Welcoming Hunhui Na to the Division of Games
The Division of Games at the University of Utah is pleased to announce the appointment of Hunhui Na as Assistant Professor. Hunhui joins the Division from the Department of Educational Leadership at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he served as Assistant Professor of Learning, Design and Technology. He earned his doctorate in Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies from Florida State University. His route to the academy is unusual: before beginning his PhD, Hunhui spent more than ten years as a K-12 public school teacher, and that classroom experience gives his scholarship a grounding in educational reality that distinguishes his work.
That background shapes everything about his research agenda. Hunhui’s scholarship centers on designing, developing, and evaluating technology-enhanced learning environments for K-12 STEM and computer science education, with a particular focus on emerging technologies — augmented and virtual reality, generative AI, and immersive digital games. Hunhui does not simply study games and interactive environments from the outside — he makes them. His technical fluency across game development, software engineering, and data tools means he can move fluidly between asking research questions and building the environments those questions demand.
Learning analytics and educational data mining form a core strand of his research — extracting meaning from the behavioral traces students leave within games and simulations to understand how they engage, where they get stuck, and which design choices genuinely support learning. His work has ranged from embodied learning in AR and VR environments to how teachers build their own technology practices through social media and professional networks, to the thoughtful integration of generative AI tools in ways that keep student learning at the center.
“I am incredibly excited to join the Division of Games at the University of Utah,” says Na. “The Division is an ideal home for my research on playful learning and training, especially through games, immersive technologies, learning analytics, and generative AI. I look forward to collaborating with outstanding colleagues to explore how games can support learning and training across formal and informal settings, from K-12 education to workforce training. I am especially eager to work closely with students through hands-on projects that position games for learning and training not simply as entertainment, but as thoughtfully designed experiences grounded in human cognition, social and cultural contexts, and technological innovation.”
Michael Young, Professor and Chair of the Division of Games, reflected on what Hunhui’s appointment means for the Division: “Hunhui brings something genuinely rare — he has been in the classroom as a teacher, he can build the technologies he studies, and he asks rigorous questions about what those technologies actually do for learners. That combination of practitioner roots, technical depth, and scholarly seriousness is exactly what the Division of Games needs as we grow our research enterprise. We are very excited to have him joining us.”
Hunhui’s appointment is part of Press Play, the Division of Games’ major initiative to grow its research enterprise, now entering its third year. He joins four other tenure-line faculty brought to the Division through Press Play, and the Division expects to sustain that momentum — with plans to welcome more than ten new faculty members over the next three years.