Director of Curriculum and Instruction
The Institute for Learning and Teaching • Colorado State University

TILT Building, 801 Oval Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80523
Ìý

Office: 235

Karen Falkenberg is a member of The Institute for Teaching and Learning (TILT) Senior Leadership team, acting as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction and leading a group of instructional designers and educational researchers at Colorado State University. The instructional designers develop tools and practices to support exemplary teaching, consult with faculty on a wide range of pedagogical, technological, and curricular enhancements, and support individuals’ and groups’ work on culture, diversity and group process skills. The educational researchers engage in inquiry related to Departmental Action Teams, adaptive technologies in the classroom, and the use of Learning Assistants. Falkenberg has over 37 years of experience in STEM and education beginning with her work as a research chemical engineer. Her education research has focused on educators’ creativity and innovation and on students’ self-efficacy, sense of belonging, and cultural competencies. Karen has numerous accomplishments that include a patent for solar cell technology and acting as a contributing author to the National Academy of Engineering’s publicationÌýTechnically Speaking: Why all Americans need to know more about technologyÌý(2002). She was the Undergraduate Education Director for the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience in Atlanta and acted as a consultant to His Holiness the Dalai Lama to infuse STEM into the traditional Buddhist curriculum; Karen has taught over 1000 practicing and pre-service teachers and has individually coached or mentored over 125 emerging leaders.