Welcome Dr. Yu Yan! (an Interview with Dr. Yun Lu)

I chat with Dr. Yu Yan, one of our newest faculty members. We discuss her experience studying and teaching in Japan before coming to UVic, and her research in supporting computer science education. 

Can you tell me about your academic journey? 

I studied computer science at a Chinese University and continued to study computer science as an international student at the University of Aizu in Japan. I came to Japan 11 and a half years ago and joined the graduate school of the University of Aizu. I completed my Master’s in one and a half years and continued to do research as a Ph.D. student in the next three years. The University of Aizu is an international university, and all of the courses and research are conducted in English. Therefore, I did not need to take courses or do research in Japanese. 

After graduating from graduate school, I continued my Ph.D. dissertation research as a postdoc at the University of Aizu for two years. The University of Aizu is a very research-focused university. Uniquely, the whole university only possesses one faculty, the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering. Each department is deployed based on the research field of computer science. I was in the Computer Network department, but my research focused on software engineering and developing online and offline supporting systems for computer programming education. 

Since April of 2020, I have been working as an assistant professor at Ritsumeikan University in Japan and was assigned to the Affective Engineering and Computer Art Lab. By working at Ritsumeikan University, I have gained much teaching and research experience and expanded my research topics from programming education support research to STEM education support research, affective engineering and HCI-related research. 

How was your time as an assistant professor at Ritsumeikan University? 

I was working at a global department of the faculty of computer science and engineering. I taught computer science-related courses in English, and all of my students are international students from all over the world. The previous department was a research-focused department. However, the teaching load was dense. I was quite happy at my previous department because my lab environment was healthy and relaxing. I could collaborate with my students and the lab head to do small projects with interesting ideas. 

Sounds like you had quite the journey in Japan! What led you there in the first place? And what led you here to Victoria? 

Since I was little, I have been quite curious and wanted to go abroad to see the world. After graduating from my university in China, I have been seeking chances to continue studying at universities around the world, not only in Japan. A big factor in choosing Japan was that my uncle was living in Japan. Even though I was still thinking about going further, such as Europe, since I did not speak Japanese. I finally ended up studying in Japan as a compromise because my parents did not want me to go too far, so we could visit each other more often. Luckily, the University of Aizu does not require students to have any Japanese level, and it is a computer science-focused university. This was perfectly suitable for me. 

The first time I visited Vancouver Island was on a day trip during the 20-day trip in Vancouver in 2022. I liked this little lovely city, and I was impressed by the lovely climate here. I was doing a lot of Job Hunting in 2022 and 2023 since my contract was supposed to end in March 2025. I saw the ad on the UVic website, which is a relatively well-known university in Canada. So I applied, and luckily I got the offer, then here I am. 

What differences do you see between teaching at Ritsumeikan University and at UVic? 

I just started in January of this year. So it might be too soon to draw a conclusion. However, a big difference from my previous teaching experience is the number of students I teach. I teach 6 times as many students as I taught in my previous department, and currently I teach non-computer science students. This requires me to develop a new teaching pedagogy. In addition, I have noticed that students who are taking my classes are more expressive and open than the students in my previous department. I am still getting used to the new culture here. 

Can you tell me about your research area? 

My Ph.D. dissertation is focused on making efficient programming learning and teaching support systems using code visualization technology. I have tested the programming visualization tool that my team and I have developed in a C programming classroom for one and a half years, and the statistical results showed high efficiency of the learning tool. I have developed another project during my Ph.D. time, which focused on methods for personalized programming learning. 

By working in the affective engineering lab, supervising undergraduate students, and collaborating with graduate students at Ritsumeikan University, I have worked on many small projects, such as affective support tools for STEM learning and teaching etc. 

Closing Question: Imagine if you went back in time and could give yourself one piece of advice. What would you say? 

I want to return to the beginning of my undergraduate time, when was my first time living apart from my family. I lived in a student dorm with seven other female students, who were all from different cities. I was quite confused because of the different culture of my roommates, and I did not know how to get along with them. My teenage life was focused on studying because I had to pass a very strict and difficult university entrance exam. I did not develop many social skills during that time. Therefore, I was struggling with learning new social skills and got homesick and anxious… If I could go back to that time, I would suggest that I build a small daily goal (can be either a study goal or a social skill improvement goal) to achieve and follow a routine instead of thinking too much.