Lab News
October 2024- Crane Excellence in Early Childhood Awards
Congrats to Dr. Mary Wagner on receiving the Crane Excellence in Early Childhood Award for Research at the Crane Center's 2024 Symposium on Children!
Dr. Wagner received the award in recognition of her research on children's early math development. Read more about it here:
August 2024- Preschool Promise Training
Welcome to our new Preschool Promise assessors!
Our Preschool Promise research assessors kicked off their year with training and community building!
June 2024- Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society (MCLS)
Project Coordinator Molly Griffin and Research Assistant Mia Huckleberry traveled to Washington, DC, to present at the 2024 meeting of MCLS.
Their poster was titled "Examining the relationship between preschool children's flexible attention to magnitudes and their early math abilities.
April 2024- Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA)
Congratulations to lab member Katie White!
Katie presented at the 2024 meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago, Illinois. Her poster was titled "Impact of COVID-19 on children's motor and physical development"
April 2024- Stander Symposium
Congrats to lab member Merrick Hirt!
Merrick presented a poster titled "Numerical vs. Spatial Magnitude Understanding as Seen in Preschool Aged Children" at the University of Dayton's Stander Symposium.
View his poster here:
April 2024- Outstanding Scholarship Award
Congratulations to Dr. Mary Wagner for being awarded the 2024 award for Outstanding Scholarship in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Mary was recognized for her remarkable research productivity, external grant funding, and her overall contributions to the local community-- especially her impact on local children and families.
You can read the full article here: https://udayton.edu/artssciences/about/faculty-awards/index.php
March 2024- CDS Conference Presentations
Dr. Mary Wagner and Project Coordinator Molly Griffin both traveled to Pasadena, California to present at the 2024 meeting of the Cognitive Development Society conference.
Molly presented a poster titled "Using number book intervention to train flexible attention to magnitude in preschool-age children" and Mary facilitated a roundtable on numerical, spatial, and relational reasoning at the pre-conference event "Supporting Research Collaborations at non-R1 Institutions."
Fall 2023- External Funding News
Congrats to Dr. Mary Wagner for being featured in a University of Dayton blog post highlighting her new National Science Foundation grant.
Dr. Wagner will work with Dr. Elizabeth Gunderson from Indiana University to build on her previous studies and explore interventions to improve children's flexible attention to magnitudes.
By understanding the math processes that children are using, Dr. Wagner hopes to help give early childhood educators the tools to help children build the foundation for their math abilities.
You can read the full blog post here: Improving Preschoolers’ Math Skills : University of Dayton, Ohio (udayton.edu)
Summer 2023- External Funding News
Congratulations to Dr. Wagner on being featured in a story on Spectrum News 1 and an article for University of Dayton News!
Watch the Spectrum News 1 Story Here: https://mms.tveyes.com/MediaCenterPlayer.aspx?u=aHR0cDovL21lZGlhY2VudGVyLnR2ZXllcy5jb20vZG93bmxvYWRnYXRld2F5LmFzcHg%2FVXNlcklEPTE4MDg3NyZNRElEPTIwMDExNzgxJk1EU2VlZD03ODkxJlR5cGU9TWVkaWE%3D
The article, titled "National Science Foundation grant to help improve math skill development in children", details how Dr. Wagner will use the $702,643 grant to "help preschoolers improve their math skills in preparation for math instruction in elementary classrooms."
You can read more here: National Science Foundation grant to help improve math skill development in children : University of Dayton, Ohio (udayton.edu)
Jackie LaVigne, honors thesis student in the Development and Learning Lab, received the Roesch Award for Outstanding Psychology Student. Her thesis was titled “COVID-19 and Children’s School Readiness Skills”.
Molly Griffin, Development and Learning Lab research assessor on the Preschool Promise evaluation project, received the Charles E. Kimble Research Award to the Graduating Senior Who Best Demonstrated Research Excellence in Psychology.
Summer 2023- University of Dayton Magazine
Congrats to Dr. Wagner on being featured in an article for University of Dayton Magazine!
The article, titled "Hand in hand" and written by Teri Rizvi, focuses on how nine university faculty from UD "are building community, becoming active co-creators in solutions from sustainable food sources to school readiness."
You can read more here: Hand in hand (udayton.edu)
Summer 2023- Student News
Our summer team has been working to develop individual research projects and learning more about the research process.
Kamyah Summers is working on a project focusing on the effect of online learning on preschool children's social development and executive functioning skills. She has learned a lot about the pre-registration process so far this summer.
Katie White is working on a project focusing on the effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on children's physical and motor skills development. She has learned a lot about data collection and management so far this summer.
Deja Richardson is working on a project focusing on the implementation of the Conscious Discipline curriculum that it utilized by the local Preschool Promise organization. She has learned a lot about the peer review process for submitting journal articles so far this summer.
Mitchell Hanson is working on a project focusing on mapping local KRA scores onto assessments used in our data collection for Preschool Promise. He has learned a lot about literature review and recording relevant citations so far this summer.
May 2023- NSF Grant Awarded
Congrats to Dr. Mary Wagner!
Dr. Wagner was recently awarded a Level III 5-year grant from the National Science Foundation.
Read more at: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2301009&HistoricalAwards=false
May 2023- Student News
Congrats to our lab members that recently graduated!
Joseph Boateng is headed to The Ohio State University to get his doctorate in physical therapy, and he was recently awarded the Distinguished Graduate Enrichment Fellowship which will fully cover his tuition and a stipend during his graduate school experience. Read more about his experiences at UD here: https://udayton.edu/blogs/impact/2023/05-may/joseph-boateng.php
Jackie LaVigne received a fully funded graduate assistantship with housing at the University of Denver (DU) to pursue her MA in higher education.
Emma Wilt is currently enrolled in the School Psychology graduate program at the University of Dayton.
Andrew Hornick is pursuing a graduate degree in nursing at Wright State University.
Mackenzie Henry is pursuing a career in the psychology field.
May 2023- Psychology Department Awards
Congrats to lab members Jackie LaVigne and Molly Griffin!
Jackie LaVigne, honors thesis student in the Development and Learning Lab, received the Roesch Award for Outstanding Psychology Student. Her thesis was titled “COVID-19 and Children’s School Readiness Skills”.
Molly Griffin, Development and Learning Lab research assessor on the Preschool Promise evaluation project, received the Charles E. Kimble Research Award to the Graduating Senior Who Best Demonstrated Research Excellence in Psychology.
Summer 2022
Congrats to lab member Joseph Boateng!
Joseph completed a 9-week Summer Educational Research Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
June 2022- MCLS Conference Presentations
Congratulations to our Project Coordinator Marissa Brown and Dr. Mary Wagner!
Marissa and Dr. Wagner presented posters titled "Exploring the Equitability of Continuing Virtual Research Post-Pandemic Using In-Person vs. Virtual Math Assessment Data" and "Children's Flexible Attention to Magnitudes in Early Childhood: Associations with Executive Function and Math Skills", respectively, in Antwerp, Belgium.
April 2022- CDS Conference Presentation
Congratulations to our lab member Maya Quale!
Maya presented a poster titled "Setting preschool children up for success: Early math assessments predict global math achievement" at the 2022 Cognitive Development Society conference in Madison, Wisconsin.
April 2022- AERA Conference Presentation
Congratulations to our lab member Joseph Boateng!
Joseph presented a poster titled "Closing the educational gap: Exploring predictors of kindergarten readiness in African-American children" at the 2022 American Educational Research Association in San Diego, California. Joseph's paper was selected out of over 10,000 submissions!
March 2022- CDS Award
Congratulations to Dr. Mary Wagner!
Dr. Wagner received the Research Excellence in Cognitive Development Research at Undergraduate-Focused Institutions award from the Cognitive Development Society. She will accept the award at the 2022 CDS conference in Madison, WI. Click here to read more: https://cogdevsoc.org/conference-awards/
March 2022- Psychology Department Award
Congrats to our lab member Maya Quale!
Maya received the University of Dayton Charles E. Kimble award for Outstanding Research in Psychology recognizing research excellence in the field of psychology.
October 2021- MCLS Lightning Talks
Congratulations to lab alum Alison Vrabec and Project Coordinator Marissa Brown!
Marissa and Alison both gave lightning talks about their research at the Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society virtual conference.
Vrabec, A., & Fuhs, M. W. (2021, October). Exploring the effects of an adaptive number eBook on parental attitudes towards mathematics. Lightning talk presented at the 2021 Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society Conference. Virtual.
Brown, M., Ehrman, P., Yurich, Z., & Fuhs, M. W. (2021, September). Pre-registration of an experiment to test the malleability of young children’s flexible attention to numerical and spatial magnitudes. Lightning talk presented at the 2021 Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society Conference. Virtual.
May 2021 - Psychology Department Awards
Congratulations to our lab members Olivia and Patrick!
Olivia and Patrick are co-recipients of the University of Dayton Rev. Raymond A. Roesch Award for Outstanding Student in Psychology. This award recognizes excellence in the study of Psychology, as evidenced by academic achievement and by accomplishment in subject matter closely supporting either the understanding of psychological phenomena or the ability to conduct research in psychology.
Patrick is also the recipient of the University of Dayton Charles E. Kimble award for Outstanding Research in Psychology recognizing excellence and accomplishment in research in the field of Psychology.
May 2021 - Student News
Congratulations to our graduating seniors on their next endeavors!
Olivia LeBlanc was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English in Estonia for the 2021-22 academic year. She has also received a fully-funded training grant to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison to pursue a EdS in School Psychology, which she will delay a year to complete her Fulbright.
Patrick Ehrman will attend Purdue University to pursue a PhD in Human Development and Family Sciences, studying under David Purpura, PhD. You can learn more about their research at https://davidpurpura.com.
Alison Vrabec will be attending Syracuse University to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology upon completion of her master's thesis here at UD this spring.
Madisen Brewer will attend Lund University in Sweden to earn a master's in Public Health.
We wish all of our graduating seniors the best of luck. We will miss you!
April 2021 - Lab External Funding Update
The Development and Learning Lab is currently funded by the NIH and NSF.
The National Institutes of Health awarded Dr. Wagner with an R15 research grant to study early mathematics skills development in preschool-aged children. This project will include three studies across three years and will focus on young children's ability to disentangle numerical and spatial magnitudes. You can read more about her project here: https://udayton.edu/blogs/artssciences/2020-stories/20-08-03-fus-nih-grant.php
Dr. Wagner is also a co-investigator on a project funded by the National Science Foundation, in collaboration with Dr. Caroline Christopher at Vanderbilt University. This grant was awarded to Dr. Christopher to study and enhance pre-K teachers' teaching strategies through coaching, in hopes of improving young children's learning and social skills in preparation for Kindergarten. You can learn more about the project here: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1813008&HistoricalAwards=false
