I’ve had the joy of working with students of all ages in formal, informal, and professional development and training contexts for over 15 years, including as a graduate student instructor at UC Berkeley at the Graduate School of Education and in Cognitive Science, as head of internal and external training and professional development at Axiom Learning & Learning Efficiency, and as a coach and mentor for K-12 youth across many forums, from Design the Future design amp at the Stanford d.school to 826 Valencia community writing centers to the Harvard Crimson Summer Academy.
Course Design & Teaching
Service with Youth in STEM, Wisconsin Institute for Science Education and Community Engagement, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2025 – instructor
- “A lot of the lessons that we went over in lecture such as how to effectively make a lesson plan and how to convey different science topics were very helpful in hosting the science clubs at my site. In addition to this, the reflective aspect of lecture was also really helpful in assessing my individual growth throughout the process.”
- “It allowed me to see the various aspects of service and community that I probably would not have thought about on my own.”
- “Very good at guiding us to think of ideas and concepts, rather than just telling us. And she made me feel very supported in this environment and free to share whatever I wanted.”
- “Made sure to support each student individually to grow and reflect deeper on their engagement and background to ensure we go to our clubs with the best background possible. Really made sure the environment was comfortable for people to share and gave extremely helpful and constructive feedback.”
Designing for Embodied Learning graduate module, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2024 – course designer
Cultivating Cognitive Development: The Sensorimotor Origins of Concepts, Berkeley School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, 2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023-2024 – course co-developer and co-instructor
- “The course brought into dialogue a number of disciplines that are usually separate in scientific discourse. It encouraged me to think deeply about how these disciplines and perspectives might be fruitfully integrated, so as to provide a more complete understanding of learning phenomena and human development.”
- “Great choice of papers/readings/content, amazing lectures that really brought attention to critical thinking around education. Presented unique activities that really shifted my view on how we learn.”
- “Exceptional syllabus and course structure, with up–to–the minute readings, guest visitors, and authentic assignments. The material was scaffolded beautifully, with ideas building on one another throughout the semester.”
- “Huge exposure to lots of really fascinating research being done on embodied cognition across the field. All the reading felt relevant, nothing felt like busy work.”
- “Passionate and knowledgeable about the content.”
- “The instructor’s teaching style by providing activities that are related to the reading is the best!”
- “Her reframing of students’ questions make the students themselves sound smarter — a very generous way of being in the classroom.”
- “Sofia is empathetic, incisive, and chock-full of incredible targeted references and ideas. […] her comments and reflections speak directly to the heart of the matter.”
- “Getting specific, thoughtful responses to my ideas and writing was critical to my development as an emerging scholar. I felt like I was taken seriously, and it made me want to do new, good work.”
Introduction to Cognitive Science (lecture course), Cognitive Science, University of California, Berkeley, 2019 – Graduate student instructor
- “We connected a lot of concepts both to each other and to aspects of everyday life, which helped me internalize them and understand them beyond just an academic context.”
- “Being more involved in learning, rather than just taking notes, reinforced the things I knew and made me aware of some of the things that I didn’t.”
- “Sofia was really open to hearing different points of view and working them into the class material.”
- “Sofia was always enthusiastic and encouraging. She made the section enjoyable and fun to attend.”
Selected Professional Development Trainings
Company Lesson Planning PD, Axiom Learning, 2018 – leader
- “Specific and thoughtful work around how we can better engage with students.”
- “It was helpful when we had the group break out into small units to practice scenarios.”
- “It’s been targeted, proactive and responsive.”
- “Most useful lesson planning training I’ve received to date.”
Sofia Tancredi 