ir. Y.d.C. Barrios Fleitas MSc (Yeray)

Expertise

• Computer Science

  • Evaluation
  • Serious Game
  • videogame
  • Case Study
  • User
  • Active Video Game

• Psychology

  • Team Member

• Social Sciences

  • Massive Open Online Course

Organisations

My research focuses on understanding and improving teamwork in educational contexts. I work at the intersection of educational sciences, organizational psychology, and computer science, combining empirical research with computational and AI-driven approaches.

Across my PhD at the University of Twente, I have investigated how team diversity, collaboration processes, and team formation strategies influence educational outcomes. My work includes longitudinal analyses of student teams, systematic and bibliometric reviews, optimization models for the Team Formation Problem, and the development of AI-supported tools to analyse and support teamwork processes.

More recently, my research has expanded toward educational innovation and knowledge management in higher education. In my current role at CELT, I am involved in projects exploring how educational practices and innovations can be structured, shared, and reused across institutional contexts through hybrid human-AI approaches.

Publications

Research profiles

My educational work focuses on designing inclusive, evidence-based, and engaging learning environments in higher education, particularly within large-scale project-based computer science courses.

At the University of Twente, I coordinated the Academic Skills curriculum for approximately 400 first-year students per year within the Technical Computer Science programme. My teaching and coordination activities included teamwork, communication, academic writing, project management, self-regulation, and professional development in multidisciplinary and international classrooms.

I have a strong interest in educational innovation and learning design. Across different courses, I introduced UDL-aligned learning materials, gamification systems, analytical rubrics, self-paced learning resources, and AI-supported educational tools aimed at improving accessibility, transparency, motivation, and feedback quality.

My teaching philosophy combines structure with flexibility: creating clear expectations and evidence-based learning pathways while recognising the diversity of students’ backgrounds, needs, and ways of learning. I am particularly interested in how technology and educational design can support collaboration, engagement, and reflective learning in team-based educational settings.

In addition to teaching, I have supervised more than 40 bachelor research and applied projects involving over 100 students, many of them connected to educational technology, teamwork, AI, and software engineering challenges.

Throughout my academic career, I have participated in interdisciplinary projects related to educational innovation, teamwork, AI, and learning technologies.

At the University of Twente, I contributed to a 4TU-funded research project on gender and nationality composition in student teams, involving collaboration between multiple Dutch universities. The project combined qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate diversity and inclusion in educational teamwork.

Previously, I worked on EDHospi, a national research project aimed at supporting hospital-school teachers through collaborative digital platforms and reusable educational resources. I also contributed to ProViTao, a project focused on active videogames and gamified technologies for childhood obesity treatment.

In addition to research projects, I have developed and supervised numerous educational innovation initiatives involving AI tools, gamification systems, Canvas plugins, teamwork analytics, and interactive learning environments. Many of these projects were carried out together with bachelor and master students in project-based educational settings.

More recently, my work has focused on institutional educational innovation and knowledge-sharing systems, particularly through initiatives connected to CELT and the development of AI-supported infrastructures for capturing and reusing educational practices.

Finished projects

4TU.NIRICT - Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Funding Scheme

In this multi-university 4TU project, I was responsible for collecting empirical data within the University of Twente, including the design of the informed-consent protocol and the coordination of data collection in my own courses. I contributed to the qualitative analysis phase, working with colleagues across institutions to code and interpret interview data on gender and nationality composition in student teams. I also participated in the development of the large-scale survey instrument used in the quantitative phase. I currently serve as lead author of the resulting manuscript, which integrates findings across the three universities.

EDHospi – Project to support education in hospital schools.

In EDHospi, I contributed as the main technical researcher responsible for designing and implementing the digital infrastructure that supported the project’s vision of reducing professional isolation among hospital-school teachers. My work focused on developing web-based tools that enabled educators to share teaching materials, exchange classroom strategies, and form a nationwide community of practice.

ProViTao – Active Videogames Program for Childhood Obesity Treatment.

Co-designed and implemented interactive web applications and active-game prototypes for obesity treatment; collected biometric and behavioral data using sensors and motion-tracking systems; collaborated with pediatric and HCI teams in experimental evaluations.

Address

University of Twente

Citadel (building no. 09), room H239
Hallenweg 15
7522 NH Enschede
Netherlands

Navigate to location

Organisations