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: (1) Empowering children and teachers with digital technologies (e.g., robotics, AI) to enable their ethical and effective use of AI, (2) Innovation in early childhood curricula (e.g., STEM+C) that nurture children’s computational thinking for an AI-driven world, and (3) Design and evaluation of culturally and developmentally appropriate AI tools for early childhood education.

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 AI age. His research also contributes to the design, implementation, evaluation, and innovation of early childhood curriculum, technology integration, teacher learning, and leadership programs. He is the founder of PlayBot, a non-profit, future-oriented education initiative. He is also leading a wider Impact Platform called MaCo Studio for translating cutting-edge research into real-world impact in education for all children.

Dr. Yang has published in British Journal of Educational Technology, Computers & Education, Journal of Educational Computing Research, Teaching and Teacher Education, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Journal of Curriculum Studies and other prestigious journals. He has published 8 books, including two monographs. He has been named among the World’s Top 2% Most-cited Scientists (Career-long Impact) by Stanford University. 

Dr. Yang's research has garnered media coverage both internationally and within the region. In 2025, he was interviewed by Mitzi Perdue to comment on the role of AI in early childhood education, which was later published as an influential news article titled "China's kindergarten coders: The AI arms race begins at age 4". 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. His research publications have been cited by international organizations such as UNESCO (2024, 2025), UNICEF (2024), OECD (2021), and the White House of USA (2023).

Dr. Yang is currently a Triage Editor of the British Journal of Educational Technology, an Associate Editor of the Journal for the Study of Education and Development, an 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, Curriculum Journal, ECNU Review of Education, and SN Social Sciences. Previously, he served as a Co-Editor of the Journal of Research in Childhood Education and an Editorial Board member of Early Education and Development.

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 (中國教育創新成果公益博覽會, 2025).

• Early Childhood Learning Sciences
• Early Childhood Policy
• Educational Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Coding and Computational Thinking
• STEM / STEAM Education
• Teacher Leadership and Learning

• 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

• Triage Editor, British Journal of Educational Technology
• Associate Editor, Journal for the Study of Education and Development
• Associate Editor, AI, Brain and Child
• Former Editor, Journal of Research in Childhood Education
• Former Editorial Board Member, Early Education and Development
• Editorial Board Member, Early Childhood Research Quarterly
• 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