Dr. Weipeng Yang's interdisciplinary research in Early Childhood Learning Sciences spans education, psychology, and computer science and focuses on redesigning early learning environments and experiences to optimize young children’s development in our rapidly evolving society. To achieve this goal, he is exploring three key areas: (a) Empowering children and teachers with digital technologies (e.g., robotics, AI) in early childhood education, (b) Using STEAM learning to promote young children’s computational thinking, and (c) Making early childhood curricula and pedagogies more culturally responsive.

Dr. Yang brings expertise in conducting quasi-experiments, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and in-depth case studies, with a recent focus on equitable educational robotics and sustainable STEAM education activities for young children. This research has important implications for computational thinking and computer science education in the early years and contributes to the development of equitable and sustainable educational programs that prioritize the needs and abilities of young children while preparing them for lifelong wellbeing in an ever-changing technological landscape. His research also contributes to the design, implementation, evaluation, and innovation of early childhood curriculum, technology integration, teacher learning, and leadership programs, and explores the use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications to benefit children and society as a whole.

Dr. Yang has published in British Journal of Educational Technology, Journal of Educational Computing Research, Teaching and Teacher Education, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Journal of Curriculum Studies and other prestigious journals. He has published 7 books, including a monograph. He has been named among the World’s Top 2% Most-cited Scientists since 2023 by Stanford University. 

Dr. Yang's research has garnered media coverage both internationally and within the region. In 2024, his commentary was published by Monash University’s 360info with the title of “AI’s key role in advancing early childhood learning”, which has been widely republished by global news media, including Tatler Asia, Visi.news, Tempo Media, Press Trust of India, Open Forum, Newsdrum, Devdiscourse, etc. In 2023, he developed a framework (with Dr. Jiahong Su) for using GenAI in education that was published in the ECNU Review of Education (Q1 journal in Education & Educational Research ranked by the Web of Science) and since then reported by multiple news media, including PHYS.ORG, Bioengineer.org, ScienMag, NoticiasMXPolitico, IndicePolitico, EurekAlert, China Science Daily, etc. In the same year, his works on early childhood AI and robotics were discussed in news articles by the Hungarian Conservative and Australia’s SBS News, and his views on early childhood STEAM education were published in a local magazine – 親子天地. In 2022, there was coverage of his research regarding “Global Trends in Early Childhood Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic” in Keeping In Touch eNewsletter and “Reexamining childhood and curriculum in diverse cultural contexts” in yahoo. Very recently, his paper on AI and robotics for young children (co-authored with Dr. Jiahong Su) has been cited in UNICEF’s report on “How is artificial intelligence reshaping early childhood development?”.

Dr. Yang is currently the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Research in Childhood Education, a Triage Editor of the British Journal of Educational Technology, an Associate Editor of the Journal for the Study of Education and Development, a Founding Associate Editor of the AI, Brain and Child journal, a Steering Group member of the British Curriculum Forum (BCF), and the Convenor of the Curriculum, Assessment and Pedagogy (CAP) SIG at British Educational Research Association (BERA). He is also serving on the Editorial Boards of Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Early Education and Development, Curriculum Journal, ECNU Review of Education, and SN Social Sciences.

Dr. Yang has been involved in numerous knowledge transfer events such as the Oxford University Press (OUP) Education Leadership Forum (2021), Jockey Club School Transition and Readiness Project Public Lectures 2022/23, Learning & Teaching Expo 2023, and China Education Innovation Achievements Charity Exhibition (第六屆中國教育創新成果公益博覽會).

• Early Childhood Learning Sciences
• Educational Robotics
• Coding and Computational Thinking
• STEAM Education (coding education, computational thinking education, AI literacy, makerspace, virtual worlds, early childhood engineering, etc.)
• Teacher Research and Professional Learning (curriculum-based professional learning [CBPL], video clubs, etc.)
• Social-Emotional Learning and Wellbeing

• Early childhood education across cultures
• Integrated curriculum in early childhood education
• Early childhood teacher research and professional growth
• Teaching and learning in early childhood education
• Early childhood engineering education
• Early childhood research methods

• Editor, Journal of Research in Childhood Education
• Triage Editor, British Journal of Educational Technology
• Associate Editor, Journal for the Study of Education and Development
• Associate Editor, AI, Brain and Child
• Editorial Board Member, Early Childhood Research Quarterly
• Editorial Board Member, Early Education and Development
• Editorial Board Member, The Curriculum Journal
• Editorial Board Member, ECNU Review of Education
• Editorial Board Member, SN Social Sciences
• Guest Editor, Early Education and Development
• Guest Editor, Policy Futures in Education
• Guest Editor, ECNU Review of Education
• Guest Editor, Future in Educational Research
• Guest Editor, Frontiers in Psychology
• Guest Editor, Education Sciences