Brief Biography

Prof. Bruce M. McLaren is a Professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, where he directs the McLearn Lab. He is a past President of the International Artificial Intelligence in Education Society (2017–2019). His research explores how artificial intelligence and emerging technologies can support human learning, with particular interests in intelligent tutoring systems, digital learning games, generative AI and large language models (LLMs) for education, and collaborative learning.

A major focus of Prof. McLaren’s research has been understanding how interactive educational technologies can promote learning, engagement, reflection, and productive struggle. His research on digital learning games has shown, for example, that middle-school students learned more from a well-designed digital learning game than from a more conventional intelligent tutoring system. He has also conducted extensive research on intelligent tutoring systems, worked and erroneous examples, adaptive feedback and hints, and collaborative learning technologies.

More recently, Prof. McLaren’s research has focused on generative AI and LLM-supported learning, particularly how generative AI can encourage deeper reasoning, reflection, and self-explanation rather than simply provide answers. This includes research on LLM-supported Socratic reflection and on when conversational AI helps learning — and when additional dialogue may instead add unnecessary time or cognitive load. His recent work also explores meta-adaptive learning, in which AI can help determine when a learner would benefit most from an intelligent tutor, digital learning game, simulation, worked example, collaborative activity, reflective dialogue, assessment, or another instructional approach.

Prof. McLaren’s interest in the capabilities and responsible use of AI extends back to his doctoral research at the University of Pittsburgh. His 1999 Ph.D. dissertation applied case-based reasoning to ethical reasoning, using engineering ethics as a domain for investigating how AI could reason with cases and ethical principles. This early work contributed to the emerging field of machine ethics, connecting his early AI research to contemporary questions surrounding responsible AI and generative AI.

McLaren has authored or co-authored more than 230 publications, including 47 journal articles, with approximately 15,000 citations and an h-index over 60. He has held numerous leadership roles in the international AIED research community. He has also spent more than 20 years in the commercial sector applying AI to practical problems, including leadership positions at OpenWebs Corporation and Carnegie Group, Inc. His more than four decades of work in artificial intelligence were recently profiled by the University of Pittsburgh in the 2026 article, “Built in Pittsburgh: A Forty-Year Journey Through AI with ISP Alum.”

McLaren holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Intelligent Systems and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh, and a B.S. in Computer Science, cum laude, from Millersville University.

Top citations to Bruce McLaren's Publications & Patents

Bruce McLaren's Wikipedia page

Article by the University of Pittsburgh about Bruce McLaren's Career

Highlight Publications:

McLaren, B.M. (2026). VanLehn’s two loops aren’t enough: Toward meta-adaptive control of instructional form. Blue Sky paper In: Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED 2026).  Seoul, South Korea, June 27 - July 3, 2026.    [ pdf ]   [ Online Citation ]

McLaren, B.M. (2024). Decimal Point: A decade of learning science findings with a digital learning game. In: Ilic, P., Casebourne, I., Wegerif, R. (eds) Artificial Intelligence in Education: The Intersection of Technology and Pedagogy. Intelligent Systems Reference Library, vol 261. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-71232-6_9.   [ pdf ]   [  Online Citation  ]

McLaren, B.M. & Nguyen, H.A. (2023).  Digital learning games in Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED): A review.  In B. du Boulay, A. Mitrovic, & K. Yacef (Eds.), Handbook of Artificial Intelligence in Education. Chapter 20.  doi: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800375413.00032    [ pdf ]    [  Online Citation  ]

McLaren, B.M., Richey, J. E.,  Nguyen, H. A.,  & Hou, X. (2022).  How instructional context can impact learning with educational technology: Lessons from a study with a digital learning game.  Computers & Education, 178   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104366   [ Online Citation  ]

Holstein, K., McLaren, B.M. & Aleven, V. (2018). Student learning benefits of a mixed-reality teacher awareness tool in AI-enhanced classrooms.  In C. Rosé, R. Martínez-Maldonado, H.U. Hoppe, R. Luckin, M. Mavrikis, K. Porayska-Pomsta, B. McLaren and B. du Boulay (Eds.). Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED 2018). LNAI 10947 (pp. 154-168).  Springer: Berlin. Won the Best Paper Award (in a tie with one other paper)  [  pdf  ] 

McLaren, B. M., Adams, D. M., Mayer, R. E., & Forlizzi, J.  (2017). A computer-based game that promotes mathematics learning more than a conventional approach.  International Journal of Game-Based Learning (IJGBL), 7(1), 36-56. doi:10.4018/IJGBL.2017010103    [ pdf ]   [ Online Citation ]

McLaren, B.M., van Gog, T., Ganoe, C., Karabinos, M., &  Yaron, D. (2016). The efficiency of worked examples compared to erroneous examples, tutored problem solving, and problem solving in classroom experiments. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 87-99.  [ pdf ]  [ Online Citation ]

Adams, D., McLaren, B. M., Durkin, K., Mayer, R.E., Rittle-Johnson, B., Isotani, S., &  Van Velsen, M. (2014). Using erroneous examples to improve mathematics learning with a web-based tutoring system.   Computers in Human Behavior, 36C (2014), 401-411. Elsevier.  doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.03.053.  [ pdf ]  [ Online Citation ]

McLaren, B.M.,  Adams, D.,  Durkin, K., Goguadze, G. Mayer, R.E., Rittle-Johnson, B., Sosnovsky, S., Isotani, S., & Van Velsen, M. (2012).  To err is human, to explain and correct is divine: A study of interactive erroneous examples with middle school math students.   In A. Ravenscroft, S. Lindstaedt, C. Delgado Kloos, & D. Hernándex-Leo (Eds.), Proceedings of EC-TEL 2012: Seventh European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, LNCS 7563 (pp. 222-235). Springer, Berlin.    [ pdf ]    YouTube video of McLaren giving an interview at EC-TEL 2012   

McLaren, B.M., DeLeeuw, K.E., & Mayer, R.E.  (2011).  Polite web-based intelligent tutors: Can they improve learning in classrooms?  Computers & Education, 56(3), 574-584.  doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2010.09.019.  [ pdf ]  [ Online Citation ]

McLaren, B.M., Scheuer, O., & Mikšátko, J. (2010). Supporting collaborative learning and e-Discussions using artificial intelligence techniques. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education (IJAIED) 20(1), 1-46.   [ pdf ]  [ Online Citation ]

Scheuer, O., Loll, F., Pinkwart, N. & McLaren, B.M. (2010). Computer-supported argumentation: A review of the state of the art. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning,  5(1), 43-102.  [ pdf ]  [ Online Citation ]
  (Oliver Scheuer was a PhD student at Saarland University, Germany who was advised by McLaren - See 'Advisees' Page)

McLaren, B.M. (2003). Extensionally defining principles and cases in ethics: An AI model. Artificial Intelligence Journal, 150, 145-181.   [ pdf ]  [ Online Citation ]

Select Research Presentations:

Carnegie Mellon University HCII Seminar Talk:  "Decimal Point: A Decade of Learning Science Findings with a Digital Learning Game", February, 2024  [ Watch the Presentation ]  

Invited lecture - Harvard University;  Harvard Graduate School of Education course 'Artificial Intelligence in Education,' “How AIED Digital Learning Games Have Made an Impact on Education and How They Could Do Much More," October 17, 2022   [ See announcement ]

Keynote speaker for the 2021 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology, and Education (TALE 2021), Wuhan, China, "How AIED Digital Learning Games Have Made an Impact on Education and How They Could Do Much More," December 6, 2021  [ Watch the keynote presentation ]

Keynote speaker for the Australian Learning Analytics Summer Institute 2019 (ALASI 2019), the University of Wollongong, Australia,  "Bridging Education, Design, Learning Technology and Learning Analytics: Leveraging Multidisciplinarity in Striving for the Classroom of the Future",  November 28, 2019  [  Watch the keynote presentation  ]

Invited talk – International Congress on Cognitive Science in the Classroom,  Paris, France,  “Advanced Technology for Learning in the Classroom”,  March 29, 2019  Sponsored by UNESCO  [  Watch the invited talk  ]

Keynote speaker for e-Learning Korea 2018, Seoul, South Korea, “Classroom Orchestration: How Innovation and Artificial Intelligence are Impacting Education and Teaching“,  September 14, 2018   [  Watch the keynote presentation  ]

Keynote speaker at the 24th International Conference on Computers in Education IIT, Bombay India, “Learning With Educational Games: Is it Just Hype or Supported by Evidence?“ Nov 30, 2016  [  Watch the keynote presentation ]

Invited talk - Texas A&M,  “How the Networked World, Our Understanding of Collaborative Learning, and Advanced Technology are Converging for New Learning Opportunities.”,  November 12, 2014,  [  Watch the invited talk  ]

Keynote Speaker – 5th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2013)  Aachen, Germany “The Educational Software Gold Rush: How the Learning Sciences and Advanced Technology Can Lead the Way”, May 2013.  [  Watch the keynote presentation  ]