Icy(Yunyi) Zhang investigates the cognitive and developmental processes that underlie learning in complex domains such as STEM domains, with a focus on translating theories into real-world instructional practices. Before joining UW–Madison, Icy completed her PhD and BA in Psychology, along with a BA in Economics, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). While being a graduate student, she was also part of CourseKata, where she used student data and mixed-method research to guide the continuous improvement of an innovative online textbook for teaching statistics and data science.
Education
- PhD Developmental Psychology (Minor in Quantitative Psychology), University of California, 2024
- MS Developmental Psychology, University of California, 2021
- BA Psychology & Economics, University of California, 2019
Select Publications
- Zhang, I. Y., Izad, T., & Cartmill, E. A. (2024). Embodying Similarity and Difference: The Effect of Listing and Contrasting Gestures During US Political Speech. Cognitive Science, 48(3), e13428.
- Zhang, I. Y., Gray, M. E., Cheng, A. X., Son, J. Y., & Stigler, J. W. (2024). Representational-mapping strategies improve learning from an online statistics textbook. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 30(2), 293.
- Zhang, I. Y., Xu, A., Son, J. Y., & Stigler, J. W. (2024). Watching hands move enhances learning from concrete and dynamic visualizations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
- Zhang, I. Y., Guo, X. H., Son, J. Y., Blank, I. A., & Stigler, J. W. (2024). Watching videos of a drawing hand improves students’ understanding of the normal probability distribution. Memory & Cognition, 1-20.
- Xiong, C., Lee-Robbins, E., Zhang, I. Y., Gaba, A., & Franconeri, S. (2022). Reasoning affordances with tables and bar charts. IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics
- Zhang, I. Y., Tucker, M. C., & Stigler, J. W. (2022). Watching a hands-on activity improves students’ understanding of randomness. Computers & Education, 186, 104545.
- Zhang, I. Y., Givvin, K. B., Sipple, J. M., Son, J. Y., & Stigler, J. W. (2021). Instructed hand movements affect students’ learning of an abstract concept from video. Cognitive science, 45(2), e12940.
Select Presentations
- Zhang, I., Xu, A., Son, J., & Stigler, J. W. (2024, June). Exploring the Role of Prior Knowledge during Embodied Learning. Paper presented at the International Society for the Learning Sciences.
- Zhang, I., Izad, T., Huber, J., Saini, S., Gates, M., & Cartmill, E. (2023, July). Gesture during political speech reflects and affects judgements of topic similarity. Poster presented at the Cogsci 2023.
- Zhang, I., Xu, A., & Stigler, J. W. (2023, April). Effects of Embodied Learning on Students’ Understanding of Randomness in Data Science. Paper presented at the 2023 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting.
Select Awards and Honors
- Nellie McKay Fellowship, (2027-2028)
- Millard Madsen Distinguished Dissertation Award, 2024
- UCLA Life Science Excellence in Educational Innovation, 2024
- UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship, (2023-2024)
- UCLA Charles F. Scott Fellowship, (2023-2024; 2022-2023)
- Liu Yunghuo Bei Qui Memorial Fellowship, 2023
- UCLA Charles E. & Sue K. Young Graduate Student Fellowship, 2023