Mission and Goals
- Establish an educational researcher’s hub for those who are interested in and committed to improving education for all students in the national, international, and global communities through advancing scientific research in education and its practical application.
- Create opportunities for and nurture the environment of scholarly discourse, production, and collaboration among the members to advance scientific research and discovery in education.
- Support professional learning and growth opportunities
- Nurture and support the next generations of Korean-American educational researchers.
- Hosting annual conferences on wide variety of topics in broadly defined education.
- Providing workshops to professionals and students. Topics include preparing for career, writing grants, publishing research in peer reviewed journals.
- Publishing periodic publications, entitled Research Forum covering a wide range of topical issues in education (Four issues have been published and one issue is currently in the process of publication).
- Disseminating current and updated information about the organization and its members’ accomplishments in Spring and Fall newsletters.
- Providing scholarships to junior scholars and graduate students (for five years, more than 30 promising scholars and students are honored to receive the scholarships).
- Maintaining the organization’s Facebook and Blog as a way to communicate, not only among members but also with general audience and public who are interested in Korean and Korean-American education issues.
- Organizing cooperative projects such as conducting research and publishing books (e.g., Educational Measurement 5th edition published in Korean (NCME & ACE, 2006).
Presidential Greetings
Dear colleagues,
As President, I extend a warm welcome to all our members, collaborators, and partners. It is an honor to lead such a dedicated and passionate community of educators and researchers committed to advancing the frontiers of knowledge in the field of education. As we navigate the ever-changing landscape of education, our collective efforts play a pivotal role in shaping the future of learning and pedagogical practices.
In this regard, KAERA will strengthen mentoring services for graduate students and early career scholars and expand grant and scholarship opportunities. The executive group members and the board of directors will endeavor to enhance internal and external cooperation, aiming to establish ourselves as an association of educators. Additionally, we will actively listen to the voices of Korean-American educational researchers and strive to address their needs and concerns.
I encourage you to register for our membership and actively engage in the diverse opportunities our association offers, including conferences, workshops, and awards. Your insights and contributions fuel the growth of our field and inspire positive change in education, both locally and globally. Please contact us with any questions or suggestions. Your willingness to share your experience and passion for education with KAERA is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
President of KAERA
Board of Directors
Junghwan Kim
President
Affiliation: Texas A&M University
AERA Division:
G: Social Context of Education
SIGs: Adult Literacy and Adult Education; Workplace Learning
Junghwan Kim, Ph.D., is an associate professor and the chair of the Workforce, Adult, & Lifelong Education (WALE) program at Texas A&M University. He studies various topics and areas in lifelong learning, adult education, and workforce development. For KAERA, Dr. Kim was a co-chair for KAERA conferences (2015-2017) and served on the KAERA’s Mentoring Committee (2021-2023). He also provided national leadership as the president of the Korean-American Academy of Lifelong Education (KAALE, 2019-2021) and the steering committee of the Adult Education Research Conference (AERC, 2017-2019). Dr. Kim earned his Ph.D. in Adult Education (currently Lifelong Learning & Adult Education) at the Pennsylvania State University and M.A. in Education, B.A. in Education, and B.A. in Political Science and Diplomacy at Yonsei University.
Chansoon (Danielle) Lee
Vice President/ President-Elect
Affiliation: American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)
AERA Division:
D: Measurement & Research Methodologies
SIGs: Artificial Intelligence in Measurement and Education
Dr. Chanson (Danielle) Lee is a Measurement Scientist in the Department of Research and Innovation at the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Lee earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, specializing in Quantitative Methods, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At the core of Dr. Lee's expertise lies her major research interests in psychometric approaches for test development, item security, and computerized adaptive testing. Dr. Lee has been an active and dedicated member of KAERA since 2015, having served as the General Administrator from 2020 to 2022. Her commitment to the association is further exemplified by her participation in the inaugural cohort of the KAERA Early Scholar Program selected by the KAERA Mentoring Committee, where she has been providing mentorship to early career scholars and practitioners since 2022.
Jongpil Cheon
Affiliation: Texas Tech University
AERA Division:
C: Learning and Instruction
SIGs: Instructional Technology & Computer and Internet Applications in Education
Jongpil Cheon is a professor in the Instructional Technology program at Texas Tech University. He is a director of the Center for Innovation in E-Learning. His research interests involve implementing immersive online learning environments and investigating advanced technologies for interactive learning. Specific research issues include multimedia learning, mobile learning, technology adoption, computational thinking, and online learning readiness. His research competence has been integrated into service, community outreach and engagement with various partners, and research findings have appeared in Computers and Education, Educational Technology Research and Development, Computers in Human Behavior, Distance Education, and other decent journals. He has received numbers of research and development awards from his university and professional organizations, such as AECT (Association for Educational Communications and Technology) and AERA (American Educational Research Association). He has been elected as an assistant chair of information technology council in SITE (Society of Information Technology and Teacher Education).
Moon-Heum Cho
Affiliation: Syracuse University
AERA Division:
C: Learning and Instruction
SIGs: Instructional Technology & Computer and Internet Applications in Education
Moon-Heum Cho earned his Ph.D. in the School of Information Science & Learning Technologies at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is interested in designing theory-based learning activity and transforming learning environments to enhance student learning experiences. His research focuses on understanding and supporting student engagement in challenging learning environments (e.g., online learning, project-based learning, and interdisciplinary collaborative learning) through instructional design, development, technology, and evaluation. Using diverse learning theories including social cognitive theory, constructivism, self-directed learning, epistemic beliefs, motivation, cognition, and emotion as a theoretical lens, he empirically examines, intervenes, interprets, and expands understanding about human learning in diverse contexts.
His research has been published in research journals such as Educational Technology Research & Development (ETRD), Internet and Higher Education, Interactive Learning Environments, Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), Educational Psychology, and Social Psychology of Education. In addition, he has served on editorial boards in well-respected journals, including Internet and Higher Education and Distance Education.
Yoon Soo Park
Affiliation: University of Illinois at Chicago
AERA Division:
I: Education in the Professions
D: Measurement and Research Methodologies
Yoon Soo Park is the Ilene B. Harris Professor and Department Head of Medical Education at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Dr. Park's interests are in measurement, learning analytics, and assessment, data systems in higher education, particularly in the professions across medicine, law, and healthcare broadly. His work in the health professions education has advanced the preparation of learners in clinical reasoning and measurement of competencies through validity studies. Dr. Park received his Ph.D. in Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics from Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Park previously served as Vice President of AERA Division I (Education in the Professions; 2018-2021) and as member of the AERA Research Advisory Committee (2018-2020).
Do-Hong Kim
Bio Coming Soon
Seungho Moon
Affiliation: Loyola University Chicago
AERA Division:
K: Teaching & Teacher Education
Dr. Seungho Moon is a Professor of Curriculum Studies at Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Moon has been an active member of KAERA since 2013 and a recipient of the Michael B. Salwen Scholarship. Before joining KAERA with a Board of Director, Dr. Moon served on KAERA's Award Committee and reviewed KAERA conference proposals annually. As a Curriculum Studies scholar, Dr. Moon conducts cutting-edge research agenda foregrounds the unique values of indigenous knowledge. He promotes multiple perspectives on curriculum discourse, the nature of important knowledge, and those within socio-political systems who decide whether knowledge is important. Dr. Moon is an international board member for Educational Philosophy and Theory and associate editor for Multicultural Education Review. Currently, Dr. Moon is an Executive Board of Society of Professors of Education (SPE), one of the prestigious education studies organizations started in 1902. He was the chair of AERA's Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism in Education (CTBE) SIG in 2020-2023. Dr. Moon has published three academic books and more than 40 peer-reviewed journal articles and other scholarly work. Dr. Moon earned his doctorate at Teachers College, Columbia University in 2011.
Executive Officers
Junghwan Kim
President
Affiliation: Texas A&M University
AERA Division:
G: Social Context of Education
SIGs: Adult Literacy and Adult Education; Workplace Learning
Junghwan Kim, Ph.D., is an associate professor and the chair of the Workforce, Adult, & Lifelong Education (WALE) program at Texas A&M University. He studies various topics and areas in lifelong learning, adult education, and workforce development. For KAERA, Dr. Kim was a co-chair for KAERA conferences (2015-2017) and served on the KAERA’s Mentoring Committee (2021-2023). He also provided national leadership as the president of the Korean-American Academy of Lifelong Education (KAALE, 2019-2021) and the steering committee of the Adult Education Research Conference (AERC, 2017-2019). Dr. Kim earned his Ph.D. in Adult Education (currently Lifelong Learning & Adult Education) at the Pennsylvania State University and M.A. in Education, B.A. in Education, and B.A. in Political Science and Diplomacy at Yonsei University.
Chansoon (Danielle) Lee
Vice President/ President-Elect
Affiliation: American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)
AERA Division:
D: Measurement & Research Methodologies
SIGs: Artificial Intelligence in Measurement and Education
Dr. Chanson (Danielle) Lee is a Measurement Scientist in the Department of Research and Innovation at the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Lee earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, specializing in Quantitative Methods, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At the core of Dr. Lee's expertise lies her major research interests in psychometric approaches for test development, item security, and computerized adaptive testing. Dr. Lee has been an active and dedicated member of KAERA since 2015, having served as the General Administrator from 2020 to 2022. Her commitment to the association is further exemplified by her participation in the inaugural cohort of the KAERA Early Scholar Program selected by the KAERA Mentoring Committee, where she has been providing mentorship to early career scholars and practitioners since 2022.
Dabae Lee
Conference Chair
Affiliation: Kennesaw State University
Dabae Lee, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the School of Instructional Technology and Innovation at Kennesaw State University. She received a M.S. and Ph.D. in Instructional Technology and a M.S. in Inquiry Methodology at Indiana University. She has been honored with several awards from the Association of Educational Technology and Communications (AECT) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and awarded grants by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Her research interests center around creating effective, efficient, and engaging personalized yet collaborative learning environments enhanced by technology. Her expertise includes AI in education, personalized learning, instructional design, program evaluation, and research methods in Instructional Technology.
MinSoo Kim-Bossard
Conference Co-Chair
Affiliation: The College of New Jersey
AERA Division:
G: Social Context of Education
SIG: Critical Perspectives on Early Childhood Education
Dr. MinSoo Kim-Bossard is an Associate Professor in the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education at The College of New Jersey.
Her current project examines the experiences of Asian American teachers in P-6 classrooms to learn more about how the teachers negotiate multiple sets of values, assumptions, and
expectations in both personal and professional realms in the midst of the heightened racial tension during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the support of the 2019 Korea Foundation Fellowship for Field Research, Dr. Kim-Bossard carried out an ethnographic interview study on the relationship between Filipina migrants and the English language in contemporary Korea. As the PI of Community Art in Trenton: Engaging Future Teachers through the Arts, supported by the 2019 NJM Insurance Group Urban Innovation Award from The College of New Jersey, she is committed to engaging teacher candidates in artmaking processes, as well as opportunities to reflect on the roles the arts can play in their own classrooms, local communities, and the lives of young children. In 2017, Dr. Kim-Bossard was awarded the Council on Anthropology and Education Early Career Presidential Fellowship within the American Anthropological Association.
Dr. Kim-Bossard received her doctorate from the Pennsylvania State University in Curriculum and Instruction (emphasis in Early Childhood Education) and Comparative and International Education.
Minseok Yang
General Administrator
Affiliation: University of Missouri-Columbia
AERA Division:
A: Administration, Organization and Leadership
L: Educational Policy and Politics
Minseok Yang is an Assistant Professor of PK12 Leadership and Policy in the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis (ELPA) at the University of Missouri. His research interests include educator labor markets, school reforms, and teachers' unions, with a special focus on marginalized populations and communities. Dr. Yang received his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis with a minor in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to academia, he taught second, fifth, and sixth-grade students in a public elementary school in Korea.
Seohee Park
Treasurer
Affiliation: American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)
AERA Division:
D: Measurement & Research Methodologies
Dr. Seohee Park is a Psychometrician in the Department of Psychometrics at the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). Dr. Park earned her Ph.D. in Educational Measurement and Statistics from the University of Iowa. With a strong background in both theoretical and applied psychometrics, Dr. Park specializes in standard settings and fairness review to enhance test accuracy and candidate performance evaluation. Her primary research areas are Item Response Theory, Classification, and Linking & Equating. Since 2015, Dr. Park has been an active and dedicated member of KAERA, having served as a student representative from 2019 to 2020.
Ju Lim
Social Media Director
Affiliation: Georgia State University
AERA Division:
C: Technology-Based Environments
K: Teaching and Teacher Education
SIGs: Advanced Technologies for Learning
Dr. Ju Lim is an Assistant Professor of Creative and Innovative Education in the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education at Georgia State University. She examines informed, creative, and equitable technology practices in early childhood and elementary education, encompassing both formal and informal settings. Dr. Lim received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Kyungjin Jang-Tucci
Communication Director
Affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Madison
AERA Division:
J: Postsecondary Education
SIGs: Adult Literacy and Adult Education; Workplace Learning
Kyungjin Jang is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses on the equitable and holistic development of college students during their transition to the workforce, as well as the social, cultural, and technological forces that influence this transitional stage. Through her research, she aims to identify effective strategies that higher education institutions and educators can employ to support students in successfully navigating this transition.
Andrew Eunghyun Chang
Student Representative
Affiliation: Vanderbilt University
Andrew Eunghyun Chang, M.A., is a Ph.D. student at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. He earned his M.A. in Educational Psychology at the University of Minnesota at Twin Cities. His research focuses on interventions for reading difficulties/disabilities, as well as d/Deaf education in special education. His research is dedicated to developing evidence-based practices that improve literacy outcomes for students with diverse learning needs, ensuring that all students have equitable access to high-quality education.
Hyunjung Lee
Student Representative
Affiliation: Fordham University
Hyunjung Lee is a PhD candidate in the Psychometrics and Quantitative Psychology program at Fordham University. Her research interests encompass structural equation modeling, exploratory factor analysis, mixture modeling, causal inference, and the application of these methods to substantive areas such as clinical psychology, educational/school psychology, and neuropsychology. She also has a particular interest in challenges related to ordinal items, nonormal, and missing data. She holds an M.A. in Human Resource Development with a focus on Industrial and Organizational Psychology from SungKyunKwan University, an M.A. in Psychometrics and Quantitative Psychology, and an Advanced Certificate in Financial Econometrics and Data Analysis, both from Fordham University.