Fettah Kiran

Bio

I am a Ph.D. graduate in Computer Science from the University of Houston, where I conducted research in the Affective & Data Computing ACDC lab under the esteemed guidance of Prof. Ioannis Pavlidis. My doctoral research focused on affective and data computing with applications in mental health support, human-computer interaction (HCI), and adaptive educational technologies, with a particular emphasis on addressing math anxiety in higher education. My academic journey also includes an M.S. in Computer Science earned at Louisiana State University.

My Ph.D. research formed a pivotal part of the NSF-funded Affective Math project, where I contributed to the full spectrum of the research process—designing and conducting experiments, analyzing multimodal data, and developing mathematical models to capture the interplay between affect and learning. This work advanced our understanding of how affective states, particularly math anxiety, impact student performance and learning outcomes, bridging the fields of affective computing, education, and data science.

Research Interests

• Affective Computing
• Machine Learning
• Computer Vision

Education

Ph.D., Computer Science (2025)e
University of Houston, Houston, TX
College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Relevant coursework: Statistical Methods in Research
Research: Affective Computing, Human-Computer Interaction, Signal Processing

M.S., Computer Science (2020)
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
Division of Computer Science and Engineering
Relevant coursework: ML, AI, Theory of Computation, Game Design
Research: Brain Computer Interaction, ADHD, Serious Games

B.S., Department of Computer and Instructional Technologies Education (2013)
Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkiye
Faculty of Education
Relevant coursework: Material Design, Programming Languages, AI, Distance Learning

Technical Skills

• Data Analysis and Statistics: Multimodal Data, R, Python
• Design and Modeling Tools: SwiftUI, Xcode, Canvas, Microsoft Office
• Programming: Python, R, C++, Swift
• Operating Systems: MS Windows, MacOS, Bash, Linux
• Selected Certifications:
  • Micro-credential in Data Science - HPE DSI (2023) - Show credential
  • Social-Behavioral-Educational Researchers - CITI UH
• All certifications

Experience

Research Assistant Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation and Statistics, Houston, TX

• Preparing experimental setup
• Collecting, curating, and visualizing Affective Math data
• Developing analytic methods in R
• Developing ML models

Graduate Teaching Assistant Department of Computer Science, University of Houston, TX

• Academic Support: Diligently graded assignments, midterms, and final exams for advanced graduate-level courses, including Ubiquitous Computing (Swift), Statistical Methods in Research (R), Data Science II (Python), Machine Learning (Python)

• Mentorship: Provided invaluable guidance to over 40 fellow students across six University Computer Science laboratories, offering expertise in data acquisition, processing, and the effective reporting of experimental outcomes. Additionally, I actively mentored participants in the IUCRC BRAIN REM (Research Experience and Mentoring) program at the University of Houston—supporting high school students through in-person research during a 6-week summer program (2024, 2025), and preparation for participation in the IUCRC BRAIN Symposium.

Publications

Teaching

UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING - COSC 4355

• FALL 2024 | GitHub repo

• FALL 2023 | GitHub repo

• FALL 2022 | GitHub repo

STATISTICAL METHODS IN RESEARCH - COSC 6323

• SPRING 2024 | GitHub repo

• SPRING 2023 | GitHub repo