Ph.D. Candidate · Educational Research & Evaluation · Ohio University

Turning research into Tools that Serve students and citizens.

I'm Bismark, a mixed-methods educational researcher, and the founder of civic-technology platforms that make education and governance more transparent in Ghana.

View my work Explore the data
2029
Ph.D. (in progress)
5+
Journal articles
6
Conference talks
3
Platforms built
Bismark Wiafe Bimpong
Accra ⇄ Athens, OH
Scholar · Builder
FOCUS / 01

AI in Education

How generative AI tools reshape academic research, writing, and student support in higher education.

FOCUS / 02

Mixed-Methods Evaluation

Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed designs — from phenomenology to IRT and Monte Carlo simulation.

FOCUS / 03

Civic Technology

Building platforms that put accountability and transparency data directly in citizens' hands.

FOCUS / 04

Student Success & Belonging

The experiences of African and international students — advising, retention, and sense of belonging.

About
Bismark on the Ohio University campus

From a classroom in Ghana to Educational Research and Evaluation in the United States.

I began as a teacher and head teacher in Ghana, where I led curriculum design, mentored students, and, through Lead for Ghana, secured a grant for 37 laptops and a library renovation at a rural basic school (Kedzi). That work convinced me that education and good information change lives.

Today I'm a doctoral candidate in Educational Research & Evaluation at Ohio University, where my research interest includes investigating the role of AI in enhancing academic research and student support. I served as Assistant Managing Editor of the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice (Taylor & Francis) and advise 100+ exploratory students at University College.

Alongside research, I build civic technology, turning the same evidence-first mindset into tools people can actually use.

2022–2029
Ph.D., Educational Research & EvaluationOhio University, Athens, OH
2022–2024
M.A., College Student Personnel (Higher Education)Ohio University
2015–2019
B.A., Psychology & SociologyUniversity of Ghana, Accra
Selected work

Research dashboards & Civic platforms

Three things I've built where data meets the public, an interactive research dashboard and two civic-technology platforms for Ghana.

Interactive · R / Shiny

An interactive dashboard that brings my research data to life — letting reviewers and collaborators explore analyses and visualizations directly in the browser.

RShinyData VizMixed Methods
Open dashboard ↗
Civic Tech · React / Supabase

CivicConnect Ghana

A civic-engagement platform connecting citizens with government — issue reporting, transparency dashboards, and MP-accountability scoring to close Ghana's governance information gap.

ReactSupabaseAccountabilityOffline-first
View project
Civic Tech · React / Supabase

CivicTransit GH

A public report card for every Ghanaian school — parents rate teaching, safety, and fees; schools that ignore complaints drop on a transparent accountability scoreboard.

ReactSupabaseEdTechTransparency
View project
Research & data

Evidence, visualized

I work across the quantitative–qualitative divide. Below are illustrative visualizations in the style of my studies.

AI writing-tool adoption in higher education

Faculty vs. students across four dimensions

// Illustrative — based on themes from Bimpong, Atsise & Owusu (2024), EAJIT

Sense of belonging, before vs. during COVID-19

African international students, by dimension

// Illustrative — in the style of the M.A. belonging study

Public sentiment toward a civic institution

Sentiment analysis of citizen feedback (Ghana)

// Illustrative — sentiment analysis pipeline used in civic-tech work

Scholarly output by year

Articles, blogs & conference presentations

// Compiled from CV, 2023–2026

Thematic analysis — international students' lived experience

Themes by coded reference frequency

Financial precarity & strategy38 refs
tuition waiverside incomeremittancesbudgeting
Belonging & isolation31 refs
communityhomesicknessfaculty support
AI as academic support27 refs
writing toolschatbotstrustintegrity
Navigating identity & values19 refs
cultural adjustmentfaithshifting views
// Illustrative coding structure — replace with your NVivo/Atlas.ti output

Empathic-somatic phenomenology

How a digital experience is felt, not just observed

My phenomenological work treats lived, embodied experience as data, pairing what participants say with what they feel to surface meaning that surveys miss.

The screen was right there, but I felt a thousand miles from anyone who understood me.— illustrative participant voice, belonging study
When the AI explained it, I could finally breathe and write.— illustrative participant voice, AI-support study
// Illustrative excerpts demonstrating method — not verbatim study data
Publications & presentations

Selected scholarship

2026
"We truly appreciate the tuition waiver": Financial strategies among African international graduate studentsArticle
Bimpong, B. W., Dwamenaa, A., & Agorsor, E. — Journal of College and Character, 27(1), 79–97.
2025
The evolution of African international students' perspectives on homosexuality after enrolling in U.S. research universitiesArticle
Bimpong, B. — Journal of International Development, 29(1), 78–95. · LGBT Center Student Award
2024
Exploring the implementation of AI writing tools in teaching and learning: Faculty and students' perspectivesArticle
Bimpong, B. W., Atsise, P., & Owusu, F. — East African Journal of Information Technology, 7(1), 380–393.
2024
The uncertainties of student affairs professionals in the age of artificial intelligenceArticle
Owusu, F., & Bimpong, B. W.
2023
Challenges facing African international students at research universities in the United StatesArticle
Bimpong, B. — Journal of Education and Teaching Methods, 2(4), 1–16.
In the field
Bismark presenting research at a conference

Researcher, editor, educator.

Assistant Managing Editor — JSARPJournal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, Taylor & Francis · 2024–present
Academic Advisor — University CollegeOhio University · advising 100+ exploratory students · 2025–present
Graduate & Teaching AssistantHonors Tutorial College & OU Engagement Lab · 2022–2024
Lead for GhanaSecured a grant for 37 laptops & a library renovation, Kedzi AME Zion Basic School · 2019–2022
Toolkit

Methods & Tools

Research methods
QualitativeQuantitativeMixed methodsPhenomenologyAutoethnographyDesign-based research
Advanced quantitative
Data VisualizationMonte Carlo simulationPsychometricsStatistics
Software & data tools
SPSSRJamoviJASPPower BIGephiCommunalyticDataWrapper
Building
ReactSupabaseShinyAI for analytics & viz
Let's connect

Open to research collaboration, fellowships & civic-tech projects.

Whether it's mixed-methods research, AI in education, or building tools that serve the public — I'd love to hear from you.

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