Research Members
Professor/Research Director
Dr. Ikseon “Ike” Choi is a professor in the Learning, Design, and Technology Program at the University of Georgia, where he teaches graduate courses in learning theories, real-world problem-solving, reasoning, learning environments design, and evaluation. Since receiving his Ph.D. at Pennsylvania State University in 2002, he has been leading a series of innovative research and development projects for case-based learning and real-world problem-solving in higher education. Through his multi-disciplinary collaboration with leading scholars in the areas of human medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, nano/bio-engineering, agricultural science, food and nutrition science, computer science, and teacher education, he explores the uncertain nature of various types of ill-defined, real-world problems, identifies individual and environmental factors influencing learning and real-world problem solving, and investigates effective ways of promoting and evaluating the development of learners’ real-world problem-solving abilities.
His research has been acknowledged by receiving over ten national awards, including the Outstanding Journal Article Award (2016), the Outstanding Practice Award (2005 and 2007), and the Jerrold Kemp Endowed Lecture Series Award (2013 and 2015) from the Association of Educational Communications and Technology (AECT). He has been an invited speaker at national and international conferences, including E-Learn, Global HR Forum, Information Technology in Education, E-Learning Korea, Asia-Pacific Joint Conference on Problem-Based Learning, Korean Society for Simulation in Healthcare, and at various universities around the globe. His current research interests include real-world problem-solving and reasoning, case-based learning and assessment, program evaluation, and instructional simulation and virtual reality.
Ph.D
Educational Background: Ph.D. & M.Ed. in Learning, Design, and Technology, University of Georgia | B.A. in History, University of Georgia
Current Position: Director of the Office of Instructional Innovation and Research | Academic Professional Associate, University of Georgia College of Pharmacy.
Research Interests: I study how people interact with situations to construct the meaning of the problems they solve and the associated implications for designing problem-solving learning environments. In particular, I am focused on analyzing and understanding the cognitive systems that learners use to frame problems, how such systems differentiate problem-solving outcomes and ways to design feedback and modeling resources that support the development of new cognitive patterns that result in better problem frames and problem-solving results
Dissertation Title Constructing Problems in Context: Examining How Pharmacy Students Frame Clinical Problems
Key Publications during Graduate Study: Rebitch, C., Fleming, V., Palmer, R., Rong, H., & Choi, I. (2019). Evaluation of Video-enhanced Case-based Activities Guided by the Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 83(4), 544-554.
Awards: Association for Educational Communications and Technology Early Career Scholar Award, for: Constructing Problems in Context: A Synthesized Model of Dialectical Problem-Framing, 2019.
Ph. D.
Educational Background: Ph.D. & M.Ed. in Learning, Design, & Technology, the University of Georgia | M.A. & B.A. in International Office Administration, Ewha Womans University, South Korea
Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate, Research and Innovation in Learning (RAIL), Mary Frances Early College of Education, the University of Georgia
Current Projects Involved: Project Coordinator, Georgia Clinical & Translational Science Alliance (Georgia CTSA) Translational Workforce Development Project (Funded by NIH) | Medical Education Projects | VR-based Learning Projects
Current Interests: Investigating real-world problem-solving in the workplace and effective ways of promoting and evaluating learners’ problem-solving abilities
Dissertation Title: Real-world problem solving: A qualitative Inquiry on how expert administrative professionals problem-solve in the workplace.
Key Publications during Graduate Study: Kwon, S., Jang, H., & Choi, I. (in review). Effects of public speaking practices with immersive virtual reality on performance and anxiety.
Ph. D
Educational Background: M.S. in Educational Technology from Central China Normal University, China | B.S. in Educational Technology from Hubei Normal University, China
Current Position: Graduate Assistant in Learning, Design, and Technology
Current Project Involved: VR-based Child Pedestrian Safety Education Project
Research Interests: I am generally interested in designing, researching, and evaluating group learning activities in technology-supported environments. My current focus is researching reflective practices in group learning contexts to (a) understand how individuals reflect together (especially in technology-supported learning environments) and (b) support the instructional design of learning environments for collaborative reflection.
Key Publications during Graduate Study: Yang, T. & Choi, I. (2022). Reflection as a social phenomenon: A conceptual framework toward group reflection research. Educational Technology Research and Development. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-022-10164-2 Luo, H., Yang, T., Kwon, S., Li, G., Zuo, M., & Choi, I. (2021). Performing versus observing: Investigating the effectiveness of group debriefing in a VR-based safety education program. Computers & Education, 175, 104316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104316. Luo, H., Yang T., Kwon S., Zuo, M., Li, W., & Choi, I. (2020). Using virtual reality to identify and modify risky pedestrian behaviors amongst Chinese children. Traffic Injury Prevention, 21(1), 108–113. https://doi.org/10.1080/15389588.2019.1694667
Ph. D.
Educational Background: Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy
Professional Experiences: Pharmacy Manager | Community Pharmacy Practice Experiences Preceptor
Current Position: Graduate Assistant in Learning, Design, and Technology
Current Projects : Career Navigation System for Translational Workforce Development funded by NIH
Research Interests: Collaboration in Healthcare | Multiple Perspectives & Perspective-taking | Epistemology | Empathy
Ph. D.
Educational Background: M.A. in American History, Northeast Normal University, China. | B.A. in History Education, Northeast Normal University, China.
Current Position: Graduate Assistant in Learning, Design, and Technology, the University of Georgia
Current Project Involved: Diversity MATTERS in Neuroscience Training (Funded by NIH); Experiencing AI in Classrooms (2022 Barrow County School Project)
Research Interest: Investigating what are teachers’ pedagogical practices and experiences in artificial intelligence (AI)-integrated learning environments. Understanding how AI might impact teachers’ role changes and transform the teacher and AI relationships, to imply practice in terms of teachers’ professional development of technological and pedagogical innovation, as well as to promote teachers’ pedagogy identity in the era of AI.
Ph. D. Student
Educational Background: M.A. in Economics, Old Dominion University (ODU) | B.A. in Recording Arts and Engineer, Communication University of China
Current Positions: Graduate Assistant in Learning, Design, and Technology, University of Georgia
Current Project Involved: Experiencing AI in Classrooms (2022 Barrow County School Project)
Research Interests: Analyzing analyzing the authentic elements as factors of the multidimensional engagement construct. My research is focused on evaluating which authentic learning elements contribute to learning engagement and to what extent.