Hyoju Ahn, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Instruction

Department

Curriculum and Instruction

Education

• Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park
• M.Ed., Seoul National University of Education
• B.A., Seoul National University of Education

Research Interests

Professor Ahn's research examines how readers at different reading levels engage in online multimodal reading and how these processes inform K-12 literacy curriculum, instruction and assessment. Her scholarly interests include digital literacy, qualitative reading research methods with a focus on verbal protocol analysis, online learning for academic topic comprehension and children's literacy development.

Recent Publications

• Ahn, H., and Han, S. (2026). Diverse texts in online spaces: Online multimodal reading strategies and civic engagement with social issues. Education Sciences, 16(6), 835.
• Ahn, H. (2026). A Systematic Review of Online Multimodal Reading Strategies. Reading Psychology, 1-29.
• Ahn, H. (2025). Competent readers' online multimodal reading strategies use. In L. Roberts-Chala, P. Lisenbee and Cossa, N. L. (Eds.). Breaking Down Barriers to Mobilize our Literate Selves. (pp. 77 - 108). ISBN: 978-1-883604-13-4.
• Ahn, H. and Afflerbach, P. (2025). Assessment of Reading. Reference Module in Social Sciences. In Nesi, H., Milin, P. and Chong, S. W. (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 3rd Edition. Elsevier. ISBN 9780443157851.
• Yu, S., Han, H. and Ahn, H. (2025). Mapping Children's Sense of Belonging through Multimodal Composition in the Classroom. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 1-22.
• Junco, E., Ahn, H., Blake, S., Elish-Piper, L., Amanova, C. (2025). Leveraging Community Capital: PLEDGE as a Model for Equitable and Inclusive Teacher Preparation. Research as Activism in Education: Community-Centric Perspectives.
• Ahn, H. and Johnston, T. (in press) Supporting Elementary School Readers' Online Multimodal Reading for Conceptual Knowledge and Vocabulary Building. Illinois Reading Council Journal.
• Wickens, C. and Ahn, H. (book chapter in press) Theoretical Grounding: Disciplinary Inquiry Across Contexts. Research Handbook on Digital Literacies, 3rd Edition. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.
• Ahn, H. and Afflerbach, P. (2023). Assessment in Language Arts Classrooms. Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts.
• Ahn, H. (2023). Competent Readers' Online Multimodal Reading Strategies Use. Doctoral dissertation defended from the University of Maryland.
• Afflerbach, P., Ahn, H. and Park, M. (2021). Assessing students' reading development and reading achievement. In Wepner, S. and Quatroche, D. (Eds.) The administration and supervision of reading programs. New York: Teachers' College Press, 6e.

Recent Presentations

• Yu, S., Ahn, H., Kim, M., Lee, K., and Jang, B. (April 2026). Bridging Two Worlds, Refusing Deficit: Collective Counter-Storytelling of Korean Transnational Literacy Teacher Educators Across Past, Present, and Future. Paper presentation at the Korean American Educational Research Association (KAERA) Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA.
• Ahn, H., Han, H. (April 2026). Verbal Protocol Analysis for Investigating Online Multimodal Reading. Roundtable presentation at American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA.
• Ahn, H. and Johnston, T. (2025). Exploring the Influence of Sociocultural Resources on Online Multimodal Reading Strategies: A Comparative Case Study of Sixth-Grade Korean Elementary School Readers. Paper presentation at Literacy Research Association (LRA) Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
• Ahn, H., Yu, S., Lee, K. and Jang, B. (2025). Bridging Two Worlds: Four Korean American Teacher Educators' Transnational Journeys in U.S. Classrooms. Alternative Format Session at Literacy Research Association (LRA) Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
• Ahn, H. (2025). The Influence of Online Multimodal Reading Strategies for Increasing Knowledge Units. Paper presentation at Literacy Research Association (LRA) Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
• Ahn, H. (2025). Online Multimodal Reading Strategy: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How To Teach It. Association of Literacy Educators & Researchers (ALER) Annual Conference, Oklahoma, OH.
• Ahn, H. & Han, H. (2025). Exploring the Influence of Sociocultural Resources on Online Multimodal Reading Strategies: A Comparative Case Study of Sixth-Grade Korean Elementary School Readers. Paper presentation at the Korean American Educational Research Association (KAERA) Annual Conference, Denver, CO.
• Yu, S., Han, H. and Ahn, H. (2025). Mapping Children's Identity and Belonging through Mapping in Multimodal Composition. Paper presentation at AERA Annual Conference, Denver, CO.
• Tatar C., Ahn H., Dwomoh R. and Junco E. (2025). Empowering English Language Arts and Social Studies Teachers: Engaging with Inquiry, Social Justice, and Generative AI. In the Conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE). Orlando, Florida.
• Ahn, H. and Yu, S. (2024). L2 Students' Cultural Schema and Reading Strategy Use During Online Multimodal Reading. Paper presentation at Literacy Research Association (LRA) Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA.
• Ahn, H. (2024). Competent Readers' Online Multimodal Reading Strategies Use. Doctoral Dissertation Award Presentation at the Association of Literacy Education Researchers (ALER) Annual Conference, Orlando, FL.
• Ahn, H. (2024). Competent Readers' Online Multimodal Reading Strategies Use. Presentation at American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Conference, Pennsylvania, PA.
• Ahn, H. (2024). Sixth-Grade Korean Students' Online Multimodal Reading Strategy Use. Presentation at the Korean American Educational Research Association (KAERA) Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA.
• Ahn, H. (2023) Expert readers' Online Multimodal Reading Strategies Use. American Educational Research Association Annual Conference, Chicago, IL.

Courses Taught

• LTRE 300 Elementary School Developmental Reading Programs
• LTRE 350 Content Area Literacy for Elementary Education
• LTRE 520: Diagnosis and Treatment of Reading Difficulties