Joe Michaelis
@joemichaelis.bsky.social
Asst. prof at UIC. Investigating supporting social learning processes for interest and learning from a Learning Sciences and HCI perspective. Now with more robots! HRI, Social Robots, Ed Tech
https://jmich.people.uic.edu/
https://www.uiclitlab.com/
https://jmich.people.uic.edu/
https://www.uiclitlab.com/
Reviews that don’t appropriately evaluate based on the method have been killing me lately. If I had a dollar for every review of a qual paper that criticized a lack of generalizability…
Really unfortunate that a student led project got rejected for AERA b/c one of the reviewers didn’t understand what a design case is. Their feedback was that the lack of empirical data made it a poor proposal - when that’s not a design case feature or requirement.
November 9, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Reviews that don’t appropriately evaluate based on the method have been killing me lately. If I had a dollar for every review of a qual paper that criticized a lack of generalizability…
Holy crap. I thought my conference homes were broken, but the guardrail for oversubmitting set to 25… wow
This is really unfair to my 5 phd students, each of whom were planning on submitting 6 papers with me as co-author. *sarcasm*
📢🚨Folks, you can only submit 25 papers this year to CVPR (25 submissions per author cap). So, please plan accordingly.
November 4, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Holy crap. I thought my conference homes were broken, but the guardrail for oversubmitting set to 25… wow
At the "listening to Minor Threat while grant writing" stage of disillusionment, burnout and frustration with the crumbling systems of academia. Turns out teen angst and existential threat are on the same spectrum of anxiety and rage. minorthreat.bandcamp.com/album/salad-...
Salad Days, by Minor Threat
3 track album
minorthreat.bandcamp.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:57 PM
At the "listening to Minor Threat while grant writing" stage of disillusionment, burnout and frustration with the crumbling systems of academia. Turns out teen angst and existential threat are on the same spectrum of anxiety and rage. minorthreat.bandcamp.com/album/salad-...
Reposted by Joe Michaelis
Loving this talk from @joemichaelis.bsky.social at Northwestern today—Mental models at the intersection of Human-Robot Interaction!
October 23, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Loving this talk from @joemichaelis.bsky.social at Northwestern today—Mental models at the intersection of Human-Robot Interaction!
Current status
I can't be the only one who goes down super deep literature rabbit holes when preparing talks. Only for it to result in like, a single throwaway bullet point on a backup slide.
October 17, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Current status
Reposted by Joe Michaelis
EPFL, ETH Zurich & CSCS just released Apertus, Switzerland’s first fully open-source large language model.
Trained on 15T tokens in 1,000+ languages, it’s built for transparency, responsibility & the public good.
Read more: actu.epfl.ch/news/apertus...
Trained on 15T tokens in 1,000+ languages, it’s built for transparency, responsibility & the public good.
Read more: actu.epfl.ch/news/apertus...
September 2, 2025 at 11:48 AM
EPFL, ETH Zurich & CSCS just released Apertus, Switzerland’s first fully open-source large language model.
Trained on 15T tokens in 1,000+ languages, it’s built for transparency, responsibility & the public good.
Read more: actu.epfl.ch/news/apertus...
Trained on 15T tokens in 1,000+ languages, it’s built for transparency, responsibility & the public good.
Read more: actu.epfl.ch/news/apertus...
Reposted by Joe Michaelis
We've recently concluded a classroom study in Japan on our "Mindful Math" Tutor, an LLM-embedded ITS that uses mindful language and messages to guide students learn algebra while calming down their math anxiety. If interested in testing/using/collaborating let me know! tomonag.org/mindfulmath/
October 9, 2025 at 12:06 PM
We've recently concluded a classroom study in Japan on our "Mindful Math" Tutor, an LLM-embedded ITS that uses mindful language and messages to guide students learn algebra while calming down their math anxiety. If interested in testing/using/collaborating let me know! tomonag.org/mindfulmath/
@hri-conference.bsky.social reviewer assignments started... I like to dig in to find reviewers who really can connect with a paper. First paper I found a group of authors writing on a very similar application... perfect, right!? So similar in fact, I think it may actually just be the same people🫠
October 3, 2025 at 2:10 PM
@hri-conference.bsky.social reviewer assignments started... I like to dig in to find reviewers who really can connect with a paper. First paper I found a group of authors writing on a very similar application... perfect, right!? So similar in fact, I think it may actually just be the same people🫠
Reposted by Joe Michaelis
🤖 Robots and reading anxiety
A study with 8–11 year olds found kids were less anxious reading aloud to a robot than to a person. Robots may help children build literacy skills with less stress.
🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scir...
#SciComm 🧪 #Education #Robots #Literacy
A study with 8–11 year olds found kids were less anxious reading aloud to a robot than to a person. Robots may help children build literacy skills with less stress.
🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scir...
#SciComm 🧪 #Education #Robots #Literacy
Robotic reading companions can mitigate oral reading anxiety in children
Children exhibit fewer physiological indicators of anxiety when reading aloud to a robot compared with reading to a person.
doi.org
September 16, 2025 at 8:24 AM
🤖 Robots and reading anxiety
A study with 8–11 year olds found kids were less anxious reading aloud to a robot than to a person. Robots may help children build literacy skills with less stress.
🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scir...
#SciComm 🧪 #Education #Robots #Literacy
A study with 8–11 year olds found kids were less anxious reading aloud to a robot than to a person. Robots may help children build literacy skills with less stress.
🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scir...
#SciComm 🧪 #Education #Robots #Literacy
Well my instinct to want to be included may just swallow me whole this year. What does one do if you are already an AC for @chi.acm.org and @hri-conference.bsky.social invites you to be an AC there, too? You kiss all other responsibilities goodbye and embrace the chaos, right? #HCI #HRI
September 25, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Well my instinct to want to be included may just swallow me whole this year. What does one do if you are already an AC for @chi.acm.org and @hri-conference.bsky.social invites you to be an AC there, too? You kiss all other responsibilities goodbye and embrace the chaos, right? #HCI #HRI
Reposted by Joe Michaelis
Shell shocked at how ubiquitous turning in LLM writing is. Knew it would be a lot, but literally every paper (1-2 pages) I read today was fully authored by an LLM. I thought if I made it clear I just wanted ideas, thoughts, feeling, and didn't care about grammar or structure, it would help, but nope
September 17, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Shell shocked at how ubiquitous turning in LLM writing is. Knew it would be a lot, but literally every paper (1-2 pages) I read today was fully authored by an LLM. I thought if I made it clear I just wanted ideas, thoughts, feeling, and didn't care about grammar or structure, it would help, but nope
Reposted by Joe Michaelis
🚀 Exciting news: I’m accepting new graduate students in the McGill Faculty of Education Learning Sciences! If you’re passionate about educational technology, games, AI, and learning sciences, this is your chance to join a dynamic and interdisciplinary research program.
September 16, 2025 at 2:01 AM
🚀 Exciting news: I’m accepting new graduate students in the McGill Faculty of Education Learning Sciences! If you’re passionate about educational technology, games, AI, and learning sciences, this is your chance to join a dynamic and interdisciplinary research program.
Reposted by Joe Michaelis
Psychologists, apply! Apparently we've mainly gotten CS applicants so far. I'd (selfishly) love to have a psychologist. Interests in AI in relation to e.g., implicit bias; cultural influences; fairness; perception; learning & memory; decision making etc. would be a good fit!
Brandeis is hiring for this unique interdisciplinary 2-year postdoc/lecturer position in AI and Society. 1 course/semester + collaborative research and mentoring. Great prep for TT positions! Deadline 10/1. Details in the ad. #PsychJobs #HigherEdJobs
www.higheredjobs.com/faculty/deta...
www.higheredjobs.com/faculty/deta...
Florence Levy Kay Postdoctoral Fellowship in Artificial Intelligence and Society (2025/10/01 11:59PM) Apply - HigherEdJobs
Jobs in higher education. Faculty and administrative positions at colleges and universities. Updated daily. Free to job seekers.
www.higheredjobs.com
September 15, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Psychologists, apply! Apparently we've mainly gotten CS applicants so far. I'd (selfishly) love to have a psychologist. Interests in AI in relation to e.g., implicit bias; cultural influences; fairness; perception; learning & memory; decision making etc. would be a good fit!
Just cited this. We're finding that expert teachers are telling us they *want* automation, but end up using LLM-generated content infrequently when given the option. Seems that expert fluency is pretty powerful. This METR study really helps develop that idea to provide some nuanced context.
We ran a randomized controlled trial to see how much AI coding tools speed up experienced open-source developers.
The results surprised us: Developers thought they were 20% faster with AI tools, but they were actually 19% slower when they had access to AI than when they didn't.
The results surprised us: Developers thought they were 20% faster with AI tools, but they were actually 19% slower when they had access to AI than when they didn't.
September 10, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Just cited this. We're finding that expert teachers are telling us they *want* automation, but end up using LLM-generated content infrequently when given the option. Seems that expert fluency is pretty powerful. This METR study really helps develop that idea to provide some nuanced context.
Two fresh articles out in Science Robotics www.science.org/journal/scir..., and on the website banner! First is a focus article "How can educational robots enhance family life? Through careful integration." We look at what it will take for in-home robots to actually be adopted by families. #HRI #HCI
September 10, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Two fresh articles out in Science Robotics www.science.org/journal/scir..., and on the website banner! First is a focus article "How can educational robots enhance family life? Through careful integration." We look at what it will take for in-home robots to actually be adopted by families. #HRI #HCI
Just cited for a submission going in this week. Awesome work. I’m really fascinated about preservation of voice and values while using llms. This was a great glimpse into that.
earlier this summer I published my first paper of my phd! ✨ a qualitative study on how creative writers are using AI in their writing and what their strategies were in order to align with their personal writing values
September 9, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Just cited for a submission going in this week. Awesome work. I’m really fascinated about preservation of voice and values while using llms. This was a great glimpse into that.
This summer, LIT Lab undergrads Gaeun Lee and Hope Jo presented their poster “You Can Grow Here” at ACM SIGGRAPH.
Their project explored how anxiety-management techniques can be reimagined as immersive VR experiences that feel emotionally resonant and non-clinical.
doi.org/10.1145/3721....
Their project explored how anxiety-management techniques can be reimagined as immersive VR experiences that feel emotionally resonant and non-clinical.
doi.org/10.1145/3721....
September 4, 2025 at 4:10 PM
This summer, LIT Lab undergrads Gaeun Lee and Hope Jo presented their poster “You Can Grow Here” at ACM SIGGRAPH.
Their project explored how anxiety-management techniques can be reimagined as immersive VR experiences that feel emotionally resonant and non-clinical.
doi.org/10.1145/3721....
Their project explored how anxiety-management techniques can be reimagined as immersive VR experiences that feel emotionally resonant and non-clinical.
doi.org/10.1145/3721....
I'm starting my Social Robotics and HRI course this week at UIC. What are emerging topics in the field we should talk about? Have a paper you would love us to cover in our class? Please share and shamelessly plug your work! @talkingrobotics.bsky.social @hri-conference.bsky.social #HRI #SocialRobots
August 27, 2025 at 3:38 PM
I'm starting my Social Robotics and HRI course this week at UIC. What are emerging topics in the field we should talk about? Have a paper you would love us to cover in our class? Please share and shamelessly plug your work! @talkingrobotics.bsky.social @hri-conference.bsky.social #HRI #SocialRobots
Reposted by Joe Michaelis
Sunk-cost fallacy and cheating students are the only things keeping AI in business at this point.
Just look at how usage of ChatGPT plummets as soon as the semester ends.
Just look at how usage of ChatGPT plummets as soon as the semester ends.
August 7, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Sunk-cost fallacy and cheating students are the only things keeping AI in business at this point.
Just look at how usage of ChatGPT plummets as soon as the semester ends.
Just look at how usage of ChatGPT plummets as soon as the semester ends.
Nearly Dr. Logan, you’re not wrong.
This is a Hop Butcher for the World appreciation skeet 🍻
August 2, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Nearly Dr. Logan, you’re not wrong.
Really exciting results! Incredible work here, thanks for sharing.
How do our brains and bodies support social learning in real time?
We take an ecological and multimodal neuroscience approach to study mutual prediction and social coordination when learning with others.
It took 5 full years for this one! Full open-access pre-print: osf.io/preprints/ps...
We take an ecological and multimodal neuroscience approach to study mutual prediction and social coordination when learning with others.
It took 5 full years for this one! Full open-access pre-print: osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
July 25, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Really exciting results! Incredible work here, thanks for sharing.
Reposted by Joe Michaelis
📣 We are officially looking for nominations to join the ILSSA Board! 📣
Interested in supporting a global network of LS junior scholars? Want to get a 'behind the scenes' peek into ISLS operations?
Full call/form for nominations (due June 24th): mailchi.mp/3cb58f5d38c9...
Interested in supporting a global network of LS junior scholars? Want to get a 'behind the scenes' peek into ISLS operations?
Full call/form for nominations (due June 24th): mailchi.mp/3cb58f5d38c9...
June 6, 2025 at 7:35 PM
📣 We are officially looking for nominations to join the ILSSA Board! 📣
Interested in supporting a global network of LS junior scholars? Want to get a 'behind the scenes' peek into ISLS operations?
Full call/form for nominations (due June 24th): mailchi.mp/3cb58f5d38c9...
Interested in supporting a global network of LS junior scholars? Want to get a 'behind the scenes' peek into ISLS operations?
Full call/form for nominations (due June 24th): mailchi.mp/3cb58f5d38c9...
