JOSEPH WONG, MA
I design and research learning experiences with educational technologies.

VIRTUAL REALITY

User Experience

LEARNING Design

USER RESEARCH

Who I am.

I am a doctoral student at the University of California, Irvine earning a Ph.D. in Digital Learning and Educational Media. I conduct cross-functional research in cognitive science, digital learning, and educational technology under my advisors, Dr. Lindsey Richland and Dr. Bradley Hughes. As a learning experience researcher, I apply cognitive theories together with learning and user experience research, to evaluate the technological affordances of the “edtech” mediums for improving student’s STEM motivations, engagement, and transferable skills.

This foundational research will inform the efficacy and design of STEM courses across the age span, creating digital learning environments that are more equitable, scalable, and human-centered.

“As a first-generation Burmese American student and recent 2020 NSF graduate research fellow, my career goal is to bridge together my passion for digital media technologies with human cognition to design and facilitate  transformative learning experiences representative of today’s 21st-century student learning behaviors.”

Educational Videos

published online courses

Conference Presentations

Published articles

Awards & honors

My Experience.

EDUCATION

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Education Sciences: Digital Media & Educational Technology (Expected 2024)

M.S. in Education Sciences (Expected 2022)

COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES

B.S. in Public Health Sciences (2017)

DONALD BREN SCHOOL OF INFORMATION

& COMPUTER SCIENCES

Minor in Digital Information Systems (2017)

AWARDS & HONORS

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON TEACHER DEVELOPMENT AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Center Manager (2020 – present)

SCIENCE OF LEARNING LAB

Graduate Student Researcher (2019 – present)

HUGHES MEDIA & DESIGN LAB 

Graduate Student Researcher (2019 – present)

Media & Design Researcher (2015 – 2017)

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION | ESCAPE

Graduate Student Researcher (2020)

Associate Education Researcher (2017-2019)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

WORKIVA

USer Experience Research Intern

(2023 – present)

IMMERSE

Efficacy and Learning Research Intern

(2021 – 2022)

SONY

Production Associate

(2016 – 2017)

Minority Serving Institution Enhancement Award

(2019 – 2020)

CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Careers in Science Intern Program

(2012 – 2014)

Science Visualization Assistant

(2013 – 2014)

Immersive Virtual Reality

Mixed & Extended Reality

Cognition

Metacognition

Executive Function

Design-based Research

Learning Experience Research

User Experience Research

Recent Projects

Implementing LXD to Support Undergraduate Online Teaching and Learning through Embedded Video Questions
User Experience and the Role of Mind-wandering

Operationalizing Learning Experience Design: How UX and LX Impacts Students

Pandemic Teaching and LearningL Examining Undergraduate Self-efficacy and Task-Value Influencing Online Engagement
Supporting Children's Engagement through LXD, Situational Interest, and User Experience
Leveraging Learning Experience Design to Deploy Embedded Video Questions to Support Students' Online Learning Experience.
Zooming in or Zoning Out: Examining Undergraduate Students’ Online Learning Experiences and the Role of Mind-Wandering
Leveraging LXD to Support Student's Situational Interest, User Expereince, and Engagement

Abstract: Historically, learning for young students has occurred in formal, in-person classroom environments. But in just a matter of weeks, children were mandated to transition to a completely new mode of learning, facing new learning challenges with heightened anxieties. To this end, we aim to better understand how our learning experience design (LXD) efforts support or hinder children’s engagement while participating in an online, video-based math course. This study operationalized LXD through the integration of e-learning instructional design (ID) as a lever for promoting students’ situational interest (SI), emphasis on human-centered design to support students’ user experience (UX), and the combination of SI and UX to foster student engagement in an online environment. Results provide practical implications for how we can intentionally iterate our designs to sustain children’s online engagement as we prepare for future instances of traditional, online and even hybrid models of instruction.

Presentation Link

Get in touch.

If you have any questions or would like to collaborate, send me a message using the contact form below.

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