Learning + Interest + Technology (LIT) Laboratory

Excited to see the LIT Lab representing at ICLS 2026! 🤖📚 Dr. Rabia Ibtasar, PhD and Gaeun Lee, B.S., joined by Lab Director Dr. Joseph Michaelis, shared their research on how homework value interventions shape students’ perceptions of CS within a social robotics curriculum. Check out their poster and access our open-source social robotics curriculum, along with the published MyTurn papers, here: https://lnkd.in/g-rdHaSM #ICLS2026 #SocialRobotics #CSeducation #LearningSciences #LITLab

Congrats to LIT Lab PhD candidate Veronica Grosso who presented at the first ever Robotics Seminar Series at UIC Engineering. Her presentation showcased work to build human-robot interactions that resist using stereotypes to establish competence and warmth. In this work she found that robot backstories and gaze patterns contribute less during collaboration than verbal demonstration of subject knowledge. People want robots to advocate for their ideas and provide push back as ways of showcasing their knowledge. Did we need to buy tiny toys and treats for bunnies to test these collaborative activities? Yes, dear reader, we did! Find our HRI paper on the topic: https://lnkd.in/g8VPiBpR

🎓 Our lab just hit a major milestone: Rabia Ibtasar has officially defended her PhD dissertation, making her the first graduate student to earn her doctorate under the supervision of our lab director, Joseph Michaelis! Her research, "Broadening participation of girls in computing: an integrated approach to supporting interest in CS," is exactly the kind of work the field needs more of. A huge thank you to her dissertation committee (Joseph Michaelis, Minjung Ryu, Donald Wink, Shanon Reckinger and Allison Master) for their guidance along the way. DOCTOR Rabia Ibtasar, you came, you researched, you defended. But more than that, as our first doctoral student, you didn't just go through the lab, you built it. The way we work, collaborate, and support one another bears your fingerprints. We are so grateful for everything you've given us, and so proud of the scholar you've become. 🎉 #PhDDefense #ComputingEducation #BroadeningParticipation #WomenInCS #Congratulations

Exciting news!  PhD Candidate Veronica Grosso and Lab Director Joseph Michaelis will be heading to Edinburgh, Scotland for the Human-Robot Interaction Conference! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Veronica will be presenting their newly accepted paper " 'I trust you more than me on this': Collaborating with a Social Robot During Open-Ended Problem Solving" (co-authored with undergrad researchers Kerou Zhou and Sanjana Challagundla) on Wednesday, March 18 during Session 5A (Trust & Safety 1). Her research examines how people perceive robot competence and collaborate during open-ended tasks. They discovered distinct collaboration patterns, from minimal engagement to highly collaborative exchanges, and found that users' self-efficacy mediates these dynamics, influencing whether users critically evaluate or defer to the robot's contributions. Key factors that enhanced collaboration included the robot's answer justifications, occasional pushback, and participants' growing familiarity with the interaction. If you're attending HRI, come support them or stop by to chat! We'd love to connect. ☕ #HRI2026 #HumanRobotInteraction #Edinburgh

It's been a busy month for our lab! After a great session at Northwestern University on October 23rd, we're excited to announce that our lab director, Dr. Joseph Michaelis, is heading to Pittsburgh for another invited talk. 🗓️ We hope you can join him this Friday, November 7, from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM 📍University of Pittsburgh, at Sennott Square, Room 5317 (210 South Bouquet Street). Dr. Michaelis will be presenting "Mental Models at the Intersection of Learning and Human-Robot Interaction." The presentation tackles a core question in our field: What happens when a student's mental model of a learning task collides with their mental model of a robot? Drawing on over a decade of work in robot-assisted learning, he will present a preliminary framework to integrate these two perspectives. The talk will explore insights from our lab's research to build theory, inform practice, and generate new hypotheses for learning with robots and other technologies. The session is designed to be an open space for discussion, allowing the presenter and audience to explore and refine these ideas together. We're very grateful to the colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information for the invitation to share this work.  We look forward to a great conversation! #InvitedTalk #HRI #LearningSciences #HCI #MentalModels #EdTech #Robotics #Pittsburgh #UniversityofPittsburgh

We're still buzzing from the fantastic session at Northwestern University last Thursday (Oct 23) for the Computer Science and Learning Sciences Brown Bag series! Our lab director, Dr. Joseph Michaelis, presented "Mental Models at the Intersection of Learning and Human-Robot Interaction". The talk tackled a core question in our field: What happens when a student's mental model of a learning task collides with their mental model of a robot? Dr. Michaelis proposed a preliminary framework to integrate these two perspectives , showing how mental models are formed by specific cues from the environment, the activity, and the robot's social behaviors. He shared compelling evidence from our lab's work, showing how robot gestures and simple co-location can significantly impact learning, companionship, and even reduce student anxiety. A huge thanks to our colleagues at Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy for hosting and diving deep into these ideas with us! #invitedtalk #guesttalk #HRI #LearningSciences #HCI #MentalModels

🎉 Big news from our lab! Our director Joseph Michaelis just published TWO articles in Science Robotics https://lnkd.in/gYxT6Smj, one featured on the website banner! 🏠 "How can educational robots enhance family life? Through careful integration" A focus article exploring what it takes for in-home robots to be successfully adopted by families. 📚 "Robotic reading companions can mitigate oral reading anxiety in children" Led by Lauren Wright, this study proves what Joseph Michaelis has long had an intuition about: kids feel less judged by robots. Children showed measurably lower anxiety (steadier voices, more relaxed heart rates) when reading to robots vs. adults. As one child said: "Even when I made a mistake, I knew it couldn't be mad at me." Amazing collaborations with Sarah Sebo (HRI Lab at University of Chicago), Lauren Wright (HRI Lab at University of Chicago), and Bilge Mutlu (People and Robots Laboratory at University of Wisconsin-Madison). Congratulations to the entire team! 👏 #HRI #EducationalRobotics #ScienceRobotics #HCI

✨ Back-to-school highlight! This summer, our undergraduates Gaeun Lee and Hope Jo had the incredible opportunity to present their poster “You Can Grow Here” at ACM SIGGRAPH 2025 in Vancouver, representing the University of Illinois Chicago at one of the world’s leading conferences in computer graphics and interactive techniques. Their project explored how proven anxiety-management techniques can be reimagined as immersive VR experiences that feel emotionally resonant, non-clinical, and user-driven. Through a Unity-based application for the CAVE2™ immersive display (with support from the Electronic Visualization Laboratory), they guided participants across a theatrical island narrative featuring four interactive exercises, each designed to relieve stress and inspire mindfulness. Check out the poster here: https://lnkd.in/d_D-3ZKT We are so proud to see their creativity and dedication recognized on such a prestigious stage. Congratulations on this achievement, and here’s to an exciting year ahead! 👏