
Laura Melissa Cruz Castro
Assistant Instructional Professor
Bio
Laura Melissa Cruz Castro’s research interests focus on computational thinking at scale and data science education. She looks at K-12, higher education, professional, and community settings for both research interests. She holds a bachelor’s degree in statistics from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, an M.S. in computer engineering, and Ph.D. in engineering education from Purdue University. In addition, she is interested and participates in community activities that aim to broaden the participation of women and other marginalized academic groups in computing professions.
Primary Research Area
CS Education Research
Research Areas
Data Mining, Educational Technologies, Interpretable AI, Machine Learning, AI Education
Education
Ph.D., Engineering Education, 2022
M.S., Computer Engineering, 2021
B.S., Statistics, 2015
Research Interests
Computer Science Education, Data Science education, broadening participation of women in computing
Publications
See full list here.
Awards & Distinctions
Dean’s teaching fellowship
IEEE Eta Kappa Nu (IEEE-HKN)
Contact Information
Telephone: 352-294-6650
Email: cruzcastrol@ufl.edu
Office: E358 CSE
Lab Room: E258 CSE
Mailing Address:
432 Newell Drive
PO Box 116120, CSE Building
Gainesville 32611
United States