Sunha Kim (she/her/hers)

Dr. Kim, a dedicated faculty member, holds two PhD degrees in Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) and Educational Statistics. Her research efforts have aimed to integrate IDT and Educational Statistics, with a particular focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion, resulting in a publication record of approximately 40 peer-reviewed papers. These publications have been recognized within the academic community, accumulating over 2,000 citations on Google Scholar and an h-index of 22 for overall.

Among her publications are the following examples: Kim, S., Rosenblith, S., Chang, Y., & Pollack*, S. (2020). Will ICMT Access and Use Support URM Students’ Online Learning in the (Post) COVID-19 Era? Sustainability, 12(20), 8433. (SSCI Index Impact Factor: 3.251; 5-year: 3.473; * represents a student co-author); Kim, S. & Faith, M. S. (2020). Cyberbullying and ICT uses for immigrant youths: Serial multiple-mediator SEM analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, 110, 104621. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.104621 (SSCI Index Impact Factor: 2.393; 5-year: 1.870); Kim, S. (2018). ICT for children of immigrants: Indirect and total effects via self-efficacy on math performance. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 55(8), 1168-1200. https://doi.org/10.1177/0735633117699954 (SSCI Index Impact Factor: 3.088; 5-year: 2.909).

Dr. Kim's research accomplishments have been supported by external funding from agencies such as NSF and NIH, with grants totaling $1,284,424. She has also made valuable contributions as an evaluator and consultant for additional grants totaling $3,770,632. (Link: https://ed.buffalo.edu/news-events/ed-matters/2023-04.html)

Collaboration has been a key aspect of Dr. Kim's work, and she has actively engaged in collaborative research resulting in several impactful publications. For instance, she collaborated with Prof. Meier, S. on the paper "Meta-Regression Analyses of Relationships Between Burnout and Depression With Sampling and Measurement Methodological Moderators," published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology (2022), an esteemed APA journal with an Impact Factor of 7.365.

Moreover, Dr. Kim has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to the success of her students. Recently, she provided invaluable support to her advisees, leading to their timely graduation and impressive achievements. Notably, one of her advisees received numerous accolades and scholarships, including the UB Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creativity award, the Delbert Mullens Thinking Outside the Box Award and scholarship, and the GSE Excellence in Research award.

Dr. Kim's contributions to research, grant funding, collaborative efforts, and student mentorship are driven by her unwavering dedication to advancing the fields of Instructional Design and Technology and Educational Statistics. Her commitment to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion remains at the forefront of her work.

• PhD, Virginia Tech, Educational Research and Evaluation (2014)
• PhD, Virginia Tech, Curriculum and Instruction (Instructional Design and Technology) (2009)

• Dean's Apple Award; GSE/UB; 2023-05-12;
• 3rd Place of the Short Paper Award: Professional Development Opportunity, Digital Skills, and BIPOC Professionals’ Decision to Leave: A Serial Multiple-Mediator SEM Model (Bright, K., Kim, S., VanScoy, A., & Colón-Aguirre, M.); Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T); 2022-08-31;
• IEEE Connecting the Unconnected (CTU) Challenge Prize: Technical Proof of Concept 2nd Place (Malandra, F., Mastronarde, N., Kim, S., Guan, Z., &, Saberi, H. ); IEEE (IEEE’s entire Technical Program Committee and CTU Selection Committee); 2021-10-29;
• Exceptional Doctoral Mentor; LAI-GSA, Graduate School of Education, UB; 2019-04-26;
• STAR Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence; Graduate School of Education (GSE); 2018-05-04;

• Ding*, W., Linch*, W., Wang*, W., Kim, S., Koury, S., & Small, S. (2026). The Role of an NIH Project in Shaping Students’ Future in STEM and STEM-Efficacy in Underserved High Schools. Education Sciences, 16(5), 779. (SSCI Index Impact Factor: 2.6; NIH grant activity; Extended from the class project of CEP526)
• Kim, S., Kim, T., & Nickerson, A (2023). The longitudinal impact of Second Step Child Protection Unit on Children: Gender as a Moderator. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse (JCSA) (SSCI Index Impact Factor: 2.189; 5-year: 2.287) (This paper is from a Grant activity, the Committee for Children, Seattle, WA)
• Kim, S., Rosenblith, S., Chang, Y., & Pollack*, S. (2020). Will ICMT Access and Use Support URM Students’ Online Learning in the (Post) COVID-19 Era?. Sustainability, 12(20), 8433. (SSCI Index, Impact Factor: 3.251; 5-year: 3.473); Meier, S. T., & Kim, S. (2022). Meta-regression analyses of relationships between burnout and depression with sampling and measurement methodological moderators. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 27(2), 195. (SSCI Index Impact Factor: 7.365; 5-Year: 7.150, APA Journal)

• Lee, J., Lamb, R., Kim, S. (2025). Artificial intelligence and learning. In Oxford Bibliographies in Education. Ed. Anne Hynds. New York: Oxford University Press

• Kim, S., Ding*, W. and VanScoy, A. (2025), Survival Analysis of Career Retention among LIS Professionals of Color. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 62: 1517-1519. (IMLS Grant Activity)

• Kim, S. (2026). Does AI use influence students’ academic performance directly and indirectly through mental health? Presented at the AERA 2026 Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA.;
• Kim, S., Ding*, W., Koury, S., & Small, S. (2026). The impact of an NIH-funded project on students’ STEM self-efficacy, science identity, and career interest. Presented at the AERA 2026 Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA.;
• Kim, S., Jeong*, H., Wang*, W., Prophete*, D., & Slaughter*, J E. (2026). Does internet use influence science performance directly and indirectly through ICT self-efficacy and science self-efficacy? Presented at the 2026 AERA, Los Angeles, CA.;
• Kim, S, Ding, W*., & VanScoy, A. Modeling the Occupational Survival of LIS Professionals of Color Through Survival Analysis (2025). AERA 2025 Conference. Paper Presented at the AERA 2025 Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado;
• Kim, S., Martin*, P., Rosenblith, S., Gorlewski, J., Winkelsas, A., & Etopio, E (2024, April). The Impact of Teacher Residency Pathways on Student-Level Outcomes. Symposium: Answerability, Urgency, and Joy: Revitalizing and Reinvigorating Teacher Education Through Residency (Chair: Rosenblith, S.). Paper Presented at the AERA 2024 Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA. (This presentation is from the TQP and Cullen Foundation grants);

• Project AI-Ready: Global Predictive Modeling of Teacher AI Adoption Using OECD Big Data. Kim, S. as a PI.; Colleges / Universities; Office of International Education (OIE) and the Vice President for Research and Economic Development; Awarded; (05/01/2026-05/31/2028)
• The Metagenomics Education Partnership: Harnessing the Power of Microbial Genome Sequencing and Big Data with High School Students and Teachers. Kim as a PI (multiple PI grant).; Federal Government; National Institutes of Health (NIH); Awarded; (06/01/2022-05/31/2027)
• OVERCOME: Connectivity for Underserved Communities – Buffalo Project. Awarded from NSF/US-IGNITE (CNS-2044448). Kim, S. as a Principal Investigator (PI).; Federal Government; NSF/US-IGNITE (CNS-2044448); Awarded; (11/09/2021-05/31/2022)

• AI in Korean Classrooms: Utilizing OECD Big Data for Teacher Development; Colleges / Universities; Office of International Education/Academy of Korean Studies (AKS-2025-OLU-2250001); Awarded; (02/08/2026-05/31/2026)
• Identifying Opportunities for Retention of BIPOC Librarians Using Survival Analysis; Federal Government; Institute of Museum and Library Services; Awarded; (09/01/2021-08/31/2025)

• Co-Organizer, International Symposium on AI and Data Science in Education: Insights from South Korea (National AI Institute for Exceptional Education, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY)
  Sep 2025-Sep 2025
• Reviewer for the Annual Conference of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T)
  Jun 2023-May 2025
• As a co-PI of the NIH federal grant, I've actively participated in providing professional development opportunities for teachers from underserved/under-resourced school districts in the Western New York area and organizing capstone events for their students.
  Jun 2022-Aug 2025
• Chair for an AERA 2021 Division E symposium
  Apr 2021-Apr 2021
• Member, Project OVERCOME Measurement/Evaluation team: Information available at https://www.us-ignite.org/program/overcome/
  Apr 2021-Jul 2022