once all 7 rows above are ✅. One decision per email; the decision they are making is *"is this person worth a 20-minute Zoom."* Keep the entire body under 180 words. ``` Subject: [Prospective PhD Fall 2027] [one-line paper-anchored hook] Dear Prof. [Name], I'm a community college CS educator and research analyst applying to PhD programs for Fall 2027. I'm writing because your [specific 2024-26 paper title] maps almost directly onto one of three papers I'm co-authoring this year with Prof. Jeff Anderson (Foothill College): [one sentence naming the paper and the specific methodological overlap]. Two questions, either-or: 1. Are you planning to recruit a PhD student to start Fall 2027 under [specific project / award title if known], and is that cohort contingent on a pending grant decision I should be aware of? 2. [One specific research question that a 5-second skim of their site cannot answer — should be about methodology, not logistics.] If you're not recruiting this cycle, I'd still value a pointer to a colleague whose current work is the closer fit. Thank you, Henry Fan [one-line tagline + link to fansofhenry.github.io/research-lab/] ``` --- ## What's explicitly *not* on this list - PIs whose last first-authored student paper is older than 2023 (lab velocity signal). - PIs with active faculty-search announcements from their own institution — they are leaving. - Emeritus faculty (e.g., Andrea diSessa, Uri Wilensky in the future if he scales back). - Pure-CS theory or systems faculty regardless of CS-Ed sympathies — Henry's lane is CS Ed, not CS. - PIs at programs that have frozen admissions for 2026-27 in response to NSF cuts — check before committing. --- ## Sources consulted (2026-04-10) - [Amy Ko — UW iSchool 2025 funding caveat](https://ischool.uw.edu/news/2025/06/despite-headwinds-amy-ko-makes-impact-computing-education) - [Paulo Blikstein — TC faculty](https://www.tc.columbia.edu/faculty/pb2755/) · [TLTL publications](https://tltlab.org/publications-listing/) · [TC $2M NSF DRK-12 news (2020)](https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-08/tccu-tct081420.php) - [Michelle Wilkerson — Berkeley SoE](https://bse.berkeley.edu/michelle-hoda-wilkerson) · [A2S DRK-12 2010413](https://tltlab.org/computational-modeling-in-science/) · [Writing Data Stories](https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~mwilkers/blog/2019/02/20/new-nsf-grant-writing-data-stories/) - [Mark Guzdial — UMich CSE](https://cse.engin.umich.edu/peoplenews/guzdial-mark) · [Teaspoon languages NSF news](https://cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/nsf-grant-to-add-a-teaspoon-of-computing-to-non-cs-classes) - [Betsy DiSalvo — GT IC](https://www.cc.gatech.edu/people/betsy-disalvo) · [GT Research page](https://research.gatech.edu/people/betsy-disalvo) - [Ken Koedinger — CMU HCII](https://hcii.cmu.edu/people/ken-koedinger) · [LearnLab](https://learnlab.org/ken-koedinger/) - [Philip Guo — UCSD](https://pg.ucsd.edu/) - [Eleanor O'Rourke — Northwestern CAREER](https://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/2021/05/eleanor-orourke-receives-prestigious-nsf-career-award/) - [Stephen MacNeil — Temple](https://stevemacn.github.io/) - [Colleen Lewis — UIUC + CS-ed policy NSF award](https://siebelschool.illinois.edu/news/lewis-NSF-award-analyze-cs-education-policy) - [David Weintrop — UMD](https://education.umd.edu/directory/david-weintrop)