CDCLR RESEARCH ROUND-UP
2011
EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Completed Studies
Pedagogy and Curriculum in Preservice Teacher Training
Isabel Bradburn, Research Director, Child Development Center
Peggy S. Meszaros, William Laverty Professor, Human Development
Victoria Fu, Professor, Human Development and Director, Child Development Center
Jotika Jagasia, Ph.D., Human Development alumnus
This study explored learning process models of the relationship between
personality and family factors in college upperclassmen who planned to become
preschool or elementary teachers, their experience of their experiential training in
inquiry-based educational methods with young children at CDCLR, and their later
attitudes toward inquiry-based teaching. Inquiry teaching informs much of the
curriculum at CDCLR and is broadly characterized by teacher facilitation of student
learning through guided or open-ended exploration rather than didactic teaching.
Results indicated that both personality and practicum factors predicted preservice
teachers’ stated commitment to the use of inquiry-based teaching in their future careers in
unique ways. Specifically, at the start of their practicum students who reported
themselves to be higher on a cluster of traits that included enjoying new experiences and
intellectual pursuits (“Openness to Experience),” were initially more attracted to inquirybased teaching models than other students, which in turn predicted their future
commitment to inquiry-based teaching. Students high on Conscientiousness traits were
more likely to experience success with inquiry methods if they had been close to a
mentor during their practicum, and this link predicted their being more committed to
inquiry teacher later on. Having felt successful or having witnessed a lead teacher or peer
use inquiry teaching successfully was an important factor for both sets of students in their
intentions to use inquiry pedagogy in the future. Findings were presented at the National
Association for the Education of Young Children Meetings in November, 2010, and
are under review for publication. For more information, contact Isabel Bradburn
(isbrad@vt.edu).
Ongoing Studies
Facilitating Mathematical Talk and Collaborative Learning: Using Virtual
Manipulatives on Interactive Tabletops in the PreK Classroom
Michael A. Evans, Assistant Professor, Department of Learning Sciences and
Technologies, School of Education
Jesse L. M. Wilkins, Associate Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning, School
of Education
Francis Quek, Professor, Department of Computer Science
David McNeill, Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, University of Chicago
Graduate students: Andrea Motto, Berrin Dogusoy, Wei Li
Undergraduate students: Adrienne Brunger, Zach Buckley, Jeremy Crider, Elisabeth
Drechsel
The study was designed to understand how children use virtual objects on an
interactive tabletop, the SMART Table, in different ways to construct mathematical
knowledge. A central component of this research is focused on children’s
communication patterns while exploring geometric objects and concepts. The goal is to
better understand how children’s communication, expressed through speech, gesture and
gaze, may reflect changing understanding regarding spatial relationships. Initial findings
have identified two forms of “talk” – mathematical and project-based – that differently
coordinate the solution of puzzles. Each type of talk is identified by whether references
are made to mathematics and mathematical objects, or roles, rules, peers, and strategies to
solve the puzzle. The study is funded by the National Science Foundation, Advanced
Learning Technology Program (IIS 0736151).
Children in groups of three were invited to work at the SMART Table, a multitouch tabletop computer, where they were given instructions about the processes of
solving puzzles and working cooperatively. Three different child groupings – all boys,
all girls, and a mixed-sex group – were each provided different sets of conditions under
which to play a virtual puzzle game, a tangram of seven geometric shapes that could be
configured into a larger figure. In the first condition, known as “free ownership,” all
children could touch any shape in a fashion similar to physical manipulatives. In the
second condition (referred to as “divided ownership”), children were assigned roles, with
some group members only able to assist verbally while another manipulated the virtual
puzzle pieces. If children became stuck, the tangram application offered visual hints to
scaffold puzzle completion. Other variations were also tried in which some group
members could act in designated ways but others could only talk. Working with
psycholinguists at the University of Chicago, the Virginia Tech research team is in the
process of coding these three modes of communication – speech, gesture, gaze – to
explore how and when the SMART Table puzzles provoke greater mathematicallyoriented communication or stimulates children’s learning.
In September 2010, through an NSF Research Experience for Teachers (RET)
supplement to the main grant, the research team and the CDCLR Research Director were
awarded supplemental funding to support CDCLR teachers’ collaboration with the group.
Three classroom teachers, Dinah Arnott (Orange), Alexa Fraley (Maroon), and Jen
Huggler (Blue), learned how to use the SMART Table mathematical application and
experimented with different ways to use it with children from their classrooms or mixed
age groups. The Center teachers have brought their general developmental knowledge
and teaching expertise to the research team and provided feedback on ways to improve
the software for young children and exended their tabletop interactions into the
classroom. The experience has also extended our teachers’ inquiry into geometric
thinking as they have become more familiar with developmental theories of geometry
learning and observed these phases in our young students.
For example, Center teachers have created two-dimensional paper cut-outs
mimicking the SMART Table tabletop that children have assembled into dragons,
elephants, and household items in the classroom. They have brought in threedimensional objects onto the SMART Table and facilitated the children’s exploration of
differences between two- and three-dimensional objects. Teachers introduced the artist
Piet Mondrian and his geometric works and explored geometry in architecture with the
children. In myriad ways, the SMART Table technology and the synergistic
collaboration of our Center educators with Dr. Evans and his research team has embodied
the inquiry-based, child-negotiated curriculum that is the dominant pedagogy at our
preschool. These experiences provided the content for a well-attended presentation
given by our teachers at the National Association for the Education of Young
Children, the premier early childhood education conference, in November, 2010. Last
year, undergraduate students also presented their work on the SMART Table project at
the Virignia Tech Undergraduate Research Conference.
The photo below, by Jen Huggler, documents aspects of the project and the
learning experience. The documentation panel is by Dinah, Alexa and Jen.
For more information about these projects, contact Isabel Bradburn
(isbrad@vt.edu) or Michael Evans (mae@vt.edu).
INTERGENERATIONAL RESEARCH
Completed Studies
IG (Intergenerational Program, also known as "The Neighbors Program")
activities focus on providing opportunities for regular, positive intergenerational contact
and intergenerational staff training and development. Facilitators document the structured
and informal opportunities with standard planning/evaluation/reflection forms,
photography, and artifact documentation. In the past two years, gardening, vegetable
cultivation and environmental science has been an important focus on the program.
Shannon Jarrott and Cindy Smith, faculty in the Department of Human
Development, used a scale they developed to measure social behavior and affect of
children and elders attending two intergenerational shared site care programs (one of
which is CDCLR). Participants attending the program informed by contact theory
demonstrated high levels of intergenerational interactions and solitary behavior and lower
levels of passive engagement than the participants at the more traditional program not
informed by contact theory. The study is reported in the article, Jarrott, S.E. & Smith,
C.L. (2011). The complement of research and theory in practice: Contact theory at work
in non-familial intergenerational programs. The Gerontologist, 51, 112-121. doi:
10.1093/geront/gnq058. (A copy of the article is on the Research Board at CDCLR).
Ongoing Studies
An Inquiry into Intergenerational Environmental Science Learning
Victoria Fu, CDCLR Director
Caitlin Faas, graduate student, Department of Human Development
Ila Schepisi, Adult Day Services (ADS) Activities Director
This study examines STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)
behaviors of both teachers and children during intergenerational (IG) activities. The
children at CDCLR and the adults at the Adult Day Services have been involved in this
project. In 2009-2010 academic year, CDCLR teachers and ADS staff received inservice training on implementing inquiry-based science to scaffold children and adults
involved in intergenerational (IG) activities. The study team then observed behaviors and
developed and piloted an observational coding system, which was then refined and will
be tested this spring (2011).
Preliminary results indicate that training has a positive effect on children's
science learning. Dr. Fu and graduate student Caitlin Faas will present these findings at
the Society for Research in Child Development in April, 2011. Other findings will be
presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Gerontological Society, in Raleigh,
North Carolina in April (Schepisi, I.W. & Faas, C., An Intergenerational Science
Processing Skills Intervention Improves Well-Being for Dependent Older Adults). For
further information, contact Victoria Fu (vfu@vt.edu).
For more information on the IG research program, contact Shannon Jarrott
(sjarrott@vt.edu) or visit www.intergenerational.clahs.vt.edu/neighbors.html
BASIC RESEARCH
Completed Studies
Psychobiology of Cognitive Development --- Attention and Memory Abilities in
Preschool-aged Children
Kimberly Cuevas, Ph.D., Katherine C. Morasch, Ph.D., Jess Versele, M.S., & Martha
Ann Bell, Ph.D. (Spring, 2010)
From the research team:
Our collection of data at the CDCLR was primarily for pilot data purposes. We
wanted to make sure that these tasks were appropriate for 3-year-old participants in a
NIH-funded longitudinal study in the Cognitive Affect and Psychophysiology (C.A.P.)
lab. In addition, pilot testing with preschoolers permitted modifications in task
administration that would be inappropriate during systematic data collection for the
C.A.P. lab study. These pilot data will most likely not be used in publications or
presentations. However, data from the “Pointing Game” may potentially be used as part
of a spontaneous production control group for a memory game used in the C.A.P. lab
study. At this point, most of the data have not been “coded” in the traditional use of the
term.
Data collection for the 3-year-old visit of the C.A.P. lab study began early in
2010, and we anticipate completing data collection early in 2011. Recent and past
research findings from C.A.P. lab data collection can be found on our lab website:
http://www.psyc.vt.edu/labs/devcogneuro/index.html
We include a brief description of each of the tasks, and details about modifications
made after pilot testing at the CDCLR.
1. The “Waiting Game”. Children were shown two bowls, one containing a small-sized
treat and the other containing a large-sized treat. The researcher asked which bowl
they preferred. Next, the researcher explained that she had to work on a computer for
a few minutes and if the child waits, without eating a treat while the researcher works
(approximately 5 min), the child may have the preferred (larger) bowl. However, if
the child feels that she cannot wait for the researcher to finish her work, the child may
ring a bell, and will then immediately receive the less-preferred (smaller) bowl.
We found that the task was appropriate for 3-year-olds, and we are currently
using this task in our C.A.P. lab protocol.
2. The “Barnyard Animal Game”. Children played a brief computer game. Individual
barnyard animals (with sounds that correspond with the animal) briefly appeared on a
computer screen for a total of 3 min. Children were asked to respond only when a
specific animal appeared.
We originally used a computer mouse for the child to make responses, but we
soon found that the computer mouse was too distracting. Thus, for the C.A.P. lab
study, we asked children to press the space bar to make a response. It was also
necessary to modify our instructions to ensure that children waited until they saw
the picture to respond.
3. The “Pointing Game”. Children were shown 8 sets of flashcards with clip art pictures
(4 cards per set) and 4 sets of related objects (3 objects per set). Children were asked
to take their time and look at each item. Then, all 4 items were placed in front of the
child, and he was asked to point to one.
During pilot testing, we realized that it was important for each item to be equally
difficult for the child to reach. Thus, we modified our procedure to place
flashcards and items in an arc formation. In the C.A.P. lab study, we are using
these flashcards and items as retrieval cues for part of a recall/recognition
memory task.
4. The “Toy Hiding Game”. Children were shown a toy that the researcher hid under
one of two identical plastic tubs. There was a delay (initially 10 s) between when the
researcher hid the object and when children were allowed to indicate where the toy
was hidden. During the delay, the researcher distracted the child. Once the child
chose the correct tub on two same side trials, the object hiding location was reversed.
If children respond correctly after the hiding location is reversed, the delay period
was increased.
All children were able to find the toy after 10-, 20-, and 30-s delays between
hiding and searching. (Longer delays were not used because we were interested
in examining individual differences in children’s working memory.) Thus, we
concluded that this task was not developmentally appropriate (i.e., too easy) for
3-yr-olds, and did not include this task in our C.A.P lab protocol.
5. The “Picture Order” Game. Children were shown 3 (or 4) flashcards and asked to
figure out the correct order of the cards, touching them one at a time (baseline). Next,
the researcher modeled the correct order for four additional sets of cards (4 cards per
set), one at a time. After each set was modeled, children were asked to reply in one
of four different ways: copying the order immediately, copying the order after a 5min delay, copying the order using props that match the pictures on the flashcards,
and finally copying the order using props related to the pictures on the flashcards.
During pilot testing, we discovered that this task was very difficult for 3-yr-olds.
We modified our training and testing procedures to reduce the duration of task
administration. We added a 2 card set training procedure and eliminated the
“related-props condition”. We also decided to administer the imitation trials
before the baseline trials because this was less confusing to the children. Pilot
testing also revealed that children would respond in a variety of ways that we had
not anticipated. To this end, we developed guidelines on how to deal with
different types of responses to ensure that task administration was systematic.
Finally, we noticed that the experimenter might provide the child with external
cues during task administration and we developed a script for the experimenter to
follow on all trials.
6. The “Birthday Party” Interview. Prior to the day of the visit, parents were asked to
complete a brief questionnaire to indicate a memorable event in their child’s life
which was the basis of a short interview (the standard is the child’s most recent
birthday party). Questions began with a general, free-recall question (“Tell me
everything you can remember about your birthday party”) and became more targeted
(“Tell me where your party was held, who was there” etc.). Following the study,
parents were given a verbatim transcription of their child’s verbal responses to the
interview questions. Parents were asked to rate the accuracy of their child’s
responses.
We found that our questions were appropriate for 3-year-olds, and we are
currently using this task in our C.A.P. lab protocol. Parental reports have not yet
been analyzed in comparison with child reports.
Below, graduate student Jess Versele and videotaper postdoc Kacey Morasch work with a
child in the research space within the Atelier.
Ongoing Studies
Children’s Private Speech and Self-Regulation Study
Cynthia L. Smith, Assistant Professor, Human Development
Kimberly L. Day, graduate student, Human Development
This research examines children’s private speech and emotion regulation during
early childhood. Private speech is defined as audible speech directed to the self. The
purpose of the current study is to develop a better understanding of private speech and
what forms of it may more beneficial to children's control of emotions and behaviors
during both emotionally and cognitively challenging tasks.
Children are asked to complete four tasks that are designed to arouse different
emotions, behaviors or attentional strategies and their behaviors and speech will later be
coded for analysis. As of February, 2011, 76 percent of our eligible children have been
given permission to participate. CDCLR is one of several local preschools particpating in
the study. Results are anticipated by fall, 2011.
CDCDL Family Database Project
Isabel S. Bradburn and Undergraduate Research Team
This project is to clean and analyze data from the CDCLR family database that have been
collected since CDCLR opened in January, 2005. The goal is to be able to determine
what questionnaires yield useful information and which do not, so as to adjust what we
ask parents to complete (in the early years of the CDCLR, parents completed several
surveys upon enrollment). The project should also yield descriptive information about
our school population over the years (all data will be reported in group fashion, so as not
to identify any children or families, of course!).
OTHER RESEARCH
Observations in Childcares and Medical Practices
Laurian C. Vega, graduate student, Computer Science
Steve Harrison, Research Scientist, Computer Science
This dissertation study examined how technology is used to co-manage
information between caregivers and parents, or medical practitioners and patients. The
particular focus is on what and how information is managed through computer systems
and what remains managed through paper-based systems or people networks. Ms.Vega
observed several sessions with CDCLR administrators as they updated records or
otherwise managed administrative matters and also conducted interviews with them.
(Note: she sat so that she could not view any actual records). Results are expected to be
communicated by fall, 2011.
Pilot training for SOPLAY: System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity in
Youth
Erin Smith, graduate student, Human Foods, Nutrition and Exercise
Paul A. Estabrooks, Professor, Human Foods, Nutrition and Exercise
Ms. Smith and several other students observed CDCLR children at play outside
and through the observation booths during meal times in order to practice the use of a
structured observational tool for a future study.