Dr. Michael D. Broda (Co-Director)

Dr Broda is an Associate Professor in the Research, Assessment, and Evaluation Ph.D. Concentration within the Department of Foundations of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University, specializing in machine learning and quantitative research methods. His work applies advanced machine learning techniques to address critical issues in education and mental health, particularly among individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Dr. Broda’s research uses predictive modeling to understand complex patterns in employment, health outcomes, and educational equity. A committed educator, he actively integrates machine learning and AI literacy into his teaching and mentoring.

Email Address: mdbroda@vcu.edu 

Dr. Chi-Ning (Nick) Chang (Co-Director)

Dr. Chang is an Assistant Professor in the Research, Assessment, and Evaluation Ph.D. Concentration within the Department of Foundations of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. He holds a Ph.D. in Research, Measurement, and Statistics from Texas A&M University. Dr. Chang’s research centers on applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning in STEM education. He teaches courses on artificial intelligence and machine learning in education (EDUS 668 and EDUS 268).

Email Address:  changc10@vcu.edu

Dr. Chin-Chih Chen

Dr. Chen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling and Special Education at VCU. Her work aims to prevent maladaptive development and support thriving for underrepresented children. Her research focuses on understanding the risk and protective factors that influence children’s academic and social-behavioral development, and examining how social contexts (e.g., family, school, and community) support or hinder their growth. She has increasingly utilized machine learning to uncover developmental patterns and identify contextually relevant intervention. Her recent projects leverage machine learning to inform early identification and intervention for children’s social-emotional development and mental health.

Dr. Moe Debbagh Greene

Dr. Greene obtained his Ph.D. in Education with a focus on Curriculum, Culture and Change/Instructional Technology at Virginia Commonwealth University. ​His research examines the methods and practical applications of emerging technologies such as makerspace, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence (AI) in teacher education. By leveraging emerging research methods such as machine learning, data analytics and natural language processing (NLP) and examining the intersection of emerging technologies with contextual factors,​ his research contributes to the development of evidence-based approaches​ and strategies to improve student learning experiences and outcomes.

Dr. Xun Liu

Dr. Liu is a dedicated researcher, methodologist, and educator with expertise in educational psychology, quantitative methods, and applied machine learning. Currently serving as a Research Assistant Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and a Methodologist at the Institute for Collaborative Research and Evaluation (ICRE), Dr. Liu specializes in advanced statistical modeling, including structural equation modeling, latent profile analysis, and multilevel modeling, as well as data visualization and interdisciplinary research collaborations.

Dr. Amy Corning

Dr. Corning is a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Collaborative Research and Evaluation at the School of Education, where she is engaged in research and evaluation projects with faculty, schools, and state agencies. Her Ph.D. is in Sociology from the University of Michigan. Her research interests focus on secondary education, including work on computer science education, work-based learning, and college access. Dr. Corning also studies collective memory and is the co-author, with Howard Schuman, of Generations and Collective Memory.

Dr. Yuyan (Summer) Xia

Dr. Xia is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Physical Therapy. She earned her Ph.D. in Education Evaluation and Research Methods at the University of Kentucky. Her graduate research focused on scale validation, score equating, program evaluation, and child developmental assessment. Outside of research, Yuyan enjoys traveling, cooking, and outdoor adventures.

Tzu-Wei (Tab) Wang

Tzu-Wei is a doctoral student in the Research, Assessment, and Evaluation concentration at the School of Education, VCU. He is primarily interested in quantitative research and machine learning methods in education. He serves as the lab manager of the Centroid Machine Learning Lab. Beyond his research involvement, he is also the vice president of LaunchPAD, a student organization in the School of Education.

Jeen Mariam Joy

Jeen is a Ph.D. Candidate in VCU's School of Education, RAE Track who contributes to the collaborative Machine Learning Lab, where she assists on various projects and collaborates with fellow researchers across disciplines. Her research explores the applications of artificial intelligence in education, with particular focus on assessment methodologies, higher education evaluations, and program assessments. The Machine Learning Lab serves as a dynamic research hub where scholars work together on diverse AI-related projects, fostering intellectual exchange and cooperation. Through this collaborative approach, Joy and fellow researchers pursue innovative applications of AI technologies.

Cammie Justus-Smith

Cammie is a doctoral student in the Research, Assessment, and Evaluation program at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her current research focuses on Self-Directed Education, deschooling, microschools, and research-practice partnerships, applying a variety of methodologies through a critical lens. She has collaborated with VCU mentors on evaluation and mentorship projects while also publishing independently on deschooling, with a forthcoming book chapter under review on ungrading. With over a decade of experience as a secondary science educator, she brings a practitioner’s perspective to her wor

Georgia Heyward

Georgia is a Ph.D. Candidate in VCU's School of Education, with a concentration in Research, Assessment, and Evaluation. As an applied researcher, she is interested in ways that machine learning offers novel insight on issues relevant to education policy, program evaluation, and practice. Her research focuses on improving the school experience and outcomes for students traditionally underserved in public education. A former teacher, Georgia founded a small nonprofit, Fig Education Lab, which focuses on collaborative research and evaluation.

Obed Amoakoh Boateng

Obed is a doctoral student in the Research, Assessment and Evaluation concentration at VCU, where he explores research interests in areas of QuantCrit, Quantitative methods, Artificial Intelligence, and machine learning. In a world where cross-disciplinary approaches are becoming increasingly important, his aim is to leverage innovative methodologies for analyzing educational data and informing evidence-based decision-making in educational settings through these methods

Luke Parker

Luke is a doctoral student in the Research, Assessment, and Evaluation concentration at VCU’s School of Education. He is interested in combining machine learning and statistical methods to examine collaboration in a variety of educational contexts. His research seeks to understand the structural and social factors that shape collaboration, with the goal of promoting the co-production and co-ownership of knowledge by and for participants in the education ecosystem.

Singith Nawagamuwage Perera

Singith is a doctoral student in Education at the School of Education of VCU. Singith researches creativity, imagination, curiosity, thinking and learning engagement with application to STEM, alternative, informal and formal learning spaces. Singith has over ten years of corporate sector experience in innovation and project management. In education, Singith has worked in Montessori and public schools, coached entrepreneurship in high schools and taught as an adjunct lecturer at the VCU School of Business. He holds a master's in product innovation from the VCU Davinci Center and a bachelor's in economics from the London School of Economics, UK.

John Hui

John is a doctoral student in Educational Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University.