InSon's Private Space

Hello, I'm In Son, a Research Fellow with a Passion
for Data Science Education and an aspiring Music Composer.

InSon Zeng - Intelligence,
Self-regulation, Zeal


I am In Son! I am a researcher who loves to explore learning at scale and learnersourcing in asynchronous learning environment. I had a background in statistics and mathematic education, which shaped my research direction to focus on creating personalized contents and messages in online educational platforms to engage learners.

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Selected Music / Compositions

More Music and compositions are listed in the page bottom. For a full catalog and audio players, welcome to browse my music gallery as a composition gallery.

Why learning at scale?

Because I care about making high-quality, personalized education more accessible across learning contexts. Starting to teach students at the age of 13 enabled me to see the need of scalable student support assisted by artificial intelligence (of course, with ethical use), since teachers cannot always provide one by one guidance. This interest has developed into my research on AI-assisted learning systems, including Intelligent Music Theory Tutor that connect optical music recognition, knowledge retrieval, and pedagogical explanation. Through accepted research at KDD 2026 and CITERS 2026 and various journals, I continue to explore how artificial intelligence can support scalable, contextualized, and human-centered learning (with primary focus on music education and concert experience).

Why does personalized learning experience matter?

As the use of computer is growing in popularity, I started to see a decrease in student engagement in traditional classes. Personalized learning matters because students do not learn from the same materials, at the same pace, or in the same way. My recent research focuses on systems that adapt educational support to the music learner’s repertoire, moment, task, and context. For example, my work on bar-anchored music theory tutoring links theoretical concepts to the exact bars students are practicing, while my concert knowledge navigation research explores how live musical moments can trigger silent, just-in-time learning cues. These projects reflect my broader vision of transforming one-size-fits-all instruction into adaptive learning experiences that are contextual, actionable, and pedagogically meaningful.

What are some of my research hypotheses about learning analytics?

First, for MOOC online courses, learning gain is higher

  1. with spatially contiguous verbal message than with video subtitles (because of the lower cognitive load)
  2. using keywords than with verbatim explanation
  3. by watching accelerated video speed (e.g. 1.25x, 1.5x) over the original speed
  4. with content-heavy learning than content-free learning

For MOOC online courses, learners prefer

  1. spatially contiguous verbal comments over video subtitles (because comments locate more closely to the learning material such as codes)
  2. spatially contiguous verbal comments over slides (because all comments are time-coded, unlike there are extraneous contents in slides)
  3. accelerated video speed (e.g. 1.25x, 1.5x) over the original speed
  4. viewing instructor’s face in lectures over screen share only lectures
  5. background music interspersed with lecture sections (use signposting to reduce cognitive load)
  6. content-heavy learning than content-free learning

Learners generally mind-wander less with

  1. spatially contiguous verbal comments over video subtitle (because comments locate more closely to the learning material such as codes)
  2. spatially contiguous verbal comments over presentation slides (because all comments are time-coded, unlike there are extraneous contents in slides)
  3. accelerated video speed (e.g. 1.25x, 1.5x) over the original speed

What are my creative and strategic interests?

Music has always been one of my deepest creative passions. I have spent years developing my abilities in music composition and orchestration capabilities, and I am currently hosting music composition classes, workshops and reading group activities.


I have published two original piano technique books: Basic Piano Technique Pieces Op.10 in 2023 December and Pop Music Piano Technique Pieces Op.3 in 2026 April. Each of these books include 12 original piano works designed to help young musicians explore technique, musical imagination, and composition through creative learning.


Recently I am connecting music creativity with educational technology. I am especially interested in music information retrieval, AI-supported music education, and personalized learning systems that can transform scores, concerts, and practice sessions into more interactive learning experiences.


Beyond music, my second hobby is Go / 圍棋, a strategic board game that trains patience, strategic thinking, long-term planning, and adaptive decision-making. I see Go not only as a game, but also as a way to cultivate creativity under constraints and strategic reflection.


Read Op.3 Book for Preview