Past Lab Members

Past Graduate Students

Dr. Connie Barroso

Dr. Barroso graduated in 2020 and is now an ACES Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University!

Connie's research interests include studying students’ math- and science-related interest and achievement from elementary school to college. She is interested in investigating the roles that different cognitive and socio-cognitive, and affective factors play in student achievement and interest in math and science. She explores how these mechanisms relate to student participation and career interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, along with looking to see if there are different effects or interactions of these factors for less-represented groups in STEM fields.

Dr. Elyssa Geer

Dr. Geer graduated in 2021 and is now a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University!

Elyssa's research interests include studying children's spatial reasoning skills in relation to their math- and science-performance and achievement. She is interested in looking at the way in which different external factors (such as gender, socio-economic status, etc.) impact this relationship. She aims to further knowledge in this area in the hopes of discerning new interventions that may be applicable in an educational setting.

Dr. Amanda McGraw

Dr. McGraw graduated in 2019 and is now Assistant Professor of Psychology at Jacksonville University!

The goal of her research is to better understand malleable factors related to mathematical learning in children and adults. To date, her research has examined both cognitive and affective variables that may relate to mathematics performance that can also be potential targets for intervention. This includes typically studied affective and cognitive factors identified as sources of variability in math performance (e.g. math anxiety, working memory), as well as embodied aspects (e.g. finger counting, gesture) of mathematical performance.