Rajeev Raizada

Math and computer science educator in NYC

https://rajeevraizada.github.io

For a PDF version of this CV, click here.

Summary

I am a math and computer science educator based in NYC. For the last two years I have been teaching high school and middle school math, and greatly enjoying it. Before switching to school teaching, I was a cognitive neuroscience faculty member in a university, teaching and carrying out brain imaging research.

I enjoy making tutorial content and math games in Desmos, Python and javascript, and sharing online them with the broader community.

Appointments

Sept.2022 - present Math teacher, grades 6, 9, 10 & 11. St. Ann’s School, Brooklyn

Sept.2021 - Aug.2022 Upper school math teacher, The Birch Wathen Lenox School, NYC

2013 - 2021 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Brain & Cog.Sci., Univ. of Rochester

2011 - 2013 Research Scientist, Dept. of Psychology, Cornell University

2008 - 2011 Research Scientist, Neukom Inst. for Comp. Science, Dartmouth College

Education & Training

2003 - 2008 Univ. of Washington, Seattle. Postdoc. Advisor: Patricia Kuhl

2000 - 2003 MGH-NMR Center, Charlestown. Postdoc. Advisor: Russell Poldrack

1996 - 2000 Boston Univ. Ph.D. in Cog. & Neural Systems. Advisor: Stephen Grossberg

1994 - 1995 Univ. of Birmingham, England. M.Sc. in Cognitive Science

1991 - 1994 Univ. of Oxford, England. B.A. in Mathematics & Philosophy

Teaching

School math classes

• Calculus (limits, chain rule, product rule, integrals as anti-derivatives, etc.)
• Precalculus (trigonometry, logs and exponentials, rational functions, intro matrices etc.)
• Algebra 2 (systems of eqs, quadratics, exponential funcs, intro complex numbers, etc.)
• 6th Grade (fractions, decimals, proportions, angles, symmetry, intro algebra)
• Mathematical problem-solving, Grades 6-8 (assorted explorations: patterns, math games, geometry, logical reasoning)

Desmos creations

A collection of some of my Desmos creations can be found here.

Some highlights:
• Game: snakes on trig graphs, here.
• Making percentage increases and decreases more tangible, here.
• Mathematical string art, here.
• Explore the 17 wallpaper symmetry groups, here.
• Game: radians space invaders, here.

Javascript web games

Math version of Candy Crush, here. Written using the javascript libraries p5play and p5js. Source code available on Github, here.

Coded games & tutorials

• Python implementation of “The Tax-Collector” math game, here.
• Text-based generator of NYT Digits puzzles using Python, here.

Python turtle math art:
• String art circle
• Star
• Cardioid
• Nested twisting triangles

Interactive statistics tutorials, in Python and Matlab:
• Webpage containing these tutorials is here.
• YouTube video illustrating the interactive programs in action is here.
• These tutorials have been used for teaching at U.Mass Boston, here.

Python and Matlab for fMRI, General Linear Model and pattern-based analysis:
• Webpage with these tutorials is here.
• Used for teaching at the Univ. of Arizona, here and the Univ. of Gent, here.
• YouTube video of me presenting these tutorials to a class: here.

Matlab for neural networks:
• Webpage containing these tutorials is here.
• Page includes tutorial code implementing and explaining the backpropagation algorithm, which is the core tool used for training deep neural networks.

Educational videos

I have recently experimented with making some short educational YouTube videos, in which I try to explain topics as simply and engagingly as possible.
• A mathematical pattern hidden in the American flag (explaining why the first n odd numbers sum to n²), here.
• Why does a negative number times a negative number end up being positive? An intuitive explanation, here.
• Make better presentations, by controlling visual attention, here.

University classes taught

• Language and the brain
• Introduction to fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Selected publications

For a complete listing, please see my Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PJWjx8gAAAAJ

Anderson, A. J., Lalor, E., Lin, F., Binder, J.R., Fernandino, L., Humphries, C., Conant, L., Raizada, R.D.S., Grimm, S. and Wang, X. (2018) Multiple regions of a cortical network commonly encode the meaning of words in multiple grammatical positions of read sentences. Cerebral Cortex, 29(6), 2396-2411. PDF.

Zinszer, B.D., Anderson, A.J., Kang, O., Wheatley, T. and Raizada, R.D.S. (2016) Semantic structural alignment of neural representational spaces enables translation between English and Chinese words. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 28, 1749-1759. PDF.

Mackey, A.P., Raizada, R.D.S. and Bunge, S.A. (2012) Environmental influences on prefrontal development. In: Principles of frontal lobe function (2nd Edition), edited by Donald Stuss and Robert Knight. Oxford: Oxford University Press. PDF.

Raizada, R.D.S., Tsao, F.M., Liu, H.M., Holloway, I.D., Ansari, D. and Kuhl, P.K. (2010) Linking brain-wide multivoxel activation patterns to behaviour: examples from language and math. NeuroImage, 51, 462-471. PDF. Supplementary Material.

Raizada, R.D.S. and Kishiyama, M. (2010) Effects of socioeconomic status on brain development, and how Cognitive Neuroscience may contribute to leveling the playing field. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. doi:10.3389/neuro.09.003.2010. PDF.

Grants and awards

Currently funded

2017 - 2021 NSF CAREER Award #1652127: “Testing models of semantic spaces in the brain.” PI. $513k.

Previously funded

2015 - 2016 Google Faculty Award: “Good representations of meaning enable good inferences: Bridging between word2vec and analogical reasoning in the human brain.” PI. $66k.

2012 - 2015 NSF Award #1228261: “Measuring and modeling object similarity in the brain: combining conceptual and perceptual representations.” PI. $480K.

2014 - 2015 IARPA Award: “Knowledge representation in neural systems.” Co-PI. $400K.

2010 - 2012 NSF Award #1058753: “EAGER: Brain-mobile interfaces: Exploratory research into the development of networked NeuroPhones.” Co-PI. $250K.

2001 - 2001 NSF 0121950 Cognitive Neuroscience Pilot Grant. Co-PI. “Enhancing human cortical plasticity: Visual psychophysics and fMRI.” $50K.

References

Available upon request