Examining the role of strategy use in children's problem solving skills.
Dana Miller-Cotto, Professor
Education
Open. Apprentices needed for the fall semester. Enter your application online beginning August 21st. The deadline to apply is Monday, August 31st, 4pm.
This online study examines how children ages 8–10 use external supports to manage the demands of learning and problem solving. “Cognitive offloading” occurs when people reduce demands on memory or attention by using tools or actions outside the mind—for example, writing information down, drawing a representation, using fingers, or referring to information displayed on a screen. The study investigates when children choose to use these supports, whether the supports improve their performance, and whether their benefits vary depending on children’s working-memory skills. The broader goal is to understand how learning environments can provide children with effective supports while also promoting independent thinking and problem solving.
Role: The undergraduate apprentice will support the implementation of this fully online developmental study. Responsibilities may include:
- Communicating with families and scheduling virtual research sessions
- Preparing digital study materials and confirming that families have the necessary session information
- Assisting with or independently administering standardized online tasks to children after completing training
- Helping children and caregivers navigate the virtual research platform and resolve basic technical difficulties
- Following standardized scripts and procedures to ensure consistency across sessions
- Recording behavioral observations and maintaining accurate session records
- Scoring, entering, organizing, and checking study data
- Reviewing session recordings or response data, when permitted, for coding and data-quality purposes
- Participating in research-team meetings and reliability training
- Assisting with literature reviews related to working memory, cognitive offloading, and children’s learning
Through this role, the student will gain experience conducting online research with children, administering standardized cognitive tasks, communicating with families, managing research data, and maintaining fidelity to an experimental protocol. The student will also learn about working memory, cognitive development, research ethics, and the role of external tools in children’s learning.
Qualifications: The ideal student will:
- Be interested in child development, cognitive psychology, education, learning, or research methods
- Enjoy interacting with children ages 8–10 and their caregivers
- Have strong verbal communication skills and a warm, patient manner
- Be dependable, organized, and attentive to detail
- Be comfortable using Zoom or similar virtual platforms and learning new research software
- Have access to a reliable computer, internet connection, and quiet location for conducting online sessions
- Be able to follow standardized procedures while responding calmly to minor technical or behavioral challenges
- Be available for some sessions after school, during evenings, or on weekends, when families are most likely to participate
- Be willing to complete required research-ethics and study-procedure training
- Handle participant information responsibly and maintain confidentiality
Previous experience working with elementary-school-aged children is preferred but not required. Because the study is conducted entirely online, consistent availability and reliable communication are especially important.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Dana Miller-Cotto, Staff Researcher
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Off-Campus Research Site: Remote or hybrid.
Education, Cognition & Psychology