I joined the Educational Psychology Department at the University of Minnesota in the Fall of 2022, after spending four years in the Psychology Department at the University of New Hampshire.
I received my Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame under the advisement of Dr. Sidney D'Mello in the Emotive Computing Lab, then completed my postdoctoral training in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Thought Lab at the University of British Columbia with Dr. Kalina Christoff.
My research interests are at the intersection of cognitive psychology, computer science, and education. I am particularly interested in mind wandering: its neural correlates, relationship to affect, and impact on learning. Other interests include investigating engagement, affective states, and task-unrelated thought in educational contexts, such as during complex learning and reading.
I am currently the co-director of the Learning Informatics Lab at UMN.
The Research Team
Researcher Scientist
Aaron's research focuses on understanding how metacomprehension and mind wandering affect comprehension using a variety of techniques including eye movement monitoring, memory tests, and computational modeling. He is also interested in how metacognition affects learning in other areas besides comprehension, such as mathematics and skill acquisition.
Post-doctoral Associate
Nabil's research focuses on human-computer interaction within educational technologies. He is interested in disengagement detection and knowledge tracing, especially in remote learning platforms.
Post-doctoral Associate
I am committed to fostering self-regulated learning (SRL) skills for empowering students to navigate dynamic environments with their own agency, rather than delegating learning opportunities to computational models, including AI. I primarily apply mixed methods, machine learning, and experimental approaches to (1) investigate the impacts of interventions on learner-AI interactions (e.g., Jupyter Notebook extension, AI hint chatbot), and (2) reconstruct learning traces using multimodal data, (e.g., computational data, transcripts).
Ph.D. Student
Vishal is interested in understanding how thought unfolds, both - as a linear system and a non-linear dynamical system. He also works on testing out theoretical findings in more applied settings by building detectors of task unrelated thought using various signals such as platform usage behaviors, keystroke logs, and eye gaze.
Ph.D. Student
Cati’s research examines and compares forms of spontaneous thought such as unexpected thoughts and déjà vu, specifically their phenomenology. This line of research seeks to also uncover potential relationships between spontaneous thinking and clinical mental health.
Ph.D. Student
Chris’ research focuses on the interplay between learning, memory, and attention. His current interests involve the use of naturally occurring data to detect and understand behavior in online learning environments.
Ph.D. Student
I look at the relationship between depression and reward devaluation, exploring how people with depressive symptoms might actively avoid positive stimuli in everyday tasks, like reading. Using creative research methods, including a novel Valence Selection Task, I uncover patterns that highlight the real-world implications of reward devaluation theory (RDT).
M.A. Student
Yifan is interested in studying boredom as an emotion and boredom proneness as a personal trait, focusing on its impact on health (e.g., emotional eating) and cognitive functions. Currently, she’s exploring involuntary autobiographical memories and their relationship to affective states and mental health using longitudinal methods.
Undergraduate Student
Associate Professor
Ph.D. Candidate
Affiliate Members
