Lab Researchers

Andrea M. Donovan

I am interested in cognitive development and mathematical learning in children. My current research investigates the role of manipulatives in children’s mathematical learning and conceptual understanding of equations, and how children express new knowledge in performance, speech and gesture.

David Menendez

I’m a fourth year graduate student advised by Martha Alibali and Karl Rosengren. My research broadly centers on conceptual development. More specifically, on children’s understanding of the natural world, and how visual representations aid or hinder learning about biology. I am also interested in how socio-cultural factors influence cognitive development.

Lauren Anthony 

I am a first year graduate student co-advised by Martha Alibali and C. Shawn Green in the Cognitive and Cognitive Neuroscience area. I come to UW-Madison from UCLA where I studied problem representation in mathematics and memory strategies as an undergraduate. I hope to continue this line of work by investigating how students’ perception of maths representations contribute to, or inhibit, their understanding of underlying mathematical structures and concepts.

Victoria Jay

I am a first year developmental psychology PhD student advised by Martha Alibali. I’m a Wisconsin native who got my B.S. in Psychology & Neurobiology here at UW-Madison, and am excited to be back after receiving my M.S. in Psychology from the University of Illinois. Broadly, my interests lie in the development of systems and representations that underlie our abilities for more formal mathematics.

Rui Meng

I am a fifth year graduate student advised by Martha Alibali and Percival Matthews. My research focuses on cognitive development and cuts across cognitive, developmental, and educational psychology. In particular, I study how young children and adults understand and interpret covariation data, and its connections with other numerical and mathematical concepts.

Anna Bartel

I am a fourth year cognitive psychology PhD student advised by Martha Alibali. My current research revolves around how visual and data representations influence student understanding of algebra and statistics. Some of my most recent projects include: (a) assessing different error patterns in algebraic symbolization as a function of different diagram types, (b) investigating how graphical and textual framing cues influence problem solving accuracy and strategy use on constant change problems, and (c) exploring the effects of graphical depictions of variability in how people interpret graphs. You can find me tweeting about math, stats, and beyond at @annabartel_ .

Nicholas Vest

I am a first year graduate student advised by Martha Alibali. My research broadly investigates the relationship between motor movements and learning mathematics both in and out of pedagogical contexts. Prior to graduate school, I obtained a B.S. in Psychology at Indiana University where I also worked as Emily Fyfe’s lab manager in the Learning, Education, and Development Lab.

Emily Szkudlarek

I am a post-doctoral scholar at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research working in both the Cognitive Development and Communication lab and the Mathematics Education Learning and Development Lab with Dr. Percival Matthews. Before coming to UW-Madison, I received a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Connecticut and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania working with Dr. Elizabeth Brannon. I am interested in how children and adults can build mathematical understanding from concrete depictions of numerical and arithmetic concepts. Specifically, I investigate how we can perform intuitive, non-symbolic math operations as children before formal mathematical instruction, and situations where adults already expert in symbolic calculation persist in their use of intuitive strategies to solve math problems. My research explores how strong arithmetic concepts can support advanced mathematical reasoning.

David Liu

I am a post-doctoral scholar interested in children’s learning. I received my PhD from the University of Michigan before working as an Assistant Professor at the Universities of San Diego and Oklahoma.

Elena Silla

After teaching 4th grade for two years, I am excited to join the lab as a project manager. The projects I am working on investigate how children think about math and whether the use of tools such as diagrams and manipulatives enhance student understanding. I am interested in developing research-based tools and techniques that can be used by teachers to improve student education and hope to pursue this in later graduate studies. 

Olympia Mathiaparanam

I am a new project manager being advised by Martha Alibali and Karl Rosengren. Our research broadly investigates how visual diagrams help children learn about biological variation and aid in their understanding of biological concepts including metamorphosis, inheritance, and evolution.