About

My research uses interdisciplinary methods to improve the design and implementation of educational technology, and then to understand when and why it is effective. Broadly, I am interested in research in intelligent tutoring systems, computer-supported collaboration, robotic learning environments, technology for the developing world, and human-computer interaction.

I am excited to announce that in January 2019, I will be joining the University of Pittsburgh with a joint appointment as an Associate Professor in the School of Computing and Information and as a Research Scientist in the Learning Research and Development Center.

From January 2013 - August 2018, I was an Assistant Professor in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, one of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. Prior to that, I was a Computing Innovations Postdoctoral Fellow at Arizona State University with Win Burleson. I completed my PhD in 2010 at Carnegie Mellon University in Human-Computer Interaction, under the supervision of Ken Koedinger and Nikol Rummel. My undergraduate degree is a B.Sc. (Honors) from the University of Manitoba in 2004 in both Computer Science and Psychology.

Publications

ROBIN: Using a Programmable Robot to Provide Feedback and Encouragement on Programming Tasks

Ishrat Ahmed, Nichola Lubold, Erin Walker

aied, International Conference of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 2018 May 26, pp. 9-13

Automated Pitch Convergence Improves Learning in a Social, Teachable Robot for Middle School Mathematics

Nichola Lubold, Erin Walker, Heather Pon-Barry, Amy Ogan

aied, Artificial Intelligence in Education, 2018 May 26, pp. 282-296

Supporting answerers with feedback in social Q&A

John Frens, Erin Walker, Gary Hsieh

[email protected], International Conference of Learning at Scale, 2018 May 25

EMBRACE: Applying Cognitive Tutor Principles to Reading Comprehension

Erin Walker, Audrey Wong, Sarah Fialko, M. Adelaida Restrepo, Arthur M. Glenberg

aied, International Conference of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 2017 May 27, pp. 578-581

What Matters in Concept Mapping? Maps Learners Create or How They Create Them

Shang Wang, Erin Walker, Ruth Wylie

aied, International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, 2017 May 27, pp. 406-417

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Projects

Social Dialogue and Entrainment in a Teachable Robot

How should a robot speak in order to socially engage learners? In this project, students explain equation solving problems to a robot. The robot listens to the students and responds by asking questions and stating comments about the problems, all while...

EMBRACE: Enhanced Moved by Reading to Accelerate Comprehension in English

How can we improve the English reading comprehension of native Spanish speakers in primary school? We combine theories of embodied education, bilingual instruction, and personalized learning to develop EMBRACE, an iPad application for English language ...

Designing the Postdigital Textbook

Given current advances in learning technologies, how can we improve digital textbook design? We are engaging in several parallel activities to develop a set of design principles for digital textbooks, including a review of learning theories as they app...

Facilitating Large-Scale Creativity

How can large groups of people realize their full creative potential during ideation sessions? This project uses the latest developments in crowdsourcing, information visualization, and data mining in order to facilitate synchronous, large-scale, onlin...

Robo-Tangible Activities for Geometry

How does teaching a robot influence student knowledge and motivation? Middle school students give Quinn, an autonomous Lego Mindstorms robot with an iPod Touch face, instructions on how to solve coordinate geometry problems. Quinn follows their instruc...