Jia Yi graduated from the School of Physical Education (SPE) with Honors and is a teacher by training. He taught for a few years in a Singapore school before returning to Physical Education and Sports Science (PESS) Department as a lecturer. Jia Yi undertook further postgraduate study and obtained his PhD in the area of Motor Control and Learning with the University of Otago, New Zealand from an Overseas Graduate Scholarship (OGS) awarded by NIE. His research interests include examining multi-articular coordination from an Ecological Dynamics perspective, visual perception in sports expertise and in a pedagogical approach (Nonlinear Pedagogy) where key pedagogical principles underpinned by representative learning design, manipulation of task constraints, functional variability, relevant focus of attention and task simplification can support nonlinearity in learning. He is currently on the Editorial Board for International Journal of Sport Psychology, Sports Medicine (Open), Asian Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, Journal of Expertise and an executive member of the Australasian Skill Acquisition Network (ASAN).

At present, Jia Yi is the Dean of Teacher Education & Undergraduate Programmes (TEUP) at NIE. For his excellence in teaching, Jia Yi was awarded the Nanyang Education Award (College) and inducted as a Fellow to the NTU Teaching Excellence Academy in 2017. He was also awarded the Nanyang Education Award (University, Gold Medal) and was accorded the NTU Educator of the Year in 2018. Jia Yi is currently the NTU Teaching Excellence Committee Co-Chair. Jia Yi also serves as a Director to the Board of the Singapore Sports School.