Big Data in Education: About Us

Ryan Baker

edX Username: ryansbaker

Ryan Baker is Associate Professor of Cognitive Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University, and Program Coordinator of TC's Masters of Learning Analytics. He earned his Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University.

Dr. Baker was previously Assistant Professor of Psychology and the Learning Sciences at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and served as the first technical director of the Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center DataShop, the largest public repository for data on the interaction between learners and educational software. He is currently serving as the founding president of the International Educational Data Mining Society, and as associate editor of the Journal of Educational Data Mining. He has taught two MOOCs, Big Data and Education, and Data, Analytics, and Learning.

His research combines educational data mining and quantitative field observation methods to better understand how students respond to educational software, and how these responses impact their learning. He studies these issues within intelligent tutors, simulations, multi-user virtual environments, MOOCs, and educational games.

Elle Wang

edX Username: ellewy

Elle Yuan Wang is the course assistant for the "Big Data in Education" course. She is a PhD student in Cognitive Studies and Learning Analytics at Columbia University Teachers College. Previously, she earned her Master's Degree in Communication and a BA in English and International Journalism. She has been a social media research fellow with Mayor Bloomberg's Office and Special Projects Officer the President's Office at Columbia before coming back to school. Her current research focus is on MOOC learner motivation and MOOC course effectiveness assessment.

Luc Paquette

edX Username: LucPaquette

Luc Paquette is a post-doctoral research associate working with Dr. Ryan Baker in the department of Human Development at Teachers College, Columbia University. His current research focuses on integrating cognitive modeling and educational data mining approaches for the modeling of the disengaged behavior of students who "Game the System." He is also involved in the development of interaction-based detectors of pedagogically relevant affective states. Luc Paquette holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Sherbrooke.

The Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning

The Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL) builds education experiences for Columbia University’s faculty, staff, and students across all of Columbia’s colleges, schools, and departments — on campus and online. From our earliest days in 1999, CCNMTL has been dedicated to producing new media and developing educational technology to enhance university teaching and learning. Our productions, publications, and events aim to provide thought leadership and practical support — and promote innovation in pedagogy and curriculum development — for teachers and higher education everywhere. For more information, please visit http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu.