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About

Alan Buss is an education researcher whose work sits at the intersection of informal learning, computational thinking, and STEM education equity. His scholarship focuses on how hands-on technologies — particularly robotics and game design — can cultivate self-efficacy, positive STEM attitudes, and computational thinking skills among underrepresented youth, especially in urban contexts. Buss is perhaps best known for his 2016 study examining how robotics and game design experiences shape children's STEM identity and cognitive development, a work that has accumulated over 263 citations and established him as a significant voice in the field. His research consistently attends to issues of equity, with notable attention to the experiences of predominantly African-American students navigating engineering and computer science challenges within informal, after-school environments. His 2020 mixed-methods investigation further deepened this line of inquiry, exploring how engagement in these creative, technology-driven activities translates into meaningful learning outcomes beyond the traditional classroom. Beyond student learning, Buss has also examined how teachers themselves are transformed through the integration of gaming and robotics into their practice. Collectively, his body of work makes a compelling case for informal STEM learning environments as powerful pathways to broadening participation in science and technology fields.