Reading + Learning Lab
Focus
The primary questions addressed in the Reading + Learning Lab concern the relations amongst language, cognition, and learning, with a focus on reading comprehension. In addition to these core issues, the lab is also involved with the development of educational technology to support large-scale interventions and assessments.
Projects
- We design and research AI tools that personalize comprehension instruction, interventions, and assessments in K-12 (e.g., Inference Galaxy funded by the Institute of Education Sciences; Project iSTART-Early).
- We research the psychological drivers of misinformation about socio-scientific issues and factors that can reduce its impact (Mercury Project).
- We research the conditions that promote knowledge revision during reading and effective science communication. We conduct basic research in traditional and digital environments that advances the science of reading and digital literacy.
- We research and design AI tools that personalize coding comprehension for computer science majors and non-majors (iCODE Project)
Quote from Panayiota (Pani) Kendeou
We are driven to understand and improve reading comprehension and learning with AI, while also identifying conditions that can reduce the impact of misinformation and misconceptions in our information ecosystem.
View recent Reading + Learning Lab publications on Kendeou's Google Scholar page.
Research group
Victoria Johnson
Lab coordinator; PhD graduate student, psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Victoria is interested in investigating effective methods of science communication in order to promote knowledge revision of scientific misconceptions and reduce misinformation.
Twitter: @V_K_Johnson
Eleonora Pizzigallo
Visiting scholar; PhD student from University of Padova in Padova, Italy
Eleonora is interested in developmental disorders, with a particular focus on reading disorders. Her research examines the factors that influence the decision to opt for technology-based treatments and evaluates the effectiveness of these interventions.
Heeryung Choi
Postdoctoral Fellow, Learning Informatics Lab
Heeryung (“Hear”-“Young”) fosters self-regulated learning skills with and within technology. She believes that these skills are essential for learners to build autonomy in the context of future education and work.
Rina Miyata Harsch
PhD graduate student, psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Rina is interested in the cognitive processes that underlie learning from others and revising beliefs, particularly the roles of source features and explanation in these processes.
Bess Wilke
PhD graduate student, special education
With a background in teaching special education, Bess is interested in reading comprehension in early learners with an emphasis on cognitive processes and intervention.
Joseph Burey
PhD graduate student: psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Joseph is interested in the social psychology of identity representation in text.
Ali Fulsher
PhD graduate student, psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Ali is interested in the cognitive and metacognitive skills needed to effectively search for, evaluate, and learn from print and digital texts. She is committed to teaching adults these skills and making high quality information more publicly accessible.
Justine Scattarelli
PhD graduate student, psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Justine is interested in the role of emotion in cognition during reading and assessment using intelligent tutoring systems.
Yewon Kang
PhD graduate student, psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Yewon is interested in cognitive learning strategies and their application to technology-based interventions, with a focus on STEM education, reading comprehension, and digital literacy.
Amanda Jensen
PhD graduate student, psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
With a background of teaching middle school students, Amanda is interested in reading comprehension, especially with adolescent readers. Additionally she is interested in Natural Language Processing, multilevel text analyses, and simplified/parallel texts.
Luan Chau
PhD graduate student, psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Luan is interested in the cognitive processes involved in reading and writing from multiple sources and applied research in developing these skills for students in higher education.
YooJeong Son
PhD graduate student, psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
YooJeong is interested in factors affecting K-12 learners' literacy, cognition, and comprehension, along with the application of technology for personalized literacy interventions.
Sador Wondeson
Undergraduate student, Psychology
Sador is interested in how reading comprehension can be evaluated and improved by investigating underlying memory encoding strategies.
Collaborators
HyeJin Hwang
Assistant professor, psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
HyeJin Hwang is interested in comprehension and content learning in K-12 settings, particularly in multilingual students. Her lab, LILAC (Literacy, Language, Content learning, and Culture), collaborates with the Reading + Learning Lab.
Twitter: @theHJHwang
Lab alumni
Jasmine Kim
PhD (2024): psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Current position: Reading Analyst, PISA
Gregory Trevors
Post-doctoral fellow (2015-2017), psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Current position: Assistant professor, University of South Carolina
Kelsey Will
PhD (2022): psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Current position: Researcher, University of Minnesota
Reese Butterfuss
PhD (2020): psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Current position: Research Scientist, HumRRO
Martin Van Boekel
PhD (2016), psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Current position: Teaching assistant professor, University of Minnesota
Kyle Stagnaro
MA (2023), psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Daheen Choi
MA (2021), psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Sarah Cox
MA (2022), psychology: cognitive and brain sciences
Ellen (Elly) Orcutt
MA (2022), school psychology
Current position: School psychologist, Mankato Schools
Jessica Van Gilder
MA (2017), liberal studies
Bader Mohsen
MA (2016), psychological foundations: learning and cognition/educational technologies
Indigo Rudduck
BA (2023) and Research associate, psychology
Solomon Como
BA, psychology
Savannah Wisenhunt
BA (2022), psychology and studies in cinema and media cultures
Cat Stockley
BA (2021), psychology
Maddie Dagitz
BS (2020), psychology and Spanish
Maggie Inah O'Brien
BS (2020), psychology with learning technologies minor
Current position: PhD student, University of Illinois at Chicago
Liz Weiers
BS (2020), psychology
Joseph Aubele
R+L lab manager (2018-2019)
Current position: PhD student, University of California - Irvine
Tyler Szydlo
BSc (2018)
Katherine Hock
BSc (2018), psychology
Previous visiting scholars
Yi-Lun Jheng
Visiting PhD graduate student (2023); University of Antwerp in Antwerp, Belgium
Pauline Frick
Visiting PhD graduate student (2022); Institut für Wissensmedien in Tübingen, Germany
Ignacio Máñez Sáez
Visiting PhD graduate student (2016), University of Valencia, Spain
Marloes Muijselaar
Visiting PhD graduate student (2015), University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Katinka Beker
Visiting PhD graduate student (2014), Leiden University, The Netherlands