Zhu Explores How AI Can Support Student Thinking Without Replacing It
Jiayan Zhu came to Lehigh University with a longstanding interest in education and a growing curiosity about how technology can shape teaching and learning. While pursuing her undergraduate and master’s degrees at Fudan University in Shanghai, she came to know Lehigh as an institution with a strong academic reputation. Its close-knit community, commitment to educational innovation, and opportunities for personalized mentorship ultimately drew her to the Mountaintop Campus.
At Lehigh, Zhu found a welcoming academic community where her ideas could take shape. She is now a Ph.D. student in the College of Education (COE) Teaching, Learning, and Technology program, where she investigates how artificial intelligence (AI) can support meaningful learning in STEM education. Her research centers on human–AI collaboration, with a particular interest in how learners can work effectively with AI while maintaining an active role in their own learning. She explores how learners can engage with AI as a collaborative peer while developing the ability to monitor their own understanding, critically evaluate AI-generated information, and make thoughtful decisions about when and how to use AI. Her work asks how AI can support learning without replacing the thinking and self-regulation that learners need to develop for themselves.
Her research is grounded in authentic educational settings. Through the COE’s partnerships with local schools, Zhu is able to study AI-assisted learning in real classroom contexts. In a recent mathematics project with the Bethlehem Area School District (BASD), she examines how AI-supported metacognitive scaffolding can help students plan, monitor, and reflect as they solve problems. During mathematics practice following instruction, students use the chatbot as an AI tutor while working through problems. Zhu studies how AI-assisted metacognitive scaffolding may influence students’ mathematics performance and their ability to regulate their own learning.
This summer, Zhu also helped develop and lead the “AI for Kids” project through Growth Mindset Education, LLC. The project-based program was designed to help young learners understand not only how to use AI, but also how to think critically and work effectively with it. Students were first introduced to key concepts of agentic AI and then put those ideas into practice by collaborating with AI to build their own projects. The curriculum also incorporated metacognitive scaffolding to encourage students to think more deliberately about how they were working with AI. As they developed their projects, students learned to guide their interactions with AI and refine their own ideas rather than simply accepting what AI generated, with parental support available throughout the learning process. '
For Zhu, the AI for Kids project is a practical extension of her broader research, bringing similar questions about metacognition, thoughtful AI use, and learner agency into a younger learning context. Across her work, she is interested in how students should be equipped to use AI with curiosity and discernment while continuing to take ownership of their own thinking and learning. She credits the mentorship and support she has received at Lehigh, especially from her advisor, Zilong Pan, with encouraging her to pursue innovative research directions and connect her scholarship to authentic educational settings.
Beyond her research, Zhu received the Lewis R. Shupe III Endowed Doctoral Scholarship from 2023 to 2025 and the Lehigh Graduate Life Leadership Award in 2025. She has served as her program’s representative on the Graduate Student Senate for the past three years and continues in this role. She was also inducted into the National Society of Leadership and Success at Lehigh.
Outside of her academic work, Zhu enjoys spending time with her family and traveling with her husband and two children. She also has a strong athletic background as a former national-level swimmer in China. Today, she continues to swim, and sees it as a way to relax and recharge. In Bethlehem, one of her favorite ways to spend time with her family is attending local events, especially Musikfest, where she enjoys the live music, food, and lively the atmosphere.
Looking ahead, Zhu hopes to pursue a career in higher education after completing her doctoral degree. She plans to continue conducting research and designing innovative learning experiences that respond to the realities of teaching and learning with AI. Her long-term goal is to contribute to a more thoughtful and effective use of AI in education, one grounded in the needs, experiences, and agency of students and educators.
