Zheng Yan Assistant Professor Ed.D. Harvard University

Dr. Yan joined the faculty of the Educational Psychology and Methodology Division in the fall of 2001. Prior to that, he was Lecturer and Research Associate at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Dr. Yan teaches courses in Research Project in the Educational Psychology, Child Development, Seminar in Learning, and Introduction to Longitudinal Methodology. His research areas mainly concern both cognitive development and research methodology. His current research projects are intended to investigate whether young children are able to understand the Internet as a complex artifact, how students' conceptual understanding changes in the classroom using the case-based method, and what important psychological factors and mechanisms are involved in the process of E-learning.

Representative Publications:

Yan, Z., & Hu, L (in press). Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS): A widely spreading but largely unknown epidemic among computer users. Computers in Human Behavior.

Hobbs, L.J., & Yan, Z. (in press). Computer-based intervention for the fifth grade with aggressive behavior: A multiple-baseline single case study. Computers in Human Behavior.

Yan, Z., & Fischer, K. (2007). Pattern emergence and pattern transition in microdevelopmental variation: Evidence of complex dynamics of developmental processes. Journal of Developmental Processes.

Yan, Z. (2006). What influences children’s and adolescents’ understanding of the complexity of the Internet? Developmental Psychology, 42, 418-428.

Greenfield, P. & Yan, Z. (2006). Children, adolescents, and the Internet: A new field of enquiry in developmental psychology. Developmental Psychology, 42, 391-394.

Yan, Z. (2006). Different experiences, different effects: A longitudinal study of learning a computer program in a network environment. Computers in Human Behavior, 22, 364-380.

Liang, Z., & Yan, Z. (2006). Software piracy among college students: Contributing factors, underlying processes, and tackling strategies. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 33, 115-140.

Yan, Z. (2005). Age differences in children’s understanding of complexity of the Internet. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 26, 385-396.

Yan, Z., & Fischer, K. (2004). How children and adults learn to use computers: A developmental approach. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 105, 41-61.

Yan, Z., Hao, H., Hobbs, J., & Wen, N. (2003). The psychology of E-learning: A field of study. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 29, 285-296.

Yan, Z., & Fischer, K. (2002). Always under construction: Dynamic variations in adult cognitive development. Human Development, 45, 141–160.

E-mail: ZYan@uamail.albany.edu