Hey there šŸ‘‹
I'm Zhen

I'm a second-year PhD student in Cognitive Science at Teachers College, Columbia University. I’m very fortunate to be advised by Prof. Renzhe Yu, where I’m also a member of the AEQUITAS Lab! Before that, I earned my Master’s degrees from both Teachers College (majoring in Learning Analytics) and Beijing Normal University (majoring in STEM Curriculum and Pedagogy), where I was advised by Prof. Ping Zhang.

With a background that bridges cognitive science, pedagogy, learning analytics, and artificial intelligence, I study how education is being transformed in the age of AI. My research focuses on developing AI-based approaches to understand and improve postsecondary curricula and instruction

Recently, I am working on two interconnected directions:

  1. Examining the systemic impact of AI on higher education. I explore how the rise of AI is reshaping educational goals and instructional practices through institutional-level data analysis to capture and understand these shifts at scale.
  2. Evaluating AIED tools from a learning sciences perspective. I’m interested in developing learning science-based evaluation frameworks and approaches for AIED tools, with a focus on their pedagogical capabilities.

Along the way, I’ve also developed a side interest in exploring AI as research tool, exploring how human-AI collaboration can enhance educational research.

šŸ“¢ News

  • 2025.07 – I will attend AIED, EDM, and L@S in July 2025 in Perlamo, Italy. Happy to connect if you'll be there too!
  • 2025.04 – I will give an online talk as a Guest Speaker and Panelist at the Educational Technology Sub-Forum of the 16th China Education Symposium at Harvard University.
  • 2025.03 – I will give an online talk as a Guest Speaker at the AI Application Sub-Forum of Columbia University Teachers College China-US Education Forum.
  • 2025.03 – I will present a collection of work from our lab at the AI in Education: Research and Practice session, part of the Columbia AI Summit.
  • 2024.11 – Our paper ā€œIntersectional inequalities in asynchronous academic communicationā€ won Best Student Paper Awards at SCiP 2024šŸ†.
  • 2024.09 – I will start my PhD in Cognitive Science at Teachers College, Columbia University!

šŸ’” Recent Projects

Last updated: 2025.11 © Zhen Xu