Dr. Sophia Wei Deng is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Studies in the Academy of Future Education at XJTLU. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. in psychology from The Ohio State University and B.S. in psychology from Zhejiang University. Dr. Deng’s research program has aimed to advance the understanding of how and why human cognition changes over the course of development and learning and to apply developmental and learning mechanisms to educational settings. Specifically, her research is focused on the development of attention, categorization, learning, and conceptual changes, and she uses a variety of behavioral, eye-tracking, neuroscience, and modeling methods to study infants, children, and adults. Her research has been funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Multi-year Research Grants of University of Macau. She has served on the editorial boards of Journal of Experimental Psychology: General and Frontiers in Psychology. With over 12 years of teaching experience in higher education, Dr. Deng is a dedicated educator with extensive experience in innovative teaching and curriculum development in the English-medium-instruction (EMI) context. She regularly works with scholars across disciplines, including cognitive science, psychology, education, linguistics, and philosophy, as well as teachers and policy makers, to advance child development and promote children’s well-being.

Child Development

Cognitive Development

Attention Development

Categorization and Conceptual Development

Multisensory Learning, Language and Reasoning

Associate Professor, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, 2024.7-present

PI, Attention Brain and Cognitive Development Lab (ABCD Lab), 2016.8-present

Assistant Professor, University of Macau, 2016.8-2024.6

Postdoctoral Researcher, The Ohio State University, 2015.9-2016.6

EDS 453 Achievement, Motivation, and Support (Module Leader)

EDS 428 Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (Module Leader)

Courses taught at University of Macau (2016-2024) and The Ohio State University (2011-2015): Introduction to Psychology, General Psychology, Psychology of Everyday Life, Lifespan Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Development, Seminar in Selected Topics in Psychology, Honors Thesis

Teaching Highlights

Learn From Children, Learn Like Children: Dr. Deng's teaching philosophy and pedagogies were featured by the Center for Teaching and Learning Enhancement of University of Macau. An interview on how her teaching has been inspired by her research on child development and learning was conducted by the University.

“Part of me is teaching English”: Dr. Deng's teaching as an English-medium instruction (EMI) teacher has been systematically studied by a doctoral student in Education at University of Macau. A paper on her teaching case study has been published. Liu, S., & Yuan, R. (2023). “Part of me is teaching English”: probing the language-related teaching practices of an English-medium-instruction (EMI) teacher. Applied Linguistics Review.

Outstanding Academic Staff of the Incentive Scheme, University of Macau, 2022

Nomination for the Teaching Excellence Award, University of Macau, 2020, 2019

Recognition for The Highest Teaching Evaluation for General Education Courses, University of Macau, 2018

Graduate Research Assistant Excellence Award, The Ohio State University, 2015

Herbert Toops Research Award for the most outstanding and creative research article published by graduate student, The Ohio State University, 2013

Meritorious Teaching Award, The Ohio State University, 2012

William James Award for the most outstanding poster at CogFest, 2011

Psychology Departmental Fellowship, The Ohio State University, 2009-2014

Undergraduate Thesis Award, Zhejiang University, 2009

Undergraduate Excellence Award, Zhejiang University, 2009