John Chen

John (Yuehan) Chen is an assistant professor in game design and development at the College of Information Science. He recently defended his PhD dissertation in Computer Science and Learning Sciences at Northwestern University under the supervision of Professor Uri Wilensky.

He is hiring one to two PhD students and summer research students in Fall 2026. Please reach out if your research interest is at the intersection of human-AI interaction, playful learning and generative AI.

As a human-computer interaction and learning researcher, Dr. Chen studies how to leverage AI-driven technologies, such as generative AI (GAI) or mixed reality, to promote equal access to playful informal learning at scale. Both before his time and while at Northwestern University, he led the research, design and development of Physics Lab AR and Turtle Universe, App Store-featured software, reaching seven million online, out-of-school learners worldwide. More recently, he developed Vox Deorum, a hybrid LLM architecture for Civilization V, opening new pathways for integrating generative AI models into strategic game design for learning and fun.

His real-world projects have produced large-scale human interaction datasets that challenge existing research methodologies. To augment researchers’ capabilities in understanding them, he develops and evaluates novel computational approaches with GAI for inductive qualitative coding, with a focus on bias detection (accepted by CSCL 2025 and AERA 2025).

Throughout his career, he constantly learns from and works with learners of diverse ages and backgrounds and has extensive experience in research (including leadership), teaching, mentoring and grant writing.

Courses

• INFO 523: Data Mining
• INFO 696E: Human-AI Design Research Experience (HARE)

Select Publications

John Chen, Xi Lu, David Du, Michael Rejtig, Ruth Bagley, Michael S. Horn, and Uri J. Wilensky. 2024. Learning Agent-based Modeling with LLM Companions: Experiences of Novices and Experts Using ChatGPT & NetLogo Chat. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’24).

John Chen, Lexie Zhao, Yinmiao Li, Zhennian Xie, Uri J. Wilensky, and Michael S. Horn. 2024. “Oh My God! It’s Recreating Our Room!” Understanding Children’s Experiences with A Room-Scale Augmented Reality Authoring Toolkit. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing (CHI ’24).

John Chen, Lexie Zhao, Mike Horn, and Uri Wilensky. 2025. Engaging Millions of Worldwide Youth in Informal STEM Learning: Uncovering Open-Ended Design Principles that Drive Physics Lab's Success. In Proceedings of the 24th Interaction Design and Children (IDC '25).