Learning, Cognition, and Development

The specialization in Learning, Cognition, and Development prepares scholars to carry out research in a broad range of areas related to cognition, learning, and student development, as well as in the theory and practice of educational measurement, evaluation, and assessment.

Students in this specialization will take course work on or independently investigate topics such as learner motivation, individual differences in learning, childhood and adolescent development, learning in pre-school or after-school settings, cognitive processes in the learning of mathematics or science, cognition and literacy, teacher learning, and psychometrics. Students in the specialization will have the opportunity to develop expertise in a wide range of research methodologies, from analysis of large-scale data sets to random-assignment experimentation to program evaluation.

Applicants to this specialization will ordinarily have had prior course work or experience in psychology, cognitive science, educational psychology, education, statistics, or human development. We expect that graduates in this specialization will seek academic positions or research appointments in a wide range of fields and departments, such as education, educational psychology, learning sciences, educational measurement, and curriculum and instruction.

Ph.D. Faculty in Learning, Cognition, and Development

DOE Faculty

• Penelope Collins - Cognition and Learning, Linguistic Diversity, Reading, Phonological Processing, Learning Disabilities
• AnneMarie Conley - Motivation, Adolescent Development, Person-Centered Approaches to Studying Change
• Joseph Mahoney - Child/Adolescent Social Development, Out-of-school Time, Social/Educational Intervention and Policy
• Michael E. Martinez - Cognition and Learning, Intelligence
• Stephanie Reich - Socio-emotional Development, Parent-child Interactions, Peer Networks
• Lindsey Richland - Cognitive Development, Learning, Memory, and Higher-order Reasoning, Classroom Discourse, Technology in Mathematics and Science Instruction
• Judith Haymore Sandholtz - Teacher Professional Development, Teacher Education, School-University Partnerships
• Rossella Santagata - Mathematics Education, Video and Multimedia in Teacher Learning, Culture and Learning
• Tesha Sengupta-Irving - Mathematics Education, Classroom-based Reforms, Inequities in Schools and Communities, Teachers as Change Agents
• Elizabeth van Es - Teacher Cognition, Professional Development, Learning Communities
• Deborah Lowe Vandell - Developmental Processes and Educational Outcomes, Longitudinal Research Methods, Early Childhood Education, After-school Programs, Teacher-Child Relationships

Affiliated Faculty

• Thomas Carew - Cellular and Molecular Mechanisam of Memory
• Elizabeth Cauffman - Adolescent Development, Mental Health, Juvenile Justice
• Chuansheng Chen - Cross-cultural Adolescent Development, Neural Bases of Language, Mathematical Learning
• Wendy Goldberg - Family Context of Child Development, Parent School Involvement
• Brad Hughes - Science Education, Environmental Public Health, Coastal Ecology, Ecotourism, Teacher Training
• Virginia Mann - Phonological Awareness, Reading, Reading Readiness Intervention
• Candace Ogders - Developmental Psychopathology, Longitudinal Analysis of Growth & Change, Effects of Externalizing Disorders on Health