UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Associate Professor Daniela Gachago, of Cape Town, South Africa, is joining the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at Penn State as a Fulbright scholar for three months during the spring 2022 semester.
“I am working on a book on socially just learning designers,” Gachago said. “But I am also really interested in academic staff development and looking forward to learning from my colleagues at the Schreyer Institute.”
Working with Laura Cruz, associate research professor at the Schreyer Institute, Gachago will interview learning designers known for “their passion for social justice to explore what drives them and how this impacts their learning design work.”
Gachago has 20 years of experience in the field of educational technologies in higher education, corporate and nongovernmental organization settings. She is an associate professor at the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Technology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Gachago was previously an associate professor of educational technology at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, also in Cape Town, from 2010 to 2021, and she also served previously as an e-Learning adviser with the University of Edinburgh in the College of Science and Engineering.
Gachago earned her bachelor’s degree in commerce from Vienna University of Economics and Business in her native Austria, and a master’s degree in adult education from the University of Botswana, where she also served as a manager and instructional designer. She earned her doctorate in education from the University of Cape Town.
Gachago lives in Cape Town with her husband and two teenage sons. She said she is looking forward to meeting new people, learning new things, and visiting new places during her time in the U.S.
The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs provides about 850 grants each year to foreign scholars through the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program. Applicants go through a rigorous, merit-based process and candidates are selected based on academic qualifications, project feasibility and personal leadership ability.
The Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence is a part of Penn State Undergraduate Education.