Cesar Delgado

Cesar Delgado is an Associate Professor in the Department of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education at North Carolina State University. His research focuses on scale cognition, visual representations, project-based learning, and inclusive STEM education. He has led NSF-funded projects exploring virtual reality (VR) for teaching scale and collaborative learning in engineering education. Dr. Delgado teaches courses on educational technologies, learning theories, and equity in STEM.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Science Education, University of Michigan (2009)
• M.S. in Chemistry, University of Michigan (2008)
• M.A. in Learning Technologies, University of Michigan (2008)
• M.A. in Secondary Education, University of Alabama (2003)
• B.S. in Chemical Engineering, UCLA (Year not specified)

Research Interests:

• Scale cognition and immersive VR environments
• Interdisciplinary STEM education
• Gender and sexual diversity inclusion
• Communities of practice in graduate education

His work bridges cognitive science, educational technology, and equity, addressing challenges in teaching abstract scientific concepts like scale through innovative tools.

Grants:

• NSF SCALE-VR Grant (2021–2025): $1.3M to develop VR for scale education
• NSF IGE Grant (2021–2024): $332K to study collaborative engineering education through communities of practice

Publications: His recent work includes studies on VR-induced awe in learning, frameworks for diversity-inclusive STEM education, and pedagogical models for work-integrated learning. Articles span Journal of Research in Science Teaching, International Journal of STEM Education, and VR conferences.

Awards:

• NC State Outstanding Teacher Award (2019)
• Publons Top Peer Reviewer (2019)

Advising & Impact: Advised Gary Wright, recipient of the NARST Dissertation Award. His courses are used at 44 universities. He contributed to national initiatives on teacher preparation and online education quality.

Labs & Teams: Active in the Cognition, Computers and Learning group and Learning Sciences initiatives at NC State.