Welcome to the Measurement, Analytics, and Psychometrics (MAP) Lab at UW!

Dr. Jiawei Qiao (2025-26)

Co-advised by Prof. Gongjun Xu

Dr.Qiao received his Ph.D in Statistics and B.S. in Mathematics from School of Mathematical Science, Fudan University. His research interests include latent variable modeling and hierarchical modeling with application to psychological measurement. He is also interested in item response theory (IRT) and cognitive diagnosis (CD). His previous works focus on designing exploratory methods for understanding latent structures behind measurement data.

Dr. Weicong Lyu (2023-24, Now Assistant Professor at the University of Macau)

Co-advised by Prof. Gongjun Xu

Dr. Lyu received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (Quantitative Methods), M.S. in Computer Science, and M.A. in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include item response theory, Bayesian methods and causal inference. He is currently working on variational Bayesian algorithms for item response models.

Yale Quan

His research passion lies at the intersection of Applied Statistics, Psychometrics, and Education and is focused on issues of education inequality that exist in higher education, and the use of computer adaptive testing for high-stake assessments.  His primary research interest focuses on the development and interpretation of multidimensional nonlinear latent variable modeling and their applications to Psychometric models. His secondary research interest focuses on the refinement and development of statistical models used to perform nonlinear multidimensional clustering in education data and how those clusters can be used in Item Response Theory models.

He Ren

His research interests focus on combining advanced statistical methods and computer technology with educational measurement models to develop novel methodologies, improving educational quality and equity. He is primarily interested in the Item Response Theory (IRT), Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT), Differential Item Functioning (DIF), and the application of Machine Learning (ML). Feel free to visit his personal page: www.heren.life

Peihong Zhang

I wish to improve teaching, learning and equity in education. My research interests include parameter estimation and model design for differential item functioning (DIF) detection, item response theory (IRT), and cognitive diagnosis model (CDM) using statistical methods and more efficient algorithms.

Cansu Ayan (2021-22)

Dr. Cansu Ayan, completed her PhD in Ankara University, Turkey in 2018. Her general research areas are the evaluation of student success, specifically cognitive diagnostic modeling and applications in classroom assessment and learning. She is also interested in Item Response Theory (IRT) models and Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) with applications in general.

Junhuan Wei (2024-25)

Junhuan Wei is a Ph.D. student at Jiangxi Normal University, China. Her main research interests include item response theory (IRT) and cognitive diagnosis (CD). Her current research focuses on multi-strategy cognitive diagnostic models, aiming to develop more suitable methods for assessing and understanding student learning outcomes.

Qing Zeng

Qing Zeng is a Ph.D. student at Beijing Normal University, China. Her research primarily focuses on differential item functioning, Bayesian methods, and applications of machine learning. Her research also leverages advanced analytic methods, such as social network analysis, meta-analysis, and structural equation modeling, to study career and environmental psychology.