Jared Izumi, assistant professor in school psychology at the University of Iowa College of Education, was honored with a 2023 OVPR Early Career Scholars Award.

Izumi will develop content to assess students’ social-emotional learning through immersive virtual environments. Social-emotional learning, which encompasses core skills in building relationships, managing emotions, and making responsible decisions, plays a crucial role in how children engage in every aspect of their lives and is traditionally assessed by surveys and observations. Assessment in virtual reality environments, with the assistance of AI, could reduce the impacts of implicit bias, while decreasing the training and other resources needed to identify social-emotional learning needs in students.