Dr. Meltem Alemdar is a research leader and Principal Research Scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s College of Lifetime Learning (CLL), where she serves as Interim Deputy Catalyst for Research, Development, and Innovation. In this role, she provides leadership for the College’s research enterprise, with a focus on building research capacity, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and external partnerships, and integrating research and evidence into the design and continuous improvement of learning experiences and educational innovations.
Dr. Alemdar’s research focuses broadly on how people learn and how learning environments, programs, and educational innovations can be designed and improved to support learner success. Her scholarship has particular depth in K–12 STEM and engineering education, including integrated STEM learning, curriculum and instructional design, teacher professional learning, engineering design, and student learning and engagement. Increasingly, her work extends across the learning lifespan, examining how research can inform innovative learning experiences in K–12, higher education, professional education, and lifelong learning contexts.
Dr. Alemdar currently serves as principal investigator and co-principal investigator on multiple National Science Foundation-funded research projects examining STEM and engineering education, teacher networks, learning environments, and innovative approaches to teaching and learning. For nearly two decades, she has also served as an external evaluator for numerous federally funded initiatives and large-scale educational programs. Her methodological expertise includes large scale assessments, mixed-methods research, social network analysis, and advanced quantitative methods.
A central theme across Dr. Alemdar’s work is connecting research with practice, using evidence not only to understand whether programs and learning experiences are effective, but also to inform their design, implementation, continuous improvement, and scaling. Her collaborative research has brought together educational institutions, school systems, community organizations, and government agencies to develop and study innovative approaches.
Through both her research and leadership, Dr. Alemdar is committed to advancing a strong culture of research and innovation at Georgia Tech and generating knowledge that improves learning across the lifespan. She received her Ph.D. in Education Policy, with a concentration in Research, Measurement, and Statistics, from Georgia State University.
