Jasmine E. Tran

I am a second-year Ph.D. student in Education specializing in Teaching, Learning, and Education Improvement (TLEI) at the University of California, Irvine. My advisors are Professor Mark Warschauer and Professor Kylie Peppler. My research focuses on digital learning—particularly in evaluating and designing educational technology that leverages the unique strengths of diverse students. With the rapid growth of AI and technology in schools, I am committed to ensuring these tools are thoughtfully designed. I study the learning theories and design principles that make educational technologies fun yet effective.

As a graduate student researcher for the Digital Learning Lab, I work on Converse to Learn which is an NSF-funded project in collaboration with PBS KIDS. We investigate how young children learn STEM concepts from interactive educational media by embedding AI conversational agents (CAs). Like Dora the Explorer, but if Dora could actually answer you! Through this project, my goal is to design learning tools that can make STEM learning more engaging and impactful for students of all backgrounds. Prior to my Ph.D. studies, I received my B.A. in Psychology from San Jose State University and worked on the Rapid Online Assessments of Reading project at Stanford University, where I designed gamified, online reading assessments.