About
I think my desire to always be building, crafting and exploring began with living in a house my parents built, and my mother constantly saying "Boredom is an insult to your intelligence." So I kept busy, and pretty quickly developed a love for exploring and making things with beauty, function, and/or to inspire curiosity. These interests have stuck with me throughout the years, leading to much of my craft, photography, science and art.
I am also deeply passionate about education, particularly in breaking down the siloed disciplines and instead focusing on learning about the world and our place in it through transdisciplinary learning. I believe that there is an intrinsic beauty in the world around us that everyone can relate to. I am interested in how these inherent aesthetics can lead to investigations and self-expression, using student-driven classrooms and new technologies.
My other loves are of course my wonderful husband, son, and dogs with whom I have had, and plan to continue having, many wonderful adventures.
Education
2016 - 2020
University of Colorado Boulder
ATLAS Institute
Laboratory for Playful Computation
PhD in Technology, Media and Society
2014 - 2016
California Institute of Technology
MS in Chemistry
2005 - 2009
Lewis & Clark College
BA in Art & Chemistry
Publications
Finch, L, Moreno, C., & Shapiro, R.B. (2021) Luminous science: Teachers designing for and developing transdisciplinary thinking and learning. Cognition & Instruction. 39(4), 512-560.
Finch, L, Moreno, C., & Shapiro, R.B. (2020) Teacher and student enactments of a transdisciplinary art-science-computing unit. Instructional Science.
Finch, L, Shapiro, R.B. & Carstens, F. (2018) Teachers' values in co-design of an art-science-computation unit. In Proceedings of the 2018 International Conference of the Learning Sciences, London, UK.
Kelly, A., Finch, L., Bolles, M. & Shapiro, R.B. (2018) BlockyTalky: New programmable tools to enable students' learning network. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction.
Forte, L., Lafortune, M., Bierzynski, I., Duncan, J. (2010) CASSCF Molecular Calculations Reveal a Purely Pseudopericyclic Mechanism for a [3,3] Sigmatropic Rearrangement. Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Presentations
2020
Finch, L. Luminous Science: An investigation of transdisciplinary education. Doctoral Dissertation, CO.
2018
Finch, L., Shapiro, R.B. & Carstens, F. Teachers' values in co-design of an art-science-computation unit. ICLS, London, UK, Full paper presentation.
2017
Finch, L., Horii, C., Phillips, R., Bois, J. The great ideas of biology: Exploration through experimentation in an undergraduate lab course. ASCB Annual Conf., San Fransisco, CA, poster.
Finch, L. & Wilson, Z. Luminous Yeast. Annual Rocky Mountain Yeast Meeting, Golden, CO, exhibition/poster.
2016
Forte, L., Wang, C., Miller, T., Statistical mechanical framework for predicting cellular responses. BPS Nat. Conf., Los Angeles, CA, 1725-PLAT, platforms session.
Teaching
2009 - 2013
KIPP San Jose Collegiate
10th Grade Chemistry, AP Chemistry, Art
2009 - 2011
Teach for America: San Jose
Grants & Awards
2014
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Workshops
2018
Hsi, S., Kelly, A., Finch, L., Shapiro, R.B., Dixon, C., Petrich, M., & Wilkinson, K. Tangible and Playful Connected Learning. Connected Learning Summit, Boston, MA, facilitator.
Kelly, A., Finch, L., & Zhang, C. Talking Trees Jam. Boulder, CO, co-lead facilitator (2-day).
Finch, L. Luminous Science - Teacher Co-Design. Boulder, CO, lead facilitator.
2017
Finch, L. & Shapiro, R.B. Luminous Science. Fablearn, Stanford, CA, lead facilitator.
Finch, L., Carstens, F. & Shapiro, R.B. Luminous Science - Teacher Co-Design. Boulder, CO, lead facilitator.
Finch, L. Microtubules. STEAM Fest Family Fun Day, Parker, CO, lead facilitator.
2016
Finch, L. & Shapiro, R.B. Creative Technology Workshop. STEAM Fest Family Fun Day, Parker, CO, lead facilitator.
Installations & Exhibitions
May 2018 - May 2019
ATLAS 2B05, CU Boulder, CO
Feb. 2018 - Feb. 2019
Norlin Library, CU Boulder, CO
May 2017 - Feb. 2019
ATLAS Lobby, CU Boulder, CO
May 2017 - Sept. 2017
World Happiness, Group Installation
ATLAS Lobby, CU Boulder, CO
April 2017
Meet Me at the Corner of Art and Science, Group Exhibition
Cabal Gallery, Denver, CO