Robbin Chapman Associate Provost and Academic Director of Diversity & Inclusion, and Lecturer of Education, Wellesley College
This led to lots of adventures like teaching piano to senior citizens, working with a NASA flight group at Cape Canaveral, and volunteering at after-school technology centers. Dr. Chapman earned her S.M. degree at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Her research and teaching interests include design and use of computational tools for learning in public spaces, and examining equity issues as they relate to learning technologies and culturally-responsive pedagogy. In 2016, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology established the Dr. Robbin Chapman Excellence through Adversity Award to be presented annually to a MIT senior who has demonstrated excellence and leadership.
Professor Chapman's design-focused course, Learning and Teaching in a Digital World, merges Education and Computer Science theory and praxis to create a space where students re-imagine learning partnership with computational technologies. Her classroom has been featured on the College’s “Spotlight on Teaching” and her students have presented class projects at various conferences, including the College’s Digital Scholarship Day. Her publications include the book, The Computer Clubhouse: Constructionism and Creativity in Youth Communities and chapters in Social Capital and Information Technology, Falling for Science: Objects in Mind, Communities of Practice: Creating Learning Environments for Educators, and The Wiley Handbook of Learning Technology.
Dr. Chapman currently serves on a number of boards and as regional liaison for the Ford Foundation Fellowship Program, administered through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
