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
Ph.D. in Education Sciences: Digital Media & Educational Technology (Expected 2024)
M.S. in Education Sciences (Expected 2022)
B.S. in Public Health Sciences (2017)
DONALD BREN SCHOOL OF INFORMATION
Minor in Digital Information Systems (2017)
AWARDS & HONORS
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Graduate Research Fellowship Program
(2019 – 2024)
Non-Academic Research Internships for Graduate Students (INTERN) Supplemental Funding
(2021-2022)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE
Summer Teaching Apprenticeship Program (STAP) Fellowship
(2023)
Diversity Recruitment Fellowship
(2019)
Minority Serving Institution Enhancement Award
(2019 – 2020)
PHI DELTA THETA FOUNDATION
Paul G. & Ruther R. Palmer Scholarship Award
(2016 – 2017 | 2015 – 2016)
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON TEACHER DEVELOPMENT AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Center Manager (2020 – present)
Graduate Student Researcher (2019 – present)
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
(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.
Get in touch.
If you have any questions or would like to collaborate, send me a message using the contact form below.