Vandana Thadani is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Loyola Marymount University. She received her Ph.D. in developmental psychology from UCLA. Vandana’s research is in educational psychology with a focus on classroom teaching and its measurement, education technology, evaluation of educational initiatives, and bridging qualitative and quantitative methods. Prior work includes evaluations of educational interventions and professional development/teacher preparation programs in K12 and university settings. She has also provided professional development for teachers and administrators in the areas of academic motivation, critical thinking, and education technology.

Project: Student Engagement and Reflective Learning 
How can we help our students to enjoy and value their learning? How can we help them be better learners? Vandana’s project theme,“Student Engagement and Reflective Learning,” addresses these questions. Engagement keeps students persisting, even in the face of challenging work. Reflection (also called metacognition” or “self-regulation” in the research) can be a powerful vehicle to effective learning. Students who are reflective know what they know and do not know, use past experiences to steer future learning, and are better able to deliberately apply their knowledge to new problems (including social problems!). Through presentations, discussions, and sharing of innovative teaching practices, we will explore ways of enhancing student engagement and reflection in our courses.

Lily Khadjavi is an Associate Professor of Mathematics. She received her bachelor's degree, cum laude, from Harvard University, and her PhD in Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests range from algebraic number theory to the use of statistics in social science.  A current project, analyzing LAPD traffic stop data and focusing on the issue of racial profiling, has led to joint work with Dr. Kaaryn Gustafson of the University Connecticut School of Law and presentations for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles (CHIRLA).  Committed to civil rights advocacy, she serves on the board of the Barbara Jordan/Bayard Rustin Coalition, an African-American LGBT advocacy organization in Los Angeles.

Project: Increasing Diversity: Addressing Stereotype Threat
The impact of "stereotype threat" -- the fear, conscious or unconscious, of being judged through the lens of a negative stereotype -- manifests itself at many levels of academia. For example, because of stereotype threat, students from under-represented groups may not perform up to their potential, despite their best efforts and the best intentions of their professors. This affects women and students of color in math and science, among others. Through workshops and presentations, we will learn more about this phenomenon and about tools and interventions so that our students and faculty can achieve to their fullest.