Laura Melissa Cruz Castro

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: MH 4111

Lab Room: E258 CSE

Mailing Address:

432 Newell Drive
PO Box 116120, CSE Building
Gainesville 32611
United States