Advisory Board
Barbara Ericson
Barbara Ericson is a Senior Research Scientist and PhD graduate in Human-Centered Computing from Georgia Tech. She has worked to increase the quantity and quality of secondary computing teachers and the quantity and diversity of computing students since 2004. She and her husband, Dr. Mark Guzdial, were the winners of the 2010 Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Computing Educator Award. She was also the winner of the Richard A Newton award in 2012. She is a co-author of four books on Media Computation and is currently creating interactive ebooks to help high school teachers and students learn basic programming.
Dr. Diana Chang
Dr. Diana Chang received her PhD from the University of Georgia in 2015 with a degree in Educational Theory and Practice. While at UGA, she spent four years on a NSF funded research project examining how children learn mathematics in informal contexts, particularly during play. She is the co-author of a journal article, “Helping Young Children See Math in Play.” Prior to UGA, Dr. Chang received her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Teaching from Columbia University’s Teachers College and her Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University.
Before pursuing her PhD, Dr. Chang spent four years teaching fifth grade in New Jersey. During her time as a classroom teacher, she taught all subjects but was particularly passionate about teaching mathematics. One of her favorite experiences was teaching her enrichment math class how to solve the Rubik’s Cube as part of a unit of study on problem solving. During her tenure as a classroom teacher, Dr. Chang served on both the mathematics curriculum committee and the technology curriculum committee for her district.
Dr. Chang currently teaches early childhood and elementary education courses at the University of Georgia. She has taught both early childhood mathematics courses as well as general methods courses for education. Dr. Chang is passionate about training teachers to become world-class mathematics educators.