Xuehan Zhou awarded Graduate Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship

UCI Graduate Division awarded Xuehan Zhou a Graduate Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship (GDDF) in support of her doctoral research studying effective teaching and learning practices in higher education. The fellowship provides $5,000 for summer 2021 dissertation research.
 
Zhou’s research is utilizing large-scaled longitudinal data, causal inference methods, and a randomized trial to examine and evaluate the impacts of program, policy, and practices on students’ learning outcomes in three related areas:

1. the impact of professional development for online teaching on community college students’ learning outcomes,
2. the impact of the minority instructors on minority students’ labor market outcomes in higher education, and
3. the impact of online after-school study groups on undergraduates’ academic and social-emotional outcomes.

​“I expect that my study of online instruction may have important policy implications for higher education,” said Zhou. “Additionally, exploring the demographic match between instructors and students on students’ labor market outcomes at the higher education level should have important policy implications for faculty recruitment and retention.” 

Xuehan Zhou

​For her doctoral work, Zhou is specializing in Educational Policy and Social Context (ESPC). Associate Professor Di Xu, Assistant Professor Rachel Baker, and Distinguished Professor Greg Duncan serve as her advisors.