Professional Bio

Sandra Toro Martell is an educational psychologist with a background in museum education who studies learning in informal settings. She is an Assistant Professor of Learning and Development in the Department of Educational Psychology and an Instructor for the Museum Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Sandra received a Ph.D in Education (Educational Psychology: Cognitive Studies) from the University of Washington, in Seattle, and a M.A. in Museum Professions from Seton Hall University, in South Orange, as well as a B.A. and B.F.A. from Cornell University, in Ithaca. She has worked in the education departments of ethnically-specific museums and museums of art and culture, including El Museo del Barrio, the Jersey City Museum, the Seattle Art Museum, and the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, among others.

Sandra's research looks at learning across academic disciplines like art and science among diverse urban learners and across disparate settings, including schools, museums, and the outdoors. She is a guest editor, along with Heather Toomey Zimmerman, of an upcoming issue of the Journal of Museum Education dedicated to exploring the intersection of the learning sciences and museum education. She is also a board member of the Latino Historical Society of Wisconsin, planned to open in 2009.

Expertise & Interest Descriptors

cognition, museum education

Planned Conference Participation

Attending :: ISE PI Summit 2008
25 - 26 July 2008