LEARNING, DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY (LDT)
at Stanford University

Fall 2018 - Summer 2019

In fall 2018, I started my journey as a graduate student in the Learning, Design and Technology (LDT) program at Stanford University. Here I explored different approaches and technologies to improve children's learning motivation, psychological functioning as well as creative expression.

Coursework

Autumn

Stanford d. school: Design Thinking Studio
Designing Serious Games
Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction Design
Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods
Learning Design and Technology Seminar

Winter

Beyond Bits and Atoms: Designing Technological Tools
Child Development and New Technologies
Core Mechanics for Learning
Learning Design and Technology Seminar
Powerful Ideas for Learning Sciences and Technology Design: Distributed Intel & Installation Theory

Spring

Behavior Design
Engineering Education and Online Learning
LDT Internship Workshop
Learning Design and Technology Seminar
Portfolio to Professional: Supporting the Development of Digital Presence Through ePortfolios

Summer

LDT Internship Workshop
Learning Design and Technology Seminar

Master's Project

logo of Nartshell - a browser-based game

Nartshell

Unleash Your Inner Artist.

Picasso once said "every child is an artist, the problem is how to remain an artist once he/she grows up". Although we celebrate the creativity that inspires art, and the artists who inspire creativity, much of art education today focuses on specific techniques rather than creativity itself. Nartshell, an exploratory web game, provides underserved students a safe space to flex and hone their creativity as artists. Students travel around in a virtual world of "nartshells" to interact with and learn from characters based on famous artists like Andy Warhol. Moving through progressively harder challenges, students unlock new paintbrushes and other visual effects tools to level up their art ability and creative confidence.

Website

Selected Projects

backpack app

Backpack

Helping students with dyslexia lighten their load together.

Students with dyslexia often feel isolated and left behind in traditional classroom settings, and their families usually lack access to the individualized and project-based learning strategies that are offered in private school.
We designed Backpack, a mobile app, to leverage the power of storytelling and visualization to connect students with dyslexia on a virtual platform, allowing users to share and reflect upon their collective experiences with a supportive community.

Website

game glossy

GLOSSY

A dystopian-themed interactive fiction game designed for emotional regulation, and depressive symptoms.

The goal of the game is to raise awareness of mental health, and the value of taking care of families and friends. Additionally, the game attempts to unveil the danger of losing own judgement and following the social norm (in another word, collective will).

Design Process

Internships

During my time at LDT, I did a research internship with the Stanford SHAPE Lab, and a user experience internship at Chef Koochooloo. Both internships gave me opportunities to practice what I have learned from classes, and explore potential career paths either as a researcher or as a ux researcher.

In spring 2019, I examined the educational application of swarm robots and haptic feedbackat the SHAPE Lab. Supervised by Professor Sean Follmer and his PhD student Lawrence Kim, I continued my research on using swarm robots to support creative storytelling in summer. I conducted a literature review and drafted several experiment conditions to test out the effect of swarm robots in supporting adults' creativity development.

In summer 2019, I interned at Chef Koochooloo, a start-up company that teaches children STEAM through cooking classes. In addition to offering onsite cooking classes at local summer camps and after-school programs, Chef Koochooloo launched a gamified digital curriculum intending to provide teachers a better classroom experience. The curriculum served culturally diverse audiences, incorporating a virtual-travel concept similar to Nartshell, my LDT art game project. I served as the ux designer and researcher, redesigning the interfaces for teacher portal and student portal to ensure an engaging user experience. I discussed gamification and user experience with ux experts and curriculum designers, and generated ux research plans based on interviews with teachers.