Lab News
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."
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, Beth Marsico, Julia Nathanson, Hannah Madren
Congratulations to our Spring 2022 graduates (Christine, Katherine, Maddi, and Beth)!
April 2022
Our undergraduate students gave a poster presentation at 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!
Dr. Hornburg, Christine Berry, Katherine D'Ercole, and Jisun Kim
April 2022
In Fall 2021 we launched our Home Math Environment Survey! This study focused on learning more about how families of 3-5- 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 email!
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 were able to take 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 CoDeS Lab! Our exhibit was titled "Look, Think, and Play: Mobile Eye Tracking and Math Games (link to the video recording will be available soon)". 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 2021
Caroline Hornburg, lab director, gave a presentation at the 4th Annual Meeting of the Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society (Virtual), titled "Relations among parents’ and children’s math anxiety, attitudes, and performance in elementary school."
October - December 2021
The Learning and Development Lab partnered with the Boys & Girls Club for Math Buddies in an in-person setting at Eastern Montgomery Elementary School.
February to 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 and 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.
February 2020
The Learning and Development Lab implemented the "Number Wizards" outreach program with 5th graders. They 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!
October 2019
Caroline Hornburg, lab director, gave a presentation at the Cognitive Development Society conference in Louisville, KY, titled "Harnessing the benefits of retrieval practice for children’s learning through implementation of open-book and closed-book activities."
August 2019
The Learning and Development Lab at Virginia Tech was born!