Tugce Aldemir, Ph.D.
Tugce Aldemir
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Department of Teaching, Learning & Culture · Texas A&M University

Tugce Aldemir, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of STEM Education · Director, CoHALE Lab

I design and study AI- and sensor-supported learning ecologies that make computational thinking and high-quality collaboration teachable, observable, and sustainable in everyday classrooms.

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Portrait of Tugce Aldemir
37
Peer-reviewed articles
& proceedings
$3.71M
External & internal
grants
1,071
Citations
(August 2026)
50+
Peer-reviewed
presentations

News & highlights

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Open position
Postdoctoral Research Associate, 3AforCT (NSF CAREER)
Join a multi-site research-practice partnership: school-based research, teacher co-design, and AI-supported Ag-STEM inquiry with rural partner districts.
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Grant · 2026
NSF CAREER award funded: 3AforCT ($1.6M, 2026–2031)
Five years of AI-guided, sensor-based Ag-STEM inquiry cultivating computational thinking in rural middle schools.
Publication · 2026
New paper accepted at Cogent Education
Challenges, safeguards, and professional learning needs for AI integration, from a two-week AI literacy module with preservice teachers.
Grant · 2026
New NSF award ($2M, Co-PI, 2026–2031)
AI-driven professional learning to strengthen preservice teachers' content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and mathematical creativity.
Award · 2025
Reviewer of the Year, Journal of the Learning Sciences
Recognized for outstanding reviewing service to one of the field's leading journals.

About

I am an Assistant Professor of STEM Education (Technology Education emphasis) in the Department of Teaching, Learning & Culture at Texas A&M University, and the director of the CoHALE Lab. My scholarship advances accessible participation in STEM by designing technology-supported learning experiences that bridge rapid technological innovation and what schools can realistically sustain.

My program of research sits at the intersection of the learning sciences, computer science, and instructional design. I co-design with educators and study enactment in authentic settings using design-based research with mixed methods and learning-in-action evidence, producing both actionable design principles and theory about what works, for whom, and under what conditions. I hold a Ph.D. in Learning, Design, and Technology from The Pennsylvania State University, and completed postdoctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Connecticut.

Four research strands

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1
Human-AI learning ecologies
AI mentors designed as coaching plus reflection, scaffolding inquiry without handing thinking over to AI.
2
Computing-integrated rural Ag-STEM
Sensor-based school-garden inquiry embedding computational data practices across the inquiry cycle.
3
Preparing teachers for emerging technologies
AI-TPACK, AI literacy modules, and XR maker experiences for discipline-grounded instructional decisions.
4
Collaborative sensemaking & regulation
CSCL frameworks making collaboration, both human-human and human-AI, observable and improvable.
© 2026 Tugce Aldemir · CoHALE Lab · Texas A&M University taldemir@tamu.edu