Tricia J. Ngoon

I am a Ph.D candidate in Cognitive Science at UC San Diego working with Dr. Scott Klemmer and collaborating with Dr. Caren Walker. My focus is in human-computer interaction. I am fascinated by how we as humans learn and develop expertise. Specifically, I am interested in how we might best scaffold creativity in education at scale. Prior to entering my graduate program, I graduated from UC Berkeley with Honors in Psychology and worked as a research assistant at the Stanford Cognitive & Systems Neuroscience Lab studying math cognition in children.

When out of my natural habitat of the lab, I enjoy rewatching the Office and Parks & Rec, attempting to exercise, playing video games, and exploring the San Diego coffee and beer scene.

View my CV.

Updates

Aug 2018: Started teaching an intro web programming seminar (DSGN 90).

June 24-28, 2018: At the Human-Computer Interaction Consortium on AI and HCI.

May 23, 2018: Advanced to candidacy with my thesis proposal on "Invention Scaffolds for Improving Creative Learning Outcomes".

Apr 20-27, 2018: In Montreal, Canada for CHI

Feb 2018: Received an Honorable Mention award for our paper, Interactive Guidance Techniques for Improving Creative Feedback!

Publications

Conference & Journal Papers

Tricia J. Ngoon, C. Ailie Fraser, Ariel S. Weingarten, Mira Dontcheva, & Scott Klemmer. 2018. Interactive Guidance Techniques for Improving Creative Feedback. In ACM Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) Proceedings. *Honorable Mention (Top 5%).

Christian Battista, Tanya M. Evans, Tricia J. Ngoon, Tianwen Chen, Lang Chen, John Kochalka, & Vinod Menon. 2018. Mechanisms of Interactive Specialization and Emergence of Functional Brain Circuits Supporting Cognitive Development in Children. npj Science of Learning, 3(1).

Tanya M. Evans, John Kochalka, Tricia J. Ngoon, Sarah Wu, Shaozheing Qin, Christian Battista, & Vinod Menon. 2015. Brain Structural Integrity and Intrinsic Functional Connectivity Forecasts 6-Year Longitudinal Growth in Children’s Numerical Abilities. Journal of Neuroscience, 35(33). 11743-11750.

Short Papers & Extended Abstracts

C. Ailie Fraser, Tricia J. Ngoon, Ariel S. Weingarten, Mira Dontcheva, & Scott Klemmer. 2017. CritiqueKit: A Mixed-Initiative, Real-Time Interface for Improving Feedback. In User Interface Software & Technology (UIST) Companion.

Tricia J. Ngoon, Alexander Gamero-Garrido, & Scott Klemmer. 2016. Supporting Peer Instruction with Evidence-Based Online Instructional Templates. In Learning at Scale (L@S) Proceedings.

Tricia J. Ngoon, Rachel Chen, Amit Deutsch, & Sean Lip. 2016. Oppia: A Community of Peer Learners to Make Conversational Learning Experiences. In Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW) Companion.

Teaching

One of the most rewarding parts of being a graduate student is being able to teach and mentor promising, motivated students and apply active learning strategies to engage students to learn better.

DSGN 90: Design Seminar on Web Programming (Instructor of Record)

Developed a curriculum for teaching introductory web programming concepts.

COGS 123: Social Computing (Teaching Assistant)

Facilitated discussions of current issues in social computing research.

COGS 122: Interaction Design Studio (Teaching Assistant)

Helped students conceptualize and prototype innovative startup ideas.

COGS 120/CSE 170: Interaction Design (Teaching Assistant)

Lead studios and guide students through the human-centered design process to develop a mobile web application.

COGS 17: Neurobiology of Cognition (Teaching Assistant)

Lead discussion sessions with active learning strategies to help students review and consolidate course material.