About Me

Hi! My name is Jonathan Liu, and I am currently a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago, where I am fortunate enough to be advised by Professor Diana Franklin.

My work is in Computer Science Education, studying how course design choices can be leveraged to make courses more approachable and prioritize skill-based learning outcomes. My dissertation work focuses on metacognition in undergraduate algorithms. I believe that explicitly teaching metacognitive skills in CS can increase learning, persistence, and equity, and that these skills are increasingly relevant and human in an increasingly AI-powered world.

I am a Class of 2026 Siebel Scholar, and am generously supported in part by a Liew Family Graduate Fellowship. I am also a UChicago Committee on Education Graduate Fellow.

In my free time, I solve crosswords, amass (and explore) restaurant recommendations, and play games of all kinds (especially trick-taking games).

I am looking for teaching-track faculty positions that begin Fall 2026.

Please feel free to reach out at jonliu (at) uchicago (dot) edu!

Select Research

Below is some select work that reflect my primary research interests.

Metacognitive Strategies in Algorithms

Curriculum Design and Analysis

Final Projects for Graduate-Level Courses

Teaching

Here are some courses I've helped teach, along with some material I made in the process.

University of Chicago

CS 27100 - Discrete Math (Instructor), Summer 2025
CS 27200 - Theory of Algorithms (Head TA), Spring 2022/2023

Algorithms materials aren't public because they may be reused in future courses, but are available upon request.

UC Berkeley

Math 1B - Calculus (TA), Fall 2018
Part 1: Integrals
Part 2: Sequences and Series
Part 3: Differential Equations