Degrees and Certifications

Biography

Dr. Ke Zhang is Professor in the Learning Design and Technology Program at Wayne State University in USA. Her research focuses on e-learning, innovative learning technologies and emerging research methods, which has yielded over 100 publications in various forms. Her work is translated into and cited in many languages, and adapted to guide research and practices in lots of countries and regions. Her collaborative research is supported by federal government and agencies, like the US Department of Health and Human Services and National Institute of Health, with multi-million dollar grants to design, develop and research on emerging technologies for STEM education, professional training, or health information management. Dr. Zhang has also consulted for international organizations, national governments and agencies, corporations, health care, and educational institutions. She has delivered keynotes and invited talks in Asia, Eurasia, Middle East, North America and South America, as well as for international organizations like UNESCO.  Inquires are welcome by email to: ke.zhang@wayne.edu.

Area of Expertise

 

Featured publications

Learning analytics based feedback and recommendations in flipped classrooms: an experimental study in higher education

Ustun, A. B., Zhang, K., Karaoğlan-Yilmaz, F. G., & Yilmaz, R. (2022) Learning analytics based feedback and recommendations in flipped classrooms: an experimental study in higher education, Journal of Research on Technology in Education, DOI: 10.1080/15391523.2022.2040401.

Keywords

Learning analytics
Automated feedback
Personalized intervention
 

This mixed-method pretest/post-test experimental study examined the effect of learning analytics (LA)-based interventions on students’ academic achievement and self-regulatory skills, and explored students’ perceptions of such interventions in flipped classrooms (FC). Sixty-two college students from an introductory computer course were randomly assigned to the experimental or control group, with 31 participants in each condition. In the following 10 weeks, LA-based personalized interventions, including both visual feedback and written recommendations were provided to those in the experimental group on a weekly basis. Quantitative analyses found significant improvements in students’ academic achievement as well as their self-regulated learning skills in the treatment group. Consistently, students’ comments and feedback confirmed that LA-based interventions were effective in promoting self-regulated learning in FC. The researchers discuss both practical and research implications in FC and in online learning, provide recommendations for the design and advancement of LA-based interventions, and suggest future directions for LA research in higher education.

Faculty’s use of social media in flipped classrooms: A mixed-method investigation

Alharthi, M. & Zhang, K. (2021). Faculty’s use of social media in flipped classrooms: A mixed-method investigation. International Journal of Technology in Education and Science (IJTES), 5(3), 394-410.

Keywords

Social media
Flipped classroom
R2D2 model

This paper reports a sequential mixed-method study on Saudi Arabian (SA) faculty’s use of social media (SM) in flipped classrooms (FC). The study also examined SA faculty’s related attitudes and identified factors that had limited faculty use of SM in Saudi higher education. In particular, the study explored how SA faculty used SM to address students’ needs and preferences as per the Read, Reflect, Display and Do (R2D2) framework. 391 eligible SA faculty members (199 male and 192 female) participated in the online survey, among which 8 (4 male and 4 female) were also selected for individual, semi-structured interviews afterwards. A wide range of factors were identified to understand what may have prevented or limited faculty’s SM uses in teaching. Research and practical implications were discussed, as well as suggestions to promote the use of SM for teaching in SA and countries with similar cultures.

AI technologies for education: Recent research & future directions

Zhang, K., & Aslan, A. B. (2021). AI technologies for education: Recent research & future directions. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 100025.

Keywords

Al
Artificial intelligence
Al technologies

This article reports a comprehensive review of selected empirical studies on artificial intelligence in education (AIED) published in 1993–2020, in the Web of Sciences database and selected AIEd-specialized journals. A total of 40 empirical studies met all selection criteria, and were fully reviewed using multiple methods, including selected bibliometrics, content analysis and categorical meta-trends analysis. This article reports the current state of AIEd research, highlights selected AIEd technologies and applications, reviews their proven and potential benefits for education, bridges the gaps between AI technological innovations and their educational applications, and generates practical examples and inspirations for both technological experts that create AIEd technologies and educators who spearhead AI innovations in education. It also provides rich discussions on practical implications and future research directions from multiple perspectives. The advancement of AIEd calls for critical initiatives to address AI ethics and privacy concerns, and requires interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations in large-scaled, longitudinal research and development efforts. 
 

Game Development-Based Learning: A New Paradigm for Teaching Computer and Object-Oriented Programming

Al-Makhzoomy, A. K., Zhang, K., & Spannaus, T. (2020). Game Development-Based Learning: A New Paradigm for Teaching Computer and Object-Oriented Programming. In R. Zheng (Ed.), Examining Multiple Intelligences and Digital Technologies for Enhanced Learning Opportunities (pp. 244-259). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-0249-5.ch012.

This chapter presents the findings from a quasi-experimental study analyzing the effect of Game Development-Based Learning on students’ academic performance in programming courses in Jordan. The study tested an argument proposing a positive significant association between GDBL instruction and students’ performance. The analysis of variance results investigating the effect of enrollment and completion of a concurrent GDBL course to normal courses found that the treatment group outperformed two other groups: the control and the comparison group. The positive gains in the post-assessment scores, were consistent across the two programming courses: C++ and Object-Oriented Programming. This finding confirms the earlier results across countries and contexts documenting the salubrious effect of GDBL on students’ academic performance in Computer Science and Information Technology courses. Findings also support the overarching constructionist approach where the use of scaffolding and technology in instruction and assessment yield better academic outcomes for learners. Game DevelopmentBased Learning: A New Paradigm for Teaching Computer and Object-Oriented Programming

Preparing industry-ready engineers with virtual reality: recent research and future directions, the International Journal of Smart Technology and Learning

Zhang, K., & Aslan, A. B. (in press). Preparing industry-ready engineers with virtual reality: recent research and future directions, the International Journal of Smart Technology and Learning.

Focusing on virtual reality (VR) in undergraduate engineering education, this article examines research published in 2014-2020, critically reviews the state of VR research, and highlights its applications and educational benefits. More importantly, this article presents a new, comprehensive framework, namely VR for industry-ready engineers, and discusses future directions for research on and practice of VR in engineering education. The multi-phased conceptual work started with a series of search and selections of related research from the Web of Science and IEEE databases. 19 publications met all of the selection criteria and were fully analyzed. Multiple analyses were conducted, including bibliometrics, categorical meta-trends analysis and inductive content analysis, to discover the general trends and various characteristics of recent research. The new framework highlights four essential types of learning opportunities to prepare industry-ready engineers, it also summarizes the proven and promising VR applications to realize such opportunities. This article further proposes future directions for VR in engineering education, calls for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, suggests emerging research methods, and encourages longitudinal and large-scaled studies. Additionally, the article calls for critical awareness of present and potential issues and concerns in VR adoption in education. 

Smartphone apps for cancer: A content analysis of the digital health marketplace

Charbonneau, D., Hightower, S., Katz, A., Zhang, K., Abrams, J., Senft, N., Beebe-Dimmer, J. L., Heath, E., Eaton, T. & Thompson, H., (2020). Smartphone apps for cancer: A content analysis of the digital health marketplace, Digital Health, 6, 1-7. DOI: 10.1177/2055207620905413 

Attitudes towards Technology as Determinants of eHealth Activity among African American and White Cancer Survivors: A New Application of Theory, Health Communication

Eaton, T, Heath, E., & Thompson, H. S. (2019). Attitudes towards Technology as Determinants of eHealth Activity among African American and White Cancer Survivors: A New Application of Theory, Health Communication, DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2018.1563031.

MOOCs and Open Education in the Global South: Challenges, Successes and Opportunities

Zhang, K., Bonk, C., Reeves, T., Reynolds, T., (2020) (Eds.). MOOCs and Open Education in the Global South: Challenges, Successes and Opportunities. New York: Routledge.

With e-learning technologies evolving and expanding at high rates, organizations and institutions around the world are integrating massive open online courses (MOOCs) and other open educational resources (OERs). MOOCs and Open Education in the Global South explores the initiatives that are leveraging these flexible systems to educate, train, and empower populations previously denied access to such opportunities.

Featuring contributors leading efforts in rapidly changing nations and regions, this wide-ranging collection grapples with accreditation, credentialing, quality standards, innovative assessment, learner motivation and attrition, and numerous other issues. The provocative narratives curated in this volume demonstrate how MOOCs and OER can be effectively designed and implemented in vastly different ways in particular settings, as detailed by experts from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific/Oceania, and the Caribbean.　

This comprehensive text is an essential resource for policy makers, instructional designers, practitioners, administrators, and other MOOC and OER community stakeholders.

MOOCs and open education-Wandering and winding our way to today

Bonk, C., Zhang, K., Reeves, T., & Reynolds, T. (2020). Preface: MOOCs and open education—Wandering and winding our way to today in K. Zhang, C.J. Bonk, T. Reeves and T. Reynolds (Eds.) (2020), MOOCs and Open Education in the Global South: Challenges, Successes, and Opportunities (pp. xvi-xxxiii). NY: Routledge

MOOCs and Open Education in the Global South: Successes and Challenges

Zhang, K., Bonk, C., Reeves, T., & Reynolds, T. (2020). MOOCs and Open Education in the Global South: Successes and Challenges, in K. Zhang, C.J. Bonk, T. Reeves and T. Reynolds (Eds.) (2020), MOOCs and Open Education in the Global South: Challenges, Successes, and Opportunities, 1-14. NY: Routledge.

MOOCs and Open Education: Future opportunities

Reynolds, T., Reeves, T., Bonk, C., & Zhang, K., (2020). MOOCs and Open Education: Future opportunities, in K. Zhang, C.J. Bonk, T. Reeves and T. Reynolds (Eds.) (2020), MOOCs and Open Education in the Global South: Challenges, Successes, and Opportunities, 342-350. NY: Routledge.

Mobile Learning Technology Acceptance in Saudi Arabian Higher Education: An Extended Framework and A Mixed-Method Study, Education and Information Technologies

Alasmari, T., & Zhang, K. (2019), Mobile Learning Technology Acceptance in Saudi Arabian Higher Education: An Extended Framework and A Mixed-Method Study, Education and Information Technologies, (Official journal of International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP)’s Technical Committee on Education.

This article reports a two-phase study with (1) an extended framework on mobile learning technology acceptance, and (2) a mixed-method research investigating college students on the use and embracement of mobile learning technology acceptance in Saudi Arabia. The research extended the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework with constructs particularly concerning mobile learning technology. The sequential mixed-method study investigated college students’ mobile learning technology acceptance in Saudi Arabia, and also validated the extended framework with empirical data. A total of 1203 eligible college students, 591 male and 612 females, participated in the online survey, and 15 of them also participated in individual interviews afterward. A wide range of social media and social networking sites were used to recruit participants and collect data. The study found that variables like Learning Expectancy (LE), Effort Expectancy (EE), Social Influence (SI), and characteristics of mobile learning were significant predictors of students’ intentions to use mobile learning technologies, regardless of the moderating effects of gender, age, and eLearning experience. Social influence was the only construct that was found as moderated by gender, where men showed a stronger behavioral intention to use mobile learning technology than women. Facilitating Conditions (FC) and Self-Management of Mobile Learning (SMML) in this study were not significant in predicting students’ behavioral intention or their use behavior of mobile learning technology acceptance.

Publications

 

Google Scholar Profile for more publications

Books:

Zhang, K., Bonk, C. J., Reeves, T. C., & Reynolds, T. H. (Eds.). (2019). MOOCs and open education in the Global South: Challenges, successes, and opportunities. Routledge. 

Courses taught by Ke Zhang

Fall Term 2024 (future)

• LDT7210 - Emerging Technologies for Digital Learning

Winter Term 2024 (current)

• LDT7130 - Facilitating Digital Learning

Fall Term 2023

• LDT7130 - Facilitating Digital Learning
• LDT7210 - Emerging Technologies for Digital Learning

Winter Term 2023

• LDT7130 - Facilitating Digital Learning
• LDT7210 - Emerging Technologies for Digital Learning

Fall Term 2022

• LDT7130 - Facilitating Digital Learning
• LDT7210 - Emerging Technologies for Digital Learning

Winter Term 2022

• LDT7130 - Facilitating Digital Learning
• LDT7210 - Emerging Technologies for Digital Learning

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