Biography

Aditi Mallavarapu received her B.E in computer engineering from Savitribai Phule Pune University, in Pune, India, and her M.S. and Ph.D degrees in computer science from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to joining North Carolina State University faculty, she was a postdoctoral research associate at the National Science Foundation (NSF) AI Institute for Inclusive Intelligent Technologies for Education (INVITE), affiliated with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She was also a postdoctoral researcher at Digital Promise working with the NSF hub Center for Integrated Research in Learning and Computer Sciences (CIRCLS); a visiting scholar at University of Pittsburgh; and a research assistant at the New York Hall of Science. Between her academic training, she also obtained experience working as a software developer.

Her work specializes in innovating and implementing human-centered computational techniques in open-ended learning settings that support exploration-based learning (e.g.,in museum exhibits and serious games), as well as in investigating interdisciplinary research communities using network science (an effort applauded by the evaluation team at the NSF). One of her early works is regarded as the first to apply educational data mining techniques to reveal patterns of explorations in open-ended learning environments. She was awarded the emergent scholar in research title at CIRCLS for her interdisciplinary research contributions.

Research Areas

  • Advanced Learning Technologies
  • Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Agents
  • Computer and Video Games
  • Data Sciences and Analytics
  • Graphics, Human Computer Interaction, & User Experience

Education

PhD (2021), Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Chicago, IL, USA.

M.S. (2014), Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Chicago, IL, USA.

B.E. (2011), Computer Engineering, University of Pune, India.

Publications

Book Chapters

Beheshti, E., Lyons, L., Mallavarapu, A., Thompson, W., Wallingford, B., & Uzzo, S. (2021). Co-designing Learning Dashboards for Informal Educators in H. Ba, K. McMillan Culp, and M. Honey (Eds.), Design Make Play for Equity, Inclusion, and Agency, Routledge.

Journals
 Mallavarapu, A., Lyons, L., & Uzzo, S. (2022). Exploring the Utility of Social-Network Derived Collaborative Opportunity Temperature Readings for Informing Design and Research of Large-Group Immersive Learning Environments. Journal of Learning Analytics, 9(1), 53–76. https://doi.org/10.18608/jla.2022.7419
Mallavarapu, A., Uzzo, S., & Lyons, L. (2021). Formative Fugues: Reconceptualizing Formative Feedback for Complex Systems Learning Environments. International Journal of Complexity in Education, 2(2), 4–46. 
Lyons, L., & Mallavarapu, A. (2021). Collective Usability: Using Simulation Tools to Explore Embodied Design Challenges in Immersive, Shared Mixed-Reality Experiences. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 24(2).
Mallavarapu, A., Lyons, L., Slattery, B., Shelley, T., Minor, E., & Zellner, M. (2015) Developing Computational Methods to Measure and Track Learners’ Spatial Reasoning in an Open-Ended Simulation. Journal of Educational Data Mining 7(2), 49-82.

Reviewed Conference Papers, Full
Mallavarapu, A., Walker, E., Cassandra, K., Gardner, S., Roschelle, J. & Uzzo, S. (2023) Network based methodology for characterizing interdisciplinary expertise in emerging research in the proceedings of the International Conference of Complex Networks and their Applications, Menton, France. Springer.
Wen, N., Mallavarapu, A., Biehl, J., Walker, E., & Babichenko, D. (2022, December). Understanding Barriers of Missing Data in Personal Informatics Systems. In the International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare (pp. 603-618). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
 Mallavarapu, A., Lyons, L., Uzzo, S., Thompson, W., Levy-Cohen, R., & Slattery, B. (2019). Connect-to-Connected Worlds: Piloting a Mobile, Data-Driven Reflection Tool for an Open-Ended Simulation at a Museum. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14). ACM Press.

Reviewed Conference Papers, Short
Sehgal, S., Bhavya, B., Chivukula, K., Zhai, C., & Mallavarapu, A.  (2024). Exploring AI-powered Multimodal Analogies for Science Education. Seventeenth International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2024).
Risha, Z., Mallavarapu, A., Rosta, F., Jaime, B., Dondal, B., & Walker, E. (2022). Proposing a Role-Based Framework for Data Literacy. In Chinn, C., Tan, E., Chan, C.,& Kali, Y.(Eds.). Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of the Learning Sciences ICLS 2022. Hiroshima, Japan: International Society of the Learning Sciences.
Levy-Cohen, R., Mallavarapu, A., Lyons, L., & Uzzo, S. (2021). Studying Shared Regulation in Immersive Learning Environments. In C. Hmelo-Silver, B. de Wever, & J. Oshima (Eds.). Proceedings of 15th International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning – CSCL 2021 (pp. 100–115). International Society of the Learning Sciences.
Mallavarapu, A., & Lyons, L. (2020). Exploration Maps, Beyond Top Scores: Designing Formative Feedback for Open-Ended Problems. International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2020), 790–795.
Beheshti, E., Lyons, L., Mallavarapu, A., Wallingford, B., & Uzzo, S. (2020, April). Design Considerations for Data-Driven Dashboards: Supporting Facilitation Tasks for Open-Ended Learning. In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-9).

Reviewed Conference Abstracts
Booth, J., & Mallavarapu, A. (2023) The DATA Project: Partnering with Youth to Design a Tool for Data Literacy and Advocacy. In 28th Annual conference - Recentering & Democratizing Knowledge for the Society for Social Work and Research.
Levy-Cohen, R., Mallavarapu, A., Lyons, L., Uzzo, M, S. (April, 2021). Studying collective problem-solving regulation in an immersive open-ended museum exhibit American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting.
Beheshti, E., Lyons, L., Thompson, W., Mallavarapu, A. & Uzzo, S. M. (2020, Apr 17 - 21) Human-in-the-Loop: Supporting Facilitators' Scaffolding of Visitor Engagement and Learning in Science Museums [Roundtable Session]. AERA Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA.