Research Centre for Family Education at AoFE
Center members
Director: Dr. Lixin Ren, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Co-Director: Dr. Jeong Jin Yu, Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Key members (in alphabetical order):
Dr. Claire Tai, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Hailing Ye, Product Manager, Institute of Leadership and Education Advanced Development
Dr. Jike Qin, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Dr. Jinjin Lu, Senior Associate Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Dr. Ting Ting (Juliana) Tay, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Dr. Lei Jin, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Dr. Qian (Sarah) Wang, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Dr. Rebecca Cheung, Senior Associate Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Dr. Rong Yan, Senior Associate Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Dr. Rui Yang, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Dr. Run Wen, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Shiyu Jiang, Teaching Associate, Chinese Cultural Teaching Department
Dr. Shuangshuang Xu, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Dr. Wei Deng, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Yexiang Wu, Instructional Designer, Educational Development Unit
Dr. Yiran Zhao, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Studies
Research projects
Research Projects
The Research Center for Family Education at AoFE has been funding five innovative intervention/prevention studies aimed at enhancing the cognitive and social-emotional development of Chinese children. These projects align with the center’s mission to bridge research and practice, fostering collaboration among families, schools, and communities. These projects will collectively advance Center’s vision of developing evidence-based programs, addressing critical needs in Chinese children’s development.
- Let’s Plant the Social Emotional and Ethical Development (SEED) Together: A Mini-app for Young Children and Families
PI: Dr. Rebecca Cheung
This initiative aims to create a WeChat-based mini-app to cultivate mindfulness, kindness, and environmental awareness in preschoolers and families. Building on the SEED curriculum, it uses gamification and AI to deliver engaging SEL content.
- Family-oriented cognitive, social, and emotional intervention for children with learning difficulties
PI: Dr. Wei Deng
Integrating cognitive training and emotional support, this project leverages VR/AI tools to assist children with learning challenges through school-family collaboration. It targets executive function and resilience, with XIPU Class serving as the pilot site.
- Developing and Evaluating an Enhanced Online Mental Health Training Platform for Teachers and Parents
PI: Dr. Lei Jin
Focused on boosting mental health literacy among teachers and parents, this project develops an interactive digital platform with culturally adapted content for mental health and behavioral issues, such as anxiety, ADHD, and depression. By addressing socioeconomic disparities in access to training, it empowers caregivers to support students’ emotional well-being.
- Learning Fractions Using Number Line Paper Folding: The Role of Analogy
PI: Dr. Jike Qin
This project investigates how combining number line training with paper-folding analogies can enhance fraction comprehension in elementary students. By linking integer and fraction concepts using number-line paper folding, it aims to deepen children’s understanding of fractions, addressing a common learning gap.
- Understanding and supporting teachers’ implementation of play-based preschool education curriculum in Jiangsu Province
PI: Dr. Shuangshuang Xu
Jiangsu Province has been carrying out the “curriculum playfication”?(课程游戏化) reform in early childhood education for multiple years. In the process of implementing play-based curriculum, kindergarten teachers as well as parents encounter many challenges that need to be addressed to facilitate the implementation of the reform and ultimately optimal child development. The end goal of this multi-phased project is to develop a professional development program for kindergarten teachers in implementing play-based curriculum in the kindergarten setting, particularly in the context of Jiangsu Province. It also tries to understand how different interweaving factors would influence the primary design, implementation and the ultimate effectiveness of the professional development.
Vision and mission
Vision:
The Research Center for Family Education at AoFE aspires to to be a globally recognized hub for high-quality prevention and intervention research that transforms family education. By bridging cutting-edge research with practical applications, we aim to empower families, educators, and policymakers to create environments where children can thrive socially, emotionally, and cognitively.
Mission:
Our mission is to advance evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies to enhance the wellbeing of Chinese families. We focus on three core pillars:
Through rigorous research, cross-sector partnerships, and scalable solutions, we strive to set new standards for family education in China and beyond.
Long-Term Impact and Outcomes:
Over the next five years, the Research Center for Family Education at AoFE aims to achieve transformative outcomes in the following areas: