Dr. Yunyi Zhang | Cognitive Sciences | Research Excellence Award

Dr. Yunyi (Icy) Zhang is a learning sciences researcher focused on embodied cognition, gesture, and visual representations in learning, with particular emphasis on statistics, data science, and computing education. Her work integrates cognitive developmental theory, experimental methods, and learning analytics to design evidence-based, scalable pedagogical approaches that enhance conceptual understanding across learners with varied prior knowledge. She has authored 13 scholarly documents with 61 citations across 52 citing documents and an h-index of 4, reflecting consistent impact across educational psychology and cognitive science. Her research advances theory-driven instructional design with strong relevance for technology-enhanced and equitable learning environments.