Human-Computer Interaction Institute
School of Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
United States
Ph.D. Student in Human-Computer Interaction, CMU
Siebel Scholar Class of 2013: awarded annually for academic excellence and demonstrated leadership to 85 top students from the world's leading graduate schools
Associate in the Program for Interdisciplinary Research in Education (PIER)
Academic Advisors: Vincent Aleven & Nikol Rummel
Thesis Committee: Vincent Aleven, Nikol Rummel, Ken Koedinger, Richard Scheines, & Brian Junker
M.Sc. in HCI, CMU
Dipl.-Psych. (eq. B.S. & M.S. in Psychology), University of Freiburg, Germany
Curriculum Vitae (pdf)
Siebel Fellowship 2013
Best Student Paper Award at the 14th International Converence on Artificial Intelligence in Education. Rau, M. A., Aleven, V., & Rummel, N. (2009). Intelligent Tutoring Systems with Multiple Representations and Self-Explanation Prompts Support Learning of Fractions. In V. Dimitrova, R. Mizoguchi, & B. du Boulay (Eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (pp. 441-448). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: IOS Press. (pdf)
Teacher in "Applications of the classical learning theories" Spring 2012 at Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, Germany
Teacher in "How to Create Computer-Based Learning Materials: Principles and Practices" Spring 2011 at Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, Germany
Teaching Assistant in "Research Methods for Human-Computer Interaction" Fall 2010 at CMU
Mentor at the PSLC Summer School 2010 for the "In Vivo Experimentation" Track and the "CTAT and Example-tracing Tutors" Track
Member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning (IJTEL) Young Researcher Special Issue since 08/2011
Member of the iSLC Workshop Committee since 08/2011
Organizer of the PIER Edbag Series 08/2011 - 08/2012
Student Representative at the Curriculum Committee 05/2011 - 07/2011
Reviewed for the Journal of Learning and Instruction, for the meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, for the Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction 2011, and for the 5th iSLC Conference 2012
My graduate work focuses on learning with multiple graphical representations, as they are commonly used in educational materials. When and why do multiple graphical representations help students' learning of domain knowledge? My work shows that different types of support are needed to promote students' knowledge about individual representations and their flexibility in relating different representations to one another. Only with appropriate support for these competences do students benefit from multiple graphical representations.
As part of this work, I have developed an Intelligent Tutoring System for Fractions. The tutoring system is a type of Cognitive Tutor, developed with CTAT. Through experimental studies in real classrooms with over 3,000 students, I have iteratively improved the system. The most recent version of the Fractions Tutor is available for free on Mathtutor.
Intelligent Tutoring Systems used in real classrooms provide rich data on students' problem-solving behaviors and learning outcomes. I am using statistical methods such as structural equation modeling, Bayesian knowledge tracing, item response theory models, and hierarchical linear modeling to analyze outcome and process variables of my experiments.
Rau, M. A., Scheines, R., Aleven, V., & Rummel, N. (in press). Does Conceptual Understanding Enhance Acquisition of Fluency – Or Vice Versa? Searching for Models to Investigate Mediators. To appear in the Proceedings of the Learning Analytics and Knowledge 2013 Conference (LAK 2013).
Rau, M. A., Aleven, V., Rummel, N., & Rohrbach, S. (in press). Why interactive learning environments can have it all: resolving design conflicts between conflicting goals. To appear in the Proceedings of the 2013 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2013).
Rau, M. A., Aleven, V., & Rummel, N. (2013). Interleaved practice in multi-dimensional learning tasks: which dimension should we interleave? Learning and Instruction, 23, 98-114.
Rau, M., Aleven, V., Rummel, N., & Rohrbach, S. (2012). Sense Making Alone Doesn't Do It: Fluency Matters Too! ITS Support for Robust Learning with Multiple Representations. In S. Cerri, W. Clancey, G. Papadourakis & K. Panourgia (Eds.), Intelligent Tutoring Systems (Vol. 7315, pp. 174-184). Berlin / Heidelberg: Springer. (pdf)
Rau, M., Rummel, N., Aleven, V., Pacilio, L., & Tunc-Pekkan, Z. (2012). How to schedule multiple graphical representations? A classroom experiment with an intelligent tutoring system for fractions. In J. van Aalst, K. Thompson, M. J. Jacobson & P. Reimann (Eds.), The future of learning: Proceedings of the 10th international conference of the learning sciences (ICLS 2012) - Volume 1, Full Papers (pp. 64-71). Sydney, Australia: ISLS. (pdf)
Rau, M. A., & Pardos, Z. A. (2012). Investigating Practice Schedules of Multiple Fraction Representations Using Knowledge Tracing Based Learning Analysis Techniques. In Yacef, K., Zaiane, O., Hershkovitz, H., Yudelson, M., and Stamper, J. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Educational Data Mining. (pp. 168-171). (pdf)
Rau, M. A., & Scheines, R. (2012). Searching for Variables and Models to Investigate Mediators of Learning from Multiple Representations. In Yacef, K., Zaiane, O., Hershkovitz, H., Yudelson, M., and Stamper, J. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Educational Data Mining. (pp. 110-117). (pdf)
Rau, M. A., Aleven, V., & Rummel, N. (2010). Blocked versus Interleaved Practice With Multiple Representations in an Intelligent Tutoring System for Fractions. In V. Aleven, J. Kay, & J. Mostow (Eds.), Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (pp. 413-422). Heidelberg / Berlin: Springer. (pdf)
Rau, M. A., Aleven, V., & Rummel, N. (2009). Intelligent Tutoring Systems with Multiple Representations and Self-Explanation Prompts Support Learning of Fractions. In V. Dimitrova, R. Mizoguchi, & B. du Boulay (Eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (pp. 441-448). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: IOS Press. (pdf)
Matlen, B., Atit, K., Goksun, T., Rau, M., & Ptouchkina, M. (2012). Representing Space: Exploring the Relationship between Gesturing and Geoscience Understanding in Children. In C. Stachniss, K. Schill & D. Uttal (Eds.), Spatial Cognition VIII (Vol. 7463, pp. 405-415): Springer Berlin Heidelberg. (pdf)
Hayashi, E., Rau, M. A., Neo, Z. H., Tan, N., Ramasubramanian, S., & Paulos, E. (2012). Time Blocks: "Mom, Can I Have Another Block of Time?" Proceedings of the 2012 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2012). (pdf)
Feenstra, L., Aleven, V., Rummel, N., Rau, M. A., & Taatgen, N. (2011). Thinking with Your Hands: Interactive Graphical Representations in a Tutor for Fractions Learning. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 6738, 453-455. (pdf)
Rau, M. A., Aleven, V., & Rummel, N. (2011). How to schedule multiple graphical representations? A classroom experiment with an intelligent tutoring system for fractions. Paper presented at the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness Fall 2011 Conference, Washington, D.C.
Rau, M. A., Tunc-Pekkan, Z. Pacilio, L., Aleven, V., & Rummel, N. (2011). Facilitating the Representational Fluency and Flexibility through Sequencing Multiple Graphical Representations. Paper presented at the 14th biennial EARLI Conference, Exeter, U.K.
Rau, M. A., Aleven, V., & Rummel, N. (2010). Blocked versus Interleaved Practice with Multiple Graphical Representations of Fractions. Paper presented at the International EARLI Special Interest Group on Text and Graphics Comprehension, Tuebingen, Germany.
Rau, M. A., Aleven, V., & Rummel, N. (2010). Supporting Learning with Multiple Graphical Representations with Intelligent Tutoring Technology. Paper presented at the International EARLI Special Interest Group on Instructional Design and Learning with Computers, Ulm, Germany.
Rau, M. A., Aleven, V., & Rummel, N. (2009). Self-explanations prompts enable students to benefit from learning with multiple graphical re-presentations of fractions. Paper presented at the 13th biennial EARLI Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Rau, M. A., Rummel, N., & Aleven, N. (2009). Selbsterklaerungs-Prompts helfen Schuelern beim Lernen mit multiplen graphischen Repraesentationen von Bruechen. Paper presented at the 12. Fachtagung Paedagogische Psychologie der DGPs, Saarbruecken, Germany.
Rau, M. A., Aleven, V., & Rummel, N. (2010). Blocking versus Interleaving Learning with Multiple Representations in an Intelligent Tutoring System for Fractions. Poster presented at the SREE Fall Conference, Washington, DC.
Rau, M. A., Aleven, V., & Rummel, N. (2010). Blocked versus Interleaved Practice with Multiple Representations of Fractions in an Intelligent Tutoring System. Poster presented at the Annual IES Research Conference, Washington, DC.
Rau, M. A., Aleven, V., & Rummel, N. (2009). Understanding Fractions with Multiple Graphical Representations in Intelligent Tutoring Systems. Poster presented at the Annual IES Research Conference, Washington, DC.
Rau, M. A. (2007). Flexible Knowledge of Rational Numbers with Multiple Representations in Intelligent Tutoring Systems. Poster presented at the 1st Annual inter-Science of Learning Center (iSLC) Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.
Tunc-Pekkan, Z., Rau, M., Aleven, V., & Rummel, N. (2010). External Representations and Fractional Knowledge. Poster presented at the 3rd Annual inter-Science of Learning Center (iSLC) Conference, Boston, MA.
Feenstra, L., Aleven, V., Rummel, N., Rau, M. A., & Taatgen, N. (2011). Thinking with Your Hands: Interactive Graphical Representations in a Tutor for Fractions Learning. Poster presented at the 15th International Conference International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, Auckland, New Zealand.