Lab Song!
Lab Director and Professor
Martha W. Alibali
I conduct research at the interface of developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, and mathematics education. My primary line of research investigates mathematics learning and development, with a special focus on the role of gesture in mathematical thinking and knowledge change. I am also interested in the role of gesture in thinking and communication, particularly in educational settings.
Contact information:
Department of Psychology and Department of Educational Psychology,
University of Wisconsin-Madison
mwalibali@wisc.edu
Office: (608) 262-0837
Graduate Students
Lauren Anthony
I am a fifth-year PhD candidate co-advised by Martha Alibali and Shawn Green in the Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience area. My current research explores the extent to which the ability to flexibly represent number is related to conceptions of equivalence, fraction understanding, and algebraic reasoning. I also investigate how individuals (both adults and children) engage with patterns in mathematical contexts and the influence of such experiences on both performance and problem-solving strategies. Please check out my personal website for more information!
Email: leanthony2@wisc.edu
Tory Jay
I am a third-year developmental psychology PhD student advised by Martha Alibali. I am 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, I am interested in connections among math concepts and how these connections can be leveraged to deepen understanding of mathematics.
Email: vjay@wisc.edu
Alyssa Ortega
I am a first-year PhD student in Cognitive Psychology, advised by Dr. Martha Alibali. I graduated from University of California, Merced with B.A.’s in Cognitive Science and Psychology. Broadly, I am interested in theories of why we gesture and how gestural information can be used to improve education. My research currently focuses on what factors influence our reliance on gesture to schematize information and shape our mental representations. Please visit my personal website for more information: alyssavortega.github.io.
Nicholas Vest
I am a PhD candidate in developmental psychology, working under the guidance of Dr. Martha Alibali. My research focuses on mathematical and numerical cognition, particularly how children develop an understanding of integers, including positive numbers, negative numbers, and zero. More broadly, I am interested in the cognitive processes underlying numerical and mathematical development. I am passionate about studying the intersection of cognition, education, and child development, with the goal of contributing meaningful insights to these fields through my research. Please check out my personal website for more information: nicholasvest.com
Email: navest@wisc.edu
Jennifer Murray
I am a first-year graduate student advised by Martha Alibali. I completed a bachelor’s in mathematics and a bachelor’s in psychology at the University of Montana. After graduating, I taught high school math for five years before coming to UW- Madison. My research interests are at the intersection of developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, and education. In particular, I am interested in conceptual understanding of mathematics, especially fractions and division.
Email: jomurray@wisc.edu
Lab Manager
Phoebe Miller (she/her/hers)
I’m the Cognitive Development & Communication lab manager as well as your BioGames project manager! I’m really interested in how children learn mathematics and science as well as what curriculum and activities might enhance a child’s understanding of STEM concepts. I graduated from UW-Madison with a degree in mathematics and studied as a research assistant for Percival Matthews’s MELD Lab.Outside of work, I love to sing, try out new restaurants, ski, and travel!
Email: pamiller6@wisc.edu; Office: 689 Educational Sciences
Postdoctoral Researchers
Sofia Tancredi
I am a postdoctoral research associate in the RISE Postdoctoral training program in inclusive STEM education rooted in an integrative theory of learning. My research focuses on sensory dimensions of conceptual learning, with particular attention to sensory neurodiversity. I use design-based research as a context to test principles from embodied cognitive science through the development and evaluation of inclusive STEM pedagogical tools. Some of my current projects investigate the bodily sense of balance and haptic interactions for exploring math and science concepts. Prior to UW-Madison, I got my PhD in a joint doctoral program bridging Learning Sciences and Human Development at University of California Berkeley and Special Education at San Francisco State University, and worked directly with neurodiverse K-12 children and their families, as well as instructors, schools, and non-profits as a director of learning laboratories.
Email: tancredi2@wisc.edu
Undergraduate RAs
Catherine Axness
Sofia Bruschi
Christine Becerra
Sophia Kosoma
Isabel Rojas
Gabby Simmons
Megan Smitz
Xiaoran Sun
Michelle Zhou
Adam Mikkelson
Zoe Nazario
Grace Baeb
Hema Subramanian
Kaitlyn Meier
Lab Affiliates
Andrea Marquardt Donovan
Andrea Marquardt Donovan is one of the Teaching Faculty in the Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Along with teaching Research Methods and Depth courses, her research focuses on how children use their bodies, as well as manipulatives with their bodies to learn, and how they communicate their knowledge through action and gesture in Science and Math. She is also interested in what information children and adults get from other people’s bodies during learning via observation of action and gesture. Andrea has worked with the research team through graduate school and continues to have an interest in children’s understanding of biological change through representations, diagrams, games and interactions with caregivers.
Email: amdonovan2@wisc.edu
Percival Matthews
My research program is organized around two primary goals: 1) to understand some basic underpinnings of human mathematical cognition, and 2) to find ways to leverage this understanding into effective educational techniques that can be used to impact the life chances of everyday people. My research has spanned all stages of development and has included work both in K-12 schools and in the laboratory.
Lab website: MELD
Sangmi Park
Sangmi is a postdoctoral researcher at UW-Madison. She earned her B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Child Psychology and Education from Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea, and she earned a Ph.D. in Psychology at Clark University. Her broad research interests includes children’s learning in mathematics. Her most recent research explores how children understand symbolic and non-symbolic fractions and how this relates to their mathematics achievement. Her work aims to provide insights that can help improve children’s math performance.
Email: park675@wisc.edu
Anna Stephens
CDC Lab Alumni
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Graduate Students and Post-Docs
Graduate Students
Rui Meng, Research Associate, UW-Madison
Andrea Marquardt Donovan, Teaching Faculty, Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Anna Bartel, Research Associate, WestEd
David Menendez, Assistant Professor, University of California-Santa Cruz
Sarah A. Brown, Senior Research Associate, Accessible Teaching, Learning & Assessment Systems (ATLAS), University of Kansas
Amelia Yeo, Assistant Professor, Psychology and Child & Human Development, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Andrew G. Young, Assistant Professor, Northeastern Illinois University
Annie Riggs, Associate Professor, Psychology, Western Washington University
Noelle Crooks, Associate Professor, Behavioral Science, Broward College
Shanta Hattikudur, Professor of Instruction, Psychological Studies in Education, Temple University
Pooja G. Sidney, Associate Professor, Psychology, University of Kentucky
Autumn Hostetter, Professor, Psychology, Kalamazoo College
Richard Prather, Associate Professor, Human Development, University of Maryland
Nicole M. McNeil, Professor, Psychology, University of Notre Dame
Bethany Rittle-Johnson, Professor, Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University
Postdoctoral Researchers
Daniel Alcaraz Carrión, Postdoctoral Research, University of Murcia
Emily Szkudlarek, Data Scientist
Andreas Obersteiner, Professor, Mathematics Education, Technische Universität München
Christopher Osterhaus, Assistant Professor, Developmental Psychology in Education, Universität Vechta
Emily Fyfe, Associate Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington
José Gutiérrez, Assistant Professor, Education, Culture, & Society, University of Utah
Jennifer Cooper, Assistant Professor, Psychology, Stonehill College
Rebecca Boncoddo, Associate Professor, Psychological Science, Central Connecticut State University
Virginia Clinton-Lisell, Associate Professor, Education, Health, & Behavior, University of North Dakota
Matthew Wolfgram, Senior Researcher, Wisconsin Center for Educational Research
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Project Managers
Project Managers
Elena Silla, Graduate Student, University of Delaware
Olympia Mathiaparanam, Graduate Student, University of Rochester
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Undergraduate RAs
Undergraduate Researchers
Harrison Berger
Jasmine Hu
Sydney Brando
Madison Freeman
Manal Hassan
Skylar Montgomery
Pragati Maheshwary
Ariel Sanchez
Olivia Moore
Julia Sales Leite
Johnathan McLaughlin
Lauren Smith
Greta Hansen
Claire Bowman
Cassie Liu
Alyssa Shack
Holden Manhart
Tyler Tommasi
Nour Sabbagh (Spring 2021-Fall 2021)
Kai Sylte
Hannah Alpert
Xinyi Liu (Spring 2020-Spring 2021)
Shivali Zala
Zach Bueler
Kylie Robinson (Fall 2019-Spring 2021)
Grace Sutton
Sonja Lin Vaintrub (Spring 2019-Spring 2021)
Makayla Petersdorff (Fall 2020-Spring 2021)
Lauren Kresser (Fall 2020-Spring 2021)
Jaclyn Psenka (Fall 2019-Fall 2020)
Benjamin Barmore (Spring 2018-Spring 2020; Senior Thesis)
Vanesa Meneses (Fall 2017-Spring 2020)
Gill-Helene Schomaker (Spring 2018-Spring 2020)
Sarah Desch (Fall 2019-Spring 2020)
Ruby Paisner (Spring 2018-Fall 2018; Fall 2019)
Nicole Koshevatskiy (Fall 2019)
Devin Deegan (Fall 2017-Spring 2019)
Erin Condon (Spring 2017-Spring 2019)
Shaolong Xue (Spring 2019-Spring 2019)
Nadine Jessup (Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019)
Vaughn Collins (Spring 2017-Spring 2019; Senior Thesis)
Vijay Marapudi (Fall 2017-Spring 2019; Senior Thesis)
Adele Posner (Fall 2017-Spring 2019; Senior Thesis)
Helen Huang (Fall 2018-Spring 2019)
Kathryn Anderson (Fall 2016-Spring 2019)
Erika Stauss (Spring 2017-Spring 2019)
Delaney McCabe (Spring 2018-Spring 2019)
Carmen Krug (Fall 2017-Fall 2018)
Hannah Kubicki (Spring 2018-Fall 2018)
Elizabeth Moellers (Fall 2018)
Delaney Twing (Fall 2017-Fall 2018)
Morgan Gald (Fall 2017-Spring 2018)
Maggie Kotecki (Spring 2017-Spring 2018)
Nel Siemsen (Fall 2017-Spring 2018)
Jaspreet Singh (Fall 2017-Spring 2018)
Ruohan (Crystal) Xia (Fall 2017-Spring 2018)
Sarah Her (Fal 2017-Spring 2018)
Xiaoning Zhang (Spring 2017-Spring 2018)
Colleen Bruckner (Spring 2017-Spring 2018)
Hallie Martens (Spring 2017-Spring 2018)
Nidhi Deepu Rajan (Spring 2017-Spring 2018; Senior Thesis)
Alexis Hosch (Fall 2016-Spring 2018)
Haley Beers (Fall 2016-Spring 2018)
Morgan Pagenkoph (Fall 2017)
Li Cai (Spring 2017-Fall 2017)
Yanchi Gu (Fall 2015-Spring 2016, Fall 2017)
Megan Schmitt (Spring 2017)
Eartha Zhang (Spring 2017)
Sydney Bibicoff (Fall 2016-Spring 2017)
Kayla Knowles (Spring 2016-Spring 2017)
Bobbi Aubrey (Fall 2016-Spring 2017)
Yang Liu (Spring 2016-Spring 2017)
David Singer (Spring 2016-Spring 2017)
Feier Yang (Spring 2016-Spring 2017)
Cher Yang (Spring 2016-Spring 2017)
Min A Kim (Spring 2016-Spring 2017)
Aleska Kresovic (Fall 2016-Spring 2017)
Mariah Ferri (Fall 2015-Spring 2017)
Victoria Jay (Fall 2014-Spring 2017; Senior Thesis)