Maggie Dahn is a learning scientist, design researcher, and arts education scholar whose work centers on interest-driven learning, supportive social networks, and participatory practices in community-based and out-of-school learning environments. Her research examines how learning unfolds through creative practice, relationships, and belonging, with particular attention to voice and identity development and issues of access and equity in arts education.
She is an Associate Project Scientist at the University of California, Irvine, where she works with the Connected Learning Lab and Creativity Labs on research exploring youth learning pathways across the arts, STEM, and informal learning contexts. Drawing on her background as a visual arts educator and classroom teacher, Maggie bridges research and practice through sustained partnerships with nonprofits, community organizations, and foundations, translating qualitative research into frameworks and tools that support program design and evaluation.
Maggie earned her PhD from the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies in 2019 with support from an NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship. Her recent work includes studies of friendship, mentorship, and creative communities in community arts programs and their role in shaping long-term learning and life outcomes. Her scholarship has appeared in Computer Science Education, Teachers College Press, Journal of the Learning Sciences, Arts Education Policy Review, Learning, Media, and Technology, and Review of Research in Education.
