Qualifications
MA (Linguistics)
BA (English)
About Yan
I have five years of work experience as a marketing specialist for an educational tech company that offered language-learning software and online tutoring services. This role allowed me to gain valuable perspectives and reflect on language education and workplace learning. Motivated by curiosity, I pursued a master’s degree, where I received training in language education, educational psychology, and quantitative methods.
Previously, I have worked on research projects and publications related to design thinking, motivation, self-regulated learning, language testing, and psychometrics.
My current focus revolves around thinking skills and transformative learning for students in higher education.
Research interests
- Thinking skills
- Motivation
- Social-emotional learning
- Language testing
- Transformative learning
Scholarships
University of Otago Doctoral Scholarship
Honours
Graduate Excellence Awards of Shanghai, 2023 (awarded by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, China)
National Scholarship for Postgraduates, 2022 (awarded by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China)
Supervisors
Dr Ana Stojanov
Professor Ben Daniel
Publications
Cai, Y., & *Yang, Y. (2023). The development and validation of the Scale of Design Thinking for Teaching (SDTT). Thinking Skills and Creativity [2022 SSCI Q1 in education & educational research; Impact factor = 3.7], Article 101255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2023.101255
Cai, Y., *Ge, Q., & Yang, Y. (2023). The role of perspective taking in mediating the relation between teacher feedback and reading achievement. European Journal of Psychology of Education [2022 SSCI Q2 in psychology, educational; Impact factor = 3.0]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-023-00692-7
*Cai, Y., & Yang, Y. (2022). The fluid relation between reading strategies and mathematics learning: A perspective of the Island Ridge Curve. Learning and Individual Differences [2022 SSCI Q1 in psychology, educational; Impact factor = 3.6], 98, Article 102180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2022.102180
Cai, Y., *Yang, Y., Ge, Q., & Weng, H. (2022). The interplay between teacher empathy, students’ sense of school belonging, and learning achievement. European Journal of Psychology of Education [2022 SSCI Q2 in psychology, educational; Impact factor = 3.0]. 38(3), 1167-1183. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-022-00637-6
Xiao, Y., *Cai, Y., Ge, Q., & Yang, Y. (2022). The potential of using formative assessment to enhance academic achievement in the Confucian-heritage culture: A comparison between Hong Kong and Shanghai. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher [2022 SSCI Q1 in education & educational research; Impact factor = 3.3]. 32(6), 867-876. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-022-00702-0
Wen, J., Zhang, J., Yang, Y., & *Cai, Y. (2023). Development and validation of the Self-Regulated Translation Strategy Scale (SRTSS). Studies in Educational Evaluation [2022 SSCI Q2 in education & educational research and in psychology, educational; Impact factor = 3.1]. 78, 101292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2023.101292