KHANH-­‐PHUONG (KP) THAI kpthai@ucla.edu ______________________________________________________________________________ EDUCATION Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles (Expected June 2015) Cognitive Psychology, minor in Quantitative Methods Dissertation title: Making experts: Optimizing perceptual learning in real-­‐world learning domains (Advisor: Dr. Philip J. Kellman) M.A., University of California, Los Angeles (December 2010) Psychology Thesis Title: Basic information processing changes from perceptual learning in complex, real-­‐world domains (Advisors: Dr. Philip J. Kellman and Dr. Hongjing Lu) B.A., Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (Cum Laude, May 2007) Psychology Honors Thesis Title: Does how we feel determine what we see? Effects of affective states on the content of consciousness (Advisor: Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett) ACADEMIC AWARDS AND HONORS 2013 Best Poster Award, Symposium on the Science of Learning in Medical Education, Los Angeles 2012 -­‐ 2014 Institute of Educational Sciences (IES) Training Grant in Advanced Quantitative Methods in Education Research, UCLA ($60,000) 2012 Dr. Ursula Mandel Scholarship, UCLA ($15,000) Awarded for research of value to the medical field 2010 -­‐ 2011 Graduate Research Mentorship, UCLA ($18,000) 2010 & 2011 Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Fellowship, UCLA ($5000) 2009 -­‐ 2010 Distinguished University Fellowship, UCLA ($18,000) 2006 -­‐ 2008 Golden Key International Honour Society 2004 -­‐ 2007 Undergraduate Faculty Research Fellowships, Boston College 2003 -­‐ 2007 Dean’s List, First and Second Honors, Boston College 2003 -­‐ 2007 Stephen Phillips Memorial Scholarship 2003 McLaughlin Medal for Leadership and Determination to Excel PUBLICATIONS Thai, K. P., & Son, J. Y. (2013). The simple advantage in categorical generalization of Chinese characters. Proceedings of the 35rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (July, 2013). Thai, K. P., Mettler, E., & Kellman, P. J. (2011). Basic information processing effects of 1 perceptual learning in complex, real-­‐world domains. Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (July, 2011). Son, J. Y., Thai, K. P., Hoffman, J., Devers, C., & Kellman, P. J. (under review). Perceptual learning in early mathematics: Emphasizing problem structure improves solving, mapping, and fluency. Submitted to Journal of Research in Mathematics Education. Yan, V. X., Thai, K. P., & Bjork, R. A. (accepted, under revision). Habits and beliefs that guide self-­‐regulated learning: Do they vary with mindset? Submitted to Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS *indicates presenting author(s) Thai, K. P.*, Massey, C., Kellman, P. J. (May, 2014). Perceptual Learning in Mathematics Education: Inverse Relations and Area Units. Talk presented as part of a symposium on “Relational Understanding in Mathematics: Issues and Interventions” at the Association for Psychological Science meeting (San Francisco, CA). Thai, K. P.*, Son, J. Y., Kellman, P. J. (March, 2014). Perceptual learning in early mathematics: Emphasizing problem structure improves solving, mapping, and fluency. Talk presented at the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (Washington, D. C.). Thai, K. P.*, Krasne, S., & Kellman, P. J. (October, 2013). Teaching pattern recognition in medical education: The combined effects of perceptual learning and declarative instruction. Poster presented at the Science of Learning in Medical Education Symposium (Los Angeles, CA). Best Poster Awarded. Thai, K. P.*, Son, J. Y. (July, 2013). The simple advantage in categorical generalization of Chinese characters. Poster presented at the 35th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (Berlin, Germany). Yan, V.*, Thai, K. P.*, & Bjork, R. A. (April, 2012). Cultural differences in the self-­‐regulation of learning. Poster presented at the Western Psychological Association Convention (Burlingame, CA). Thai, K. P.* & Kellman, P. J. (May, 2011). Insights in Sight: Basic information processing effects of perceptual learning in complex, real-­‐world domains. Poster presented at the Vision Sciences Society meeting (Boston, MA). Thai, K. P.* (May, 2007). Does how we feel determine what we see? Effects of affective states on the content of consciousness. Poster presented at the Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference (Chestnut Hill, MA). 2 TEACHING EXPERIENCE Ratings are out of 9 and in response to the question, “What is your overall rating of the TA?” Fall 2013 Teaching Associate, Introduction to Cognitive Science (Psych 85), UCLA Professor: Dr. Phil Kellman Average Rating: 8.44 Led discussions; Developed and graded exams; Graded weekly reaction papers for 60 undergraduate students Spring 2012 Teaching Assistant, Sensation and Perception (Psych 120B), UCLA Professor: Dr. Jeroen van Boxtel Average Rating: 8.6 Developed section materials and led weekly discussions on basic sensory mechanisms and perceptual processes for over 100 undergraduate students Fall 2011 Teaching Assistant, Introductory Statistics (Psych 100A), UCLA Professor: Dr. Sean McAuliffe Average Rating: 7.9 Developed and taught weekly sections for over 200 undergraduate psychology students Winter 2012, Teaching Assistant, Research Methods in Psychology (Psych 100B), UCLA Spring 2011 Professor: Dr. Elizabeth Bjork Average Ratings: 8.6, 9.0 Taught research methods and led bi-­‐weekly discussions for 18-­‐20 undergraduate psychology students RESEARCH EXPERIENCE 2010 -­‐ Present Graduate Student Researcher, Dr. Philip J. Kellman, UCLA Designed and conducted experiments, analyzed data and presented results on various topics including: -­‐ The efficacy of perceptual learning modules as instructional aids for the learning of mathematics and medical sciences -­‐ The changes in basic information processing due to perceptual learning in real-­‐world learning domains Spring 2013 Fellow, Latin America School for Education, Cognitive and Neural Sciences One of 100 faculty, graduate and postdoctoral scholars from 20 different countries invited to attend a two-­‐week program in Brazil; dedicated to exploring the relationships between cognition, brain, learning and education; funded by the James S. McDonnell foundation. 2009 -­‐ 2010 Master’s Thesis, Drs. Philip J. Kellman & Hongjing Lu, UCLA 3 Used Matlab, Adobe Flash, and SPSS to complete an experiment on basic information processing effects of perceptual learning with Chinese characters. Presented research as a talk and poster at two conferences. 2007 -­‐ 2009 2004 -­‐ 2007 Lab Coordinator & Research Assistant, Dr. Philip J. Kellman, UCLA Assist in the design and implementation of perceptual learning modules for research on math learning; Maintain and update publications library, lab supplies and equipment; Responsible for being a liaison for graduate students, researchers and the university Undergraduate Research Fellow, Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, Boston College Participated in the research design, implementation, data analysis, and write-­‐up in several research projects on emotion, perception, language, and the conscious experience that incorporated cognitive, behavioral, experiential and psychophysiological techniques; Assisted Dr. Barrett in reviewing literature for a meta-­‐analytic project on the insular cortex OTHER WORK EXPERIENCE 2013 -­‐ Present Software Designer, Insight Learning Technology, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA) Design educational software for training of pattern recognition and fluency in multiple topics in mathematics and medical education. 2007 -­‐ 2009 Vietnamese Interpreter, Language Line Services Provided over-­‐the-­‐phone interpretation for Vietnamese and English speakers in various sectors including health care, insurance, financial and legal services, and 911 emergencies SUPERVISION OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH *indicates presenting author(s) Kebede, R.*, Vaccarino, D.*, Thai, K. P., Yue, C., Bjork, R., & Kellman, P. J. (2013). Combined effects of mixed representation type and modality on learning. Poster presentation, 22nd Annual Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference, University of California, Los Angeles. Le, J.*, Truong, J.*, Devera, K.*, Thai, K. P., & Kellman, P. J. (2013). Combining perceptual learning and declarative instruction for effective learning. Poster presentation, 22nd Annual Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference, University of California, Los Angeles. Qiu, X.*, An, E.*, Thai, K. P., Son, J. Y., & Kellman, P. J. (2013). Simplicity is key: The benefit of simple instances for categorical generalization. Talk presentation, Stanford Undergraduate Psychology Conference, San Francisco. 4 MENTORSHIP EXPERIENCE 2009 -­‐ Present I have mentored 20 undergraduate research assistants, three of whom are pursuing doctorate degrees in psychology (★), two of whom completed undergraduate honors theses (!), and seven of whom conducted independent research projects (✚). Carolyn Bufford ★, ✚ Trinh Tran ★, ✚ Howard Yang ★ John Le !
Xiaoya Qiu !
Jenny Chun ✚
Ruth Kebede ✚
Kathryn Devera ✚
Eileen An ✚ Olga Mercer ✚
Emily Podany Derek Mak Arthur To Payam Javaherizadeh Joseph Truong Emily Ball Elham Zargarkalimi Isabel Navarro Sook-­‐Mun Wong Lawrence Quach ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIPS Association for Psychological Science American Educational Research Association Cognitive Science Society Society for Research in Child Development Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness Vision Sciences Society Western Psychological Association STATISTICAL TRAINING Analysis of Variance/General Linear Modeling Multiple Linear Regression Structural Equation Modeling Factor Analysis Measurement and Item Response Theory Generalizability Theory 5 SPECIALIZED COMPUTER SKILLS Statistical software: SPSS; R; SAS; HLM; LISREL; EQS; CEFA Experimental environments: E-­‐Prime, Matlab, SuperLab Design: Adobe Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Fireworks LANGUAGE SKILLS English (fluent); Vietnamese (fluent) 6