Our Faculty

Designated. Assis.Prof. ZHU Yu

My research focuses on analyzing classroom transcripts from the perspectives of educational technology, educational methodology, and the learning sciences. I have developed analytical tools to visualize thematic relevance and topic transitions in classroom utterances, and have applied them to real classroom transcripts to clarify classroom structures and learners’ thinking processes. I have also proposed approaches to lesson analysis that use text mining and network analysis to capture relationships among utterances and changes in topics.

More recently, I have been developing methodological approaches to AI-assisted lesson analysis. Using natural language processing technologies, including large language models, I classify and extract utterances and topics from classroom transcripts and analyze their relationships and changes from multiple perspectives. In particular, I focus on utterances that become peripheral to the main development of a lesson and on topics that do not develop into sustained classroom discussion. By examining how they emerge through classroom interactions and what they reveal about students’ learning processes, my research aims to contribute to the methodological development of lesson study and lesson analysis. I am also engaged in educational practices related to data science and AI.

Major Achievements

• Zhu, Y. (2025). Development and application of a tool to visualize the thematic relevance of utterances in lessons. Bulletin of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Nagoya University: Educational Sciences, 72(01), 55-67. (Peer-reviewed; lead, last, and corresponding author)
• Zhu, Y., & Kasai, T. (2020). Development of a media, information, and literacy rubric for citizens: Targeting Japanese university students. Japan Society for Educational Technology Research Report, 20(3), 117-124. (Lead, last, and corresponding author)
• ZHU, Y., & Sakamoto, M. (2026). Student Voice in Lesson Study: Giving Students a Say (Part IV, Chapter 13). Routledge. ISBN: 9781041041122. (Contributing author)