Learning Sciences

I currently work in the Learning Representations and Technology Lab with Dr. Martina Rau where I lead experimental studies on perceptual fluency. My interests focus on adult learning, perceptual fluency, as well as on how implicit and nonverbal feedback affect individual and collaborative learning of representational competencies. I am committed to mentoring undergraduate research assistants using evidence-based mentoring practices.

My research focuses on embodied cognition and spatial ability in mathematics education.

I am fascinated and intrigued by the possibilities that grounded and embodied cognition suggest for learning, and my research focuses on the design of learning interventions that use our bodies to help underrepresented young people from under-resourced communities learn math better; Specifically, I am investigating how learning activities that utilize different degrees of embodiment facilitate grounding within the instructional theory of concreteness fading, for the STEM domain of geometry.

I am interested in understanding students’ learning processes that interact with instructional materials in individual and collaborative learning environments by analyzing multiple streams of data.

My research is currently focused on how teachers customize immersive learning environments to create authentic STEM learning experiences.