Yan Feng Personal Site MMXXVI
Yan Feng

Yan Feng

Ph.D. Student · Education Policy & Social Context, UC Irvine
God feeds every bird,
but doesn’t put it right in its nest. — Josiah Gilbert Holland
01 — AboutResearch statement

My research examines how postsecondary institutions design and implement policies that shape the teaching and learning environment, and how these policies affect student academic and labor market outcomes.

Across projects, including the effects of condensed course formats in the Virginia Community College System, course modality and transfer student outcomes in undergraduate business administration, and the design of behavioral interventions for college STEM students, my work combines analyses of large-scale administrative data with design-based research to estimate causal effects and examine underlying mechanisms.

I am also attentive to how educational technology and AI are changing how institutions teach and students learn.

Research Focus Higher Education Policy Teaching & Learning Causal Inference Design-Based Research Instructional Design Online Education Community Colleges Transfer Students AI in Education
Field Education Policy · Postsecondary Affiliations UC Irvine · Harvard HGSE (alum) · ECNU (alum) Methods Quasi-experimental & causal inference
Mixed methods & qualitative analysis
Learning analytics & survey design Based Irvine, California
02 — EducationFour degrees
2025 — Present
Ph.D., Education Policy and Social ContextDoctoral coursework · Year 1
University of California, IrvineSchool of Education
Irvine, CA
2023 — 2024
M.Ed., Educational Policy and AnalysisQuantitative methods concentration
Harvard UniversityGraduate School of Education
Cambridge, MA
2018 — 2021
M.Ed., Higher EducationExcellent Dissertation · Top 49 / 2,000+
East China Normal UniversityECNU · 华东师范大学
Shanghai
2014 — 2018
B.Mgmt., Public Utility Administration
East China University of Science & TechnologyECUST · 华东理工大学
Shanghai
03 — ResearchNine selected projects · click to expand
04 — Publications & PresentationsSelect · 2017 — 2025
05 — Teaching & AwardsPedagogy · Recognition

Teaching

EDUS040 — Applied Linear Regression
Teaching Fellow · Harvard HGSE · 2024
Education and Self Development
Teaching Assistant · ECNU · 2019 — 2021
Introduction to Qualitative Research
Seminar Leader · ECNU · 2019 — 2021

Honors & Awards

Excellent Dissertation
ECNU · Top 49 of 2,000+ · 2021
Publishing Wisdom Scholarship
Top 100 of 8,712 applicants · 2019
06 — GuestbookLeave a note · sends to my inbox

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