Representative Research

Project

• ChatGPT Use in Higher Education (2025 – present)

  • Exploring patterns of perceptions and experiences with ChatGPT among global higher education students using a large-scale dataset.

• COVID-19 on Learning and Stress (2021 – 2023)

  • Exploring factors associated with higher education students’ learning outcomes and the global public’s perceived stress during the COVID-19 pandemic using large-scale datasets.

Journal Publication

• Zou, Y., & Zou, C. (2023). Exploring factors associated with higher education students’ learning outcomes in emergency remote teaching environments during the COVID-19 pandemic: General patterns and individual differences. Education and Information Technologies, 1-31. [DOI link] (5-Year Impact Factor: 5.3)

• Schuh, K. L., Meiners, A. J., Ferguson, C., Hageman, K., George, S., Cox, M., Zou, Y., & Lin, C.-J. (2023). Junior high school students’ self-confidence during transition to above-grade-level mathematics courses. The Journal of Educational Research, 116(2), 61-76. [DOI link] (5-Year Impact Factor: 2.8) 

Conference Presentation

• Zou, Y., & Zou, C. (2026, April). Patterns of perceptions and experiences with ChatGPT among global higher education students: A data-driven approach. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Los Angeles, CA.

• Zou, Y., & Zou, C. (2026, April). A data-driven exploration of factors related to ChatGPT use among global higher education students. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Los Angeles, CA.

• Zou, Y., & Zou, C. (2025, October). A data-driven validation of psychological and psychosocial factors during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from a global survey. Poster presented at the 2025 Association for Psychological Science (APS) Global Psychological Science Summit virtually. [DOI link]

• Zou, Y., Watson, K., Olson, E. J., Mahatmya, D., Ali, S. R., Foley-Nicpon, M., & Assouline, S. G. (2025, April). Longitudinal patterns of psychosocial strengths among high-ability students: Findings from a career development program. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Denver, CO. [DOI link]

• Zou, Y., Hong, H., & Zou, C. (2024, August). Factors in perceived stress among the global general public during the COVID-19 pandemic. Poster presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association (APA) virtually. [DOI link]

• Zou, C., & Zou, Y. (2024, August). Differentiation between perceived father and mother autonomy support for academic performance. Poster presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association (APA) virtually. [DOI link]

• Zou, Y., Cao, Y., & Zou, C. (2024, April). Adapting a scale to measure perceived father and mother autonomy support separately. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), Philadelphia, PA. [DOI link]

• Zou, Y., & Zou, C. (2023, August). Factors in higher education students’ learning outcomes in emergency remote teaching environments. Poster presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association (APA), Washington, D.C. [DOI link]