Research Interests
My program of research examines various ways in which research in cognitive psychology can be applied to benefit education, focusing on learning and memory. Specifically, I'm interested in learning strategies and effective instructional designs.
My postdoctoral research at the University of Waterloo is threefold: 1) examine how characteristics of online lectures influence students' affect, mind wandering, metacognition, and learning; 2) examine strategies to maximize the benefits of the production effect (i.e., reading information aloud results in better learning and memory than does reading information silently) in educational settings; and 3) examine how to leverage current advances in artificial intelligence to benefit both research and education.
Representative Publications
- Ahn, D., & Chan, J. C. K. (2023). Does testing potentiate new learning because it enables learners to use better strategies? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 50(3), 435–457.
- Chan, J. C. K. & Ahn, D. (2023) Unproctored online exams provide meaningful assessment of student learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 120 (31) e2302020120.
- Ahn, D., & Chan, J. C. K. (2022). Does testing enhance new learning because it insulates against proactive interference? Memory & Cognition, 50, 1664–1682.