The professor of psychology collaborated with Cara McClain ’14, Katelyn Massey ’14 and Alyssa Kendall ’14 on separate projects that culminated in publication.
Professor of Psychology Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler has published two articles over the summer in conjunction with alumni.
Vandermaas-Peeler and Honors Fellow Cara McClain ’14 published “Social contexts of development in natural outdoor environments: children’s motor activities, personal challenges and peer interactions at the river and the creek” in the Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning. The paper, which is based on McCain’s honor thesis, followed 11 preschoolers for several days at a river or creek and followed up with three of the students over the course of a year. Their research supported existing literature about the importance of environment and behavior on the growth of preschool students. A second paper is in press at the International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education.
Vandermaas-Peeler also collaborated with Elon College Fellows Katelyn Massey ’14 and Alyssa Kendall ’14. Their article, which was published in the Early Childhood Education Journal, examined the ways in which parent guidance in a science museum helped young children’s scientific and mathematic reasoning. Massey and Kendall noted that when the parents were given guidance on helping their child with the museum exhibit, the child more frequently gave correct answers. These findings were in line with previous literature examining how parental guidance impacts children’s understanding of various concepts, and opened avenues for research into the long-term impacts of parental guidance on children’s thinking and reasoning.
By Sarah Mulnick ’17