Brief Biography

Prof. Bruce M. McLaren is a Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, head of the McLearn Lab, and past President of the International Artificial Intelligence in Education Society (2017-2019).  McLaren is passionate about how technology can support education and has dedicated his work and research to projects that explore how students can learn with digital learning games (also called educational games),  intelligent tutoring systems,  e-learning principles,  and  collaborative learning.  McLaren's research with digital learning games, for instance, has shown that students can learn decimals better by playing a web-based game than by using more conventional technology (e.g.,  IJGBL 2017 paper;  the "Decimal Point" website ).  McLaren's research with intelligent tutors investigates how students learn when presented with erroneous examples in conjunction with intelligent tutors on the web (See the AdaptErrEx project webpage).  Prof. McLaren has also investigated how erroneous examples can work synergistically with educational games to help students learn (http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1238619).  McLaren has also conducted a series of experiments investigating how chemistry students learn when presented with worked examples, in conjunction with intelligent tutors, as well as polite hints and feedback (See the Stoich studies webpage).  Finally, Prof. McLaren has a keen interest in and experience with collaborative learning and technology for supporting and analyzing collaborative argumentation.  Prof. McLaren has researched and developed educational technology using AI techniques to help teachers moderate collaborative e-Discussions and online arguments (See the projects LASAD, ARGUNAUT, and Metafora).  Prof. McLaren has over 200 publications (42 journal articles) spanning peer-reviewed journals, conferences, workshops, symposiums and book chapters (See McLaren's publications page for details).

In addition to his research background, Prof. McLaren has over 20 years experience in the commercial sector, applying research ideas to practical problems using Artificial Intelligence techniques. As Director of eCommerce Technologies at OpenWebs Corporation from 2000 to 2002, he led a group of engineers in the development of an intelligent inter-company (B2B) trading product. He was also the leader of many expert system projects during over 10 years working for Carnegie Group, Inc.

Prof. McLaren holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Intelligent Systems from the University of Pittsburgh, an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh, and a B.S. in Computer Science (cum laude) from Millersville University. He has been a member of many academic conference and workshop committees and, most recently, was the co-chair for the CSEDU 2022 conference and the AIED 2019 conference. In October 2011, and again in November 2021, McLaren was elected to the Executive Committee of the Artificial Intelligence in Education Society (AI-ED Executive Committee), for two separate six-year terms, 2012-2017 and 2022-2027. Finally, Prof. McLaren is the co-holder of four patents and two patent pendings.

Top citations to Bruce McLaren's Publications & Patents

Bruce McLaren's Wikipedia page

Highlight Publications:

McLaren, B.M. (in press). Decimal Point: A decade of learning science findings with a digital learning game. To appear in P. Ilic, R. Wegerif, & I. Casebourne (Eds.), Artificial Intelligence in Education: The Intersection of Technology and Pedagogy.  Springer Verlag Germany.  Part of the "Artificial Intelligence-Enhanced Software and Systems Engineering" (AI-SSE) Series   [ pdf ]

McLaren, B.M. & Nguyen, H.A. (2023).  Digital learning games in Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED): A review.  In B. du Boulay, A. Mitrovic, & K. Yacef (Eds.), Handbook of Artificial Intelligence in Education. Chapter 20.  doi: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800375413.00032    [ pdf ]    [  Online Citation  ]

McLaren, B.M., Richey, J. E.,  Nguyen, H. A.,  & Hou, X. (2022).  How instructional context can impact learning with educational technology: Lessons from a study with a digital learning game.  Computers & Education, 178   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104366   [ Online Citation  ]

Holstein, K., McLaren, B.M. & Aleven, V. (2018). Student learning benefits of a mixed-reality teacher awareness tool in AI-enhanced classrooms.  In C. Rosé, R. Martínez-Maldonado, H.U. Hoppe, R. Luckin, M. Mavrikis, K. Porayska-Pomsta, B. McLaren and B. du Boulay (Eds.). Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED 2018). LNAI 10947 (pp. 154-168).  Springer: Berlin. Won the Best Paper Award (in a tie with one other paper)  [  pdf  ] 

McLaren, B. M., Adams, D. M., Mayer, R. E., & Forlizzi, J.  (2017). A computer-based game that promotes mathematics learning more than a conventional approach.  International Journal of Game-Based Learning (IJGBL), 7(1), 36-56. doi:10.4018/IJGBL.2017010103    [ pdf ]   [ Online Citation ]

McLaren, B.M., van Gog, T., Ganoe, C., Karabinos, M., &  Yaron, D. (2016). The efficiency of worked examples compared to erroneous examples, tutored problem solving, and problem solving in classroom experiments. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 87-99.  [ pdf ]  [ Online Citation ]

Adams, D., McLaren, B. M., Durkin, K., Mayer, R.E., Rittle-Johnson, B., Isotani, S., &  Van Velsen, M. (2014). Using erroneous examples to improve mathematics learning with a web-based tutoring system.   Computers in Human Behavior, 36C (2014), 401-411. Elsevier.  doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.03.053.  [ pdf ]  [ Online Citation ]

McLaren, B.M.,  Adams, D.,  Durkin, K., Goguadze, G. Mayer, R.E., Rittle-Johnson, B., Sosnovsky, S., Isotani, S., & Van Velsen, M. (2012).  To err is human, to explain and correct is divine: A study of interactive erroneous examples with middle school math students.   In A. Ravenscroft, S. Lindstaedt, C. Delgado Kloos, & D. Hernándex-Leo (Eds.), Proceedings of EC-TEL 2012: Seventh European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, LNCS 7563 (pp. 222-235). Springer, Berlin.    [ pdf ]    YouTube video of McLaren giving an interview at EC-TEL 2012   

McLaren, B.M., DeLeeuw, K.E., & Mayer, R.E.  (2011).  Polite web-based intelligent tutors: Can they improve learning in classrooms?  Computers & Education, 56(3), 574-584.  doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2010.09.019.  [ pdf ]  [ Online Citation ]

McLaren, B.M., Scheuer, O., & Mikšátko, J. (2010). Supporting collaborative learning and e-Discussions using artificial intelligence techniques. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education (IJAIED) 20(1), 1-46.   [ pdf ]  [ Online Citation ]

Scheuer, O., Loll, F., Pinkwart, N. & McLaren, B.M. (2010). Computer-supported argumentation: A review of the state of the art. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning,  5(1), 43-102.  [ pdf ]  [ Online Citation ]
  (Oliver Scheuer was a PhD student at Saarland University, Germany who was advised by McLaren - See 'Advisees' Page)

McLaren, B.M. (2003). Extensionally defining principles and cases in ethics: An AI model. Artificial Intelligence Journal, 150, 145-181.   [ pdf ]  [ Online Citation ]

Select Research Presentations:

Carnegie Mellon University HCII Seminar Talk:  "Decimal Point: A Decade of Learning Science Findings with a Digital Learning Game", February, 2024  [ Watch the Presentation ]  

Invited lecture - Harvard University;  Harvard Graduate School of Education course 'Artificial Intelligence in Education,' “How AIED Digital Learning Games Have Made an Impact on Education and How They Could Do Much More," October 17, 2022   [ See announcement ]

Keynote speaker for the 2021 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology, and Education (TALE 2021), Wuhan, China, "How AIED Digital Learning Games Have Made an Impact on Education and How They Could Do Much More," December 6, 2021  [ Watch the keynote presentation ]

Keynote speaker for the Australian Learning Analytics Summer Institute 2019 (ALASI 2019), the University of Wollongong, Australia,  "Bridging Education, Design, Learning Technology and Learning Analytics: Leveraging Multidisciplinarity in Striving for the Classroom of the Future",  November 28, 2019  [  Watch the keynote presentation  ]

Invited talk – International Congress on Cognitive Science in the Classroom,  Paris, France,  “Advanced Technology for Learning in the Classroom”,  March 29, 2019  Sponsored by UNESCO  [  Watch the invited talk  ]

Keynote speaker for e-Learning Korea 2018, Seoul, South Korea, “Classroom Orchestration: How Innovation and Artificial Intelligence are Impacting Education and Teaching“,  September 14, 2018   [  Watch the keynote presentation  ]

Keynote speaker at the 24th International Conference on Computers in Education IIT, Bombay India, “Learning With Educational Games: Is it Just Hype or Supported by Evidence?“ Nov 30, 2016  [  Watch the keynote presentation ]

Invited talk - Texas A&M,  “How the Networked World, Our Understanding of Collaborative Learning, and Advanced Technology are Converging for New Learning Opportunities.”,  November 12, 2014,  [  Watch the invited talk  ]

Keynote Speaker – 5th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2013)  Aachen, Germany “The Educational Software Gold Rush: How the Learning Sciences and Advanced Technology Can Lead the Way”, May 2013.  [  Watch the keynote presentation  ]