About Me




I'm a quantitative researcher, and PhD candidate with the Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech. I'm advised by Donald Scott McCrickard. My research uses perspectives in human-computer interaction to examine issues of trust in novel information systems (adoption, editorial processes, human-AI collaboration, explainability in recommendation, filter bubbles, information processing biases).

I'm especially interested in recommendation domains with traditionally protected or informally negotiated editorial processes, such as higher education and religio-spiritual storytelling. I'm affiliated with the Notification Systems laboratory and the Center for Human-Computer Interaction at Virginia Tech.

I'm actively looking for faculty and postdoctoral research roles this year. Email me at taha@vt.edu, or review my career objectives and commitments to [research], [teaching], and [diversity and inclusion] in computing.



Research Interests

(1) Explainable AI
(2) Human-Computer Interaction
(3) Social Recommender Systems
(4) I/O Psychology
(5) Computing Education

Social

LinkedIn, Twitter, StackOverflow
GitHub, CV

[More]

Teaching

Instructor of Record
(Virginia Tech)
CS3724: Intro to HCI, Spring'23
CS1064: Intro to Python Prog, Summer'21

Teaching Assistant
(Virginia Tech)
CS3724/5714: Intro to HCI + Usability Engg (joint), Spring'22
CS1064: Intro to Python Prog, Summer'20

[More]

Community

PC Member + Reviewer
CSCW (2023-2024)
UMAP (2022-2024)
ITiCSE (2021-2023)
SIGCSE (2020-2023)

Student Volunteer
CHI Play (2023)
RecSys (2021-2022)
WWW (2022)
TAPIA (2022)

[More]


News

4.2024 PC Member: ACM UMAP 2024 (posters).
3.2024 A late-breaking work on understanding emotional journeys of long-distance hikers on the Appalachian trail appears at ACM CHI 2024.
1.2024 A full paper on navigating the design of longitudinal investigations of indigenous stories appears at ACM CHI 2024.
12.2023 Reviewing for ECIS 2024 (Track: Social and Ethical Implications of ICT Use).
8.2023 Reviewing for ACM CSCW 2024. SV for CHI Play 2023.
3.2023 PC Member: ACM ITiCSE 2023 (full papers, posters).
1.2023          PC Member: ACM UMAP 2023 (LBR + Demos). Reviewing for ACM CSCW 2023.
11.2022           A collaborative work on social media signatures of pandemic-era socially-distanced gameplay appears in ACM CHI Play'22 this month. (pdf)
10.2022           I'll teach CS3724, "Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction", spring of 2023 at Virginia Tech.
09.2022         Reviewing for ACM SIGCSE 2023 (Birds-of-a-Feather sessions).
08.2022         Our book chapter on platform analytics for supporting Computer Science pedagogies appears in Learning, Design and Technology (Springer).
07.2022           SV for ACM RecSys 2022 and TAPIA 2022.
04.2022           SV for ACM WWW 2022.
01.2022           PC Member: ACM UMAP 2022 (LBR + Demos). Reviewing for ITiCSE 2022.
08.2021           Reviewing for ACM SIGCSE 2022. SV for RecSys 2021.
06.2021           At UMAP 2021 this summer, I'll talk about how editorial authority is critical to trust transactions in recommender systems. (pdf)
06.2021           I'll teach CS1064, "Introduction to Programming using Python", this summer at Virginia Tech.
03.2021           Full paper accepted at the 29th ACM UMAP 2021.
01.2021           Reviewing for ACM ITiCSE 2021 and SIGCSE 2021.
06.2020           At ITiCSE 2020, I'll talk about 'depth-of-use', a framework for large-scale context mining on online learning platforms. (pdf)
03.2020           Full paper accepted at the 26th ACM ITiCSE 2020.
08.2019           Reviewing for SIGCSE 2020.
08.2019           At ASONAM 2019, I'll talk about ranking biases on academic forums, and their common interpretations and cures. (paper)
06.2019           At Web Science 2019, I'll talk about outcome-bias measurement on academic social forums (HWB'19).
06.2019           Poster paper accepted at the 11th IEEE/ACM ASONAM 2019.
05.2019           At WWW 2019, I'll talk about a trust-aware UX framework for social news recommendation (FATES'19). (pdf)

Work

Data Science Intern
Illumina (Summer 2018)
Collins Aerospace (Summer 2017)
Be-IQ, Inc. (Summer 2016)

Graduate Research Assistant
Technology-Enhanced Learning and
Online Strategies, Division of IT
Virginia Tech (2016-2023)

[More]

Education

PhD, Computer Science (2016-24)
Virginia Tech

MS, Computer Science (2013-15)
Virginia Tech

[More]

Mailing Address

Notification Systems Lab
Department of Computer Science
KnowledgeWorks II, Kraft Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24040

Email

taha@vt.edu