GAMES Project People
Faculty
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Osman Balci (Co-PI) is Director of Mobile/Cloud Software Engineering Lab and Professor of Computer Science at Virginia Tech. His current areas of expertise center on iOS mobile software engineering, cloud software engineering, digital game-based learning, and modeling and simulation. Dr. Balci is interested in creating interactive visual simulations, educational games, and animations that run on mobile devices such as iPad, iPod touch, and iPhone as well as cloud software applications for the purpose of improving the effectiveness of learning STEM subjects in K-12 curricula. |
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Mido Chang (Co-PI) is Associate Professor of Educational Research Methodology in the College of Education at Florida International University. She teaches Structural Equation Modeling, Multivariate Statistics, Applied Regression Analysis, Research Methods in Education, Advanced Analysis in Educational Research, and Hierarchical Linear Modeling for doctoral students. Dr. Chang’s research projects have been funded by NSF DRK-12 and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. |
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Kirby Deater-Deckard (Co-PI) is Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in Psychology at Virginia Tech, and Director of Virginia Tech Community Partners in Roanoke, Virginia. He studies biological and environmental influences on individual differences in social-emotional and cognitive development in childhood and adolescence. As part of this NSF GAMES project, Dr. Deater-Deckard is interested in building knowledge and applications that enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. |
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Michael A. Evans (PI) is Associate Professor in the Department of Learning Sciences and Technologies at Virginia Tech. He teaches graduate courses in learning sciences, multimedia cognition, digital media and learning, and instructional multimedia development. His current areas of expertise include adopting video game mechanics, social media, and social networking to enhance formal and informal STEM learning. |
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Anderson Norton (Co-PI) is Professor of Mathematics at Virginia Tech, where he teaches mathematics courses for future secondary school teachers. His research builds on Piaget's structuralism by building psychological models of students' mathematics, especially their fractions knowledge, algebraic reasoning, and conjecturing activity. Dr. Norton is interested in studying the mental actions necessary for meaningful mathematical engagement in various learning environments. |
Graduate Students
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Serdar Aslan is a doctoral student in the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech. He obtained a M.S. degree in Computer Science at VT in May 2011. His areas of expertise include software engineering, software architecture, and mobile applications. He is interested in creating games that run on mobile devices to enhance learning in K-12 curricula. |
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Steven Boyce is a doctoral student in the Department of Mathematics at Virginia Tech. His study focuses on Mathematics Education. Mr. Boyce has five years of secondary school teaching experience in Pulaski County, Virginia. In addition to the development and analysis of tools and tasks that support students’ understanding of fractions, his research interests include the nature of the transfer of fractions understanding across contexts such as algebra or probability. |
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Kyle Cheney is currently a graduate research assistant in Instructional Design and Technology at the Virginia Tech. His current research interests include the application of Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Science to the Learning Science area focusing on pedagogical agent quality (e.g. race, gender, realism, voice), user interface, multimedia pedagogical environments, and increasing the viability of tutoring systems using instructional design theories. |
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Nan Chen is a graduate student in the Department of Psychology. Her research interest is in executive function in children and their parents and its role in family relationship and developmental outcomes. She is also interested in relevant research methods to address those questions. |
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Sunha Kim is a Ph.D. candidate in Educational Research and Evaluation at Virginia Tech. She holds another Ph.D. degree from Instructional Design and Technology at VT. Dr. Kim's research focuses on the integration of technology and quantitative methods. In her recent study, she evinced the positive outcomes of technology use by employing survival analysis and multilevel modeling. Currently, she is validating instruments using IRT and Rasch models to assess the effects of technology including computer games. |
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Miguel (Miko) Nino is a doctoral student in the Instructional Design & Technology at Virginia Tech. His areas of expertise include professional development, STEM education, and the use of educational games and technology integration in the classroom and in training. Mr. Nino has been in the field of training and e-learning for 8 years and has collaborated with organizations such as Johns Hopkins and Special Olympics. He holds a M.A in Instructional Systems Development from University of Maryland Baltimore County and a B.A. in International Business from Lindenwood University. |
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Yavuz Samur is a Ph.D. student in Instructional Design and Technology, Department of Learning Sciences and Technologies (Curriculum and Instruction) at Virginia Tech. |
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Zhe Wang is a Graduate Student in the Individual Differences in Development Lab in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech. Her research centers on individual differences in the development of children’s reactivity and self-regulation in the family context. She is interested in understanding the developmental processes and the transactional links between reactivity and self-regulation at genetic, physiological, temperamental, and behavioral levels, and the reciprocal links between parenting/parent-child relationship. |
Undergraduate Students
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Daniel Curaca Malito is an undergraduate student in the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech. |
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Shereen El-Mallah is a Ph.D. student in Developmental and Biological Psychology at Virginia Tech. She completed her undergraduate degree in psychological sciences at Johns Hopkins University. |
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Thomas Fitzpatrick is a Sophomore in Computer Science at Virginia Tech. He is an iOS Software Developer in the Mobile Software Engineering Lab at Virginia Tech. He enjoys the idea of using his software engineering skills to benefit society, such as creating educational games for children on mobile devices. He is considering getting a masters degree in order to become the best software engineer he can be. |
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Emily McClelland is a Psychology and Biology double major Senior at Virginia Tech. She is a Research Assistant in the Individual Differences in Development Lab in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech. She is planning on going to graduate school to obtain a masters degree in Psychology or Professional Counseling. |
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Chantie Nguyen is a Research Assistant in the Individual Differences in Development Lab in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech. She is interested in child development because of its heavy influence on learning and education. She will graduate from Virginia Tech with a Bachelors degree in Psychology in the Spring of 2013 and will hopefully go to graduate school to obtain a Ph.D. degree in Psychology. |
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Andrew Nicholas is a Senior in the Department of Mathematics at Virginia Tech. His area of interest centers on mathematics education. He plans to obtain a Master’s degree in Education and become a teacher. He is involved with Young Life and in numerous intramural sports such as basketball, football, and softball. |
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Jordan Pruett is a Senior in the Department of Mathematics at Virginia Tech with a concentration in education. She will be attending graduate school starting in Fall 2015 to earn her Master's Degree in Education. After graduation, she plans to teach secondary mathematics. She is heavily involved in her church and the Baptist Collegiate Ministries. |
