Rate My Professor Christine Wang

X. Christine Wang is a Professor in the Department of Learning and Instruction and Senior Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Research at the University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education. She also serves as Director of the Fisher-Price Endowed Early Childhood Research Center. A native of China, Wang earned her BA and MEd from Beijing Normal University and her PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2003. She joined the University at Buffalo faculty that same year, advancing from Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education to her current roles. Wang directs the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences-funded Center for Early Literacy and Responsible AI and leads the Broader Impact Initiative for the National Science Foundation/Institute of Education Sciences-funded National AI Institute for Exceptional Education. She has secured research grants exceeding $30 million, including multiple from the Spencer Foundation and NSF.

Wang's research specializes in young children’s learning and collaboration in technology-rich environments, early science and literacy via design experiments, digital literacy, computational thinking, AI literacy, and early childhood education in international contexts. Her influence is evident in editorial roles as Associate Editor of Early Childhood Research Quarterly and guest editor for its special issue on computational thinking in early childhood. She has served on the New York State P12 Digital Learning Advisory Council, executive boards of AERA Division C and Early Education/Child Development SIG, and proposal review panels for the Spencer Foundation. Key publications include Deng et al. (2022), 'Chinese preschool teachers’ use of concept development strategies in whole-group math lessons and its effectiveness,' Early Education and Development; Eggleston et al. (2021), 'Mother-toddler shared reading with electronic versus print books,' Early Education and Development; and Wang et al. (2021), 'Teachers’ role in fostering preschoolers’ computational thinking,' Early Education and Development. Notable book chapters are Wang et al. (2021), 'Computational thinking through body and ego syntonicity,' Proceedings of ICLS 2021 (nominated for Best Paper), and Flood et al. (2022), 'Embodied responsive teaching for supporting computational thinking in early childhood,' Proceedings of ICLS 2022 (Best Paper Award). Awards include the University at Buffalo President's Medal (2025), Best Paper Award at ISLS Annual Meeting (2022), Dean’s Apple Award for Outstanding Service (2022), Faculty STAR Award for Advising (2022), and AERA Division C Jan Hawkins Early Career Award (2007).