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Digital Media PhD student Aditya Anupam’s fall semester is off to an impressive start. On September 15th, he presented his research, “Designing Learning Environments to Foster Inquiry as a Situated Practice”, at the Tapia Conference, held virtually this year. His presentation earned him the Best Presentation Award for the Doctoral Consortium. 

The ACM Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference (Tapia) is an annual conference presented by the Center for Minorities and People with Disabilities in IT (CMD-IT) to "acknowledge, promote and celebrate diversity in computing”. The conference was held virtually this year, from September 15th-18th. 

Anupam’s research challenges the conventional educational approaches to teaching scientific inquiry, and instead proposes “the design and use of digital learning environments such as games and simulations for cultivating inquiry as a situated practice”. To be selected for the Tapia conference’s Doctoral Consortium, Anupam submitted an extended abstract for review by a select panel of professors from across the US. 

Among the applicants, only 12 PhD students were selected to present their work at the conference. Each student had 45 minutes to present their research. Based on these presentations, the panel selected Anupam as one of two students to receive the Best Presentation Award.