Email: portico-services@ucl.ac.uk
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- Associate Professor
- IOE - Culture, Communication & Media
- UCL Institute of Education
My work broadly addresses the pressing social-educational challenge of preparing people for a future that will require a great deal more than the routine cognitive skills currently prized by many education systems. It is interdisciplinary and encompasses research in the learning sciences, computer science, and Human-Computer Interaction.
Currently, I am investigating the potential of Multimodal Learning Analytics and Artificial Intelligence applications to realise human preferences in educational settings. I hold a BSc and an MSc in Science and Technology Education with distinction, and my PhD thesis was on the impact of innovative teaching approaches on students’ knowledge and skills acquisition. I previously worked at the Institute for Effective Education where I worked in various research projects, all related to the implementation and evaluation of innovation for learning.
At the UCL Knowledge Lab, I research and manage in projects as an investigator (PI and Co-I), I supervise PhD projects and teach in the MA in Education and Technology programme. Moreover, I frequently undertake consultancy projects to design, evaluate, and improve the efficacy of Educational Technology services and products.


I am interested in the design, development, and implementation of Artificial Intelligence and Learning Analytics to support human learning. My research work focuses on four particular dimensions and I also supervise PhD projects on these themes.
1) Human-machine complementarity in teaching and learning contexts (as exemplified in Cukurova, M., Kent, C., Luckin, R. (2019) Artificial Intelligence and Multimodal Data in the Service of Human Decision-making: A Case Study in Debate Tutoring, British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(6), pp. 3032-3046).
2) Computational modelling of complex human behaviours in teaching and learning contexts to provide opportunities for reflection and feedback for effective pedagogical support (as exemplified in Kasparova, A., Celiktutan, O., & Cukurova, M. (2020). Inferring student engagement in collaborative problem-solving from visual cues. International Conference on Multimodal Interaction. (pp. 177-181) and Cukurova, M., Luckin, R., Millán, E., Mavrikis, M. (2018) The NISPI framework: Analysing collaborative problem-solving from students’ physical interactions, Computers and Education, 116, pp. 93-109).
3) The design and use of multimodal learning analytics (as exemplified in Spikol, D., Ruffaldi, E., Dabisias, G., Cukurova, M.(2018) Supervised machine learning in multimodal learning analytics for estimating success in project-based learning, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 34 (4), (pp. 366-377) and Cukurova, M., Zhou, Q., Spikol, D., & Landolfi, L. (2020). Modelling collaborative problem-solving competence with transparent learning analytics: is video data enough? In Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge (pp. 270-275).
4) Psychological and socio-scientific challenges in the adoption of AI and analytics technologies in educational practice, such as Algorithm Aversion (as exemplified in Cukurova, M., Luckin, R., & Kent, C. (2019). Impact of an AI research frame on the perceived credibility of educational research evidence, International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, xx1-xx22).
I have extensive and varied teaching experience in the fields of Education and Technology. I taught various undergraduate and postgraduate modules all in the fields of Educational Technology mainly focusing on research methods and the design of digital technologies.
In addition, I completed the Preparing Future Academics programme which stands as a clear demonstration of my commitment to all the professional values in higher education research and teaching environments. I am also a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and this fellowship is a recognition of my excellent teaching practice and a good sign of interest in professional development.
I am the module leader of the Design and Use of Technologies for Education in the MA in Education and Technology programme. For more information about the MA programme, please see https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/courses/graduate-taught/education-technology-ma