LC³ Lab
LC³ Lab, pronounced “LC Cubed” or “LC Three,” is a research lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. We work at the intersection of learning sciences, human-computer interaction, and AI in education. Our work is grounded in three core ideas.
- Learning across boundaries — Learning expands the boundaries of knowledge across disciplines, perspectives, and ways of knowing.
- Learning through Collaboration — Learning is fundamentally social and is deepened through collaboration with peers, technologies, and artifacts.
- Learning as Creation — Learning is a process of collaborative knowledge creation. Learners actively propose ideas, iteratively advance thinking, synthesize understanding, and create knowledge together rather than passively receive information.
Grounded in these ideas, we design, build, and study technology-supported learning environments . Our work combines technological and pedagogical innovation to support meaningful learning in authentic educational settings. We draw on AI techniques and insights from learning analytics to create systems that augment human thinking, foster collaboration, support disciplinary learning, and make knowledge creation visible and productive.
Through design research, our current research investigates the role of AI in human thinking and knowledge creation. We particularly focus on how AI shapes interaction and supports key epistemic practices in collaborative learning, and how learning environments should be designed for meaningful human-AI collaboration. These questions also lead us to ask what new forms of literacy, participation, and agency are needed for the future of work and learning.
Recent News
- talk Lab director Xinran Zhu delivered a keynote titled “Leadership in the Age of AI: Designing for the Future of Work and Learning” at the 2026 Illinois Community College Leadership Institute.
- conference PhD student Bo Shui presented an interactive poster at the Future of Learning Technologies Showcase hosted by the Center for Research in Innovation in Technology-Enhanced Learning (ITEL) at UIUC. The poster showcased the design of SAIL, an AI-augmented tool that supports knowledge synthesis in CSCL settings. ↗
- award PhD student Miaomiao Wei received the 2026 Jeffrey S. Tanaka Research Grant and the Robert P. Larsen Grant in support of her research on AI in education. 🎉
- publication We are excited to announce the Alpha release of Synthesis AI Lab (SAIL)! ↗
- publication Lab director Xinran Zhu , together with Bodong Chen and David DeLiema, published “Advancing Collaborative Discourse through Knowledge Synthesis” in the International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning. ↗
- talk Lab director Xinran Zhu gave a talk, “Toward Critical and Reflective Engagement with AI,” as part of the GenAI Dialogues series at UIUC.
- conference Lab director Xinran Zhu presented at ISLS 2025 (Helsinki): a paper on knowledge synthesis in collaborative discourse and a symposium on bridging computational discourse analysis with practical implementation.
- talk Lab director Xinran Zhu served as a panelist at the “Forum on the Future of AI in Education” at UIUC. ↗
- conference Lab director Xinran Zhu presented a symposium on social annotation practice at ISLS 2024 (Buffalo). ↗
- conference Lab director Xinran Zhu presented at CSCW 2023 in Minneapolis. ↗
- conference Lab director Xinran Zhu presented at ISLS 2023 (Montreal): the Joint Attention-Interaction-Creation (AIC) Framework for understanding idea creation in collaborative discourse. ↗
People
Lab Director | Assistant Professor
PhD Student
PhD Student
Grad Research Collaborator
Undergrad Intern