Xiao Chen

Publications

One preprint and five manuscripts under review

All in education and psychology. My contribution is stated on each, and author order is as submitted. Status last checked in September 2026.

Google Scholar ORCID

Preprints

Xingmei Chen, Lorris Qin, Xiao Chen, Rongxiu Wu, Gerhard Sonnert (2026)

Digital Self-Regulation Before Sleep and Emotional Control Among Adolescents: A Multilevel Cross-National Study of Canada and Hong Kong, Using PISA 2022

Preprints.orgPreprint
Research question
Is adolescents’ digital self-regulation before sleep related to their emotional control, at the student level and the school level, and does that relationship hold across two different education systems?
Key finding
Across 19,779 students in 996 schools in Canada and Hong Kong, students reporting more digital self-regulation before sleep also reported better emotional control, and a school’s average level was associated with emotional control independently of the individual student’s. The strength of the association differed between the two systems; gender differences were comparatively small. These are associations in cross-sectional survey data, not causal effects.
My contribution
Methodology, software, formal analysis, and investigation, as recorded in the paper’s author-contribution statement.

Manuscripts under review

Rongxiu Wu, Xiao Chen

Predicting STEM Career Interest at the End of High School: A Machine Learning Approach to In-School and Out-of-School Time Experiences

Under review
Research question
Which in-school and out-of-school-time experiences predict STEM career interest at the end of high school, and what does a flexible model see in them that a standard regression specification does not?
Key finding
Across 15,847 students and 75 candidate predictors, five model families were compared — L1-regularized logistic regression, decision tree, random forest, XGBoost, and SVM. XGBoost performed best (80.76% accuracy) and 15 predictors carried most of the signal. SHAP surfaced nonlinear effects and interactions, such as gender by course likeness, that the linear specification would not have shown. The comparison is framed as generating hypotheses for confirmatory analysis, not as causal evidence.
My contribution
Data preparation, implementation and comparison of the predictive models, accuracy and ROC-AUC analysis, and SHAP-based interpretation of feature importance and interactions.

Rongxiu Wu, Xiao Chen, Rong Su

Problems With Self-Efficacy Across Educational Systems: Gender Differences and School Contexts in PISA 2022

Current PsychologyUnder review
My contribution
Student- and school-level data preparation, multilevel analysis, model comparison, and diagnostics.

Rongxiu Wu, Z. Song, Xiao Chen, Rong Su, Z. Shen

Multi-Dimensional Teacher Support and Reading Performance: The Moderating Role of Immigrant Status in the U.S.

Journal of Youth and AdolescenceUnder review
My contribution
Survey-variable preparation across the four dimensions of teacher support, multilevel analysis, nested-model comparison, and diagnostics.

Rongxiu Wu, Q. Su, Xiao Chen, Rong Su

“Problem-Driven” and “Student-Led”: A Comparative Case Study of Transdisciplinary Talent Cultivation in Four Hong Kong Universities

Active Learning in Higher EducationUnder review
My contribution
Research collaboration and manuscript development on this qualitative comparative case study.

Y. Su, Y. Shao, Rongxiu Wu, Xiao Chen

Cultural Context and Students’ Sense of Belonging: A Multilevel Analysis of PISA 2022 Across Confucian-Heritage and Western Societies

Learning, Culture and Social InteractionUnder review
My contribution
Cross-country data preparation, multilevel analysis, model comparison, and diagnostics.
Full CV (PDF) Research agenda