Amy J. Ko, Ph.D.

Professor
The Information School
University of Washington, Seattle

Education

2002-2008

Doctorate in Human-Computer Interaction

Thesis: Asking and Answering Questions about the Causes of Software Behaviors

Brad Myers (CMU, Chair), Bonnie John (CMU), Jonathan Aldrich (CMU), Gail Murphy (UBC)

1998-2002

Honors Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Psychology

Thesis: Individual Differences in Programming, Testing, and Debugging in a Statistical End-User Programming Environment

Margaret Burnett (Computer Science) and Bob Uttl (Psychology)

Academic appointments

2020-present

The Information School + Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering (courtesy)

University of Washington, Seattle

2014-2020

The Information School + Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering (courtesy)

University of Washington, Seattle

2008-2014

The Information School + Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering (courtesy)

University of Washington

2006

Microsoft Research, Redmond

Microsoft

2002-2008

Human-Computer Interaction Institute, School of Computer Science

Carnegie Mellon University

1999-2002

Department of Computer Science

Oregon State University

Industry appointments

2015-2020

Executive team

AnswerDash, Inc.

2013-2015

Executive team

AnswerDash, Inc.

Honors and Recognitions

Most Influential Paper Awards

2014

most influential paper

IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

2008

most influential paper honorable mention

IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

2008

best paper, most influential paper

ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE)

2006

most influential paper

IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering

2004

most influential paper

IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

2003

best paper, most influential paper

IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

Best Paper Awards

2024

honorable mention

ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

2024

best paper

ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Experience Report Track

2023

best paper

ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

2023

best paper

ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE)

2022

best paper

ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Research Track

2021

best paper

ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

2018

best paper

ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

2018

honorable mention

ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

2015

best paper

ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

2013

honorable mention

ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST)

2013

best paper

ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

2010

best paper

IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

2010

honorable mention

ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

2008

most influential paper honorable mention

IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

2008

best paper, most influential paper

ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE)

2005

best paper

ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

2005

best paper

ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE)

2003

best paper, most influential paper

IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

Recognitions

2024	ACM Distinguished Member	A recognition given to computing scholars who have made a significant impact on the computing field.
2023	ACM Distinguished Speaker	A recognition given to thought leaders in computing, with an expectation of giving public talks to venues globally.
2022	SIGCHI Academy	A recognition given to honorary and leading individuals who have made substantial contributions to the field of human-computer interaction, shaping the field.
2021	Oregon State University Council of Outstanding Early Career Engineers	A recogntion given to distinguished Oregon State University alumni who are future leaders in their profession.
2021	Marsha Landolt Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award, Honorable Mention	One of 20 faculty nominated and 2 awarded across all University of Washington campuses in 2021, in recognition of outstanding mentorship in doctoral education.
2020	ACM Senior Member	For more than 10 years of technical leadership and professional contributions.
2017	ACM SIGCHI Exceptional Reviewer	For one or more outstanding reviews at a SIGCHI conference
2016	ACM SIGCHI Exceptional Reviewer	For one or more outstanding reviews at a SIGCHI conference
2014	University of Washington Presidential Entrepreneurial Faculty Fellow	For entrepreneurial leadership in translating research to practice.
2010	National Science Foundation CAREER award	NSF's most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education.
2004	National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship	A five year fellowship recognizing outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines.
2004	National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship	A three year fellowship in recognition of U.S. citizens with promise to advance science and engineering disciplinesof military importance.
2003	National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Honorable Mention	Recognition of an outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines.
2001	CRA Outstanding Undergraduate, Honorable Mention	Recognition of one of the top undergraduate researchers across all computer science research areas.
2001	Waldo-Cummings Outstanding Student Award	Oregon State University's recognition of the top 5 undergraduates in the junior class of more than 5,000 students.
2000	ACM Student Chapter Excellence Award for School Service	ACM's recognition of ACM student chapter leadership, earned while President of Oregon State University's ACM student chapter.
1999	Waldo-Cummings Outstanding Student Award (top	Oregon State University's recognition of the top 5 undergraduates in the freshman class of more than 5,000 students.

Funding

2023-2027

$1,400,000

National Science Foundation

#2318257

Amy J. Ko (PI), Caroline Hardin (Co-PI)

Explores pathways into CS teaching and strategies for retention.

2022-2026

$400,000

Google

Amy J. Ko (PI), Anne Beitlers (Co-PI)

An unrestricted gift to support the STEP CS program.

2021-2024

$3,599,041

National Science Foundation

#2137834

Carol Fletcher (PI), Debra Richardson (Co-PI), Anne Ottenbreit-Leftwich (Co-PI), Joshua Childs (Co-PI), Sarah Dunton (Co-PI), Amy Ko (Senior Personnel)

Expands pathways for K-12 students to participate in computing education.

2021-2024

$2,850,000

National Science Foundation

#2137312

Richard Ladner (PI), Sheryl Burgstahler (Co-PI), Raja Kushalnagar (Co-PI), Stacy Branham (Co-PI), Elain Short (Co-PI), Amy Ko (Senior Personnel)

Expands pathways for students with disabilities to participate in computing education.

2021-2024

$877,449

National Science Foundation

#2100296

Mo Zhang (PI), Amy J. Ko (PI), Min Li (Co-PI)

Explores ways of using problem solving process data to ensure more equitable, reliable, and valid CS assessments of programming skill.

2021-2024

$749,739

National Science Foundation

#2122950

Ratislav Bodik (PI), Amy J. Ko (Co-PI)

Invents new applications of program synthesis to supporting learning and end-user programming.

2020-2023

$999,723

National Science Foundation

#2031265

Amy J. Ko (PI), Anne Beitlers (Co-PI)

Designing and launching a justice-focused CS education masters program and studying teacher learning about CS from a justice lens.

2022

$200,000

UW Provost's Office

Amy J. Ko (PI), Anne Beitlers (Co-PI)

Provides two years of tuition subsidy for the new STEP CS secondary CS teacher education program in the College of Education.

2022

$200,000

National Science Foundation

#2031265

Amy J. Ko (PI), Anne Beitlers (Co-PI)

Provides tuition subsidy for the new STEP CS secondary CS teacher education program in the College of Education, with a focus on data science education.

2021-2022

$70,000

Google

Amy J. Ko (PI), Anne Beitlers (Co-PI)

Explores ways of engaging students in CS counternarratives to develop critical consciousness of computing.

2019-2022

$738,125

National Science Foundation

#1836813

Michael Ernst (PI), Amy J. Ko (Co-PI), Jennifer Mankoff (Co-PI), Zach Tatlock (Co-PI)

New techniques to formally verify a range of accessibility properties of web applications.

2017-2021

$1,199,555

National Science Foundation

#1703304

Thomas LaToza (PI, George Mason University), Amy J. Ko (Co-PI, University of Washington)

Develop of a new science of programming strategies.

2015-2021

$3,797,990

National Science Foundation

#1539179

Richard Ladner (PI, University of Washington), Sheryl Burgstahler (Co-PI), Amy J. Ko (Co-PI), Jacob O. Wobbrock (Co-PI)

Increases access to computing for students with disabilities.

2017-2020

$549,857

National Science Foundation

#1735123

Amy J. Ko (PI, University of Washington), Min Li (Co-PI, University of Washington)

New model of CS1 concepts, new approaches to formative assessment and feedback, new techniques problem synthesis, and a new paradigm for intelligent tutoring of programming.

2013-2017

$2,999,991

National Science Foundation

#1314399

Brad Myers (PI, Carnegie Mellon University), Amy J. Ko (Co-PI), Margaret Burnett (Co-PI, Oregon State University), Martin Erwig (Co-PI, Oregon State University), Anita Sarma (Co-PI, University of Nebraska, Lincoln), Gregg Rothermel (Co-PI, University of Nebraska, Lincoln)

New theory, tools, and techniques for supporting multiple versions and variations of programs.

2012-2015

$599,999

National Science Foundation

#1240786

Amy J. Ko (PI), Margaret Burnett (Co-PI, Oregon State University), Catherine Law (Co-PI, Oregon State University)

Debugging puzzle games as a new method for engaging, efficient learning of computer programming.

2010-2014

$592,456

National Science Foundation

#1153625

Amy J. Ko (PI)

Studies and tools for supporting analyzing and prioritizing bug reports.

2013-2014

$500,000

W Fund

Jacob O. Wobbrock (CEO), Amy J. Ko (CTO)

Gap fund to support the commercialization of the LemonAid research project.

2013-2014

$25,000

Microsoft Research Software Engineering Innovation Foundation Award

Amy J. Ko (PI)

Gift to support the Gidget research project.

2012-2013

$47,359

Google Faculty Research Award

Amy J. Ko (PI)

Gift to support the LemonAid research project.

2012-2013

$32,122

University of Washington, Royalty Research Fund

Amy J. Ko (PI)

Early stage internal grant to support Gidget.

2012-2013

$50,000

UW Center for Commercialization

Jacob O. Wobbrock (PI) and Amy J. Ko (Co-PI)

Early stage internal grant to support the commercialization of LemonAid.

2010-2011

$6,200

Microsoft

Amy J. Ko (PI)

Gift to support research on developer help seeking.

2003-2008

$75,000

National Science Foundation

Amy J. Ko (PI)

A 3-year competitive fellowship for new doctoral students

2003-2006

$75,000

Department of Defense

Amy J. Ko (PI)

A 3-year competitive fellowship for new doctoral students

Publications

Unlike most of academia, premiere conferences in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Software Engineering (SE), and Computing Education are selective venues for archival research. These conferences exceed many journals in their selectivity, visibility, and impact.

Authorship order indicates the scope of my intellectual contribution to the work. However, because I collaborate closely with my Ph.D. students on research, they are first author on many of my key publications.

Refereed Conference + Journal Articles

2024

How Economically-Marginalized Adolescents of Color Negotiate Critical Pedagogy in a Computing Classroom ⋅ Jean Salac, Lena Armstrong, Megumi Kivuva, Jayne Everson, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Transactions on Computing Education

Neurodivergent Legitimacy in Computing Spaces ⋅ Mara Kirdani-Ryan, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Transactions on Computing Education

Recruiting Practices in Informal CS Learning ⋅ Chris Perdriau, Meron Solomon, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Transactions on Computing Education

Exploring the Impact of Assessment Policies on Marginalized Students' Experiences in Post-Secondary Programming Courses ⋅ Eman Sherif, Jayne Everson, Megumi Kivuva, Mara Kirdani-Ryan, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

Integrating Philosophy Teaching Perspectives to Foster Adolescents' Ethical Sensemaking of Computing Technologies ⋅ Rotem Landesman, Jean Salac, Jared Lim, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER) honorable mention

"There Will Always be a Yes and No Side": Facilitating Ethical Sensemaking Around Technology with Teens ⋅ Rotem Landesman, Jean Salac, Jared Lim, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ISLS 2024

Factors Influencing the Social Help-Seeking Behavior of Introductory Programming Students in a Competitive University Environment ⋅ Anael Kuperwajs Cohen, Alannah Oleson, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Transactions on Computing Education

Culture-centric computational embroidery ⋅ Jayne Everson, Megumi Kivuva, Camilo Montes de Haro, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Experience Report Track best paper

2023

Developing novice programmers' self-regulation skills with code replays ⋅ Benjamin Xie, Jared Lim, Paul Pham, Min Li, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

"A field where you will be accepted": Belonging in student and TA interactions in post-secondary CS education ⋅ Leah Perlmutter, Jean Salac, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

Navigating a blackbox: Students' experiences and perceptions of automated hiring ⋅ Lena Armstrong, Jayne Everson, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

Funds of knowledge used by adolescents of color in scaffolded sensemaking around algorithmic fairness ⋅ Jean Salac, Alannah Oleson, Lena Armstrong, Audrey Le Meur, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER) best paper

Exploring identity through computing integration in a Spanish language and literature class ⋅ Megumi Kivuva, Keith O'Hara, Amy J. Ko ⋅ IEEE Conference on Research in Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT)

Scaffolding children's sensemaking around algorithmic fairness ⋅ Jean Salac, Rotem Landesman, Stefania Druga, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Interaction Design for Children

A qualitative study on the implementation design decisions of developers ⋅ Jenny Liang, Maryam Arab, Minhyuk Ko, Amy J. Ko, Thomas D. LaToza ⋅ ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE) best paper

"Taught to be automata": Examining the departmental role inshaping initial career choices of computing students ⋅ Mara Kirdani-Ryan, Amy J. Ko, Emilia A. Borisova ⋅ Computer Science Education

Proposing, preparing, and teaching an equity- and justice-centered secondary pre-service CS teacher education program ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Anne Beitlers, Jayne Everson, Brett Wortzman, Dan Gallagher ⋅ ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Experience Report Track

2022

Teaching inclusive design skills with the CIDER assumption elicitation technique ⋅ Alannah Oleson, Meron Solomon, Chris Perdriau, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction

“I would be afraid to be a bad CS teacher”: Factors Influencing Participation in Pre-Service Secondary CS Teacher Education ⋅ Jayne Everson, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

A decade of demographics in computing education research: A critical review of trends in collection, reporting, and use ⋅ Alannah Oleson + Benjamin Xie, Jean Salac, Jayne Everson, Megumi Kivuva, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

How families design and program games: a qualitative analysis of a 4-week online in-home study with a cellular-automata programming platform ⋅ Stefania Druga, Tom Ball, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Interaction Design for Children

The Landscape of Teaching Resources for AI Education ⋅ Stefania Druga, Nancy Otero, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

Surfacing Equity Issues in Large Computing Courses with Peer-Ranked, Demographically-Labeled Student Feedback ⋅ Benjamin Xie, Alannah Oleson, Jayne Everson, Amy J. Ko ⋅ Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction diversity + inclusion award

An Exploratory Study of Sharing Strategic Programming Knowledge ⋅ Maryam Arab, Thomas D. LaToza, Jenny Liang, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

Family as a Third Space for AI Literacies: How Do Children and Parents Learn about AI Together? ⋅ Stefania Druga, Fee Christoph, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

“A key to reducing inequities in like, AI, is by reducing inequities everywhere first”: Emerging Critical Consciousness in a Co-Constructed Secondary CS Classroom ⋅ Jayne Everson, Megumi Kivuva, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Research Track best paper

The House of Computing: Integrating Counternarratives into Computer Systems Education ⋅ Mara Kirdani-Ryan, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Experience Report Track

2021

HowToo: A Platform for Sharing, Finding, and Using Programming Strategies ⋅ Maryam Arab, Jenny Liang, Yang Kyu Yoo, Amy J. Ko, Thomas D. LaToza ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

Domain Experts’ Interpretations of Assessment Bias in a Scaled, Online Computer Science Curriculum ⋅ Benjamin Xie, Matt Davidson, Baker Franke, Emily McLeod, Min Li, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Learning at Scale

How Do Children’s Perceptions of Machine Intelligence Change when Training & Coding Smart Programs? ⋅ Stefania Druga, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Interaction Design for Children

Falx: Synthesis-Powered Visualization Authoring ⋅ Chenglong Wang, Yu Feng, Rastislav Bodik, Isil Dillig, Alvin Cheung, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) best paper

A Theory of Robust API Knowledge ⋅ Kyle Thayer, Sarah Chasins, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Transactions on Computing Education

Towards Understanding the Effective Design of Automated Formative Feedback for Programming Assignments ⋅ Qiang Hao, David Smith, Lu Ding, Amy J. Ko, Camille Ottaway, Jack Wilson, Kai Hicks, Alistair Turcan, Timothy Poehlman, Tyler Greer ⋅ Computer Science Education

Investigating Item Bias in a CS1 exam with Differential Item Functioning ⋅ Matt Davidson, Amy J. Ko, Brett Wortzman ⋅ ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Research Track

2020

On the Role of Design in K-12 Computing Education ⋅ Alannah Oleson, Amy J. Ko, Brett Wortzman ⋅ ACM Transactions on Computing Education

Learning Machine Learning with Personal Data Helps Stakeholders Ground Advocacy Arguments in Model Mechanics ⋅ Yim Register, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

The Effect of Informing Agency in Self-Directed Online Learning Environments ⋅ Benjamin Xie, Greg Nelson, Harshitha Akkaraju, William Kwok, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Learning at Scale (L@S)

Computing Students' Learning Difficulties in HCI Education ⋅ Alannah Oleson, Meron Solomon, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

Scout: Rapid Exploration of Interface Layout Alternatives through High-Level Design Constraints ⋅ Amanda Swearngin, Chenglong Wang, Alannah Oleson, James Fogarty, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

Investigating Novices' In Situ Reflections on Their Programming Process ⋅ Dastyni Loksa, Benjamin Xie, Harrison Kwik, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Research Track

Explicit Programming Strategies ⋅ Thomas D. LaToza, Maryam Arab, Dastyni Loksa, Amy J. Ko ⋅ Empirical Software Engineering

2019

What Distinguishes Great Software Engineers? ⋅ Paul Luo Li, Amy J. Ko, Andrew Begel ⋅ Empirical Software Engineering

Towards Validity for a Formative Assessment for Language-Specific Program Tracing Skills ⋅ Greg Nelson, Anne Drew Hu, Benjamin Xie, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research

A Systematic Investigation of Replications in Computing Education Research ⋅ Qiang Hao, David H. Smith IV, Naitra Iriumi, Michaeil Tsikerdekis, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Transactions on Computing Education

A Theory of Instruction for Introductory Programming Skills ⋅ Benjamin Xie, Dastyni Loksa, Greg Nelson, Matt Davidson, Dongsheng Dong, Harrison Kwik, Alex Tan, Leanne Hwa, Min Li, Amy J. Ko ⋅ Computer Science Education

Teaching Explicit Programming Strategies to Adolescents ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Thomas D. LaToza, Stephen Hull, Ellen Ko, William Kwok, Jane Quichocho, Harshitha Akkaraju, Rishin Pandit ⋅ ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Research Track

Teaching Accessibility: A Design Exploration of Faculty Professional Development at Scale ⋅ Saba Kawas, Laura Vonessen, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Research Track

An Item Response Theory Evaluation of a Language-Independent CS1 Knowledge Assessment ⋅ Benjamin Xie, Matt Davidson, Min Li, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Research Track

2018

On Use of Theory in Computing Education Research ⋅ Greg Nelson, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER) best paper

Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching Inclusive Design ⋅ Alannah Oleson, Christopher Mendez, Zoe Steine-Hanson, Claudia Hilderbrand, Chris Perdriau, Margaret Burnett, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

Experiences of Computer Science Transfer Students ⋅ Harrison Kwik, Benjamin Xie, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

Rewire: Interface Design Assistance from Examples ⋅ Amanda Swearngin, Wil Li, Mira Dontcheva, Morgan Dixon, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

Empowering Families Facing English Literacy Challenges to Jointly Engage in Computer Programming ⋅ Rahul Banerjee, Jason Yip, Amy J. Ko, Caroline Pitt, Kiley R. Sobel, Kung Lee, Leanne Liu, Meng Wang, Zoran Popovic ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) honorable mention

Informal Mentoring of Adolescents about Computing: Relationships, Roles, Qualities, and Impact ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Leanne Hwa, Katie Davis, Jason Yip ⋅ ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Research Track

An Explicit Strategy to Scaffold Novice Program Tracing ⋅ Benjamin Xie, Greg Nelson, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Research Track

Who Teaches Accessibility? A Survey of U.S. Computing Faculty ⋅ Kristen Shinohara, Saba Kawas, Amy J. Ko, Richard E. Ladner ⋅ ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Research Track

2017

Predicting Abandonment in Online Coding Tutorials ⋅ Annie Yan, Michael J. Lee, Amy J. Ko ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

Comprehension First: Evaluating a Novel Pedagogy and Tutoring System for Program Tracing in CS1 ⋅ Greg Nelson, Benjamin Xie, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

Barriers Faced by Coding Bootcamp Students ⋅ Kyle Thayer, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

Computing Mentorship in a Software Boomtown: Relationships to Adolescent Interest and Beliefs ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Katie Davis ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

Genie: Input Retargeting on the Web through Command Reverse Engineering ⋅ Amanda Swearngin, Amy J. Ko, James Fogarty ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

A Three-Year Participant Observation of Software Startup Software Evolution ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE), Software Engineering in Practice

General Principles for a Generalized Idea Garden ⋅ Will Jernigan, Amber Horvath, Michael J. Lee, Margaret M. Burnett, Taylor Cuilty, Sandeep Kuttal, Anicia Peters, Irwin Kwan, Faezeh Bahmani, Amy J. Ko, Christopher J. Mendez, Alannah Oleson ⋅ Journal of Visual Languages and Computing

A Pedagogical Analysis of Online Coding Tutorials ⋅ Ada Kim, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Research Track

2016

The Role of Self-Regulation in Programming Problem Solving Process and Success ⋅ Dastyni Loksa, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

Programming, Problem Solving, and Self-Awareness: Effects of Explicit Guidance ⋅ Dastyni Loksa, Amy J. Ko, William Jernigan, Alannah Oleson, Chris Mendez, Margaret M. Burnett ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

2015

Explaining Visual Changes in Web Interfaces ⋅ BJ Burg, Amy J. Ko, Michael D. Ernst ⋅ ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST)

A Principled Evaluation for a Principled Idea Garden ⋅ William Jernigan, Amber Horvath, Michael J. Lee, Margaret M. Burnett, Taylor Cuilty, Sandeep Kuttal, Anicia N. Peters, Irwin Kwan, Faezeh Bahmani, Amy J. Ko ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

Comparing the Effectiveness of Online Learning Approaches on CS1 Learning Outcomes ⋅ Michael J. Lee, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

What Makes a Great Software Engineer? ⋅ Paul Luo Li, Amy J. Ko, Jiamin Zhu ⋅ ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE)

From User-Centered Design to Adoption-Centered Design: A Case Study of a Research System Becoming a Product ⋅ Parmit K. Chilana, Amy J. Ko, Jacob O. Wobbrock ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) best paper

2014

Principles of a Debugging-First Puzzle Game for Computing Education ⋅ Michael J. Lee, Faezeh Bahmani, Irwin Kwan, Jillian LaFerte, Polina Charters, Amber Horvath, Fanny Luor, Jill Cao, Catherine Law, Michael Beswetherick, Sheridan Long, Margaret M. Burnett, Amy J. Ko ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC) most influential paper

Challenging Stereotypes and Changing Attitudes: The Effect of a Brief Programming Encounter on Adults' Attitudes toward Programming ⋅ Polina Charters, Michael J. Lee, Amy J. Ko, Dastyni Loksa ⋅ ACM Symposium on Computer Science Education

2013

A Practical Guide to Controlled Experiments of Software Engineering Tools with Human Participants ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Thomas D. LaToza, Margaret M. Burnett ⋅ Empirical Software Engineering

Interactive Record/Replay for Web Application Debugging ⋅ BJ Burg, Richard Bailey, Amy J. Ko, Michael D. Ernst ⋅ ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) honorable mention

In-Game Assessments Increase Novice Programmers' Engagement and Learning Efficiency ⋅ Michael J. Lee, Amy J. Ko, Irwin Kwan ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER) best paper

A Multi-Site Field Study of Crowdsourced Contextual Help: Usage and Perspectives of End-Users and Software Teams ⋅ Parmit K. Chilana, Amy J. Ko, Jacob O. Wobbrock ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

2012

LemonAid: Selection-Based Crowdsourced Contextual Help for Web Applications ⋅ Parmit K. Chilana, Amy J. Ko, Jacob O. Wobbrock ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

Is This What You Meant? Promoting Listening on the Web with Reflect ⋅ Travis Kriplean, Michael Toomim, Jonathan Morgan, Alan Borning, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

Investigating the Role of Purposeful Goals on Novices' Engagement in a Programming Game ⋅ Michael J. Lee, Amy J. Ko ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

2011

Personifying Programming Tool Feedback Improves Novice Programmers' Learning ⋅ Michael J. Lee, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM International Computing Education Research Conference (ICER)

Feedlack Detects Missing Feedback in Web Applications ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Xing Zhang ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

Characterizing the Differences Between Pre- and Post- release Versions of Software ⋅ Paul Luo Li, Ryan Kivett, Zhiyuan Zhan, Sung-eok Jeon, Nachiappan Nagappan, Brendan Murphy, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE), Software Engineering in Practice

Design, Discussion, and Dissent in Open Bug Reports ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Parmit K. Chilana ⋅ iConference

Why-Oriented End-User Debugging of Naive Bayes Text Classification ⋅ Todd Kulesza, Simone Stumpf, Weng-Keen Wong, Margaret M. Burnett, Stephen Perona, Amy J. Ko, Ian Oberst ⋅ ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems, 1(1), Article 2

The State of the Art in End-User Software Engineering ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Robin Abraham, Laura Beckwith, Alan Blackwell, Margaret M. Burnett, Martin Erwig, Chris Scaffidi, Joseph Lawrance, Henry Lieberman, Brad A. Myers, Mary Beth Rosson, Gregg Rothermel, Mary Shaw, Susan Wiedenbeck ⋅ ACM Computing Surveys, 43(3), Article 21

The Role of Conceptual Knowledge in API Usability ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Yann Riche ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

Post-Deployment Usability: A Survey of Current Practices ⋅ Parmit K. Chilana, Amy J. Ko, Jacob O. Wobbrock, Tovi Grossman, George Fitzmaurice ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

2010

Gestalt: Integrated Support for Implementation and Analysis in Machine Learning Processes ⋅ Kayur Patel, Naomi Bancroft, Steven M. Drucker, James Fogarty, Amy J. Ko, James A. Landay ⋅ ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST)

Cleanroom: Edit-Time Error Detection with the Uniqueness Heuristic ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Jacob O. Wobbrock ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC) best paper

How Power Users Help and Hinder Open Bug Reporting ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Parmit K. Chilana ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) honorable mention

Understanding Usability Practices in Complex Domains: Implications for Training the Next Generation of Usability Professionals ⋅ Parmit K. Chilana, Jacob O. Wobbrock, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

Extracting and Answering Why and Why Not Questions about Java Program Output ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers ⋅ ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 22(2)

Understanding Expressions of Unwanted Behaviors in Open Bug Reporting ⋅ Parmit K. Chilana, Amy J. Ko, Jacob O. Wobbrock ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

2009

Attitudes and Self-Efficacy in Young Adults' Computing Autobiographies ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

Finding Causes of Program Output with the Java Whyline ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

Fixing the Program My Computer Learned: Barriers for End Users, Challenges for the Machine ⋅ Todd Kuleza, Weng-Keen Wong, Simone Stumpf, Stephen Perona, Rachel White, Margaret M. Burnett, Ian Oberst, Amy J. Ko ⋅ International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI)

2008

How Designers Design and Program Interactive Behaviors ⋅ Brad A. Myers, Sun Young Park, Yoko Nakano, Greg Mueller, Amy J. Ko ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC) most influential paper honorable mention

Debugging Reinvented: Asking and Answering Why and Why Not Questions about Program Behavior ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers ⋅ ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE) best paper + most influential paper

2007

Information Needs in Collocated Software Development Teams ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Rob DeLine, Gina Venolia ⋅ ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE)

Let's Go to the Whiteboard: How and Why Software Developers Draw Code ⋅ Mauro Cherubini, Gina Venolia, Rob DeLine, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

2006

A Linguistic Analysis of How People Describe Software Problems in Bug Reports ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers, Duen Horng Chau ⋅ Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing

Answering Why and Why Not Questions in User Interfaces ⋅ Brad A. Myers, David Weitzman, Amy J. Ko, Duen Horng Chau ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

Barista: An Implementation Framework for Enabling New Tools, Interaction Techniques and Views for Code Editors ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

An Exploratory Study of How Developers Seek, Relate, and Collect Relevant Information during Software Maintenance Tasks ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers, Michael J. Coblenz, Htet Htet Aung ⋅ IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering most influential paper

Dimensions Characterizing Programming Feature Usage by Information Workers ⋅ Chris Scaffidi, Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers, Mary Shaw ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

2005

Citrus: A Language and Toolkit for Simplifying the Creation of Structured Editors for Code and Data ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers ⋅ ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST)

Examining Task Engagement in Sensor-Based Statistical Models of Human Interruptibility ⋅ James Fogarty, Amy J. Ko, Htet Htet Aung, Elspeth Golden, Karen P. Tang, Scott E. Hudson ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) best paper

Eliciting Design Requirements for Maintenance-Oriented IDEs: A Detailed Study of Corrective and Perfective Maintenance Tasks ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Htet Htet Aung, Brad A. Myers ⋅ ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE) best paper

A Framework and Methodology for Studying the Causes of Software Errors in Programming Systems ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers ⋅ Journal of Visual Languages and Computing

Using Objects of Measurement to Detect Spreadsheet Errors ⋅ Michael J. Coblenz, Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

Design Requirements for More Flexible Structured Editors from a Study of Programmers' Text Editing ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Htet Htet Aung, Brad A. Myers ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

2004

Six Learning Barriers in End-User Programming Systems ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers, Htet Htet Aung ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC) most influential paper

Designing the Whyline: A Debugging Interface for Asking Questions About Program Failures ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

2003

Development and Evaluation of a Model of Programming Errors ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC) best paper + most influential paper

Individual Differences in Program Comprehension Strategies in Unfamiliar Environments ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Bob Uttl ⋅ IEEE International Workshop on Program Comprehension (IWPC)

2002

Improving the Design of Visual Programming Language Experiments Using Cognitive Walkthroughs ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Margaret M. Burnett, Thomas R.G. Green, Karen J. Rothermel, Curtis R. Cook ⋅ Journal of Visual Languages and Computing, 13(5)

2001

Visually Testing Recursive Programs in Spreadsheet Languages ⋅ Margaret M. Burnett, Bing Ren, Amy J. Ko, Curtis Cook, Gregg Rothermel ⋅ IEEE Symposia on Human-Centric Computing Languages and Environments

2000

Using the Cognitive Walkthrough to Improve the Design of a Visual Programming Experiment ⋅ Thomas R.G. Green, Margaret M. Burnett, Amy J. Ko ⋅ IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centered Computing (VL/HCC)

Refereed Workshop Papers

Toward the Development of HCI Pedagogical Content Knowledge ⋅ 2020 ⋅ Alannah Oleson, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM SIGCHI Symposium on HCI Education (EduCHI 2020)

Modeling Programming Problem Solving Through Interactive Worked Examples ⋅ 2017 ⋅ Dastyni Loksa, Amy J. Ko ⋅ Workshop on Evaluation and Usability of Programming Languages and Tools (PLATEAU)

Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Collaborations with Software Engineers ⋅ 2017 ⋅ Paul Luo Li, Amy J. Ko, Andrew Begel ⋅ International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering (CHASE)

What is a Programming Language, Really? ⋅ 2016 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Workshop on Workshop on Evaluation and Usability of Programming Languages and Tools (PLATEAU)

Thirty Years of Software Problems in the News ⋅ 2014 ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Bryan Dosono, Neeraja Duriseti ⋅ International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering (CHASE)

Representations of User Feedback in an Agile, Collocated Software Team ⋅ 2012 ⋅ Michael J. Lee, Amy J. Ko ⋅ International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering (CHASE)

A Case Study of Post-Deployment User Feedback Triage ⋅ 2011 ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Michael J. Lee, Valentina Ferrari, Stephen Ip, Charlie Tran ⋅ International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering (CHASE)

Comparing Bioinformatics Software Development by Computer Scientists and Biologists: An Exploratory Study ⋅ 2009 ⋅ Parmit K. Chilana, Carole Palmer, Amy J. Ko ⋅ Workshop on Software Engineering for Computational Science and Engineering

JASPER: An Eclipse Plug-In to Facilitate Software Maintenance Tasks ⋅ 2006 ⋅ Michael J. Coblenz, Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers ⋅ Proceedings of the 2006 OOPSLA Workshop on Eclipse Technology eXchange

Books

Teaching Accessible Computing ⋅ 2024 ⋅ Alannah Oleson, Amy J. Ko, Richard Ladner ⋅ Online

Critically Conscious Computing: Methods for Secondary Education ⋅ 2021 ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Anne Beitlers, Brett Wortzman, Matt Davidson, Alannah Oleson, Mara Kirdani-Ryan, Stefania Druga, Jayne Everson ⋅ Online

Foundations of Information ⋅ 2020 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ Online

Informatics Teaching Guide ⋅ 2019 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ Online

User Interface Software and Technology ⋅ 2017 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ Online

Cooperative Software Development ⋅ 2016 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ Online

Design Methods ⋅ 2015 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ Online

Book Chapters

A Study Design Design Process ⋅ 2019 ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Sally Fincher ⋅ Cambridge Handbook on Computing Education Research (Sally Fincher, Anthony Robin, Eds.)

Learning Outside the Classroom ⋅ 2019 ⋅ Andrew Begel, Amy J. Ko ⋅ Cambridge Handbook on Computing Education Research (Sally Fincher, Anthony Robin, Eds.)

Tools and Environments ⋅ 2019 ⋅ Lauri Malmi, Ian Utting, Amy J. Ko ⋅ Cambridge Handbook on Computing Education Research (Sally Fincher, Anthony Robin, Eds.)

Human-Centered Methods to Boost Productivity ⋅ 2019 ⋅ Brad A Myers, Amy J. Ko, Thomas D. LaToza, YoungSeok Yoon ⋅ Sadowski C., Zimmermann T. (eds) Rethinking Productivity in Software Engineering. Apress, Berkeley, CA

Individual, Team, Organization, and Market: Four Lenses of Productivity ⋅ 2019 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ Sadowski C., Zimmermann T. (Eds) Rethinking Productivity in Software Engineering. Apress, Berkeley, CA

Why Not to Measure Productivity ⋅ 2019 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ Sadowski C., Zimmermann T. (eds) Rethinking Productivity in Software Engineering. Apress, Berkeley, CA

The World is Your Test Suite ⋅ 2016 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ Perspectives on Data Science for Software Engineering, 1st Edition

Software Engineering Through Qualitative Methods ⋅ 2010 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ Making Software: What Really Works, and Why We Believe It

Refereed Magazine Articles

It’s Time for More Critical CS Education ⋅ 2020 ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Alannah Oleson, Mara Kirdani-Ryan, Yim Register, Benjamin Xie, Mina Tari, Matt Davidson, Stefania Druga, Dastyni Loksa, Greg Nelson ⋅ Communications of the ACM (CACM)

AccessComputing Promotes Teaching Accessibility ⋅ 2016 ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Richard Ladner ⋅ ACM Inroads

Programmers are Users Too: Human Centered Methods for Improving Tools for Programming ⋅ 2016 ⋅ Brad A. Myers, Amy J. Ko, Thomas D. LaToza, YoungSeok Yoon ⋅ IEEE Computer

New to the Movement: Reflections on the Future of Information Schools from Inspired Junior Faculty ⋅ 2009 ⋅ Jacob O. Wobbrock, Amy J. Ko, Julie A. Kientz ⋅ Interactions

Natural Programming Languages and Environments ⋅ 2004 ⋅ Brad A. Myers, John F. Pane, Amy J. Ko ⋅ Communications of the ACM (CACM)

Juried Conference Papers

Measuring students' programming skills via online practice ⋅ 2024 ⋅ Hongwen Guo, Mo Zhang, Amy J. Ko, Min Li, Benjamin Zhou, Jared Lim, Paul Pham, Chen Li ⋅ Computer Science Educational Data Mining Workshop

What do you really mean by rigor? Deconstructing the definition in CS Teaching ⋅ 2023 ⋅ Jayne Everson, Anne Beitlers, Amy J. Ko ⋅ American Education Research Association

Scout: Mixed-Initiative Exploration of Design Variations through High-Level Design Constraints ⋅ 2018 ⋅ Amanda Swearngin, Amy J. Ko, James Fogarty ⋅ ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST)

Mining Whining in Support Forums with Frictionary ⋅ 2012 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), alt.chi

Designing for a Billion Users: A Case Study of Facebook ⋅ 2012 ⋅ Parmit K. Chilana, Christina Holsberry, Flavio Oliveira, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Case Studies (CHI)

Supporting Active Listening and Grounding on the Web through Restatement ⋅ 2011 ⋅ Travis Kriplean, Michael M. Toomim, Jonathan T. Morgan, Alan Borning, Amy J. Ko ⋅ ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Horizons Workshop

Juried workshop papers

Crowdsourced Q&A-based Contextual Help for Web Applications: Challenges and Opportunities ⋅ 2013 ⋅ Parmit K. Chilana, Amy J. Ko, Jacob O. Wobbrock ⋅ CSCW Workshop on Social Media Question Asking

Designing Crowdsourced, Context-Sensitive Help for Web Applications ⋅ 2011 ⋅ Parmit K. Chilana, Amy J. Ko, Jacob O. Wobbrock ⋅ Workshop on Crowdsourcing and Human Computation

How Do Open Source Developers Talk about Users? ⋅ 2010 ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Parmit K. Chilana ⋅ CHI 2010 Workshop on The Future of FLOSS in CHI Research and Practice

The Past, Present and Future of Programming in HCI ⋅ 2009 ⋅ Brad A. Myers, Amy J. Ko ⋅ Human-Computer Interaction Consortium (HCIC)

Designing Software for Unfamiliar Domains ⋅ 2009 ⋅ Parmit K. Chilana, Amy J. Ko, Jacob O. Wobbrock ⋅ Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering (CHASE)

Source-Level Debugging with the Whyline ⋅ 2008 ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers ⋅ Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering

The Role of Science in Supporting Software Development ⋅ 2006 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ Workshop on Supporting the Social Side of Large-Scale Software Development, at the 2006 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work

More Natural and Open User Interface Tools ⋅ 2005 ⋅ Brad A. Myers, Amy J. Ko ⋅ Workshop on the Future of User Interface Design Tools

Technical Reports

The Importance of Computing Education Research ⋅ 2016 ⋅ Steve Cooper, Jeff Forbes, Armando Fox, Susan Hambrusch, Amy J. Ko, Beth Simon ⋅ CRA Computing Community Consortium

Asking and Answering Questions about the Causes of Software Behavior ⋅ 2008 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ Carnegie Mellon University Dissertation

Asking and Answering Questions about the Causes of Software Behaivors ⋅ 2006 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ Carnegie Mellon University, Thesis Proposal

Identifying Types of End Users: Hints from an Informal Survey ⋅ 2005 ⋅ Amy J. Ko, Brad A. Myers, Mary Shaw ⋅ Carnegie Mellon University ISRI Technical Report, no. CMU-HCII-05-101 and Human Computer Interaction Institute Technical Report, no CMU-ISRI-05-110

Individual Differences in Programming, Testing, and Debugging Strategies in a Statistical End-User Programming Environment ⋅ 2002 ⋅ Amy J. Ko ⋅ Oregon State University, Honors Thesis

Impact

Press

2024

Claire Bryan

Seattle Times

2024

Stefane Milne

University of Washington

2024

Nicole Choi

GitHub

2024

Dave Levine

2023

Amy J. Ko

Nature

2023

Jeffrey M. Perkel

Nature

2022

Blake Peterson

425 Business

2022

John Stearns

425 Business

2022

Sravya Tadepalli

Prism Reports

2021

Jared O'Leary

2020

Chelsea Toczauer

OnlineEducation.com

2016

Amy J. Ko and Susanne Hambrusch

Huffington Post

2016

Tia Ghose

LiveScience

2016

Jeff Meyerson

2012

Paul Marks

NewScientist

2012

Joab Jackson

IDG News

2010

Owen Lei

King5 News

2005

Alan Cohen

PC Magazine

2004

Mike Crissey

Associated Press

Invited Keynotes

2021

2021 Washington State Why CS Summit

2021

2021 IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference

2021

2021 CSTA Conference

2021

2021 IEEE RESPECT Conference

2020

IT University of Copenhagen

2019

2019 Koli Calling Computing Education Research Conference

2018

2018 International Conference on Mining Software Repositories and International Conference on Program Comprehension

2016

SPLASH 2016

2009

CHOOSE Forum, Bern Switzerland

2009

India Software Engineering Conference, Pune, India

Invited Talks

2024

Harvey Mudd and Pomona College, joint colloqium

2024

NCWIT Summit 2024

2024

Cal State Sonoma

2024

SIGCSE Technical Symposium 2024

2024

L'Université du Québec à Montréal

2023

University of Michigan

2023

HCI Institute, Carnegie Mellon

2022

CSAIL, MIT

2022

Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada

2021

University of Colorado Boulder, Institute for Cognitive Science

2021

Digital Learning Lab, University of California, Irvine

2021

California Institute of Technology, Computing and Mathematical Sciences, Keller Colloquium

2021

University of California, Davis, Computer Science, Computing Education Research at Davis Seminar

2020

University of Pennsylvania, Computer and Information Science, Seminar Series

2020

Carnegie Mellon University, HCI Institute, Seminar Series

2020

University of Virginia, Computer Science Distinguished Speaker Series

2020

University of Colorado joint Colloqium of the Department of Information Science and College of Media, Communication and Information

2020

2020 PL+HCI Swimmer School

2020

Microsoft

2019

ETH Zurich Computer Science

2018

2018 International Conference on Software Engineering

2018

Stanford University, HCI Seminar

2017

University of Michigan, MISC Seminar

2018

Northwestern University, CS+X Colloquium

2017

ACM Learning Center Webinar

2017

Amazon Stackhouse Talks

2015

ACM Learning Center Webinar

2011

Coverity, San Francisco, CA

2012

Microsoft, Redmond, WA

2011

MIT, Cambridge, MA

2011

UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC

2010

IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Hawthorne, NY

2009

IIT Mumbai, India

2009

Intel Research Seattle, Seattle, WA

2008

Accenture, Chicago, Illinois

2008

Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

2008

SRI International, Menlo Park, CA

2006

University of British Columbia, CS Department, Vancouver, B.C.

Invited Panels

2024

Trans Studies 2024

2022

Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) Program, Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan

2022

Massachusets Institute of Technology

2021

IEEE Conference on Research in Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT)

2021

North Central ESD K-12 STEM Education Summit

2020

Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University

2021

AccessComputing Seminar Series

2016

CRA Snowbird Conference

Patents

2017

U.S. Patent No. 9,727,561

Amy J. Ko and Victor Medina

2012

U.S. Patent No. 9,811,583

Parmit K. Chilana, Amy J. Ko, and Wobbrock, J.O.

2010

U.S. Patent No. 7,735,066

Amy J. Ko and Brad A. Myers

Teaching

Courses

2024-2025

undergraduate

A weekly research studio, held annually, for working on Wordplay and other justice-centered educational programming languages research. A way to earn credit by contributing to Wordplay.

Taught 0 times

2018-2023

undergraduate

This survey course covers big ideas in information, information technology, and information systems. Students learn the history of information, foundational concepts in information, the relationship between information and computing, skills in analyzing and designing information systems, and the role of information systems in society.

Taught 4 times

2008-2018

undergraduate

This undergraduate class teaches students design thinking skills in the domain of information and computing. It leverages multiple forms of active learning, involves a significant amount of studio-based learning, and helps students develop creative confidence.

Taught 14 times

2010-2020

undergraduate

This undergraduate software engineering class teaches foundations of team-based software development, leveraging the latest research on coordination, cooperation, and human cognition in software development. Students leave ready to become meaningful contributors to teams big and small, but also to understand the processes that teams use and how they can improve them.

Taught 6 times

2011-2013

undergraduate

This undergraduate capstone sequence engages students in a 6-month project, usually culminating in a functional, deployable prototype, and often in collaboration with a client from local industry.

Taught 4 times

2018-2024

graduate

This core course in our Masters of HCI+Design teaches students they history, theory, and foundations of user interfaces. Students acquire a literacy for communicating and reasoning about interfaces.

Taught 6 times

2010-2011

graduate

This doctoral course teaches theoretical foundations of HCI, preparing students as designers, design researchers, and HCI researchers.

Taught 2 times

2022-2024

graduate

This graduate course educates teacher candidates about equity and justice issues in computer science and computer science education, while also teaching content knowledge foundations of CS. I teach it in partnership with the UW College of Education's Secondary Teacher Education Program, which I'm helping design and launch.

Taught 2 times

Postdoc Supervision

2015-2016

Information School

2022-2024

The Information School - Assistant Professor, Computer Science, Carlton College (2024)

2024-present

The Information School

Doctoral Student Supervision

Committee Chair

2008-2013

Information School

Co-advisor: Jacob Wobbrock

- Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University, Computer Science (2016)
- Assistant Professor, University of Waterloo, Management Sciences, (2013-2016)
- Facebook PhD Fellowship (2010)
- Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Doctoral Award (2009)

2009-2016

Information School - Senior Data Scientist, Microsoft (2016)

2009-2015

Information School - Assistant Professor, Information Systems, New Jersey Institute of Technology (2015)
- ACM ICER Best Paper Award (2013)

2009-2010

Information School

2011-2015

Computer Science

Co-advisor: Michael Ernst

- Senior Software Engineer, Apple (2015-present)
- ACM UIST Best Paper Nominee (2015)

2013-2020

Information School - Assistant Professor, Towson University, Computer Science (2020)

2014-2018

Information School

2015-2020

Computer Science

Co-advisor: Katharina Reinecke

- Assistant Teaching Professor, The Information School, University of Washington (2019)

2015-2019

Computer Science

Co-advisor: James Fogarty

- Research Scientist, AIML, Apple (2020)
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2016)

2016-2022

Information School - Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Denver (2025)
- Husky 100, recognizing top UW students (2021)
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2017)
- Postdoc, Stanford University (2022-2024)

2016-2021

Computer Science - Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Maine (2022)
- ACM ICER John Henry Best Paper Award (2018)
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2015)

2018-2024

Computer Science - Assistant Teaching Professor, The Information School, University of Washington (2024)

2018-2023

Information School - Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Denver (2024)
- Husky 100, recognizing top UW students (2022)
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2018)

2018-2019

Information School - NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2019)

2019-2023

Information School - Research Scientist, Google Gemini (2023)

2020-present

Computer Science - ACM SIGCSE Best Paper Award (2024)
- ACM SIGCSE Best Paper Award (2022)

2021-present

The Information School

Co-advisor: Katie Davis

- 2024 ACM ICER Best Paper Award Honorable Mention

2022-present

Computer Science - NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2024)

2022-2023

Computer Science & Engineering - Assistant Professor, Computer Science, Grinnell College, 2023

2022-present

iSchool - NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2023)

2024-present

Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering

Co-advisor: R. Benjamin Shapiro, Mike Ernst

Committee Member

2024 — present	Luis Morales-Navarro	University of Pennsylvania	Graduate School of Education
2024 — present	Daniela Wolf	Graz University of Technology	Computer Science
2024 — present	Edward Misback	University of Washington	Computer Science
2022 - 2024	Ella Lombard	University of Washington	Psychology
2024 — present	Anne Drew Hu	Michigan State University	Education
2024 — present	Aashaka Desai	University of Washington	Computer Science
2023 — present	Sara Nurollahian	University of Utah	Computer Science
2022 — present	Camille Gobert	Paris-Saclay University	Computer Science
2022 — present	Venkatesh Potluri	University of Washington	Computer Science
2018 — present	Maryam Arab	George Mason University	Computer Science
2018 - 2022	Mina Tari	University of Washington	The Information School
2022	Bas Jansen	Leiden University	Institute of Advanced Computer Science
2022	Sangho Su	University of Waterloo	Computer Science
2021 — present	Leah Perlmutter	University of Washington	Computer Science & Enngineering
2021 - 2022	Alex Okeson	University of Washington	Computer Science & Enngineering
2021 — present	Burren Peil	University of Washington	Human-Centered Design and Engineering
2021 — present	Anne Drew Hu	Michigan State University	College of Education
2020 - 2021	Jean Salac	University of Chicago	Computer Science
2020 - 2021	Lily Durwood	University of Washington	Psychology
2020 - 2022	Matthew Davidson	University of Washington	College of Education
2019 - 2021	Chenglong Wang	University of Washington	Computer Science & Engineering
2018 - 2021	Meen Chul Kim	Drexel University	Information Science
2018 - 2020	Srinivasan Iyer	George Mason University	Computer Science
2018 - 2024	David Samudio	George Mason University	Computer Science
2018 - 2019	Justin Smith	North Carolina State University	Computer Science
2017 - 2021	Alex Kale	University of Washington	The Information School
2017 - 2019	Aaron Bauer	University of Washington	Computer Science & Engineering
2017 - 2020	Elena Agapie	University of Washington	Human-Centered Design and Engineering
2017 - 2018	James Bornholt	University of Washington	Computer Science & Engineering
2017 - 2018	Abdullah Ali	University of Washington	The Information School
2017 - 2020	Yea-Seul Kim	University of Washington	The Information School
2016 - 2018	Lauren Milne	University of Washington	Computer Science & Engineering
2016 - 2018	Eric Butler	University of Washington	Computer Science & Engineering
2016 - 2018	Justin Huang	University of Washington	Computer Science & Engineering
2016 - 2020	Elena Agapie	University of Washington	Human-Centered Design & Engineering
2016 - 2018	Jonathan Bragg	University of Washington	Computer Science & Engineering
2016 - 2019	Nan-Chen Chen	University of Washington	Human-Centered Design and Engineering
2014 - 2016	Matthew Kay	University of Washington	Computer Science & Engineering
2012 - 2017	Catherine Baker	University of Washington	Computer Science & Engineering
2012 - 2014	Roshanak Zilouchian	University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign	Computer Science
2012 - 2015	Sean Fullerton	University of Washington	Information School
2011 - 2016	Jared Bauer	University of Washington	Information School
2011 - 2014	Paul Gross	Washington University in St. Louis	Computer Science
2011 - 2014	Marilyn Ostergren	University of Washington	Information School
2011 - 2012	Jing Xie	University of North Carolina, Charlotte	Computer Science, UNC Charlotte
2008 - 2012	Kayur Patel	University of Washington	Computer Science & Engineering
2010 - 2013	Michael Toomim	University of Washington	Computer Science & Engineering
2010 - 2012	Travis Kriplean	University of Washington	Computer Science & Engineering
2009 - 2011	Elisabeth Jones	University of Washington	Information School

Service

Journal Editorial Boards

2021-2024

Editor in Chief

2016-2019

Associate Editor

2015-2021

Associate Editor

2009

Co-Editor

Conference Program Chair

2020-2021

Program Co-Chair

2020

Program Co-Chair

2019-2020

Program Co-Chair

2012-2013

Program Sub-Committee Co-Chair

2011-2012

Program Sub-Committee Co-Chair

2011

Program Co-Chair

Conference Program Committee Member

2018-2019

Program Board Member

2014-2019

Senior Program Committee Member

2016-2019

Senior Program Committee Member

2013-2018

Program Committee Member

2017

Program Committee Member

2017

Program Committee Member

2014-2016

Program Committee Member

2016

Program Committee Member

2014

Program Committee Member

2010-2013

Associate Chair

2012-2013

Program Committee Member

2011

Associate Chair

2011

Program Committee Member

2011

Program Committee Member

2009-2010

Program Committee Member

Conference Reviewer

2015-2024

2005-2021

2020

Book reviewer

2018-2020

2018

2017-2018

2005-2015

2010-2011

2004-2010

2010

2009

2006-2008

2008

2006

2004-2005

Proposal Reviewer

2011-2023

NSF Panelist

International Service

2023-present

Reciprocal Reviews

I lead a community of volunteers to create infrastructure for sustainable peer review labor markets.

2024-2026

CHI Academy Selection Committee

I help evaluate nominations for CHI Academy members.

2024

SIGCSE Doctoral Consortium

I served as a mentor for twenty doctoral students from around the globe.

2020-2023

CRA-E

I work on projects that help create equitable pathways to participating in CS research.

2021-2022

ITU Center for Computing Education

I advice on the research centers scope and priorities.

2017-2020

ACM Education Advisory Council

I helped create resources, curriculum standards, and education guidelines for the global CS community.

2017-2019

SIGCSE Doctoral Consortium

I co-organized and co-ran the doctoral consortium, co-located with the ACM ICER conference annually.

2018-2019

Computing Research Association (CRA) Undergraduate Research Award Committee

I helped select finalists and winners for the CRA award.

2011-2015

IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing

I helped select future conference locations and device conference publication policy.

2014-2015

Dagstuhl on Human-Centered Software Development Tools

I helped propose, plan, and run the weeklong workshop

2015

CRA Whitepaper on Computing Education Research

I co-authored this whitepaper to help spread the word about the importance of CS education research in CS departments.

2009-2010

IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing

I co-organized and ran the doctoral consortium, reaching 40 doctoral students.

National Service

2021-2024

Expanding Computing Education Pathways Alliance (ECEP)

I help define strategic actions that lead to a more inclusive project, better positioning the ECEP community to advocate for, promote, and embrace equity in computer science education.

2021-2022

Code.org AP CS A advisory committee

I'm advising Code.org on the design and implementation of a new curriculuar effort.

2021

College Board AP CS Principles Standards Committee

I helped define assessments for the AP CS Principles exam.

2021

University of North Texas, Information Science, Academic Program Review

I participated in a formal evaluation of the department's programs.

2013-2015

EUSES Consortium

I led annual meetings and maintained the website for the international research collective, and then officially ended the group.

Regional Service

2022-present

Lambert House

I facilitate and mentor LGBTQ+ and especially trans youth around Puget Sound

2021NaN

Kaiser Permanente Gender Health Advisory Panel

Along with a group of a dozen other trans and non-binary community members, I provide guidance, ideas, feedback, and advocacy to Kaiser on their gender health services.

2018-present

CS for All Washington

I organize the group, which meets monthly to inform policy, organize community, and centralize information about about Washington state's K-12 CS for All efforts on the web (https://cseforallwa.org). Supported by the NSF-funded Exploring Computing Education Pathways project (https://ecepalliance.org).

2018-2020

Seattle Public Schools CS Advisory Board.

I advise the city on its CS curriculum and teacher pathways.

2017-2018

Washington State Computer Science Leadership Team

I provided expertise on CS learning to help shape state policy.

University Service

2016-2017

Masters in HCI+Design

I led the fourth year of the masters degree, renewing the campus-wide contract supporting its resources, hiring a new director to lead the program for the next three years, and securing a dedicated studio space in the former UW Alumni house.

2015

Global Innovation Exchange (GIX), University of Washington

I helped design and structure the The UW Master of Science in Technology Innovation Program.

2013-2015

MHCI+D Executive Committee

I helped set policy and procedures for the masters degree.

2013-2014

Masters in Human-Computer Interaction and Design, University of Washington

I helped design, plan, and launch the inaugural year of the masters degree.

2013

DUB Retreat, University of Washington

I co-organized the annual retreat for the HCI community at UW.

2012-2013

MHCI+D Faculty Search

I evaluated and recruited applicants to join the MHCI+D instructional faculty.

Departmental Service

2024-2027

Associate Dean for Academics

I serve as the iSchool's Associate Dean for Academics (40% time).

2023-2024

Associate Dean for Academics

I shadowed our Associate Dean for Academics to prepare to take over his role.

2024

Informatics

I served as interim program chair while our program chair was on leave.

2023

iSchool Ph.D. Admissions Committee

I helped plan admissions policy, review Ph.D. applicaitons, and make final admissions recommendations.

2017-2022

Informatics

I oversee the iSchool's undergraduate degree, which has nearly 500 students and graduates more than 200 per year. I identify curricular, community, and policy priorities, organize discussions of proposed changes, and implement the changes with the support of staff.I reframed the curriculum around the study, design, and development of information technology for the good of people, organizations, and society; I reduced reliance on guest faculty; I increased the inclusiveness and scalability of admissions; I grew the program by over 50%; and I increased the percept of women in the program to 40% and increased the representation of Black and Latinx by 100%.

2016-2022

iSchool Academics Council

I deliberate with the other program chairs and the Associate Dean for Academics on school-wide policy issues, as well as approve program-level changes.

2016-2022

iSchool Leadership Council

I deliberate with the Dean and numerous leaders across the iSchool to make strategic choices about the school's initiatives and finances.

2020-2021

iSchool Faculty Search

I helped search for and recruit data science teaching professors.

2016-2020

iSchool Informatics Admissions Committee

I designed, planned, and executed an admissions process with the support of staff, reviewing over 800 applications a year. I implemented many anti-racist efforts, including implicit bias training and removal of structurally racist evaluation criteria

2012-2014

iSchool Faculty Search

I evaluated and recruited applicants to join the iSchool as tenure-track faculty.

2012-2013

iSchool Elected Faculty Council

I helped advance the interests of faculty in the school through policy change and advocacy to the dean, hepling to secure an annual dispursement of flexible funding.

2010-2012

iSchool Informatics Program Committee

I helped make decisions on program curriculum, policy, and procedures.

2009-2010

iSchool Ph.D. Admissions Committee

I helped plan admissions policy, review Ph.D. applicaitons, and make final admissions recommendations.

2008-2009

iSchool Recognitions Committee

I helped identify, nominate, and recognize faculty, staff, and students with school-level awards.

2000-2002

Oregon State University ACM Student Chapter

I served as ACM Student Chapter president for three years, hosting the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, launching two years of student-taught 1 credit pass/fail courses to address curricular gaps, and bi-weekly pizza gatherings.