My Research

The past few years I have been working with professors at Eastern Connecticut State University's Child and Family Development Resource Center on multiple research projects. These projects have covered toys that inspire mindful play and nurture imagination, math and children's play, and the social and emotional development of dual language learners.





My thesis explored the play of dual language learners in an English-speaking preschool. This research was published in an internationally renowned journal, The Early Childhood Education Journal. I also presented at the NAEYC conference in Atlanta and have provided professional development opportunities based on my research to multiple elementary schools. The advisor for my thesis and the secondary researcher was Dr. Jeffrey Trawick-Smith.

The annual TIMPANI Study investigates how children play with a variety of toys. The toys were scored on how well they encouraged 1) thinking and problem-solving, 2) cooperation and social interaction, 3) creativity and imagination, and 4) verbalization. In 2017, the highest scoring toy was a set of animals. An article describing the 2017 study can be found here, and more information on the study as well as a video of the toy and myself and fellow researchers discussing it can be found here.

Another study I participated in looked at math talk - conversations involving math between teachers and children - and its effects on math learning. This study, which was funded by the Spencer Foundation, found that frequency of math talk in five domains (cardinality, abstract counting, ordinality, measurement, and shape attributes) indicated an increase in math abilities. The findings identify specific math talk domains that enhance learning and suggest that teachers ask open-ended questions during play and use math talk to model their own mathematical thinking. More information about the research study can be found here.