Research and Publications


Research

An important part of our mission at ECDC is to facilitate and generate research that contributes to the knowledge base about how children learn and grow. Below is a list of studies, projects, or grants conducted at ECDC since Fall 2005. Where possible, a link has been provided to subsequent presentations or publications.

College of Charleston Faculty Projects

      Houser, K. & Swart, K. (2019). Early childhood play and academics: what are parents' perceptions?

White, K. (2016). Who counts as a writer: Investigating perceptions of what it means to be a writer in preschool.

Wright, J. (Fall 2012 & Spring 2013). Moral Humility among young children (Psychology Department).

Kolak, A. (Fall & Spring, 2014-2015). [Tracking development of self-regulation in preschoolers]

Smail, K., Kolak, A. & Suarez, T. (Fall 2013). Promoting motor skill development with planned activities.

Flynn, S. & Vitalone, N. (2013). Rejuvenating Teaching Strategies Using Movement Activities to Target Content Standards

White, K. (Spring 2011). Understanding teacher/child relationships in early childhood classrooms.

Wright, J. (Spring 2011). How young children think about social interaction (Psychology Dept)

Wright, J. (Spring & Fall, 2010) Preschoolers' interpretation of social interaction involving different social status cues (Psychology Department)

Hutchinson, T. (Spring, 2008). Evaluation of eye movement as a method of showing autistic tendencies in 3 month-3 year old children (School of Sci & Math)

Ross, T. (Spring, 2007). Bicycle helmet use among parents and their children. (Psychology Department)

Wolfe, C. (Spring 2006). Relationships between memory and temperament in young children. (Psychology Department)

May, C. (Fall, 2005). Circadian rhythms in young children. (Psychology Department)

Joint research with College of Charleston Faculty & Students

Folds-Bennett, P. & Dugan, J. (2012). How young children understand reality.

Dr. Lisa Thompson-Ross and Honors Psychology Students (Spring, 2010): Young Children's Clothing, Color, Activity, and Toy Preferences

Brock, M., Frohlich, S., & Jelsone, L. (Spring, 2009).  Temporal Processing in Young Children: A Pilot Study (pdf)

Brinson, M., Scheldt, E., Thompson-Ross, L., & Ross, T. (Fall, 2008).  "Safety Requires Diligence: Parents, Bicycle Helmets, and Role Modeling"(pdf)

Scheldt, E., Brinson, M., Thompson-Ross, L., & Ross, T. (Fall, 2008).  "Parental Monitoring, Parental Attitudes, and Children's Helmet Use"(pdf)

Thompson-Ross, L. (Spring 2007). Pre-school play behavior: solitary, parallel, or group play?

College of Charleston Student Research

Kaufman, K. (December, 2015). Creating lesson plans using evidence-based practices in early childhood education. (Honors Program Senior Thesis)

Mappus, B. (Fall 2013) How do teachers address separation anxiety in the child care setting? (Academic Magnet High School Senior Thesis)

Smith, M. (Spring 2013). Parental involvement in home literacy activities with young children (MTLA Capstone)

Geathers, L. (Fall, 2013)

VandeStouwe, E. (Fall, 2013) Can children under the age of seven understand conservation with any of the conservation models? (EDFS 303 Human Growth & Development)

McLaren, L. (Fall, 2013) Study of free writing (for EDFS 303 Human Growth & Dev.)Socci Sports, LLC. (Spring 2009 - ongoing). Development of fitness curriculum activities for preschoolers.

Ciany, L. (Summer 2009) "The Relationship between Exercise and Learning" (Master's capstone project)

Blake-Jones, M. & White, M.J. (Academic year 2007-2008). Evaluating the impact of personal storytelling on the writing development of kindergarten children.

Wallace, A., White, M., & Stone, R. (Spring 2006). Using the sand and water table to promote children's mathematical thinking.

Wallace, A. & Ansley, K. (Spring 2005). Mathematical problem-solving in four-year olds.

Other Research and Collaborative Projects

Merrow, C. (2016). Social Media, Technology, and Preschool Programs: Evaluating the Changing Landscape of Parent and Program Communication. (MPA Program Capstone project).

White, M. & Ramey, D. (April 24, 2009). "Japan Celebration" Led planning teach for collaborative event with teachers and students from Memminger Elementary School supported by $5000 grant.

Plante, R. (Spring, 2007). Literature preferences of kindergarten girls. (Academic Magnet High School Senior Thesis).

Publications

Below is a list of publications authored or co-authored by the ECDC director and/or teachers that are relevant to the mission of our program or that feature elements of our program. Note: embedded links comply with copyright guidelines (a) documents available full text online, (b) author draft copies of manuscripts when copyright protected by subscriber-only access, or (c) access information only.

Swart, K., White, K., Houser, K. & Dudkiewicz, C. (accepted with revisions). Exiting the playroom: Strengths, struggles and supports in the transition to formal schooling.  Submitted to International Association of Laboratory Schools.

 Swart, K. & Houser, K. (accepted). Early childhood play and academics: What are parents’ perceptions? Submitted to Dimensions of Early Childhood. (Coming out summer 2023)

O’Byrne, W.I., Houser, K., Stone, R., & White, M. (2018). Digital storytelling in early childhood: student illustrations shaping social interactions. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01800

Jaruszewicz, C. (2016). Learning Materials. In Donna Couchenour and Kent Crisman, Eds., The SAGE Encyclopedia of Contemporary Early Childhood Education, pp. 1399-1402.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483340333.n423

Jaruszewicz, C. (2016). Typical Development. In Donna Couchenour and Kent Crisman, Eds., The SAGE Encyclopedia of Contemporary Early Childhood Education, pp. 811-812. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483340333.n233

Jaruszewicz, C. (2013). Curriculum and methods for early childhood educators. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education.

Jaruszewicz, C. and White, M. (2009). The teachergarten: creating an environment conducive to meaningful professional growth. Early Childhood Education Journal (37) 171-174.

Wallace, A. & White, M. (March, 2010). Sand and water table play. Teaching Children Mathematics, 394-398.

Berson, I., Wang, X., Jaruszewicz, C., Hartle, L. & Rosen, D., (2010). Young Children's Technology Experiences in Multiple Contexts: Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory Reconsidered. In Ilene R. Berson and Michael J. Berson (eds.) High tech tots: Childhood in a digital world.

Rosen, D. & Jaruszewicz, C. Developmentally appropriate technology use and early childhood teacher education. (2009) Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 30 (2) 162-171.

Hartle, L. & Jaruszewicz, C. (2008). Rewiring and networking language, literacy, and learning through the Arts: Developing fluencies with technology. In M. Narey (ed.) Making meaning: Constructing multimodal perspectives of language,literacy, and learning through Arts-based early childhood education, a volume in the Springer series, Educating the young Child: Advances in theory and research, implications for practice.Pp. 187-206.

Wang, X., Jaruszewicz, C., Rosen, D., Berson, I., Bailey, M., Hartle, L., Griebling, S., Buckleitner, W., Blagojevic, B., Robinson, L., (September, 2008). Meaningful technology integration in early learning environmentsYoung Children, 63 (5), 48-50. 

Jaruszewicz, C. (2006). Opening windows on teaching and learning: transformative and emancipatory learning precipitated by experimenting with visual documentation of student learningEducational Action Research, 14(3), 357-375.

Jaruszewicz, C. (2005). Responsible eclecticism: using a structured analysis process to facilitate curriculum discourse with graduate preservice early childhood education studentsJournal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 26(4), 361-375.

Jaruszewicz, C. (1994). Reggio Emilia: an in-depth view. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 376936.

Conference Presentations

Posted here are a selected sampling of conference or workshop presentations on topics relevant to or consistent with our program mission and philosophy.

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