Three WKWSCI PhD Alumni Awarded iSchools Research Grant 2026

A research project by three PhD alumni from Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI) has been selected as one of just four projects awarded the iSchools Research Grant 2026, chosen from 70 proposals submitted across the international iSchools community. 

The team comprises Yang Tingting and Stella Xin Yin, both currently Research Fellows at WKWSCI, and Assistant Professor Nova Mengxia Huang, now at Jinan University, China. 

As generative AI becomes increasingly common in young people's education, the researchers are looking beyond the classroom to examine how families influence adolescents' use of these technologies. Their project, “Beyond Gatekeeper: Fostering Family AI Literacy in Parent–Adolescent Negotiation of Authenticity and Responsible AI Use,” explores how parents and adolescents develop the knowledge and skills to use AI critically and responsibly together. 

Through cross-cultural research in Singapore and China, the team aims to better understand how family interactions shape young people's use of AI for learning. Drawing on their complementary expertise in human–AI interaction, family communication and collaborative learning, they hope to contribute insights that can inform more inclusive, family-centred AI literacy education and policies. 

The collaboration also draws on the researchers' academic journeys at WKWSCI. Tingting completed her PhD under Associate Professor Kang Hyunjin, with her research on AI readiness among Singaporeans receiving Top Paper recognition at the International Communication Association (ICA) Conference 2025. Mengxia, who was supervised by Professor Shirley Ho, developed her interest in AI and public well-being through research on digital media and family caregiving, and received the NTU PhD Medal of Honour in 2026. Xin completed her PhD under Professor Dion Goh and Associate Professor Quek Choon Lang, studying collaborative learning in computational thinking education, and received the Elfreda A. Chatman Research Award 2025 from the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T). 

The project will run from January to December 2027, with the researchers set to present their work and preliminary findings at iConference 2028. 

For more information, visit the official iSchools announcement.