Dana Miller-Cotto, Ph.D.
Pronunciation: DAY-nuh mil-er k-OH-t-oh
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Kent State University. I earned my Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Temple University and my Bachelors in Psychology from the City University of New York (CUNY) Lehman College. The goal of my research is to improve instruction and learning environments for children to learn and thrive, regardless of where they come from. My research and scholarly work have focused on understanding underlying cognitive processes that explain individual differences in mathematics learning. My primary line of research focuses on the role of executive functions - a set of core cognitive processes that regulate our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions - in how children learn mathematics, with the goal of using this information to design effective learning materials based on cognitive science. Within this topic, my work 1) tests prominent theories of working memory, a component of executive functions, within the context of early math learning and 2) designs learning materials that support students’ working memory skills. A significant portion of my research focuses on individual differences in math performance for minoritized students, particularly Black and Latinx students living in poverty, who generally demonstrate lower performance in mathematics in the U.S. Embedded in this work is the goal of ensuring that minoritized students' cultural values are not only valued but centered in their educational opportunities. |
More recently, I've examined the potential role of varying cultural values across groups of children, and the limitations of common executive function tasks when assessing children from minoritized communities. For example, many executive function assessments are conducted by an (unfamiliar) adult with a child, an interaction that is uncommon and unlikely in cultures where children and adults don’t interact, which may affect performance on executive function asks. This is one of several assumptions of assessment this line of research seeks to examine.
Please note: I am not accepting PhD students to work with me at Kent State University for the 2023 - 2024 application cycle. Please contact me directly at dmillerc@kent.edu if you have questions about current and ongoing projects for future (i.e., 2024 - 2025) admission cycles. Relatedly, I strongly advocate for undergraduate research experiences and welcome opportunities to work with undergraduates in my research either for credits (with options to register for 1-3 credits) or through the Office of Research and Economic Development at Kent State University. If you are an undergraduate student who hopes to gain research experiences in my lab, please send me an email indicating your interest.
"I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops".
- Stephen Jay Gould, Historian of Science
Upcoming Presentations
"Determining predictors of school readiness and academic
|
"Testing the role of executive functions in fraction magnitude comparisons"
|
"Understanding ethnic/racial differences in executive function
|