ACADEMIC VITA

Inverness at night.

Updated/Printable Resume   

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

UCLA Education Department, Los Angeles, CA

Graduate Assistant for Yasmin Kafai, Associate Professor                                     June 2005 - Present

· Investigate a large scale multi-user online environment for the benefits of science learning, casual and cooperative gaming, and social interactions

· Investigate simulation science activities in a large scale multi-user online environment

· Manage and analyze data for publication and presentations

· Assist graduate students in data analyses and online research methodology

 

UCLA Education Department, Los Angeles, CA                                           September 2002 -  Present

Graduate Assistant for Peer Relations Project (Sandra Graham & Jaana Juvonen)

· Assist research on longitudinal study on peer relations among 2000+ middle school through high school student

· Analyze data for publication and professional conferences

· Mentor undergraduates regarding relevant developmental research, statistical concepts/programs for professional conferences

CSUN Psychology Department, Northridge, CA                                         

Graduate Assistant/Lab Coordinator for Michele Wittig, Professor        August 2000 – December 2002

· Investigated acculturation, prejudice, superordinate/subgroup identity, and collective/personal self-esteem among high school students

· Coordinated and supervised graduate and undergraduate laboratory personnel

· Developed and conducted research on the mediating effects of social support on peer harassment and psychological outcomes among junior high students

· Evaluated the effectiveness of two racial awareness programs geared towards reducing and understanding racial prejudice

UCLA Psychology Department, Los Angeles, CA                                  

Lab Assistant I for Yuen Huo, Assistant Professor                                       October 1998 – July 2000

· Coordinated and supervised laboratory personnel

· Instructed and trained undergraduate students about research methodology.

· Wrote reference manual and protocols for a computer telephone survey program (Ci3 CATI) for social psychology department.  

· Recruited participants for survey and telephone studies.

UCLA Psychology Department, Los Angeles, CA                                       

Research Assistant for Jaana Juvonen, Associate Professor                  July 1998 – June 1999

· Assisted in the development, implementation, and assessment of a middle school equity program designed to prevent peer harassment
· Conducted and presented separate, independent research on the relationship between
ethnic status and bully-victim reputations
· Instructed and debriefed 4th through 8th grade students and teachers about the study and
its procedures

UCLA Psychology Department, Los Angeles, CA

Research Assistant for Leah Spalding, Ph.D.                                                    June 1997 – June 1998

· Conducted library research, data collection, and analyses on the effects of stereotype and prejudice conditions on women and Asian-American self-esteem.

· Assisted in the refinement of study protocol.

· Recruited participants for research studies.

· Provided input and suggestion for possible theoretical explanation for the studies.

UNIVERSITY TEACHING

 Teaching Assistant, Intro to Research Design & Statistics              September 2007 – Present

Instructor: Noreen Webb, Professor

· Evaluate student performance and assign homework and exam grades for a graduate level statistics course in education (Ed 230A)

· Help developed and conducted statistics and SPSS workshops

· Addressed the concerns and interests of over 30 graduate students before and after lectures, during office hours, and via email

Teaching Assistant, Developmental Psychology                    September 1998 – December 1998

Instructor: Jaana Juvonen, Professor

· Assisted students with daily class material for an undergraduate upper division developmental psychology course (Psych 133A)

· Conducted review sessions for midterm and final examinations

· Addressed the concerns and interests of over 200 undergraduates before and after lectures, during office hours, and via email

MENTORSHIP EXPERIENCE

Graduate Mentor, Peer Relations Project                                              Fall 2003 – Present

Principal Investigators: Sandra Graham and Jaana Juvonen, Professors

· Mentor 4-6 undergraduate assistant (per academic year) to develop their own research projects using the Peer Relations Project data and present it at the Western Psychological Association conference

· Conducted meetings and statistical workshops to develop their research ideas, questions, methods, and analyses

· Encourage collaboration among undergraduates via group projects and peer review  

Graduate & Resident Advisor, Summer Programs for Undergraduate Research                      

UCLA Graduate Division                                                                      Summer 2005 and Summer 2006       

·  Provided individual and group guidance (via workshops) for over 20 ethnically diverse and under-represented students (per summer) across various social science disciplines

· Duties include reading and providing (oral and written) feedback to students with respect to academic writing, research papers, presentations, and graduate school applications

· Resident advisor to over 200 undergraduates from various universities across both science and social science disciplines

· Collaborate with various graduate division coordinators, university faculty, and students in organizing multiple undergraduate social science and science research symposiums

MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Alhambra School District, Alhambra, CA                                               

Instructional Aide Computer Lab                                                                January 2000 – June 2000

· Developed lessons and materials for the computers lab for 28 (kindergarten through

eighth grade) classrooms

· Presented and taught lessons designed to familiarize students with computers, software,

 and the Internet.

· Operated, maintained, and coordinated the use of the computers in the computer lab

and regular classrooms

Seeds University Elementary School (UES), Los Angeles, CA               

Second/Third Grade Teaching Assistant Intern for Deborah Dupont        March 1999 – June 1999

· Assisted in daily lesson plans and activities in the areas of Language Arts,

   Mathematics, Social Science and Science/Health.

· Supervised the work progress of students and their discipline inside and outside the

   class.

· Corrected students’ daily class work and homework.

MEMBERSHIPS

· American Psychological Society    

· Asian American Psychological Association    

· Golden Key National Honors Society.

· Psi Chi (National Psychology Honors Society).

· Society of Research on Adolescents  

· Western Psychological Association   

PRESENTATIONS

· Giang, M. (2007). More friends versus good friends: What is better if I get picked on? Paper Submitted at the Beinnial Meeting of the Society of Research on Child Development, Boston, MA: April, 2007.

· Feldon, D., Kafai, Y., Fields, D. A., Giang, M., & Quintero, M. (2007, April). Mixed methods for mixed reality: Overcoming methodological challenges to understand user activity in a massive multi-user virtual environment. Paper presented at the annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

· Kafai, Y. B., Feldon, D., Fields, D. A., Giang, M., Quintero, M., & Peppler, K. A. (2007, April). Where in the World is the Science in Whyville? Poster symposium held at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

· Kafai, Y.B., Feldon, D., Fields, D., Giang, M., & Quintero, M. (2007). Life in the Times of Whypox: A Virtual Epidemic as a Community Event. In C. Steinfeld, B. Pentland, M. Ackermann, & N. Contractor (Eds.), Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Communities and Technology. New York: Springer.

· Giang, M. (2006). Bully-victim subgroups by way of latent class analysis. Paper Presented at the Annual Convention of the Western Psychology Association, Palm Springs, CA: April, 2006.
· Giang, M. (2004). Bully-victim subgroups, gender, and ethnicity: A latent class analysis. Poster Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society of Research on Adolescence, , Baltimore, MD: March, 2004.
· Giang, M., Galvez, G., & Wittig, M. (2002). Social mediators of peer harassment and psychological adjustment. Poster Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the European Association for Research on Adolescence, Oxford, England: September 2002.
· Wittig, M., Giang, M., Molina, L. (2002). Relative utility of common ingroup identity and acculturation models of intergroup bias reduction. Paper symposium presented at the Annual Convention of the European Association of Experimental Social Psychology, San Sebastian, Spain: June, 2002.
· Giang, M., Gonzalez, C., Ghovanloonia, B., & Wittig, M. (2002). Social adjustment mediators of peer harassment and self-worth. Poster Presented at the Annual Convention of the Western Psychology Association, Irvine, CA: April, 2002.
· Giang, M. & Wittig (2002). Differences in personal and collective self-esteem among acculturation strategies. Poster Presented at the Annual Convention of the Western Psychology Association, Irvine, CA: April, 2002.
· Giang, M., Ghavami, N., Gonzalez, C., & Wittig, M. (2002) Peer harassment, friendship, and self-worth: A mediational model. Poster Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society of Research on Adolescents, New Orleans, LA: April 2002.
· Giang, M. & Wittig, M. (2001). Personal and situational correlates of collective self-esteem among Whites, Asians, and Hispanics. Poster Presented at Annual Convention,of the American Psychological Society, Toronto, Ontario: June 2001.
· Gonzalez, C., Despues, D., Giang, M., & Wittig, M. (2001) Cognitive motives and affective goals for participating in interracial dialogues. Poster Presented at the Annual Convention of the Western Psychology Association, Maui, HI: May 2001.
· Banks, H., Giang, M., Smurda, J., & Wittig, M. (2001). Test of three component model of intergroup conflict mediation. Poster, Western Psychology Association, Annual Convention, Maui, HI, May 2001.
· Giang, M., Ainsworth, A., & Wittig, M. (2001). Predictors of intergroup prejudice reduction following a multicultural education program. Poster Presented at the Annual Convention of the Western Psychology Association, Maui, HI: May 2001.
· Juvonen, J., Nishina, A., & Giang, M. (2000). Middle school bully and victim reputations as a function of ethnic majority versus minority status. Poster symposium presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescents, Chicago, IL: April, 2000.
· Giang, M.. (1999). The relationship between bully-victim reputations and ethnic majority and minority status. Paper presented at the UCLA Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference, Los Angeles, CA: June, 1999.