Amy J. Ko, Ph.D.
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I actively share my research and expertise with the world.
The press often reports on my research, interviews me, or consults with me on my expertise
press (2024) evidence
I was interviewed by the Seattle Times about the state of CS education in the state.
press (2024) evidence
The University of Washington highlighted our work on computational embroidery.
press (2024) evidence
GitHub highlighted Wordplay in a blog post about its security tools
press (2024) evidence
I was interviewed by Dave Levine for the KZSU Stanford Radio 90.1FM show Hearsay Culture on the topic of generative AI and education.
press (2023) evidence
I wrote a short piece about accessibility and programming.
press (2023) evidence
I was interviewed about the strengths and weaknesses of large-language models for scientific computing.
press (2022) evidence
I was interviewed more extensively about our Google gift for STEP CS tuition subsidy.
press (2022) evidence
I was interviewed about our Google gift for STEP CS tuition subsidy.
press (2022) evidence
I was interviewed about coding bootcamps.
press (2020) evidence
I was interviewed about the impact of online learning on learning to code.
consulting (2019)
I consulted with APM's Marketplace Tech on the effects and limits of automation
press (2016) evidence
I co-authored an article with Susanne Hambrusch for the Huffington Post titled "Why the Software Industry Needs Computing Education Research
press (2016) evidence
Tia Ghose interviewed me for LiveScience about the efficacy of coding toys
press (2012) evidence
NewScientist featured my work on Frictionary
press (2012) evidence
PC World featured our work on Facebook's design culture
press (2010) evidence
Seattle's King5 news interviewed me about software failures
press (2004) evidence
The Associated Press interviewed me on my dissertation work on the Whyline
My research often impacts policy and processes in software companies; I have also co-founded and consulted with startups
knowledge (2014-2016)
Our research on bug reporting has been read widely in industry, including by product teams at Microsoft, Adobe, Google, and ABB
product (2013-2020) evidence
Our research on Lemonaid, our crowdsourced help tool, was the basis for AnswerDash, a company that I co-founded with Jacob Wobbrock and Parmit Chilana that offers an instant self-service answers product for web applications and e-commerce sites. The company has impacted other company's product offerings, including Zendesk's self-service technologies. AnswerDash was acquired in 2020 by CloudEngage, a platform for customer personalization
press (2005) evidence
PC Magazine featured my research on the Whyline debugging tool
My research often reaches software developers through podcasts, news, social media, and tools
social (2020) evidence
Our research on software engineering expertise was read by tens of thousands of software developers on Hacker News
social (2018) evidence
Our research on coding tutorials read by tens of thousands of software developers on Hacker News
social (2017) evidence
Our research on coding bootcamps has been read by tens of thousands of software developers on Hacker News
press (2016) evidence
I was interviewed by Jeff Meyerson for the Software Engineering Daily podcast on February 24 about research, reaching tens of thousands of engineers
knowledge (2016) evidence
Our ACM Learning Webinar on software engineering expertise was viewed by hundreds of thousands of developers
product (2011-present) evidence
Portions of Timelapse and Scry were upstreamed to WebKit and may eventually appear in the Safari Web Inspector developer tools. These projects inspired similar features at the venture-backed startup replay.io.
product (2010-present)
Our work on interface mining has been replicated in several industry projects focused on supporting interface development
product (2004-2008) evidence
Our work on end-user software engineering has inspired hundreds of commercial tools for supporting end-user programming and impacted research efforts in professional software engineering
product (2004-2008)
Our work on understanding machine learning has indirectly shaped several of the tools used in industry to develop and debug machine learned programs
product (2004-2008) evidence
Our studies on program understanding and ideas for program understanding tools was partially the basis of the Debugger Canvas plugin for Visual Studio
product (2004-2008) evidence
Frictionary was used in one of the features in AnswerDash, the company I co-founded based on my CAREER grant
Many of my discoveries have impacted the design of educational technologies for learning to code
product (2020-present) evidence
Our work on PL Tutor influenced the JustJavaScript course by Dan Abramov
consulting (2020)
I consulted with Microsoft's VS Code, VS Online, and GitHub Education teams about how to support CS educators
product (2020-present) evidence
Codeitz, our Python tutorial which incoporates our theory of programming instruction, is publicly available, and used to support Python instruction
consulting (2016) evidence
I consulted with Microsoft on their project, sharing evidence from computing education research to inform the design of their learning technologies
product (2014-present) evidence
Gidget has been played by tens of thousans of youth adults online, in summer camps, and in high schools
product (2010-present) evidence
My work on Barista influenced the Greenfoot editor
I share much of my experience, both of my research areas and of my practice as an scholars, in books, blog posts, podcasts, and other media
curriculum (2020-present)
We influenced the teaching of HCI education in higher education
resource (2016-present) evidence
I write and share online books that summarize the state of knowledge in HCI and Software Engineering
resource (2016-present) evidence
I shared my practices and experiences with productivity and time management in the Changing Academic Life podcast
resource (2016-present) evidence
I share thoughts on academia and academic life on my blog, read by tens of thousands
knowledge (2016-present)
Our surveys are widely-cited and used by doctoral students to quickly learn about the state of the art and knowledge
I actively seek ways to help build the computing education research community by improving or creating new infrastructure
knowledge (2020-present)
Our work has opened discourse on the responsibility of CS educators to address the role of CS in injustice
resource (2020-present) evidence
I've heleped shape the peer review process for ACM International Computing Education Research Conference
knowledge (2018-present)
Greg Nelson's arguments about the role of theory in computing education research have spurred signfiicant debate in CS education. This debate was continued in a 60 minute panel session at ICER 2018 in Finland, an then another 90 minute panel session at SIGCSE in Minneapolis
resource (2018-present) evidence
I've helped shape the peer review processes for the ACM Transactions on Computing Education journal
resource (2018-present) evidence
I've helped shape the reviewing criteria for the ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium's research track
knowledge (2018-present)
Our work on assessment has imported more rigorous methods from educational measurement into CS education
resource (2017-2019)
I consulted with Google, NSF, CRA, and Code.org on strategies for strengthening the pipeline of computing education research, researchers, and research funding
resource (2016) evidence
Co-authored a whitepaper discussing the importance of computing education research
resource (2016-present) evidence
Since 2016 I've maintained a popular FAQ for newcomers to the community
resource (2016-present) evidence
I write blog posts on about computing education research topics are read widely amongst researchers and CS teachers
knowledge (2005-present)
Our work on research methods is widely read by new Ph.D. students across computer science to inform how they evaluate new developer tools and how they use theory
I've used my research and expertise to inform national policy and national curricula
press (2021) evidence
I was interviewed by Jared O'Leary on their BootUP CS podcast, where I talked about reflection, mentorship, and vulnerability.
policy (2020)
I've coordinated with House representatives on policies that will expand the numbers of CS teachers nationwide
product (2014-present) evidence
Gidget influenced the design of Apple's Swift Playgrounds
curriculum (2014-present) evidence
Gidget has been played by tens of thousands of youth adults online, in summer camps, and in high schools
curriculum (2013-present) evidence
Our research on programming problem solving, programming language learning, programming strategies, and debugging has shaped Code.org's teacher professional development and it's secondary school curricula, impacting hundreds of thousands of U.S. youth
curriculum (2013-present) evidence
Our research on software engineering expertise informed the curriculum at New York's Academy for Software Engineering
product (2013-present) evidence
Gidget influenced the design of Code.org's Code Studio
I've used my research and expertise to inform Washington state policy on K-12 CS education
policy (2018-present)
Our research on transfer students has influenced admissions policy at the University of Washington
policy (2017-present) evidence
The CS for All Washington advocacy group I direct has used our research to affect statewide CS education policy
community (2016-present) evidence
As part of our research, we have taught in the University of Washington's Upward Bound program each summer, reaching dozens of students underrepresented in computing from Seattle's low-income immigrant and refugee communities
I've used my research and expertise to build community and educate youth in Puget Sound
curriculum (2018-2019)
I have served on the Seattle Public Schools CS Advisory board, shaping strategic goals
community (2017-present) evidence
I've run a quarterly meetup, Sound CS Ed, to bring together hundreds of CS education teachers, researchers, policy makers, and product designers in Puget Sound
Last updated 12/22/2024. To the extent
possible under law, Amy J. Ko has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to the design
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