Lisa Hsin

GRANT & RESEARCH PROJECTS

• Co-principal investigator and project director, Southwest English Learner Literacy Partnership, Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest (Institute of Education Sciences, 2022–2024)
• Principal investigator, WordBuds, a mobile application for tracking early language development (UA FUSE Program, 2025–2026)
• Writing impact study lead, Catalyzing Comprehension through Discussion and Debate (Institute of Education Sciences, 2018–2020)

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

1. Hsin, L. B., & Phillips Galloway, E. (2026). Toward a science of strengths-based approaches to reading for English learners in K–12 schools. Reading Research Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.70084
2. Hsin, L. B., Phillips Galloway, E., Deng, Z., & Snow, C. E. (2026). Improving writing without teaching it: Impacts and their absence in young adolescents’ writing following a discussion-based academic language intervention. Reading and Writing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-026-10830-4
3. Hsin, L. B., Hutchison, A., Abedini, P., Amayou, J., & Mousavi, V. (2026). Teaching adolescents to read purposefully with generative AI. Journal of Literacy and Technology, 27(1), 37–60.
4. Hsin, L. B., Phillips Galloway, E., & Snow, C. E. (2024). Supporting social strengths amid emerging bilingualism: Sociocognitive effects of Word Generation in English learners’ argumentative writing. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2024.2319869
5. Hsin, L. B., Miratrix, L., Kim, H. Y., LaRusso, M. D., & Snow, C. E. (2023). Predictable variation in the implementation of a curricular intervention—and why it matters. The Elementary School Journal, 124(1). https://doi.org/10.1086/725765
6. Hsin, L. B., & Snow, C. E. (2020). Arguing for teachers and for friends: Eighth graders’ sensitivity to argumentation features when judging and revising persuasive essays. Discourse Processes, 57(10), 823–843. https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2020.1803032

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

• Founding editorial board member, Language Development Research: An Open-Science Journal
• Ad hoc reviewer for the Institute of Education Sciences, National Science Foundation, and Israeli Science Foundation
• Peer reviewer for journals including Journal of Educational Psychology, American Educational Research Journal, and Review of Educational Research
• Chair, Disciplinary Literacy session, Society for Text and Discourse annual meeting, 2026
• Member, The University of Alabama Artificial Intelligence Working Group, 2024–present
• Featured expert and presenter on multilingual learners and literacy for the U.S. Department of Education, Regional Educational Laboratories, and Education Week

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

In her teaching, Dr. Hsin asks students to grapple with difficult questions and connect theory with practice. Her courses draw on work from several disciplines and place a high value on discussion, disagreement, and revision. At UA she teaches Foundations of the Learning Sciences; Reading, Language, and the Brain; Educational Psychology; The Literate Mind; and the Educational Studies departmental professional seminar.

BIOGRAPHY

Lisa Hsin conducts research on how students learn to understand demanding texts and express complex ideas in writing. A cognitive scientist by training, she studies the development of language and literacy skills from early childhood through adolescence, with particular attention to multilingual learners and to the reading and writing of argument. She also studies how generative AI is changing the demands placed on readers, writers, and teachers.

Dr. Hsin began her career as a K-12 Spanish teacher before earning her Ph.D. in cognitive science at Johns Hopkins University. She completed postdoctoral work at Tufts University and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where her research increasingly turned toward teaching and learning in schools. She later served as a senior researcher at the American Institutes for Research, leading studies and research-practice partnerships with schools, districts, and state education agencies, including the Texas Education Agency, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and Arlington Public Schools. She first joined the UA faculty in 2016 and returned in 2024 as an associate professor of educational psychology/neuroscience.

At UA, Dr. Hsin collaborates with colleagues across disciplines, advises doctoral students in education and nursing, and mentors undergraduate researchers. Her WordBuds project, developed with undergraduate computer science teams, is a mobile app that helps parents track and support their young children’s language development while also building a research database on language acquisition. She has also served as a featured expert for Education Week and a panelist for the U.S. Department of Education.

Dr. Hsin’s LECS Lab studies how readers construct meaning from text, drawing on approaches ranging from eye-tracking studies to classroom-based instructional programs. She is interested in developing sustained partnerships with schools and districts focused on improving adolescent literacy.