Joseph Ta Tho Wong awarded National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

Doctoral student Joseph Ta Tho Wong has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue his research in STEM Education and Learning. As a GRFP Fellow, he will receive a three-year annual stipend of $34,000 - which will go toward tuition, fees, and opportunities for international research and professional development.
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Wong is one of three School of Education doctoral students to be named a 2020 fellow in STEM Education and Learning Research, most in the nation. It is the fifth time in the past seven years that the UCI School of Education is home to the most GRFP fellows in STEM Education and Learning Research in the nation.

Wong is a first-year doctoral student specializing in Teaching, Learning, and Educational Improvement (TLEI). ​His GRFP research is titled “Virtual and Augmented Reality in NGSS STEM Education: Exploring Inquiry-based Learning Frameworks through Immersive Field Trips in Elementary Science Instruction.”
 
“I am interested in the cognitive mechanisms underlying how instructional media technologies such as immersive VR, AR, and digital interactivity can improve student motivation, increase content acquisition, and facilitate cognitive transfer,” Wong said. 

Wong’s study will experimentally test the effectiveness of low-cost cardboard VR/AR simulations guided by IBL frameworks, utilizing transformative technologies to bridge the literature on digital media, cognition, and STEM education.
 
“My intervention consists of a VR field trip where students are transported to scientific phenomena around California, placing students right in the middle of geologic features such as slot canyons, waterfalls, and lakes,” Wong said. “Students then interact with AR by solving puzzles, answering questions, and using gestures to experience scientific inquiry through an innovative and entertaining content delivery platform.” 
 
Wong’s career goal is bridging together his passion for digital media with science education to design effective immersive learning experiences representative of today’s student learning behaviors.
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He is advised by Associate Professor Lindsey Richland.
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The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions. The program is the country’s oldest fellowship program that directly supports graduate students in various STEM fields. Fellows are anticipated to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering. For more information, please click here.