Ike Choi is a Professor and Assistant Dean of Education Systems Science at The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University. Before joining Emory, he was a Professor of Learning, Design, and Technology at the University of Georgia’s Mary Frances Early College of Education. During his tenure at UGA, He led the SAVE (Situation-based Authentic Virtual Environments) Research Group (formerly known as Case-based e-Learning Research Group) for over 20 years, and more than 30 graduate students received intensive mentorship through various projects. He was also a founding director of an interdisciplinary research lab, Research And Innovation in Learning (RAIL), which focuses on the intersection between learning and technology to create innovative educational solutions (e.g., new curricula, instructional methods, learning technology, educational systems, and so forth) to address urgent educational issues at local, societal, and global levels. He promotes and practices “socially responsible and responsive educational research,” through which he tries to impact education practices at all levels.

He received his B.A. in Education, where he studied the core foundations of education, including its history, philosophy, sociology, psychology, and administration. He then majored in educational psychology for his master’s degree, where he began to inquire about how people learn. His Ph.D. in Instructional Systems helped him develop his expertise in the systemic and systematic design of learning environments to promote intended learning experiences and outcomes.

Health Professions Education

Choi, I., Kwon, S., Rojewski, J., Hill, J. R., Kim, E. S., Fisher, E., Thomas, R., & McCauley, L. (2024). Conceptualization, Development, and Early Dissemination of eMPACTTM: A Competency-based Career Navigation System for Translational Research Professionals. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, doi:10.1017/cts.2023.693

Rojewski, J. W., Choi, I., Hill, J. R., Kwon, S., Choi, J., Kim, E., & McCauley, L. (2021). Perceived professional competence of clinical research coordinators. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 5(1), e76. doi: 10.1017/cts.2020.558

Rong, H., Choi, I., Schmiedt, C., & Clarke, K. (2020). Using failure cases to promote veterinary students' problem-solving abilities: A case study. Educational Technology Research & Development, 68, 2121-2146. doi: 10.1007/s11423-020-09751-y

Hong, Y. C., & Choi, I. (2019). Relationships between student designer’s reflective thinking and their design performance in bioengineering project: Exploring reflection patterns between high and low performers. Educational Technology Research & Development, 67(2), 337-360. doi: 10.1007/s11423-018-9618-6

Kim, S., Choi, I., Yoon, B., Kwon, M., Choi, S., Kim, S., Lee, J., & Rhee, B. (2019). Medical students’ thought process while solving problems in 3 different types of clinical assessments in Korea: Clinical performance examination, multimedia case-based assessment, and modified essay question. Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions, 16, 1-11. doi: 0.3352/jeehp.2019.16.10

Rebitch, C. B., Fleming, V. H., Palmer, R., Rong, H., & Choi, I. (2019). Evaluation of video-enhanced case-based activities guided by the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process (PPCP) in a second-year Pharm.D. course. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 83(4), 6676 (544-554). doi: 10.5688/ajpe6676 (PMCID: PMC6581346)

Creevy, K. E., Cornell, K. K., Schmiedt, C., Park, H., Rong, H., Radlinsky, M. G., & Choi, I. (2018). Impact of expert commentary and student reflection on veterinary clinical decision-making skills in an innovative electronic-learning case-based platform. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, 45(3), 307-319. doi: 10.3138/jvme.0616-111r1

Ju, H., Choi, I., & Yoon, B. (2017). Do medical students generate sound arguments during small group discussions in problem-based learning?: an analysis of preclinical medical students’ argumentation according to a framework of hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Korean Journal of Medical Education, 29(2), 101-109. doi: 10.3946/kjme.2017.57 (PMCID: PMC5465438)

Theoretical Papers

Palmer, R., & Choi, I. (2023). Constructing problems in context: A synthesized model of dialectical problem-framing. Educational Technology Research & Development, 71, 1525-1545. doi: 10.1007/s11423-023-10246-9

Qian, Y., & Choi, I. (2023). Tracing the essence: Ways to develop abstraction in computational thinking. Educational Technology Research & Development, 71, 1055-1078. doi: 10.1007/s11423-022-10182-0

Yang, T., & Choi, I. (2023). Reflection as a social phenomenon: A conceptual framework toward group reflection research. Educational Technology Research & Development, 71, 237-265. doi: 10.1007/s11423-022-10164-2

Rong, H., & Choi, I. (2019). Integrating failures in case-based learning environments: A conceptual framework for failure classification and its instructional implications. Educational Technology Research & Development, 67(3), 617-637. doi: 10.1007/s11423-018-9629-3

Hong, Y. C., & Choi, I. (2011). Three dimensions of reflective thinking in solving design problems: A conceptual framework. Educational Technology Research & Development, 59(5), 687-710. doi: 10.1007/s11423-011-9202-9

Ju, H., & Choi, I. (2017). The role of argumentation in hypothetico-deductive reasoning during problem-based learning in biomedical education: A conceptual framework. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 12(1). doi: 10.7771/1541-5015.1638

Safety Education

Luo, H., Yang, T., Kwon, S., Li, G., Zuo, M., & Choi, I. (2021). Performing versus observing: Investigating the effectiveness of group debriefing in a VR-based safety education program. Computers & Education, 175. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104316

Luo, H., Yang, T., Kwon, S., Zuo, M., Li, W., & Choi, I. (2020). Using virtual reality to identify and modify risky pedestrian behaviors amongst Chinese children. Traffic Injury Prevention, 21(1), 108-113. doi: 10.1080/15389588.2019.1694667

As a social constructivist, Choi values the shared meanings co-constructed and negotiated among stakeholders from their experiences. Thus, he considers learning a process of meaning-making among community members with diverse backgrounds and expertise. This core value enables him to implement learner-centered approaches to his mentoring.

He has committed to raising the next generation of scholars and researchers in learning systems science. Over the last decade, five of his doctoral advisees received the most prestigious scholarly awards in the field of learning, design, and technology (e.g., the Young Scholar Award and the Young Researcher Award) based on their dissertation study in his previous institution. Most of his former advisees become faculty members or researchers in the fields of educational technology, medical education, nursing education, or pharmacy education.

He mentors and collaborates with nursing students and experts who are interested in exploring innovative approaches to enhancing nursing education for the future. The available research opportunities include nursing simulation, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and VR (Virtual Reality) applications for teaching and learning, and integration of data science and bioengineering into pedagogical innovations.

Choi’s two-decade-long scholarship is centered around understanding the role of authentic experiences and reflective thinking in learning, mainly how these constructs are critical in developing human expertise to solve uncertain, ill-defined real-world problems. Choi has initiated and led a series of innovative research and development projects for authentic learning (e.g., case-based e-learning, problem-based learning, project-based learning, virtual reality-based learning) and real-world problem-solving. Through interdisciplinary collaborations with leading scholars in the areas of health sciences (nursing, medicine, vet medicine, pharmacy), basic sciences, engineering, and teacher education, he has explored the uncertain nature of various types of real-world problems, identified individual and environmental factors influencing learning and problem solving, investigated effective ways of promoting and evaluating the development of learners’ problem-solving abilities, and contributed to improving educational practices, in K-12 and higher education settings.

Choi’s most recent interdisciplinary research at Emory University focuses on integrating learning science, data science, and advanced technologies—virtual reality, simulation, machine learning, and biosensing technologies—into developing, implementing, and evaluating cost-effective innovations that enhance human learning, performance, and well-being.

2022 Outstanding International Research Collaboration Award (TICL), American Educational Research Association (AERA)

2018 Russell H. Yeany Jr. Research Award, University of Georgia Mary Frances Early College of Education

2016 Outstanding Journal Article Award, (Design and Development Division), Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT)

2015, 2013 Jerrold Kemp Endowed Lecture Series Awards, AECT