About us
Our lab explores how emerging technologies mediate collaborative learning and scientific knowledge-building, especially in complex STEM contexts. We focus on designing and studying immersive learning environments that help students think, reason, and learn together. Our work centers on three interrelated areas: technology-mediated STEM learning, computer-supported collaborative learning, and applications of learning analytics.
Technology-Mediated STEM Learning
We design technology-mediated STEM learning environments by investigating how students engage with emerging technologies, such as simulations, games, and immersive extended reality environments, to explore complex STEM concepts. Our work examines how design features shape learners’ strategies, problem-solving paths, and meaning-making processes, especially in environments that require students to regulate their learning. We also study how embodied actions like gesture and spatial movement support conceptual understanding in immersive settings.
Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL)
Collaboration is central to deep learning, but how do students coordinate attention, share ideas, and build knowledge together in digital environments? We study how tools like shared annotations, gaze, gesture, and verbal discourse support (or hinder) collaborative meaning-making in various CSCL environments. Our research focuses on when and how students engage with each other, exploring constructs like joint attention, re-annotation, collaborative initiative, and temporal coordination across group interactions.
Applications of Learning Analytics
To understand learning as a dynamic and socially situated process, we develop and apply advanced learning analytics techniques that integrate temporal, multimodal, and spatial data. From clickstreams and gaze to gesture and dialogue, we use machine learning and artificial intelligence to uncover how learning unfolds over time—and how analytics can inform theory, support design, and foster more equitable learning environments.
Latest News
See what the Immersive Data Lab Team has been up to recently!
April 2025
Our lab's undergraduate students presented their respective work on HoloOrbits in the 2025 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Undergraduate Research Symposium. Their work surrounded the design, development, and impact of the HoloOrbits Simulation.
