Tiffany Wu

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Welcome! đź‘‹

I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute, where I work with Dr. Ken Koedinger and Dr. Danielle Thomas on PLUS tutoring.

Broadly, my research sits at the intersection of education, data science, and public policy. I focus on leveraging advances in statistics and AI to help us better understand pressing educational challenges and design more effective, equitable solutions that enhance student learning opportunities.

My doctoral work focused on using machine learning, causal inference, and psychometric methods to design and evaluate PK-12 tools and interventions, with particular emphasis on reducing chronic absenteeism and understanding the effects of Pre-K on children’s learning and development. My postdoctoral work extends this agenda to math education and hybrid human-AI tutoring. In particular, I leverage increasingly rich, multimodal data to examine the features and behaviors associated with effective tutoring, with the broader goal of informing hybrid tutoring models that combine the complementary strengths of human and AI tutors to reduce opportunity gaps in math education.

My research has been deeply influenced by my work as a public high school teacher in Chicago and then as a research analyst for an education technology non-profit prior to starting my doctoral training. Through research-practice partnerships, I aim to produce research that is rigorous, accessible, and grounded in the lived experiences of students, families, and practitioners across diverse educational contexts.

I received my PhD in Education & Psychology along with a dual master’s degree in Statistics from the University of Michigan, where I was very fortunate to be advised by Dr. Christina Weiland. During this time, I was an IES Causal Inference Predoctoral Fellow and an APPAM Equity and Diversity Fellow. I also hold a B.S. in Secondary Education & History from Northwestern University and an M.A. in Psychology from the University of Chicago.

Outside of work, I like to paint, play the piano, and play pickleball.

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