There is growing consensus that data-informed decision-making through human-centered inquiry and design process results in improved outcomes for designed artifacts. Among the latest trends is a group of tools and processes loosely assimilated under the umbrella term, "design thinking." These "designerly ways of knowing" are…

Multistage adaptive testing (MST) has become popular in the testing industry because the research has shown that it combines the advantages of both linear tests and item-level computer adaptive testing (CAT). The previous research efforts primarily focused on MST design issues such as panel design, module length, test length, distribution of test…

Virtual Reality (VR) is rapidly gaining popularity as a consumer technology, yet accessibility has not been prioritized. VR enables users to interact with immersive virtual worlds, but effective interaction requires the ability to perceive and navigate the environment. Fortunately, over the past thirty years, hundreds of scene-viewing and…

As more and more students seek out online educational opportunities, emerging technology and platforms must provide the most effective experience for learners to expand their knowledge and skill sets. The research study aimed to investigate social presence, collaboration, and design opportunities in head-mounted, virtual reality as compared to the…

Makerspaces can support educational experiences in prototyping for young learners, while physical computing platforms enable high levels of creativity and expression. However, each of these have high barriers of entry, especially for youth without prior experience. Commercial microcontrollers have become a popular tool to use when designing both…

From computational and scientific viewpoints, virtual reality (VR) is a well-researched technology, platform, and mode of communication. However, from an arts perspective, virtual reality has very few, if any, defined parameters as an artistic medium. This study aims to explore the technical affordances and the experiential and creative phenomena…

My multi-article dissertation explores the utility of immersive media like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) in design learning and education, particularly as we recover from the social, technological, and cultural disruptions caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Chapter 2 clarifies how the multiple modalities…

This thesis explores the use of Augmented Reality (AR) in two challenging scenarios -- autism therapy, and network-constrained, remote collaboration. In the first half of this thesis, we highlight the design and implementation of CustomAR and Augmented Playgrounds -- two applications that leverage the visualization and contextual abilities of AR…

This dissertation informed researchers about the performance of different level-specific and target-specific model fit indices in Multilevel Latent Growth Model (MLGM) using unbalanced design and different trajectories. As the use of MLGMs is a relatively new field, this study helped further the field by informing researchers interested in using…

Embodiment is a concept that has gained widespread usage within the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) community in recent years. In a general sense, embodiment is the notion that cognition arises not just from the mind, but also through our bodies' physical and social interactions with the world around us. HCI has employed this body-centric…

Currently, educational games are designed with the educational content as the primary factor driving the design of the game. While this may seem to be the optimal approach, this design paradigm causes multiple issues. For one, the games themselves are often not engaging as game design principles were put aside in favor of increasing the…

Statistical power is important in a meta-analysis study, although few studies have examined the performance of simulated power in meta-analysis. The purpose of this study is to inform researchers about statistical power estimation on two sample mean difference test under different situations: (1) the discrepancy between the analytical power and…

Digital products are rapidly shaping our world into a ubiquitous computing world. Because of its unique characteristics, digital artifacts are generative and highly evolving through the recombination of existing elements as well as by the invention of new elements. In this thesis, I first propose an evolutionary view to examine how digital…

Edutainment refers to curriculum and instruction designed with a clear educational purpose, including multi-faceted virtual learning game design. Tools such as the Jacob's Ladder pre-production design tactic have been developed to ensure that voices of both engineers and educators are heard. However, it is unclear how development team members…

In addition to the display application, Liquid Crystals (LC) can be very useful in other applications such as beam steering, tunable lenses, etc. Electro-optical LC tunable lenses have been considered as an alternative to conventional glass lenses because of their ability to change their focal length with the application of a control voltage, as…