Dr. Udita Gupta is a clinical associate professor in the Urban Institute for Teacher Education (UITE) at the University of Utah’s College of Education, where she is working in the field of teacher preparation and secondary mathematics education. She began her career as a statistics lecturer in India. She completed her PhD in educational psychology (learning sciences) from the University of Utah. Dr. Gupta brings a cross-cultural perspective shaped by her academic and professional experience in both India and the United States, and is fluent in both Hindi and English. Her research focus is on the cognitive load incurred in STEM learning; reflective practices; global competency development; community-engaged learning; and the integration of artificial intelligence in teacher preparation. She is particularly interested in how culturally responsive pedagogy, global perspectives, and AI-enhanced instructional strategies can strengthen preservice and in-service teacher education. She has published scholarly work and led faculty development initiatives in these areas.
Dr. Gupta’s Fulbright-Nehru project has three major components: strengthening preservice teacher preparation and secondary mathematics teaching methods through direct classroom teaching, workshops, and seminars for both preservice and in-service teachers in India; collaborating with Indian faculty on developing a curriculum that integrates culturally responsive pedagogy, global aspects, and AI into teacher education; and building enduring academic partnerships between Indian and U.S. institutions through sustained mentorship and capacity building in STEM teacher education. Aligned with India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 reforms that emphasize critical thinking over rote learning, the project is working toward strengthening STEM teacher preparation through inquiry-driven, student-centered strategies, and adopting global practices like COIL – Collaborative Online International Learning.