Ashish Gurung, Ph.D.
In a Nutshell: I like to think of myself as a builder. I am interested in using technology to build scalable educational resources that enhance learning opportunities.
I am a Postdoctoral researcher at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at CMU. I am currently working with Prof. Vincent Aleven and Prof. Ken Koedinger on the PLUS project. I earned my Ph.D. in Computer Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute under the guidance of Prof. Neil T. Heffernan.
Researcher Interest
As a researcher, I am interested in exploring various aspects of Learning Sciences and Technologies. My current work is geared towards harnessing technology to enhance the teaching-learning experience. My research focuses on four key areas:
Classroom Orchestration: I am developing tools to augment instructors' capabilities, providing them with nuanced insights into learner needs and strengths.
Learner Behavior: My work explores various aspects of learner behaviors. I am primarily interested in understanding the stability and interpretability of the behavioral detectors.
Moderated Crowdsourcing: I am interested in building tools designed to facilitate moderated crowdsourcing. By leveraging the expertise of experienced instructors, these tools aim to support both fellow educators and learners, enriching the teaching and learning experiences for all involved.
Fairness and Bias: A significant facet of my research involves investigating the underlying sources of biases and the factors contributing to fairness in the evaluation of student work.
My Journey
As a builder, I am interested in engineering systems that facilitate equitable access to learning opportunities by augmenting teacher capability in the classroom and beyond. My interests have led to interesting opportunities over the years.
OLE Nepal
In the past, I led the engineering team at OLE Nepal, a non-profit organization aiming to facilitate educational opportunities for children in rural Nepal. I led the development of E-Paath, a project offering curriculum-aligned learning materials designed to support teachers and enhance the student learning experience. This project was notably deployed using XO laptops, part of the One Laptop Per Child initiative.
ASSISTments
At ASSISTments, I built a crowdsourcing tool that used a moderated crowdsourcing model. This in-house tool facilitated crowdsourcing common wrong answers feedback (CWAFs) and teacher instructional recommendations (IRs). CWAFs aim to help learners understand the mechanisms behind their mistakes, while IRs offer instructor-facing recommendations for diagnosing the reasons students may struggle with content.
PLUS (Personalized Learning Squared)
Currently, as part of the PLUS team at Carnegie Mellon University, I am focused on the development of classroom orchestration tools. These tools aim to augment the capabilities of teachers and tutors. My goal is to explore avenues that can facilitate nuanced insights into learner needs and capabilities, thereby enhancing the overall teaching-learning experience.
Some high-level insights into some of my current research projects. A detailed description of these projects can be found in the Active Project section.
