The UIC Learning + Interest + Technology Lab was founded in 2019 to support collaborative research studies in human-robot interaction and learning sciences disciplines. Our research focuses on developing social robotic learning environments to leverage the power of social interactions during learning. We aim to understand how interest in STEM fields is developed and maintained, how to design socially situated scaffolds within learning environments to support interest development, and the effects of working with educational technologies designed with STEM interest scaffolds on learning and interest.