About

Seyedahmad Rahimi, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Educational Technology in the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida. He is the director of Game-based Assessment & Measurement (GAME) Lab. Dr. Rahimi's research focuses on assessing and fostering students' 21st-century skills (e.g., creativity) and STEM-related knowledge acquisition (e.g., physics understanding). Toward that end, Dr. Rahimi designs, develops, and evaluates immersive learning environments (e.g., educational games) equipped with Stealth Assessment and Educational Data Mining, Learning Analytics, and Natural language Processing models. These learning environments can diagnostically assess students' various competency levels, predict different outcomes, and act accordingly in real-time (e.g., adapt the game challenges to students' level of competency or support students' learning by triggering the appropriate learning supports). Dr. Rahimi is also actively researching various aspects of educational games (e.g., game mechanics, game difficulty, cognitive and affective supports, dashboard design, and incentive systems) and how they affect students' motivation, performance, and learning.

Research Interests

Assessment and Evaluation, Cognition, Creativity, Data Collection and Analysis, Design and Development of Educational Technology Interventions, Educational / Instructional Design, Educational Assessment and Measurement, Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Design and Analysis, K-20 Science Teaching and Learning, Motivation, Quantitative Research, Science Education, Statistics / Applied Stats, Systematic Review Methods and Meta-analysis, Technology, Technology Trends and Issues

Education

• Ph.D. in Instructional Systems & Learning Technologies, 2020Florida State University, Florida, USA.
• M.S. in Educational Measurement & Statistics, 2019Florida State University, Florida, USA.
• M.A. in Multimedia (e-learning technologies), 2011Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Malaysia.
• B.S. in Computer Engineering (Software), 2007Azad University (South Tehran Branch), Tehran, Iran.

Professional Appointments

• Assistant Professor, Educational Technology, School of Teaching and Learning, College of Education, University of Florida, 2021 - Present
• Postdoctoral Researcher, Educational Psychology & Learning Systems, College of Education, Florida State University, 2020 - 2021

Activities and Honors

• Top 3 best papers, the Robert M. Gagné Research Award, College of Education, Florida State University (2020)
• Top 10 Finalist, 3-Minute-Thesis (3MT) Competition, Florida State University (2019)
• Assessment consultant for the PISA 2021's Creative Thinking Assessment (2018-2019)
• Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Florida State University (2016-2017)

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

Books / Book Chapters

• Rahimi, S., Almond, R., Shute, V., Sun, C. (in press). Getting the first and second decimals right: Psychometrics of stealth assessment. In M. P. McCreery, & S. K., Krach (Eds.) Games as Stealth Assessments (pp. 1-40). Lewes, DE: DIO Press.
• Rahimi, S., Almond, R., Shute, V. (in press). Stealth assessment’s technical architecture. In M. P. McCreery, & S. K., Krach (Eds.), Games as Stealth Assessments (pp. 1-25). Lewes, DE: DIO Press.
• Rahimi, S., & Shute, V. J. (2021). Learning analytics dashboards in educational games. In Sahin M., Ifenthaler D. (Eds.), Visualizations and Dashboards for Learning Analytics (pp. 527-546). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81222-5_24
• Rahimi, S., & Shute, V. J. (2021). The Effects of Video Games on Creativity. In S. Russ, J. Hoffmann, & J. Kaufman (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Lifespan Development of Creativity (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology, pp. 368-392). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi:10.1017/9781108755726.021
• Shute, V. J., Ke, F., Almond, R. G., Rahimi, S., Smith, G., & Lu, X. (2019). How to increase learning while not decreasing the fun in educational games. In R. Feldman (Ed.), Learning science: Theory, research, and practice (40 pages). McGraw-Hill.
• Shute, V. J., Rahimi, S., & Emihovich, B. (2018). Assessment for learning in immersive environments. In D. Lui, C. Dede, R. Huang, & J. Richards (Eds.), Virtual, augmented, and mixed realities in education (38 pages). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer-Verlag.

Articles

• Rahimi, S., Shute, V. J., Fulwider, G. C., Bainbridge, K., Kuba, R., Yang, X., Smith, G., Baker, R., D’Mello, S. K. (2022). Timing of learning supports in educational games can impact students’ outcomes.. Computers & Education, 109, 104600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2022.104600
• Yang. X., Rahimi, S., Fulwider, C., & Smith, G., Shute, V. J. (2022). Exploring students’ behavioral patterns when playing educational games with learning supports at different timings. Educational Technology Research and Development (ETRD). 1 -31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-022-10125-9
• Bainbridge, K., Shute, V. J., Rahimi, S., Liu, Z., Slater, S., Baker, R. S., & D’Mello, S. (2022). Does embedding learning supports enhance transfer during game-based learning? A case study with Physics Playground. Learning and Instruction, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2021.101547
• Rahimi, S., & Shute, V. J. (2021). First inspire, then instruct to improve students' creativity. Computers & Education, 174, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104312
• Rahimi, S., Shute, V., Kuba, R., Dai, C. P., Yang, X., Smith, G., & Alonso Fernández, C. (2021). The use and effects of incentive systems on learning and performance in educational games. Computers & Education, 165, 104135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104135
• Rahimi, S., Shute, V. J., & Zhang, Q. (2021). The effects of game and student characteristics on persistence in educational games: A hierarchical linear modeling approach. International Journal of Technology in Education and Science, 5(2), 141-165. https://doi.org/10.46328/ijtes.118
• Shute, V. J., & Rahimi, S. (2021). Stealth assessment of creativity using video games. Computers in Human Behavior, 116, 1-13. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106647.
• Kuba, R., Rahimi, S., Smith, G., Shute, V. J., & Dai, C-P. (2021). Using the first principles of instruction and multimedia learning principles to design and develop in-game learning support videos. Educational Technology Research and Development, 69, 1201-1220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-09994-3
• Rafner, J., Biskjær, M. M., Zana, B., Langsford, S., Bergenholtz, C., Rahimi, S., Carugati, A., Noy, L., & Sherson, J. (2021). Digital games for creativity assessment: Strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. Creativity Research Journal, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2021.1971447
• Yang, X., Rahimi, S., Shute, V. J., Kuba, R., Smith, G., & Alonso Fernández, C. (2021). The relationship among prior knowledge, accessing learning supports, learning outcomes, and game performance in educational games. Educational Technology Research and Development, 69, 1055-1075. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-09974-7
• Shute, V. J., Rahimi S., Smith, G., Ke, F., Almond, R., Dai, C-P, Kuba, R., Liu, Z., Yang, X., & Sun, C. (2020). Maximizing learning without sacrificing the fun: Stealth assessment, adaptivity, and learning supports in educational games. Journal of Computer-Assisted Learning. 37 (1), 1-15. doi: https://publons.com/publon/10.1111/jcal.12473
• Shute, V. J., Smith, G., Kuba, R., Dai, C-P., Rahimi, S., Liu, Z., & Almond, R. G. (2020). The design, development, and testing of learning supports for the Physics Playground game. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 37 pages. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-020-00196-1
• Spann, C., Shute, V. J., Rahimi, S., & D'Mello, S. (2019). The productive role of cognitive reappraisal to regulate frustration during game-based learning. Computers in Human Behavior. 100, 358-369. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.03.002
• Shute, V. J., & Rahimi, S. (2017). Review of computer-based assessment for learning in elementary and secondary education. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 33 (1), 1-19. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12172

Presentations

• Rahimi, S. (2022, August). Stealth assessment of creativity in Physics Playground. American Psychological Association (APA) conference (Division 10). Minneapolis. MN.
• Rahimi, S. (2022, November). Stealth Assessment: Theory, design, and practice. Presented at Florida Educational Research Association, FERA. (National). Daytona Beach, FL.
• Rahimi, S., Fulwider, C., Jiang, S. & Shute, V. J. (2022, May). Predicting learning gains in Physics Playground using feature engineering and machine learning. Poster presented at the Mini-AI Symposium. College of Education, University of Florida.
• Rahimi, S. (2022, March). Physics Playground’s Motivational Architecture & Stealth Assessment. Learning and Motivation Class Taught by Dr. Christopher Dede. Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA.
• Rahimi, S. (presented 2021, November). Inspire, instruct, or both? Assessing and supporting students’ creativity. Paper presented at Florida Educational Research Association, FERA. Tampa, FL. (National).
• Rahimi, S., Shute, V. J., Kuba, R., Dai, C-P, Yang. X., Smith, G., & Alonso Fernández, C., (presented April 2021). Maximizing Learning and Performance Using Incentive Systems in Educational Game. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, AERA, 2021, April 9–12, Virtual. (International)
• Shute, V. J., Rahimi, S., & Smith, G. (presented April 2021). Stealth assessment, adaptivity, and learning supports in educational games. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association, AERA 2021, April 9–12, Virtual. (International)
• Rahimi, S., & Shute, V. J. (presented 2020, November). Maximizing learning and performance using incentive systems in educational games. Paper presented at Florida Educational Research Association, FERA, Virtual. (National)
• Rahimi, S., Shute, V. J. & Zhang, Q. (2020, Apr 17 - 21) The Effect of Game Difficulty and Conceptual Difficulty on Student Persistence in a Learning Game: A Hierarchical Linear Modeling Approach [Paper Session]. AERA Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA, USA. http://tinyurl.com/um4g6xx (International; Conference Canceled)

Selected Links

• Science Needs A Better Way To Probe Creativity-Video Games Might Be The Answer, New Study
• Learning Supports and Stealth Assessment in Educational Games. Online via Escribo’s YouTube channel. For the Brazilian audience
• Immersive Simulations & Stealth Assessment: A Conversation with Tina Grotzer & Sayedahmad Rahimi
• Dr. Rahimi's IALT Spotlight Video