PhD in Psychology

Min Ji Kim, 2023

Describe your dissertation, thesis, or capstone (if you completed one):

I completed my dissertation on investigating how learning through Telepresence robots compares to Zoom learning and in-person learning. In the past few years, there has been a growing need for teaching methods alternative to in-person teaching due to global events. To fill this gap, instructors have been using video conferencing tools like Zoom, but also have been using telepresence robots such as the double robot. Telepresence robots have been used in the past in educational settings, but most studies focused on students using telepresence robots in class, and in the few studies that investigate the usage of instructors using telepresence robots, researchers have focused on the case study of teaching Elementary level students English. I aimed to close the gap in literature where I investigated the effect of instructors using telepresence robots in a lecture.

In study 1, 92 participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (Human, Telepresence Robot, or Videoconferencing) and were read two scripts and then asked to complete a quiz on these topics. Participants in the telepresence condition performed significantly better than participants in the videoconferencing condition in one of the quizzes. The results suggest that telepresence robots could be an effective alternative to videoconferencing.

A second study to follow up on the results was conducted. In this study, 62 participants were assigned to one of two conditions (Telepresence Robot, or Videoconferencing) and were read two scripts with more interaction, then asked to complete a quiz on the topics. There were no significant differences between the two groups, suggesting that more interaction did not favor either condition.

How did you choose your specific area of study?

It was a bit of luck! I didn't know what Human Factors was during undergrad, but I was lucky to join a Human Factors lab that made me fall in love with the field.

How did your academic experiences in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences impact you?

CHSS is a supportive college with resources to help students and with faculty/admins who care. I've never spoken to anyone in CHSS who was unwilling to help or work with students to resolve challenges.

Of which accomplishment(s) during your time at Mason are you most proud?

I'm proud of running the Usabilathon, a Hack-a-thon-styled Usability competition where students leverage their backgrounds in human performance, cognitive processes, and usability to develop innovative and valuable solutions to tackle the competition project. I was involved in planning three usabilathons where we worked with industry sponsors like HelloFresh, MITRE, and Metrostar.

What advice would you give to an incoming cohort of graduate students?