Ziyi Zhang - University of Evansville

Dr. Ziyi Zhang

Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science

Dr. Zhang's research focuses on code comprehension to invesitigate how programmers read and understand code, and how these skills can be measured and taught. In particular, her work uses eye tracking and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to study code-reading strategies and cognitive load during tasks, and applies these findings to design instruction for novice programmers. As part of her work in computing education, Dr. Zhang translates the knowledge gained from these experiments into evidence-based educational materials, including worked examples and strategy guidance that make code comprehension an explicitly taught skill rather than one students are expected to develop on their own. Her current research also examines how AI coding assistants affect the way programmers read and understand code, and what their growing use means for teaching these skills.

Education

Ph.D. in Computer Science, Washington State University
M.S. in Computer Science, Washington State University

Honors and Awards

Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture (VCEA), Washington State University (2026)
Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), Washington State University (2026)

Selected Publications

Zhang, Z., Roy, D., Arnaoudova, V. Context-Specific Instruction: A Longitudinal Study on Debugging Skill Acquisition and Retention for Novice Programmers. Transactions on Education. Under Review, 2026.
Zhang, Z., Roy, D., Fakhoury, S., Feinberg, S., Venkatasubramanian, S., Arnaoudova, V. IEEE Identifying Code Reading Patterns during Bug Localization Tasks. ACM Transactions on Computing Education. Under review, 2026.
Roy, D., Zhang, Z., Ma, M., Arnaoudova, V., Panichella, A., Panichella, S., Mirakhorli, M. DeepTC-Enhancer: Improving the Readability of Automatically Generated Tests. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (ASE), 2020, pp. 287–298.
Cai, H., Zhang, Z., Li, L., Fu, X. A Large-Scale Study of Application Incompatibilities in Android. In Proceedings of the 28th ACM SIGSOFT International Symposium on Software Testing and Analysis (ISSTA), 2019, pp. 216–227.
Zhang, Z., Cai, H. A Look into Developer Intentions for App Compatibility in Android. In Proceedings of the IEEE/ACM 6th International Conference on Mobile Software Engineering and Systems (MOBILESoft), 2019.

Service

External Reviewer: ICSE (2022–2024); ESEC/FSE (2020–2021); ASE (2020); SANER (2020); MSR (2020); ICSME (2020–2021).
STEM Outreach: Judge, Spokane MESA Day: National Engineering Design Challenge (NEDC) Regional Competition, Eastern Washington University, April 2026.

Technical Skills