The Ateneo Laboratory for the Learning Sciences is a Department of Science and Technology-funded undertaking engaged in investigating learning. The goal of the lab is to create tools for educational data mining. Â We are interested in quantitative analysis of student interactions with computer-based learning environments to derive new insights about how students learn best.
The Ateneo Laboratory for the Learning Sciences (ALLS) hosted a talk entitled “When Digital Innovation Meets Care: Lessons from a Large Danish NGO,” delivered by Pedro Ferreira on April 8, 2026 at Faura Hall, Ateneo de Manila University.
Dr. Ferreira, an Associate Professor at the IT University of Copenhagen, shared findings from his study on how digitalization affects older adults working in a Danish NGO. He explained that while digital tools are meant to make work more efficient and modernized, they can also create challenges for older volunteers. Many of these individuals joined to help their communities, but the shift to digital systems requires them to do more technical and administrative tasks, causing some to feel left behind.
In line with this, the discussion highlighted that digital transformation is not always ideal, as it can unintentionally exclude people whose strengths are in community-based and relational work. It also creates new challenges within organizations, such as shifting responsibilities among volunteers.
In relating these insights to the Philippines, Dr. Ferreira noted that care systems are deeply rooted in family and community networks. He emphasized that introducing digital solutions without considering these relationships may disrupt existing support systems, highlighting the need to design technologies that fit local contexts.
Dr. Ferreira shares his findings on tensions arising from digitalization.
The Ateneo Laboratory for the Learning Sciences (ALLS) is set to showcase For People and Planet: An SDG Adventure, a narrative-based game that teaches students about integrating the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals into everyday life. This will take place at Ready, Set, Resilience! An Afternoon of Gamifying Climate and Disaster Resilience, hosted by the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability (AIS) on February 20, 2026. See details below:
The Ateneo Institute of Sustainability (AIS), under the Climate and Disaster Resilience (CDR) Program, is hosting “Ready, Set, Resilience!”, a one-day event designed to have engaging and innovative games to introduce participants to climate and disaster risks while building upon practical knowledge and skills on mitigation, adaptation, and community resilience.
It also builds on crisis-oriented education by immersing learners in cooperative and scenario-based problem-solving (Fonseca et al., 2023); moreover, more localized approaches, such as games designed to be played during the event itself, can further contextualize learning within the Filipino lived experience.
Note: The event is open to the Ateneo de Manila community, is free of charge, and slots are limited.
This event is in partnership with the Ateneo Department of Environmental Science, Ateneo Laboratory for the Learning Sciences, and Climate Fresk Philippines.
The Ateneo Laboratory for the Learning Sciences (ALLS), in collaboration with Ateneo Sandbox Programs, opened the year with two distinct activities on Artificial Intelligence in Education, held on January 16 and 17, 2026. The first lecture was held on January 16, followed by a seminar-workshop on January 17. Both activities featured Shamya Karumbaiah, Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Director of the Responsible AI for Learning (TRAIL) Lab.
The lecture on the first day focused on the potential of AI to address language boundaries in science learning, with particular emphasis on multilingual support and fostering translanguaging opportunities. Dr. Karumbaiah discussed how AI can support inquiry-based science learning by leveraging learners’ everyday language practices as resources for meaning-making. Drawing from teacher needs analyses and the Science and Language with AI (SLAI) initiative, the lecture positioned AI as a tool for bridging science content and language development, while also critically examining challenges associated with large language models, including linguistic bias, safety concerns, hallucinations, misinformation, and toxicity. The lecture concluded with a live demonstration of the SLAI app, showcasing how AI can enable multilingual and translanguaging interactions among students. Dr. Karumbaiah emphasized that AI, in this context, supports diverse forms of meaning-making in science learning by foregrounding learners’ cultural and linguistic assets. The lecture was attended by participants from fields such as language, science, and computing education.
The seminar-workshop on the second day centered on the responsible use of AI in education and brought together a multidisciplinary group of educators and AI-in-education enthusiasts from institutions across the country. Through guided discussions, collaborative activities, and shared reflections, participants examined ethical, pedagogical, and contextual considerations in AI adoption, including fairness, transparency, learner agency, assessment, and feedback. Drawing on their varied teaching contexts, participants engaged in a rich exchange of ideas, culminating in shared principles and practical insights for ethical, inclusive, and context-sensitive integration of AI in classrooms.
The International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE) 2025 was held at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) in Chennai, India, from December 1 to 5, 2025. Researchers from Ateneo de Manila University and the Ateneo Laboratory for the Learning Sciences (ALLS) actively participated in the conference, presenting several research papers aligned with the conference themes.
During the workshop sessions, an ALLS-VAMR Project paper titled “Embodied Gesture Interactions for a VR-based Commemorative History Game” was presented by Dr. Eric Cesar E. Vidal, Jr. In one of the parallel sessions on the first day of the main conference, Dr. Maria Mercedes T. Rodrigo, Head of ALLS, presented another ALLS-led research project entitled “User Evaluation of a Virtual Patient for Philippine Medical Education.”
In addition, Dr. Eric Cesar E. Vidal presented a poster titled “Design and Testing of a VR Escape Room Game for Philippine Martial Law History” under the Educational Games and Gamification (EGG) category. The final ALLS-affiliated presentation of the conference was the postdoctoral research of Dr. Arnel B. Ocay, entitled “An Exploration of the Impact of Using ChatGPT on Students’ On-Task Performance and Task Success,” which was presented on the last day of the conference.
ICCE is an annual international conference that brings together researchers, academicians, and doctoral students in the fields of computing education and technology-enhanced learning. This year’s conference was chaired by Dr. Maria Mercedes T. Rodrigo, Professor at Ateneo de Manila University and Head of the Ateneo Laboratory for the Learning Sciences.
Presented Papers and Authors
Embodied Gesture Interactions for a VR-based Commemorative History Game Jesus Alvaro C. Pato, Eric Cesar Jr. E. Vidal, and Nicko R. Caluya
User Evaluation of a Virtual Patient for Philippine Medical Education Maria Mercedes T. Rodrigo, Samantha Castaneda, James Alvir Maclin V. Alaan, Paolo Santino P. Caoile, Alec Isaiah Dayupay, Roswold Jemuel Sanchez, and Eric Cesar Jr. E. Vidal
Design and Testing of a VR Escape Room Game for Philippine Martial Law History Eric Cesar Jr. E. Vidal, Nicko R. Caluya, Johanna Marion R. Torres, Jesus Alvaro C. Pato, and Kenneth King L. Ko
An Exploration of the Impact of Using ChatGPT on Students’ On-Task Performance and Task Success Arnel B. Ocay and Maria Mercedes T. Rodrigo
Representing ALLS and the Philippines at ICCE 2025— Left to right: Fr. Joseph Patrick Echevarria, Dr. Eric E. Vidal, Dr. Maria Mercedes T. Rodrigo, Dr. May Talandron-Felipe (USTP), and Dr. Arnel B. Ocay.
Dr. Maria Mercedes T. Rodrigo, Chair of ICCE 2025, delivers her opening message to participants during the opening ceremonies at the Taj Wellington Mews Hotel, Chennai.
Dr. Eric E. Vidal presents the ALLS-VAMR project, Heritage Hero, a VR-based commemorative history game, during a workshop session on the second day of the conference.
Maria Mercedes T. Rodrigo delivered a keynote presentation at ACM Compute 2025, held on December 7–9 at IIT Ropar, India. Her talk, “Eye Tracking for Novice Programmer Research,” examined how eye-tracking technology can reveal the cognitive processes underlying how novice programmers read, understand, and debug code.
The keynote drew on the Ateneo Laboratory for the Learning Science’s series of empirical studies investigating both individual programmers and pairs working collaboratively. Dr. Rodrigo discussed how eye-tracking metrics such as fixations, saccades, and scanpaths can distinguish between high- and low-performing students, as well as between successful and unsuccessful programming pairs. These findings illustrate how differences in visual attention and reading strategies are closely tied to programming performance and learning outcomes.
ACM Compute 2025 brought together educators, researchers, and practitioners focused on computing education in the Global South, with an emphasis on evidence-based teaching, capacity building, and inclusive innovation. Hosted by IIT Ropar, the conference featured keynote talks, paper presentations, and workshops that highlighted research-informed practices for improving computing education across diverse contexts. Dr. Rodrigo’s keynote contributed a strong learning-sciences perspective, demonstrating how fine-grained data on learner behavior can inform more effective and equitable approaches to teaching computer programming.
