Creating Change to Improve Science and Mathematics Education

Chong Ho (Alex) Yu holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (Arizona State University, ASU) with a focus on Measurement, Statistics and Methodological Studies, as well as a Ph.D. in Philosophy (ASU) with specialization in History and Philosophy of Science. Currently he is a Professor of Behavioural and Applied Science and a member of the adjunct mathematics faculty at Azusa Pacific University (APU), USA. He is also a quantitative research consultant and the committee chair of the Big Data Discovery Summit/Data Science Consortium at APU. His research interests include alternate and emerging research methods (e.g. exploratory data analysis, data visualization, and data mining), instructional psychology and technology, philosophical aspects of research methodologies (e.g. causal inferences), and cross-cultural comparison (e.g. PISA, TIMSS). He has published numerous book chapters and journal articles pertaining to international assessments and big data analytics. Hyun Seo (Hannah)Lee holds a BA in Psychology (Azusa Pacific University, CA) with a minor in Ethnic Studies. She is deeply drawn to human cognition and decision-making process, and is currently investigating metacognition and learning outcomes. Further, as an international student herself, she has taken account of cultural components when it comes to grasping the mechanism of the learning process, which involves motivation and reward. Throughout her undergraduate years, she was involved in a range of big-data based projects under Dr. Yu's supervision, which led to fascinating insights into factors that may boost or hinder learning outcomes. She is continuing to explore the area while pursuing her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology.