Understanding Students’ Experiences in AI-Supported Online Case-Based Learning
This project is about understanding what happens when AI becomes part of an online case-based learning environment. I am interested in how students experience the teaching, social, and cognitive dimensions of the course, how these experiences relate to their autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and whether students’ use of AI changes these relationships. Using a mixed-methods design, the study brings together survey data, learning performance, AI interaction data, and student interviews to examine both patterns across learners and how students themselves make sense of AI-supported learning.
My Contributions
I lead this project under the supervision of Dr. Moon-Heum Cho and have been involved in the study from its early development. My work has included developing the research design, preparing grant and IRB materials, designing and piloting the research instruments, coordinating data collection, conducting interviews, analyzing the data, and developing the manuscript. Working across these stages has given me a much clearer understanding of how decisions made early in a study shape what becomes possible later. It has also given me experience managing the practical side of a research project, including coordinating participants, research activities, and collaborators across institutions.
Pilot and Instrument Refinement
Before beginning the main study, I piloted the survey and interview instruments with graduate students and used their feedback to revise the wording, structure, and administration of the instruments. This process made me more aware of the difference between an instrument that makes sense to the researcher and one that works clearly for participants. It also gave me an opportunity to apply what I had learned about instrument development in my coursework to an ongoing research project. More details about this process are documented in my selected course artifacts for EDU 603 and IDE 742.
Research Support
2026–2027
Syracuse University Research Excellence (SURE) Dissertation Grant Program
Student Principal Investigator · $2,737.39
2025–2026
School of Education Research and Creative Grant award at Syracuse University
Student Principal Investigator · $850
Dissemination
As this project has developed, different parts of the study have also begun to take shape as separate lines of scholarly work. The quantitative and qualitative components have each led to a proposal accepted for presentation at the 2026 AECT International Convention. I am continuing to develop these studies as I work toward journal manuscripts.
Conference presentation · Accepted
Chen, Y. [presenting author], Xu, M., Luo, H., & Cho, M.-H. (2026). Bridging AI Tools and Meaningful Distance Learning: Psychological Mechanisms in Online Case-Based Learning. Roundtable presentation accepted at the AECT 2026 International Convention.
Conference presentation · Accepted
Chen, Y. [presenting author], Wang, P., Cho, M.-H., & Luo, H. (2026). How Students Make Sense of AI in Online Case-Based Learning: A Qualitative Inquiry. Roundtable presentation accepted at the AECT 2026 International Convention.
Supporting Documentation
The materials below show how this project has developed through several stages, from research preparation and IRB approval to research funding and conference presentation. I selected these materials to provide a record of the project’s progress and some of the work that has supported its development along the way.
IRB Review & Research Preparation
Research Funding
Conference Acceptance
