What We Do

playLabNYU is designed to engage in the rigorous and socially responsible scientific examination of play in young children’s lives. We utilize randomized control designs, multilevel modeling, interviews and ethnographic methods to explore the unique context of play in promoting school readiness, learning and civic engagement for children who are growing up in poverty and/or are from immigrant families. By cultivating strong partnerships with the communities we work in, we generate empirically-driven knowledge that is culturally relevant and socially just.  The playLab strives to produce actionable research and develop collaborations which are used to empower and strengthen the lives of young children through education and policy.

Who We Are

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Jennifer Astuto, Ph.D.

As director of the playLab, Professor Astuto creates “spaces of reflection” for team members to explore their role as a community-based researcher. The core pillars of her mentoring approach involves addressing issues of social justice, power and privilege which emerge through scientific inquiry, as well as focusing on strong work ethics and productivity. With Professor Astuto’s support, the team works passionately and collectively towards the goals of the playLab while having fun along the way.

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Cristina Medellin-Paz, Ph.D.

As a Play Scholar, Cristina coordinates and collaborates on multiple early childhood research projects and professional development trainings. She has a specific interest in examining the role of play for Latino children.

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Kalina Gijcali

Kalina takes a constructivist perspective to addressing educational issues in early childhood. More specifically, as a doctoral student she is interested in learning trajectories and academic achievement in mathematics.

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Olivia Peterkin

Olivia is graduating in May 2018 with a B.S. in Biology Education. She is interested in research at the intersection of educational psychology and teacher practices in the science classroom. On the team, she conducts literature reviews on child social justice in classroom settings, does qualitative analysis for teacher interviews around civic engagement, uses SPSS for data entry and quantitative analysis for reports, and facilitates professional development trainings for teachers and parents. Olivia will pursue a Masters in Supervision of Science Education when she graduates.

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James Caceres

James holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy from Queens College, City University of New York. Part of playLab since the fall of 2017, he collaborates with researchers as part of the ongoing early intervention study, as well as assisting with literature reviews and professional development data compilation. He intends to continue his education outside of playLab through graduate school with the ultimate goal being to receive a degree in Clinical Psychology.

Paige Trzupek

Paige studies Applied Psychology and Economics at NYU, and will graduate in May 2019. Passionate about education and social policy, she plans on going to law school in the future. On the playLab team, she analyzes qualitative data, edits manuscripts for publication, explores policy, manages our social media presence, and helps update this website!

 

Anthony Wu

Anthony graduated from Hunter College with a BA in Psychology. He is interested in research on identity development in children and adolescents, and plans on attending graduate school to pursue a Master’s and a PhD in clinical psychology.

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