Sofia Tancredi

DESIGN. MATH. MOVEMENT.

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    University-Level Teaching

    Service with Youth in STEM (undergraduate community-engaged teaching), Wisconsin Institute for Science Education and Community Engagement, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2025 – instructor

    • “Allowed me to see the various aspects of service and community that I probably would not have thought about on my own.” – undergraduate STEM major
    • “Support[ed] 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.” ” – undergraduate STEM major

    Cultivating Cognitive Development: The Sensorimotor Origins of Concepts (graduate seminar), 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.” – education doctoral student
    • “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.” – education doctoral student
    • “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.” – education doctoral student
    • “Huge exposure to lots of really fascinating research being done on embodied cognition across the field” – education doctoral student

    Introduction to Cognitive Science (undergraduate lecture course), Cognitive Science, University of California, Berkeley, 2019 – graduate student instructor

    Diagram by Paul Li
    • “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” -cognitive science student
    • “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” -cognitive science student

    Other Teaching Experiences

    Photograph of Sofia and 5 students in black t-shirts with red and white word reading "Design the Future". In the foreground, one student in a motorized wheelchair holds up the design prototype, an extendable button pusher, smiling. Just behind her, the other students pose and smile. In the background, there is a whiteboard with the design team name, "Spider Monkeys", and some partially obscured drawings of different prototypes and stages in design thinking.

    I’ve had the joy of working closely with K-12 children for over 15 years, including:

    • >10 years and >1000 hours tutoring neurodiverse K-12 students, including as a full-time instructor at Axiom Learning
    • as VP of Education at Axiom Learning, overseeing educational plans and progress for hundreds of students and leading instructor training and professional development for Axiom Learning’s 10 learning centers across the United States and Malaysia
    • Teaching and mentoring K-12 learners through 826 Valencia community writing centers, Harvard Crimson Summer Academy college prep program, and the Harvard Phillips Brooks House Association
    • Youth design coaching through the Design the Future program at the Stanford d.school