Vedant Khatri

Computer Science, University of California, Irvine

Researching AI in education: automated grading, feedback systems, and learning analytics.

khatriv1@uci.edu · GitHub · LinkedIn · Irvine, CA

Portrait of Vedant Khatri

About

I am a senior majoring in Computer Science at UC Irvine and a researcher. My work focuses on understanding why LLM-based systems fail and when their outputs can be trusted, applied to education, including automated grading, feedback systems, and learning analytics. I am passionate about building AI systems that make education more accessible, fair, and effective, and I aim to work at the intersection of artificial intelligence, learning science, and data-driven educational tools.

Publications

Peer-reviewed conference proceedings

Xu, Z., Khatri, V., Dai, Y., Liu, X., Li, S., Zhang, X., & Yu, R. (2026). Enhancing LLM-Based Data Annotation with Error Decomposition. In Proceedings of LAK '26: 16th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference (pp. 325–335). Best Paper Nominee. doi:10.1145/3785022.3785070

Peer-reviewed journal articles

Khatri, V., Sinha, A., & Kumari, R. (2022). A study of the impact of e-learning on the health of school going adolescents in Bareilly city: A cross-sectional study. Indian Journal of Forensic and Community Medicine, 9(3), 112–116.

Sinha, A., Khatri, V., & Nath, B. (2022). Relevance of health education to e-learning-associated problems among the school-going adolescents in Bareilly city: An interventional study. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 11, 6863–6868.

Under review

Khatri, V., Cusimano, A., Swiecki, Z., Xu, Z., Liu, X., & Yu, R. (2026). From Diagnosis to Redesign: Using Quantitative Ethnography to Improve Multi-Agent LLM Essay Scoring. Manuscript under review at the International Conference on Quantitative Ethnography (ICQE).

In preparation

Large Language Models for Educational Data Annotation at Scale. Manuscript in preparation.

Research

Data Science Research Assistant

Teachers College, Columbia University · Prof. Renzhe Yu · Fall 2024 – Present

Research on language models for educational data annotation, resulting in a paper accepted to LAK 2026 and nominated for the Best Paper Award. Designed and ran the LLM annotation experiments across four datasets, Bloom, MathDial, Uptake, and GUG, spanning five prompting strategies and two model versions, and contributed to the framework separating task-inherent ambiguity from model-based annotation error.

Research Collaborator

Cornell University · Future of Learning Lab · Prof. Rene Kizilcec · Summer 2026

Developing the codebook and qualitative coding scheme for analyzing an LLM-based clinical-reasoning tutoring system, working with Yann Hicke. Coding real tutor-learner transcripts, and surfacing the finding that coding the tutor's moves alone cannot separate effective from ineffective tutoring, a result that is reshaping the study's direction. Also identified several corpus-level data-quality issues that would have corrupted automated coding.

Research Collaborator

University of California, Berkeley · CAHLR Lab · Prof. Zachary Pardos · Summer 2026

Integrating two systems, PromptHive, which helps instructors generate educational questions through prompt engineering, and LLMRespondent, which estimates question difficulty using synthetic LLM respondents and Item Response Theory calibration, to build a difficulty filter for generated questions. Investigating why these difficulty estimates are unreliable, since a single LLM produces a narrow proficiency distribution and can confidently misrate questions, for example rating a simple plug-and-solve question as hard.

Undergraduate Researcher

University of California, Irvine · Prof. Shannon Alfaro · Dec 2023 – May 2024

Received UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program) recognition for a research project on the effects of e-learning on students, and presented findings at the UROP Symposium 2024.

Research Assistant

Rohilkhand Medical College, Bareilly, India · Apr 2020 – Apr 2022

Cross-sectional and interventional studies examining adolescent health; data collection and statistical analysis.

Teaching

Course Manager

ICS 31: Introduction to Programming · UC Irvine · Fall 2025 – Present

Run the operational side of one of UC Irvine's largest introductory computer science courses, with enrollment of roughly 175 to 340 students per term. Train and coordinate 3 to 4 undergraduate teaching assistants each term, manage roster add and drop syncing during the add and drop period, generate attendance sheets, run retake-ticket eligibility and delivery, generate secure per-student credentials for in-lab exams, and run grading for lab exams and zyBooks assignments. Operate, maintain, and extend the course's Python automation pipeline, which integrates the Canvas, zyBooks, and Google Sheets APIs, and add new features on request, such as lecture-attendance tracking and automated retake-ticket link delivery through Canvas.

Learning Assistant

ICS 45C · UC Irvine · Winter 2026

Served concurrently with the Course Manager role.

Grader

ICS 31 · UC Irvine · Fall 2024

Graded programming assignments, projects, and exams, and held office hours.

Learning Assistant

ICS 32 · UC Irvine · Spring 2024

Supported instruction and lab sessions, and facilitated office hours.

Learning Assistant

ICS 31 · UC Irvine · Winter 2024

Supported instruction and lab sessions, and facilitated office hours.

Service & Leadership

LAK 2026 · Bergen, Norway · April 27 – May 1, 2026

Co-author of paper accepted to the 16th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference.

ISLS 2026 · International Society of the Learning Sciences

Conference volunteer, assisting with conference operations and attendee support.

ISAC Intern · UC Irvine · Fall 2024

Liaised with and advocated for international students, addressing concerns and organizing transition support events.

School Council · GD Goenka Public School, Bareilly, India · 2020 – 2023

Head Boy (2022–2023) and House Captain (2020–2022), leading career fairs, cultural events, mentorship programs, and academic workshops for 800+ participants.

Skills

Python, C++, SQL · Pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn, TensorFlow, Keras · Flask · Git/GitHub, Jupyter, OpenCV, Linux, Bash

Awards & Funding

SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship), UC Irvine. A competitively funded summer research fellowship.

UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program) recognition, UC Irvine.

Dean's Honor List, UC Irvine.

LAK 2026 Best Paper Nominee.

Education

B.S. Computer Science, University of California, Irvine, expected June 2027. GPA 3.77.