Biography

Taehyun Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Instructional Technology & Learning Sciences (ITLS) Department at Utah State University. Prior to joining USU, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the AICE Lab at the University of Florida. He earned his PhD from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, specializing in the Digital Environments for Learning, Teaching, and Agency program. His research focuses on theories and designs for learning within emerging media platforms and explores how AI can be utilized in various educational environments, particularly within STEM domains. His work investigates how physical, body-based interactions with immersive learning media can facilitate a deeper understanding of educational content, and how these media can be effectively designed to incorporate such interactions. He is also interested in how AI can be applied to support students' learning, with a particular focus on addressing bias and ensuring accessibility for low-income students in immersive learning environments.

On going projects:
1) Gesture Engineering for STEM
2) ALTER-Math (LEVI funded project)
3) City Settlers
4) ChromosoME (TIER-ED Fellowship Awarded)

Previous Projects:
1) CEASAR (Connections of Earth and Sky with Augmented Reality, NSF funded project),
2) Enabling Automatic Speaker Identification Using Direction of Arrival (iSAT funded),
3) RETTL (Research on Emerging Technologies for Teaching and Learning, NSF funded project)

Coding/Programming Skills:
​He is an intermediate-level Unity developer. He has been developed 2D, 3D, AR and VR games. He can use R and Python to conduct statistical analysis, data crawling, data analysis and data visualization. 
Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

  1. Xing, W., Kim, T., Song, Y., Li, H., Li, C., & Kim, J. (2026). Unveiling interaction patterns between students and generative AI teachable agent: Focusing on students' agency and AI agents' authority. British Journal of Educational Technology, 1-28.
  2. Kim, T., & Tissenbaum, M. (2025). Understanding when anger becomes productive or destructive in collaborative educational games. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 1-32.
  3. Liu, Z., Xing, W., Jiang, Y., Li, C., Kim, T., & Li, H. (2025). Leveraging contrastive learning to improve group and individual fairness in predictive analytics for online learning. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 1-30.
  4. Xing, W., Fang, Z., Zhang, H., Kamiyama, T., Liu, Z., & Kim, T. (2025). Making the ‘mathematics register’ accessible to students: an exploratory study of two teachers’ discourse in an online lesson on polynomial expressions. Language and Education, 1–24.
  5. Xing, W., Li, H., Kim, T., Zhu, W., & Song, Y. (2024). Investigating the Behaviors of Core and Periphery Students in an Asynchronous Online Discussion Community Using Network Analysis and Topic Modeling. Education and Information Technologies, 1-28.
  6. Kim, T., Planey, J., & Lindgren, R. (2023). Theory Driven Design in Metaverse Virtual Reality Learning Environments: Two Illustrative Cases. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, ​16(6), 1141-1153.
  7. Planey, J., Kim, T., Mercier, E., & Lindgren, R. (2023). Can you see Orion?: knowledge construction and collaborative discourse while problem solving with virtual reality. Interactive Learning Environments, 1-14.

Refereed Conference Proceeding

  1. Li, H., Xing, W., Li, C., Kim, T., Song, Y., & Kim, J. (2026). Bidirectional co-regulation mechanisms between teachable agents and students: Authority-agency evolutionary characteristics and their link to learning gains through time series dynamics. Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED).
  2. Kim, T., Liu, Z., Xing, W., & Roy, T. (2026).  Does More Exploration Mean Better Learning? Rethinking VR Log Data Through Instructional Sequences. In 20th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2026.
  3. Kim, T., Oh, H., Shaky, M., McNair, J., Guo R., Xing, W., & Ray, S. (2026). Sequencing Immersive Simulations for Cybersecurity: Task Complexity and Efficiency. In 20th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2026.
  4. Moon, J., Kim, T., Amayou, J., & Roy, T. (2026). DataSandbox: Designing Hands-On, Manipulative Simulations for Statistical Sensemaking. In 12th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN).
  5. Kim, T., Liu, Z., Xing, W., & Oh, H. (2025). Emotional Dynamics in Asynchronous Math Discussions: Analyzing the Impact of Negative Emotions on Learning Outcomes. In 19th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2025, 781-789.
  6. Kim, T., Planey, J., & Xing, W. (2025). Log Data as a Window into Learning: Embodied Interactions in a Virtual Reality Simulation, In 11th Annual International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN). [Best Extended Abstract Nominee]
  7. Kim, T., Nisar, H., Lindgren, R., Zhang, J., Tang, X., Lira, M., & Talhan, A. (2024). Beyond the Screen: Gestural Perspective-Taking with a Biochemistry Simulation. In Extended Abstracts of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-6).
  8. ​Kim, T. (2024). Paper or Virtual Reality First? The Impact of Material Sequence on Science Learning Outcomes. In 18th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2024, 1666-1669.
  9. ​Kim, T., Planey, J., & Lindgren, R. (2023). Comparing Virtual and Augmented Reality: Learning and Interaction Effects in Astronomy Classrooms. In 17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2023, 1126-1129.
  10. Kim, T., Planey, J., & Lindgren, R. (2022). The Role of Augmented Reality in Multi-Device Small Group Learning Ecosystems. In 16th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2022, 783-790.
Conference Presentations
  1. ​​Kim, T., Liu, Z., Xing, W., & Roy, T. (2026). One Log, Two Stories: How Learning Order Shapes the Interpretation of VR Log Events. American Educational Research Association, Los Angeles, CA.
  2. Kim, T., Xing, W., Liu, Z., & Li, H. (2025). Investigating the Impact of Negative Emotions in High School Students’ Asynchronous Online Math Discussions. American Educational Research Association, Denver, CO.
  3. Kim, T., & Lindgren, R. (2024). Understanding Student Learning in Immersive VR: Potential of Gesture Speed and Gaze Data, American Educational Research Association, Philadelphia , PA.
  4. Kim, T. (2024). Paper or Virtual Reality First? The Impact of Material Sequence on Science Learning Outcomes. The 15th Annual College of Education Graduate Student Conference, Champaign, IL. [Best Roundtable Paper Awarded]
  5. Guo, R., Zhang, F., Xing, W., Zhu, W., Kim, T., & Liu, Z. (2024). From Tweets to Trends: Tracing the Public's Perception of AI in Education Post-ChatGPT, IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Washington, DC.
  6. Kim, T., Planey, J., & Lindgren, R. (2023). Virtual and Augmented Reality Platforms in Astronomy Classrooms: Comparing Usage and Learning in Small Groups, American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
  7. Kim, T., & Tissenbaum, M. B. (2023). From Productive Anger to Tilting: Unpacking the effects of Anger in Collaborative Learning Games, American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
  8. Planey, J., Kim, T., Mercier, E., & Lindgren, R. (2022). Knowledge Construction and Collaborative Discourse While Problem Solving with a Virtual Reality Astronomy Platform, American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.
  9. Planey, J., Lindgren, R., Kimball, N., Kim, T., Mercier, E., & Kang, J. (2022). Facilitating Small-Group Problem Solving in Astronomy Contexts through Augmented Reality, American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.​
Honors, Awards, and Grants
2026.04

​​2023.08 – 2024.05 

​2022.09 – 2023.08


​2020.08 – 2021.05


​2018.09




​2015.11
NSF STEM K-12 Program Panel Review

​​Ray H. Simpson Scholarship 

iSAT Trainee Grant ($2,500)                                               
• Project title: Enabling Automatic Speaker Identification Using Direction of Arrival

​TIER-ED Fellowship ($20,000)                                            
• Project title: Design and Implementation of an Embodied Virtual Reality Simulation to Learn Cell Division

Augmented & Virtual Reality Developer's Grand Challenge, South Korea                              
Final entries
• Immersive virtual reality content "Learning Solar Plants: Oculus Rift CV1 ver." gained entry into the final round, where a total of 14 teams were selected from all over the country

Start-Up Championship Using Public Data Set, South Korea                               
Prime Minister Award (Approx. $7,000)
• Project title: Educational app for public ecological parks using public data set
Education
2024.05
Ph.D. | DELTA Program, College of Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), USA
Advisor: Dr. Robb Lindgren | Dr. Mike Tissenbaum 
GPA: 3.96/4.0

​2019.02
M.Ed. | Education, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), S. Korea
Advisor: Dr. Jang wan Ko | Dr. Moon-Heum Cho
Thesis: Effectiveness of Immersive Virtual Reality Developed with Multimedia Learning Theory on Middle School Students' Learning Outcomes and Motivation
GPA: 4.31/4.5

2017.02
B.A. | Educational Technology, Andong National University (ANU), S. Korea
Advisor: Dr. Sangho Song
Thesis: Analysis of the Recent Trends in the Middle School Free-semester Interdisciplinary Courses
​​GPA: 4.08/4.5