Rate My Professor Sohyun Yang

Sohyun Yang, Ph.D., serves as Assistant Professor of Special Education in the Department of Advanced Education Programs, College of Education, at Fort Hays State University, a position she has held since 2021 after serving as an adjunct instructor there from 2020 to 2021. She earned her Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of Kansas in 2021, with a specialization in Instructional Design, Technology, and Innovation; her doctoral dissertation titled Online Professional Development for K-12 Educators: Insights for the Future examined key aspects of educator training in digital contexts. Earlier, she received an M.Ed. in Special Education from Kongju National University in 2015, with a master’s thesis on The Structure Analysis on Behavior Intention of Instructional Technology of Special Education Teachers, and a B.A. in Special Education (Secondary; Mathematics) from the same institution in 2013. Prior to her current role, Yang taught as an instructor and teaching assistant at the University of Kansas from 2018 to 2021, delivering courses such as SPED 507: Advanced Practices for Children with Disabilities in Middle/Secondary General Education Classrooms and SPED 854: Family and Interprofessional Collaboration in Special Education. She also served as an adjunct instructor at Kongju National University from 2015 to 2017, teaching Introduction to Special Education.

Yang’s research specializations encompass designing technology-based learning environments, self-regulation in online learning, online teacher preparation and professional learning, and technology integration in special education. She has co-authored over a dozen peer-reviewed journal articles, including Jackson, H. A., Yang, S., & Zhang, L. (2024). Advancing ethical pedagogy for artificial intelligence adoption with instructional design. Journal of Special Education Leadership, 37(2); Jackson, H. A., & Yang, S. (2024). Community of inquiry: Designing quality online instruction for special educator preparation. Journal of Special Education Preparation, 4(3), 16-25; Zhang, L., Carter, R. A., Jr., Basham, J. D., & Yang, S. (2022). Integrating instructional designs of personalized learning through the lens of universal design for learning. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 38(6), 1639–1656; and Yang, S., Carter, R. A. Jr., Zhang, L., & Hunt, L. T. (2021). Emanent themes of blended learning in K-12 educational environments: Lessons from the Every Student Succeeds Act. Computers & Education, 163, 104116. Her work has influenced discussions on personalized learning, AI in education, and online pedagogy during crises like COVID-19, with publications appearing in outlets such as TechTrends, Teachers and Teaching, and British Journal of Educational Technology. Yang contributes to university service through roles on the FHSU General Education Committee and Provost Standing Committees.