About our Lab
Mission
In the Chaos Learning Lab, we emphasize hands-on, Arts-integrated STEM, Social Studies, and Computer Science learning. We believe culture and creativity are central to how individuals learn, and the best learning experiences often look like barely organized chaos. We focus on equity and how to have hard conversations with children to work toward a more inclusive and just world. Our work focuses primarily on K-12 teachers and students as we are especially interested in broadening participation in STEM through access and outreach at these early ages.
Currently the Chaos Learning Lab has three affiliated projects: Project STITCH, Project ESTITCH, and The Science Escape Room. Find out more on the Resources Page. |
History
The CHAOS (Culture, History, and Art Originating in STEM) Learning Lab is a group focused on engaging teachers in learning that integrates Social Studies, Equity, and Civics education with STEM while honoring the myriad of cultures and identities teachers and students bring to their school communities.
Although we have been working toward these goals for a long time, we have only recently formed them together as the CHAOS Learning Lab that you see here. |
Location
We are located in the beautiful mountains of northern Utah, on the Utah State University campus. From there, we are on the second floor of the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, Room 230. We are currently retro-fitting the old "Science Education Center", so don't worry if this is the sign that you see! For more instructions on how to get to us, go to the FAQs Page.
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About Us
Dr. Colby Tofel-Grehl, Co-Director and Perpetrator of CHAOS
Dr. Colby Tofel-Grehl (she/her) is the founder and director of the Chaos Learning Lab. At the CHAOS Learning Lab, she is focused on working with teachers to bring new technology into the classrooms and igniting student interests to grow their preconceived identity notions in regards to STEM subjects. Many of Colby's projects focus on helping teachers and students learn how to have difficult conversations in the classroom. When she is not working in CLL, she learns by adding locally foraged wild ingredients to new recipes and cooking up delicious meals with them. USU Associate Professor Bio |
Dr. Kristin Searle, Co-Director
Dr Kristin Searle (she/her) is focused on how participating in making activities (like electronic textiles) can broaden students’ sense of what computing is and who can do it, with a particular focus on the development of culturally responsive computing activities. She has a fantastic lab named Maverick, and she escapes to the snowy mountains whenever she can! USU Assistant Professor Bio |
Dr. Andrea Hawkman, Lead Researcher
Andrea M. Hawkman (she/her) is a #QueerMommaScholar and an Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education and Cultural Studies in the School of Teacher Education and Leadership. Hawkman’s research explores the teaching and learning of race/ism and whiteness in social studies education and justice-oriented teacher education. Her scholarship has appeared in Theory & Research in Social Education, Teaching Education, Urban Education, Whiteness & Education and various edited books on race/ism, whiteness, and social studies education. She is the co-editor of Marking the “Invisible”: Articulating Whiteness in Social Studies Education, now available through Information Age. Andrea is an avid soccer fan and enjoys traveling and spending time with her family. USU Assistant Professor Bio |
Mario I. Suárez, Lead Researcher
Dr. Suárez’s (he/him/his) research focuses on critical queer race issues in education, curriculum studies, STEM persistence, and quantitative research methods. In his free time, he is teaching his two dogs, Brodie (10 yrs old) and Joy (~3-4 yrs old) how to get along, watching the Texas Longhorns play, or exploring new restaurants in the Cache Valley with his partner, Guadalupe. USU Assistant Professor Bio |
Raymond Veon, Lead Researcher
Raymond Veon (he/him) is currently the Assistant Dean for Arts Education in the Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Art & Design, and is also the Founding Director for the college’s Beverly Taylor Sorenson Arts Access Program, an endowed program serving students with special needs through the arts. Professor Veon was formerly the Director of Fine and Performing Arts in the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) in Atlanta, GA. A painter, he has been recognized for his artwork and teaching, while as an educator he has received numerous grants, totaling $1.5M, including a two large grants from the U.S Department of Education to improve arts education in the Atlanta Public Schools. His artistic research deals with social and identity boundaries, while his academic research includes work in creativity and educational assessment. USU Assistant Dean Bio |
Beth MacDonald, Lead Researcher
Beth MacDonald, [email protected], (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Mathematics Education and Leadership program at Utah State University in Logan, UT 84322. She is interested in children’s development of numbers through counting and subitizing activity. USU Assistant Professor Bio |
Dr. Katie Lundell, Research Assistant
Katie (she/her) is a Science Ed. Grad Student, with a PhD in Chemistry. Her inspiration to become a STEM Educator/Researcher is thanks to “The Magic School Bus,” Sir David Attenborough and many beloved undergrad professors. All have shown her that STEM education can be vibrant, exciting, engaging, and reach individuals of all demographics. Katie’s goal is to share her joy of science through the development of STEM curriculum and activities that enhance learning through technology, interactive material, and incorporation of real-life examples. |
Doug Ball, Research Assistant
Doug (he/him) is a third year doctoral student, graduate research assistant, and physics high school teacher. His research interests include K-12 student science identity development, conceptual change, and physics education research. He wishes he had more time to make, including constructing a budget-friendly scanning electron (or tunneling) microscope for high school kids to find inspiration in the nano-world and “see” the atoms. He considers lemon custard Aggie Ice Cream shakes to be as wonderfully satisfying as Nathan Pyle’s “Strange Planet” comic series. |
Taryn Sommers, Research Assistant
Taryn Sommers (she/her) is an undergraduate student at Utah State University studying fine arts. Her involvement in E-Stitch focuses on integrating art and science within the projects and maker spaces. She is currently working on an Arts Access Maker Class curriculum for LGBTIQ+ youth, refugee youth, and differently abled youth. In her free time, Taryn loves to walk her dog, paint, hike, watch movies, and go on adventures big or small, with her partner, Vince. |
Tyler Brower, Research Assistant
Tyler Brower (He/Him) is an undergraduate research assistant here at the Chaos lab. His role in the lab is taking care of the lab supplies and making sure kits are fully stocked for participating students. He is a senior studying finance and economics at Utah State University. Something interesting about him is that he is a member of the Utah State chapter of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. In his free time he enjoys spending quality time with friends and family, reading about various topics, or playing fantasy football. |
Abby Hawkman, Research Assistant
Abby Hawkman (she/her) serves as a research assistant for the CHAOS Lab. She is an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in Computer Science with a minor in Multimedia Development. Formerly, she worked as a Registered Veterinary Technician in both clinical and academic settings. Abby serves as a research assistant for the CHAOS Lab. She is an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in Computer Science with a minor in Multimedia Development. Formerly, she worked as a Registered Veterinary Technician in both clinical and academic settings. |
Michael Hernandez, Research Assistant
Michael Hernandez (he/him) is starting his sophomore year at USU and is more than excited to be working in the Chaos Learning Lab as a research assistant. He loves his coworkers and working with his students to provide the best experiences for them that he can. Michael loves spending time with his friends, regardless of the activity. As long as he has the people he loves with him, he's always having a good time. |
Tyler Hansen, Research Assistant
Tyler Hansen (he/him) is a master's student, research assistant, and high school life sciences teacher. His goal is to bring a more authentic science experience in the K-12 classroom setting. His research interests include scientific literacy, technology in the science classroom, and biology education research. When he's not working, Tyler enjoys the great outdoors by backpacking, biking, and trying to identify as many species as possible along the way. |
Liam Fischback, Research Assistant
Liam Fischback (He/Him) is a PhD student and researcher at Utah State University who is interested in the use of technology to help teachers and students to become more engaged in STEM subject areas. Research in the area includes involvement in both traditional and non-traditional classroom settings, wearable technologies, and broadening interest and participation of underrepresented populations in STEM. |
About Our Logo
You may have noticed that are logo font echoes the NASA logo. We feel connected to NASA's mission of forward tech movement and sharing of technology in the public space. To get nitty-gritty into the details, the text is a bold san-serif slab font: straight forward, stable and business-like, with sentiments of being contemporary, clean, and very readable. It is also nearly mono-spaced, which gives it a sophisticated techy/code-based feel, spiked with some unexpected informality that is similar to our constant drive for innovation.
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The 5 colorful splatters and grids in the background represent the chaos that good learning often embodies. Great teachers start with a structured lesson, move to the crazy, on-the-fly adjustments and learning with their students, and then end by bringing it back into a now viscerally understood concept. Those 5 color elements of CHAOS link to a concept with each letter of CHAOS:
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CHAOS Learning Lab
Copyright 2019 Affiliations
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Mailing Address: CHAOS Learning Lab C/O Teacher Education and Leadership 2805 Old Main Hill Logan, UT 84322-2805 |
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