Chin research group to present at HFES annual meeting

Jessie Chin
Jessie Chin, Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor Jessie Chin and PhD student Smit Desai will present their research at the 64th International Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES), a virtual event held from October 5-9. The mission of HFES is "to advance the science and practice of designing for people in systems through knowledge exchange, collaboration, and advocacy."

Desai will present the paper, "An Explorative Analysis of the Feasibility of Implementing Metacognitive Strategies in Self-Regulated Learning with the Conversational Agents," which he coauthored with Chin. For their study, Desai and Chin analyzed commercially available conversational agents, synthesized the metacognitive strategies implemented in computer-based learning environments, and examined the feasibility to implement these strategies on conversational agents. According to the researchers, the implications of this study include "designing scalable and accessible evidence-based theory-driven educational applications to support users to learn new knowledge on their own using the off-the-shelf devices."

Desai's research interests include the usability and prototyping of voice interfaces, in particular the user's mental model while interacting with these interfaces. He earned his bachelor's degree in computer engineering from Gujarat Technological University in India and his MS in information management from the University of Illinois.

Chin will present the paper, "A User Study on the Feasibility and Acceptance of Delivering Physical Activity Programs to Older Adults through Conversational Agents," which she coauthored with Kelly Quinn, Naoko Muramatsu, and David Marquez of the University of Illinois at Chicago. She will discuss their study examining how older adults interact with a physical activity virtual coach on a Google Home device. The researchers found that all older adults were able to recover from the conversation failure during the interaction with the virtual coach; complete the physical activity program with guidance from the coach and demonstrated intentions to use such conversational agents in the future.

Chin's research aims to advance knowledge in cognitive sciences regarding evolving human interaction with the contemporary information technologies and translating theories in social and behavioral sciences to the design of technologies and interaction experience to promote health communication and behavior across the lifespan. She holds a BS in psychology from National Taiwan University, an MS in human factors, and a PhD in educational psychology with a focus on cognitive science in teaching and learning from the University of Illinois. 

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Aubin Le Quéré to join the faculty

The iSchool is pleased to announce that Marianne Aubin Le Quéré will join the faculty as an assistant professor in August 2026, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Aubin Le Quéré is a PhD candidate in the Department of Information Science at Cornell University. For the 2025-2026 academic year, she will be a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University's Center for Information Technology Policy.

Marianne Aubin Le Quere

New project improves accessibility of health information through AI

Assistant Professor Yue Guo has received a $30,000 Arnold O. Beckman Research Award from the U of I Campus Research Board for her project, "Optimizing Personalization in Plain Language Summaries: Comparing Predictive and Interactive Approaches for Tailored Health Information." 

Yue Guo

Han defends dissertation

Doctoral candidate Yingying Han successfully defended her dissertation, "Community Archives as Agency: Documenting Chinese American Experiences in the U.S.,” on May 28.

Yingying Han

Student award recipients announced

The School of Information Sciences recognized student award recipients at the iSchool Convocation on May 18. Awards are based on academic achievements as well as attributes that contribute to professional success. For more information about each award, including past recipients, visit the Student Awards page. Congratulations to this year's honorees!

Award recipients Mahir Thakkar, Delia Kerr-Dennhardt, Katie Skoufes, Audrey Bentch, and Adam Beaty.