Dr. Huzefa Rangwala (PI)
Associate Professor
Computer Science
Dr. Rangwala’s research focuses on data mining and their applications
in learning sciences, bioinformatics and bioengineering. Dr. Rangwala
is the recipient of the 2013 NSF Early Career Faculty Award and the
NSF BIGDATA award related to educational data mining. For his
commitment to teaching and undergraduate research, the PI was awarded
the University wide teaching award in 2014. Since Fall 2009, the PI
has mentored nine undergraduate students. This included a female,
majoring in bioengineering (Eastlake) and a male African-American
minority student (Tolbert). Tolbert was funded under a NSF REU
supplement with another project. Eastlake has co-authored a study
related to ultrasound image mining. The PI has also advised 4 high
school students. In Fall 2011, Tao (high school mentee) won a place in
the Siemens Science Regional Finals. The PI, along with two other
faculty members received a $20,000 award from GMU to integrate
inquiry-based learning and undergraduate research into the
curriculum. From Spring 2015 to Spring 2016 the PI mentored
Mr. LaPierre (B.S. in CS student) who developed a scalable clustering
algorithm for analyzing large volumes of DNA sequence
data. Mr. LaPierre received an honorable mention for his application
to the NSF Graduate Fellowship Research Program and is currently
pursuing a Ph.D. at University of California, Los Angeles. In Summer
2016, the PI mentored four undergraduate students in their second year
of study at GMU. Two of these recruited students were women. These
students contributed to the design and development of new interfaces
for presenting the output of the grade prediction and early warning
systems. The PI will devote time and energy towards the administrative
and logistical issues around running a collaborative and
inter-disciplinary REU Site Program.
Associate Professor
Computer Science
Dr. Rangwala’s research focuses on data mining and their applications
in learning sciences, bioinformatics and bioengineering. Dr. Rangwala
is the recipient of the 2013 NSF Early Career Faculty Award and the
NSF BIGDATA award related to educational data mining. For his
commitment to teaching and undergraduate research, the PI was awarded
the University wide teaching award in 2014. Since Fall 2009, the PI
has mentored nine undergraduate students. This included a female,
majoring in bioengineering (Eastlake) and a male African-American
minority student (Tolbert). Tolbert was funded under a NSF REU
supplement with another project. Eastlake has co-authored a study
related to ultrasound image mining. The PI has also advised 4 high
school students. In Fall 2011, Tao (high school mentee) won a place in
the Siemens Science Regional Finals. The PI, along with two other
faculty members received a $20,000 award from GMU to integrate
inquiry-based learning and undergraduate research into the
curriculum. From Spring 2015 to Spring 2016 the PI mentored
Mr. LaPierre (B.S. in CS student) who developed a scalable clustering
algorithm for analyzing large volumes of DNA sequence
data. Mr. LaPierre received an honorable mention for his application
to the NSF Graduate Fellowship Research Program and is currently
pursuing a Ph.D. at University of California, Los Angeles. In Summer
2016, the PI mentored four undergraduate students in their second year
of study at GMU. Two of these recruited students were women. These
students contributed to the design and development of new interfaces
for presenting the output of the grade prediction and early warning
systems. The PI will devote time and energy towards the administrative
and logistical issues around running a collaborative and
inter-disciplinary REU Site Program.
Dr. Mark Snyder (Co-PI)
Term Assistant Professor
Computer Science
Dr. Snyder’s research background is in type theory and languages. He
now teaches programming courses including introductory programming (in
Python3), object-oriented programming (in Java), Computer Systems and
Programming (in C and x86-64), and Comparative Programming Languages
(sampling many languages). These classes have upwards of 240 students
in them. The department recognized him in his second year as the
department’s outstanding teacher, and the university recognized him
with the university-wide Teaching Excellence Award in 2016. He
regularly attends the largest conference on computer science education
(ACE SIGCSE) and is actively involved in developing the GMU
undergraduate CS curriculum. Dr. Snyder is also assists in hiring
undergraduate students as teaching assistants, inspecting applications
and mapping TAs to courses in need. In a regular semester, he manages
a team of upwards of ten graduate teaching assistants weekly as part
of the larger introductory courses, where more than half a thousand
students may be enrolled.
Dr. Snyder has advised some undergraduate research projects, including
(1) visualizing numeric sequences and (2) creating a rubric system to
streamline and normalize the grading process. The student on these
projects (Lorenz) is a female student. Dr. Snyder is also currently
working on an online in-class student response system (SRS) geared
towards computer science classrooms, which could become the vehicle
for more undergraduate research opportunities in the REU
program. Dr. Snyder will serve as the point of contact for the REU
program, will manage the day-to-day operations of the summer program
and lead various tutorials and workshops.
Term Assistant Professor
Computer Science
Dr. Snyder’s research background is in type theory and languages. He
now teaches programming courses including introductory programming (in
Python3), object-oriented programming (in Java), Computer Systems and
Programming (in C and x86-64), and Comparative Programming Languages
(sampling many languages). These classes have upwards of 240 students
in them. The department recognized him in his second year as the
department’s outstanding teacher, and the university recognized him
with the university-wide Teaching Excellence Award in 2016. He
regularly attends the largest conference on computer science education
(ACE SIGCSE) and is actively involved in developing the GMU
undergraduate CS curriculum. Dr. Snyder is also assists in hiring
undergraduate students as teaching assistants, inspecting applications
and mapping TAs to courses in need. In a regular semester, he manages
a team of upwards of ten graduate teaching assistants weekly as part
of the larger introductory courses, where more than half a thousand
students may be enrolled.
Dr. Snyder has advised some undergraduate research projects, including
(1) visualizing numeric sequences and (2) creating a rubric system to
streamline and normalize the grading process. The student on these
projects (Lorenz) is a female student. Dr. Snyder is also currently
working on an online in-class student response system (SRS) geared
towards computer science classrooms, which could become the vehicle
for more undergraduate research opportunities in the REU
program. Dr. Snyder will serve as the point of contact for the REU
program, will manage the day-to-day operations of the summer program
and lead various tutorials and workshops.
Dr. Carlotta Domeniconi
Associate Professor
Computer Science
Dr. Domeniconi’s research interests include machine learning with
applications in text mining, educational data mining, and
bioinformatics. She is currently a co-PI (PI: Dr. Aditya Johri) on an
NSF funded project (Collaborative Research: Deep Insights Anytime,
Anywhere (DIA2)). DIA2 is currently designed as a powerful, web-based,
knowledge-mining platform for non-experts in data mining to
interactively explore the National Science Foundation awards
portfolio. Dr. Domeniconi has supervised and successfully published
papers with three undergraduate students: Gelman, Beckley, and
Sweeney. They have analyzed a large online community of creators
(Scratch Online), and modeled trajectory patterns that enabled them to
quantitatively analyze informal learning.
Associate Professor
Computer Science
Dr. Domeniconi’s research interests include machine learning with
applications in text mining, educational data mining, and
bioinformatics. She is currently a co-PI (PI: Dr. Aditya Johri) on an
NSF funded project (Collaborative Research: Deep Insights Anytime,
Anywhere (DIA2)). DIA2 is currently designed as a powerful, web-based,
knowledge-mining platform for non-experts in data mining to
interactively explore the National Science Foundation awards
portfolio. Dr. Domeniconi has supervised and successfully published
papers with three undergraduate students: Gelman, Beckley, and
Sweeney. They have analyzed a large online community of creators
(Scratch Online), and modeled trajectory patterns that enabled them to
quantitatively analyze informal learning.
Dr. Aditya Johri
Associate Professor
Information Sciences and Technology
Dr. Johri has overseen research by eight undergraduate students on NSF
funded projects over the past six years. Student work has resulted in
publications and placement in industry jobs as well as prestigious
programs such as NASA Summer Scholars. In a prior REU supplement, the
PI supported three students: Campbell, a senior in Kalamazoo College,
MI, majoring in CS; Cherniawski, a junior at University of Mary
Washington, VA, majoring in CS, and Mitchell, senior at Virginia Tech,
VA, majoring in Industrial Design. Subsequently, Campbell is working
with Microsoft; Cherniawski is working as a software engineer with
Phoenix Integration in Virginia; and Mitchell is pursuing a dual
masters degree at Virginia Tech. The research Campbell did over the
summer formed the basis for her undergraduate honors thesis. Over the
past year, Johri has supported three REU students, one of who has
graduated and joined Lockheed Martin and two are continuing on for
graduate studies. Johri will serve as a faculty mentor for immersion
projects.
Associate Professor
Information Sciences and Technology
Dr. Johri has overseen research by eight undergraduate students on NSF
funded projects over the past six years. Student work has resulted in
publications and placement in industry jobs as well as prestigious
programs such as NASA Summer Scholars. In a prior REU supplement, the
PI supported three students: Campbell, a senior in Kalamazoo College,
MI, majoring in CS; Cherniawski, a junior at University of Mary
Washington, VA, majoring in CS, and Mitchell, senior at Virginia Tech,
VA, majoring in Industrial Design. Subsequently, Campbell is working
with Microsoft; Cherniawski is working as a software engineer with
Phoenix Integration in Virginia; and Mitchell is pursuing a dual
masters degree at Virginia Tech. The research Campbell did over the
summer formed the basis for her undergraduate honors thesis. Over the
past year, Johri has supported three REU students, one of who has
graduated and joined Lockheed Martin and two are continuing on for
graduate studies. Johri will serve as a faculty mentor for immersion
projects.
Dr. Thomas LaToza
Assistant Professor
Computer Science
Dr. LaToza’s research is in developer experience design, combining
software engineering and human-computer interaction to investigate how
developers interact with code and designs new ways to build
software. He has worked with several undergraduate students, which has
sometimes resulted in publications with undergraduate co-authors. For
example, Eric Chiquillo developed an initial debugging feature for a
programming environment and Evelina Shabani worked on a study of
architectural decision practices. He has served as a mentor in George
Mason University’s Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program
(ASSIP), serving as a mentor to 17 high school and undergraduate
students. ASSIP offers an intensive 7.5-week program encompassing
career development activities as well as hands-on experience working
on a research project. As a mentor in the program, he runs an
intensive two day "bootcamp" introduction to Developer Experience
Design and mentors students as they participate on research projects.
Assistant Professor
Computer Science
Dr. LaToza’s research is in developer experience design, combining
software engineering and human-computer interaction to investigate how
developers interact with code and designs new ways to build
software. He has worked with several undergraduate students, which has
sometimes resulted in publications with undergraduate co-authors. For
example, Eric Chiquillo developed an initial debugging feature for a
programming environment and Evelina Shabani worked on a study of
architectural decision practices. He has served as a mentor in George
Mason University’s Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program
(ASSIP), serving as a mentor to 17 high school and undergraduate
students. ASSIP offers an intensive 7.5-week program encompassing
career development activities as well as hands-on experience working
on a research project. As a mentor in the program, he runs an
intensive two day "bootcamp" introduction to Developer Experience
Design and mentors students as they participate on research projects.
Dr. Jaime Lester
Associate Professor
Higher Education
Dr. Lester's research is focused on organizational change, and
teaching and learning in higher education. She is currently a Co-PI on
an NSF BIGDATA project (PI Rangwala). She is the recipient of multiple
teaching and research awards including the GMU Teaching award. Lester
has taught in the Honors College with several of her students
receiving a competitive best paper award. Her engagement with
undergraduate students extends to engagement in research
activities. She was a recipient of a GMU Students as Scholars grant to
examine diversity in higher education by engaging over 25
undergraduate students in participatory action research. Lester brings
experience in the scholarship of teaching and learning, research on
college student success, organizational change in higher education,
and diversity. She will lead a case study workshop and participate as
a faculty mentor.
Associate Professor
Higher Education
Dr. Lester's research is focused on organizational change, and
teaching and learning in higher education. She is currently a Co-PI on
an NSF BIGDATA project (PI Rangwala). She is the recipient of multiple
teaching and research awards including the GMU Teaching award. Lester
has taught in the Honors College with several of her students
receiving a competitive best paper award. Her engagement with
undergraduate students extends to engagement in research
activities. She was a recipient of a GMU Students as Scholars grant to
examine diversity in higher education by engaging over 25
undergraduate students in participatory action research. Lester brings
experience in the scholarship of teaching and learning, research on
college student success, organizational change in higher education,
and diversity. She will lead a case study workshop and participate as
a faculty mentor.
Dr. Jessica Lin
Associate Professor
Computer Science
Dr. Lin's research interests encompass visualization and machine
learning. She is the PI on an NSF IIS project focused on the mining of
temporal and spatio-temporal data. She has mentored one undergraduate
student and two high school students since summer 2013. Since 2011,
she has been working with the Center of Leadership and Community
Engagement at George Mason University to explore opportunities that
allow undergraduate students to amplify their education by applying
what they learned in ways that benefit the local community. Students
in Dr. Lin's undergraduate database class helped design and install a
music database for the Music Department at GMU. She will serve as a
faculty mentor for the research immersion project and help in
developing tutorials.
Associate Professor
Computer Science
Dr. Lin's research interests encompass visualization and machine
learning. She is the PI on an NSF IIS project focused on the mining of
temporal and spatio-temporal data. She has mentored one undergraduate
student and two high school students since summer 2013. Since 2011,
she has been working with the Center of Leadership and Community
Engagement at George Mason University to explore opportunities that
allow undergraduate students to amplify their education by applying
what they learned in ways that benefit the local community. Students
in Dr. Lin's undergraduate database class helped design and install a
music database for the Music Department at GMU. She will serve as a
faculty mentor for the research immersion project and help in
developing tutorials.
Dr. Jill Nelson
Associate Professor
Electrical Engineering
Dr. Nelson's research focuses on statistical processing with
applications in communications and tracking. She received an NSF
CAREER Award in 2010 and maintains an active research program in
engineering education. She is the PI of a multidisciplinary NSF WIDER
project focused on broadening the use of evidence-based pedagogical
strategies in STEM courses and developing faculty learning community
structures to sustain these pedagogical changes. Dr. Nelson is a 2014
recipient of the GMU Teaching Excellence Award. She has mentored
several undergraduates through GMUs OSCAR program. In addition, she
leads an OSCAR-supported Scholarship Development Grant to redesign the
signals and systems curriculum within electrical and computer
engineering to emphasize critical thinking and synthesis. Dr. Nelson
will lead a research immersion project.
Associate Professor
Electrical Engineering
Dr. Nelson's research focuses on statistical processing with
applications in communications and tracking. She received an NSF
CAREER Award in 2010 and maintains an active research program in
engineering education. She is the PI of a multidisciplinary NSF WIDER
project focused on broadening the use of evidence-based pedagogical
strategies in STEM courses and developing faculty learning community
structures to sustain these pedagogical changes. Dr. Nelson is a 2014
recipient of the GMU Teaching Excellence Award. She has mentored
several undergraduates through GMUs OSCAR program. In addition, she
leads an OSCAR-supported Scholarship Development Grant to redesign the
signals and systems curriculum within electrical and computer
engineering to emphasize critical thinking and synthesis. Dr. Nelson
will lead a research immersion project.
Dr. Kim Sheridan
Associate Professor
Education Psychology
As a Co-PI on the NSF funded Game Design through Mentoring and
Collaboration project 2007-2011, Dr. Sheridan studied learning with
technologies. Dr. Sheridan worked with over 500 middle and high school
youth, primarily from under served communities, learning 3-D computer
modeling, animation and interactive game design. She supported 60 high
school students into more leadership roles, including mentors,
assistant instructors, and instructors. Dr. Sheridan also worked with
two undergraduate computer science students to design instruction and
supervise the high school mentors. In her current NSF project, she
co-advises one undergraduate research assistant, who is involved in
data collection on children's learning through making projects at the
Pittsburgh Children's Museum. Dr. Sheridan will serve as a faculty
mentor for immersion projects.
Associate Professor
Education Psychology
As a Co-PI on the NSF funded Game Design through Mentoring and
Collaboration project 2007-2011, Dr. Sheridan studied learning with
technologies. Dr. Sheridan worked with over 500 middle and high school
youth, primarily from under served communities, learning 3-D computer
modeling, animation and interactive game design. She supported 60 high
school students into more leadership roles, including mentors,
assistant instructors, and instructors. Dr. Sheridan also worked with
two undergraduate computer science students to design instruction and
supervise the high school mentors. In her current NSF project, she
co-advises one undergraduate research assistant, who is involved in
data collection on children's learning through making projects at the
Pittsburgh Children's Museum. Dr. Sheridan will serve as a faculty
mentor for immersion projects.