Lab News
March 2024
March was a busy month for the Learning & Development Lab! We attended the Cognitive Development Society (CDS) conference in Pasadena, California, where three grad students presented posters. One of our grad students, Isabel Valdivia also presented a flash talk at the 40th Annual GPSS Research Symposium, hosted by Virginia Tech. Our team was also a part of the Hokie for a Day outreach program again at the Moss Arts Center.
Left: Members of the Learning & Development Lab and the CoDes Lab at the CDS 2024 conference.
Below, pictures from left to right: Graduate students Jisun Kim, Maegan Reinhardt, and Isabel Valdivia presenting their posters at CDS 2024.
December 2023
Here is the Fall 2023 end-of-semester lab picture at the Wallace Hall Atrium. We really appreciate the work our lab team members did throughout this semester!
Top row: Taylor Tuck, Lilly Nelson, Maegan Reinhardt, Isabel Valdivia, Jisun Kim, Dr. Caroline Hornburg
Bottom row: Alexis Whitfield, Rachel Thompson, Elisa Lee
Not pictured: Brinn MacLellan, Jackie Gregasavitch
October - November 2023
We have some exciting news to share from the Fall 2023 semester! (Please see photos below)
First, second, and third photo: Elementary school students visited our booth "Math Masterminds" at the Moss Art Center on campus for the Hokie For A Day program, hosted by Virginia Tech's Center for Educational Networks and Impacts! Students practiced math skills while playing fun games (Prime Climb, How Close to 100, and 15s Go Fish). Prime Climb was a favorite among the students!
Fourth photo: The lab hosted another "STEM Saturday" activity at Wonder Universe! We love to share our passion for STEM education with the local community!
June 2023
Dr. Hornburg, lab director, was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for a project titled, "Examining the Effects of Perceptual Cues on Middle School Students’ Online Mathematical Reasoning and Learning." In this project, Dr. Hornburg is collaborating as a Co-Investigator with Dr. Erin Ottmar (WPI, Principal Investigator), Dr. Ji-Eun Lee (WPI), and Dr. Avery Closser (Purdue University). Details about the project can be found here. We are excited to launch data collection in local 6th-grade classrooms this Fall!
May 2023
Here is another end-of-semester lab picture outside by the Child Development Center for Learning and Research on campus!
Top row: Ninie Asad, Brinn MacLellan, Hailey Foster, Jisun Kim, Hannah Madren, Isabel Valdivia
Bottom row: Rachel Castro, Katie Quinn, Julia Nathanson, Saba Ahmed, Dr. Caroline Hornburg
Not pictured: Gabrielle Elardo, Lilly Nelson
Congratulations to our Spring 2023 graduates (Gabrielle, Hailey, Hannah, Katie, Julia, Ninie, and Saba)!
April - June 2023
We have so much exciting news to share from the Spring 2023 semester! (Please see photos below)
First photo: One of our undergraduate students, Ninie Asad, gave a poster presentation from the Our Mathematical World project at the Virginia Tech Dennis Dean Undergraduate Research Conference, titled "Examining the impact of a storybook series designed to strengthen math identity in Black and Latine students and students experiencing poverty." We are so proud of you, Ninie!
Pictured (from left to right): Ninie Asad, Isabel Valdivia (graduate student mentor), and Dr. Caroline Hornburg
Second photo: Elementary school students visited our booth "Math Masterminds" at the Moss Art Center on campus for the Hokie For A Day program, hosted by Virginia Tech's Center for Educational Networks and Impacts! We had a great time practicing our math skills while playing fun math games (Prime Climb, How Close to 100, and 15s Go Fish).
Third photo: The lab hosted a "STEM Saturday" activity at Wonder Universe! We hope the children found STEM-related activities fun and exciting!
April 2023
The Our Mathematical World (OMW) team for which our lab director, Dr. Hornburg, is the Principal Investigator gave a presentation at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2023 conference in Chicago! The symposium was titled "Centering Student and Educator Voice and Expertise in Inclusive, Equity-Centered Research and Development."
Also, the EF+Math program, funded by the Advancing Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF), published an Insights Report, which addresses early math learning approaches including the Our Mathematical World program and others aiming to build students' math identity, executive function, and problem-solving skills! Check out the report here.
March 2023
Dr. Hornburg, lab director, received the 2022-2023 Excellence in Research and Creative Scholarship Award from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech. Congratulations, Dr. Hornburg!
March 2023
One of our graduate research assistants, Jisun Kim, gave a poster presentation at the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) 2023 conference, titled "Examining Gender Differences in Children’s Math Identity and Representations of Mathematicians Across Elementary Grades."
January 2023
Jisun Kim (graduate research assistant), Dr. Caroline Hornburg (lab director), and Dr. Koeun Choi (Jisun’s faculty advisor) from the HDFS department received a SEAD grant from the Virginia Tech Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology/Center for Educational Networks and Impacts! The project is titled "Storybook Reading with an AI Voice Assistant to Promote Preschoolers’ Mathematics Learning." Dr. Hornburg is a Co-Investigator on the project, collaborating with Dr. Koeun Choi (Principal Investigator), Dr. Myounghoon Jeon, and Shannon Mury (early childhood educator at the Virginia Tech Child Development Center for Learning and Research).
December 2022
We had another end-of-semester lab picture taken in the Wallace Hall Atrium!
Top row: Dr. Caroline Hornburg, Ninie Asad, Brinn MacLellan, Julia Nathanson, Rachel Castro, Gabrielle Elardo, and Hannah Madren
Bottom row: Isabel Valdivia, Katie Quinn, Saba Ahmed, Jisun Kim, and Lilly Nelson
Not pictured: Marie Costanzo and Hailey Foster
Congratulations to our Fall 2022 graduate, Marie!
Other news: Baby Paul arrived as the newest member of the lab in late December 2022!
September 2022
Dr. Hornburg, lab director, received funding from National Institutes of Health (NIH) R03! What exciting news! She is collaborating as a Co-Investigator with faculty members from Psychology and Industrial and Systems Engineering. The project is titled, "Development of machine learning methods to support collaboration in a neurodiverse team at work."
July 2022
Dr. Hornburg, lab director, met with the entire Our Mathematical World research team in person for the first time in Chicago! The team of researchers and educators shared about the OMW project and learned about other EF+Math program projects!
May 2022
We took an end-of-semester lab picture in the Wallace Hall Atrium!
Top row: Dr. Caroline Hornburg, Katherine D'Ercole, Jisun Kim, Katie Quinn, Gabrielle Elardo, and Maddi Walker
Bottom row: Rachel Castro, Christine Berry, Caroline Begley, and Marie Costanzo
Not pictured: Hailey Foster, Hannah Madren, Beth Marsico, and Julia Nathanson
Congratulations to our Spring 2022 graduates (Christine, Katherine, Maddi, and Beth)!
April 2022
Two of our undergraduate students gave a poster presentation at the Virginia Tech Dennis Dean Undergraduate Research Conference, titled "Relations between parents' and children's math anxiety along with children's math avoidance and math performance in elementary school." We are so proud of you!
Pictured (from left to right): Dr. Caroline Hornburg, Christine Berry, Katherine D'Ercole, and Jisun Kim (graduate student mentor)
April 2022
In Fall 2021 we launched our Home Math Environment Survey! This study focused on learning more about how families of 3- to 5-year-old children in the U.S. with and without developmental disabilities use math with their young children at home. We recruited over 100 participants for this survey! Recruitment is now closed, and our team is currently in the analysis phase. Once we have analyzed the results we will share the overall results with participating families via an e-newsletter!
March 2022
Elementary school students visited our booth "Math Masterminds" at the Moss Art Center on campus for the Hokie For A Day program!
Children had a great time playing fun math games (Prime Climb, How Close to 100, and 15s Go Fish) as they practiced their math skills with VT students!
December 2021
We took an end-of-semester lab picture outside by the Child Development Center for Learning and Research on campus!
Top row: Jisun Kim, Maria Hirt, Katherine D'Ercole, Dr. Caroline Hornburg, Maria Meara, Maddi Walker, and Hailey Foster
Bottom row: Marie Costanzo, Elise Jensen, Gina DeLeo, Julia Nathanson, Mimi Rainey, and Christine Berry
Not pictured: Caroline Begley, Beth Marsico, Bri Whitmore
Congratulations to our Fall 2021 graduates (Maria H., Maria M., Bri, and Elise)!
October 2021
The Learning and Development Lab participated in Virginia Tech's 2021 Science Festival as exhibitors in collaboration with the CoDeS Lab! Our exhibit was titled "Look, Think, and Play: Mobile Eye Tracking and Math Games." We provided fun opportunities to middle schoolers where they can learn about eye-tracking technology and how it can be used in math learning and math research!
October - December 2021
The Learning and Development Lab partnered with the Boys & Girls Club to launch the Math Buddies program we began via Zoom to occur in an in-person setting at Eastern Montgomery Elementary School.
February - April 2021
The Learning and Development Lab teamed up with service-learning students at Virginia Tech to create an 8-week virtual math program, "Virginia Tech Math Buddies," focused on word-problem solving, based on the Pirate Math Curriculum created by Dr. Sarah Powell and Dr. Kate Berry at the University of Texas at Austin. The virtual sessions with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders occurred with a Virginia Tech Student and Math Buddies Program Assistant over Zoom.
September - October 2020
The Learning and Development Lab paired up with the CoDeS Lab during Virginia Tech's 2020 Virtual Science Festival! Our exhibit was titled "Do you know what I’m looking at? Tracking eye movements during math games." We had a great time with the 3rd-grade students and middle schoolers exploring the use of eye-tracking technology in math activities!
Check out more information about the CoDeS (Cognitive Developmental Science) lab here.
September 2020
Dr. Hornburg, lab director, received funding from the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF)'s EF+Math program for a project titled "My Math Stories: Taking My Place in Our Mathematical World." Dr. Hornburg is the Primary Investigator of a large multi-university team of researchers and educators, focused on developing math learning approaches that embed executive function skill-building opportunities within equitable, high-quality math content and instruction.
The Our Mathematical World project specifically is working to design activities to build 3rd-5th graders' math identity, executive function skills, and problem-solving skills, especially for Black and Latine students and students experiencing poverty. Check out more information about the Our Mathematical World project and related projects at www.efmathprogram.org.
February 2020
The Learning and Development Lab implemented the "Number Wizards" outreach program with 5th graders from the local community. Students had a great time playing diverse math games including "How Close to 100?," "Mobi," "24," and "Prime Climb." These fun games help students build math fluency!
August 2019
The Learning and Development Lab at Virginia Tech was born!
May 2023
Here is another end-of-semester lab picture outside by the Child Development Center for Learning and Research on campus!
Top row: Ninie Asad, Brinn MacLellan, Hailey Foster, Jisun Kim, Hannah Madren, Isabel Valdivia
Bottom row: Rachel Castro, Katie Quinn, Julia Nathanson, Saba Ahmed, Dr. Caroline Hornburg
Not pictured: Gabrielle Elardo, Lilly Nelson
Congratulations to our Spring 2023 graduates (Gabrielle, Hailey, Hannah, Katie, Julia, Ninie, and Saba)!