Marshall An

Marshall An is a 2nd-year PhD student in Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to his PhD studies, Marshall worked as a Project Scientist in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a computer science and learning science practitioner with years of experience in technology-enhanced learning and educational data mining. His research focuses on leveraging educational technology to facilitate the acquisition, integration, and application of practical skills, enabling learners to create tangible solutions to real-world problems and prepare for careers in technology.

PhD Project: Through developing multiple Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) and deploying them in teaching, Marshall identified a learning phenomenon he coined “deceptive overgeneralization.” This flawed learning state enables learners to perform the correct action based on a partial understanding of the conditions that warrant it. As a result, these learners are often evaluated as satisfactory by ITS and instructors during scrutinized learning sessions, indistinguishable from those who have acquired accurate skills. However, learners may perform these actions in unsuitable contexts afterwards, sometimes with repercussions. In his PhD studies, Marshall plans to investigate the formation, detection, remediation, and retrospective discovery of deceptive overgeneralization.