Mark Guzdial

Mark Guzdial serves as Adjunct Faculty in the School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing, at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He earned his Ph.D. in education and computer science, a joint degree, from the University of Michigan in 1993, developing Emile, an environment for high school science learners to program multimedia demonstrations and physics simulations. Joining Georgia Tech that year, he advanced to Professor in the College of Computing, affiliated with the GVU Center and EduTech Institute. He directed Undergraduate Programs, managing the BS in Computer Science, BS in Computational Media, and Minor in Computer Science. Guzdial pioneered Media Computation, a contextualized approach to introductory computing using media manipulation, authoring textbooks including Introduction to Media Computation: A Multimedia Cookbook in Python (2003) and Introduction to Computing and Programming in Python with Barbara J. Ericson. His research at Georgia Tech focused on constructivist learning through artifact design and construction, collaborative environments like CoWeb and Squeakers, simulation tools for science education, and log file analysis for usability and learnability.

Since 2018, Guzdial has been Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan, directing the Program in Computing for the Arts and Sciences in LSA, with courtesy appointments in the School of Information and Marsal Family School of Education, and serving as core Engineering Education Research faculty. He co-founded the International Computing Education Research conference and co-led the NSF alliance Expanding Computing Education Pathways to broaden computing access. Notable publications include Learner-Centered Design of Computing Education: Research on Computing for Everyone (2015) and highly cited papers such as Motivating project-based learning: Sustaining the doing, supporting the learning (1991). Awards include the 2010 ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award (with Ericson), 2012 IEEE Computer Society Undergraduate Teaching Award, 2014 ACM Fellowship, 2019 ACM SIGCSE Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education Award, 2023 ICER Lasting Impact Award, and 2025 AAAS Fellowship for contributions to computing education research and pedagogy.