Rachel E. Wing, M.S.

Department of Psychology
Tobin Hall, Box 37710
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Amherst, MA 01003-7710
Office (413) 545-0693
rewing@psych.umass.edu

Education

• B.A. Psychology and Mathematics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 1997
• M.S. Psychology, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 2000
• Ph.D. (anticipated) Psychology, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 2003

Professional Societies

• American Educational Research Association
• Society for Research in Child Development
• Psi Chi, National Honor Society in Psychology
• Golden Key National Honor Society

Research Interests

• Educational and developmental psychology
• Development of mathematical knowledge
• Mathematics instruction
• Gender differences in mathematics
• Early literacy skills
• Math and reading disabilities

Research Projects

• University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 2002 - present

• Research in developing countries
• Supervisor: James M. Royer
• Construct reading and math assessments based on material drawn directly from local curricula in both Nigeria and Haiti. Enter and analyze data from assessments.

• University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 2001 - present

• Laboratory for Assessment & Training of Academic Skills
• Supervisor: James M. Royer
• Assess children's math and reading abilities using a sentence verification technique and the Computer-based Academic Assessment System (CAAS). Assist in planning interventions that target problem areas.

• Nickelodeon, June 2001 - August 2001

• Internship on Dora the Explorer, an educational television show for preschoolers
• Supervisor: Christine Ricci
• As member of research team, conducted weekly studies to assess attention while viewing, likability, and level of comprehension for each episode. Participated in development of show's math and kinesthetics curricula for following season. Independently carried out study that compared preschoolers' perception of Dora to other television characters geared at same audience. Designed testing materials. Scored and analyzed data.

• University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 1998 - 2001

• "AnimalWatch": An intelligent computer-based mathematics tutor for elementary school students (NSF Gender Equity Program)
• Supervisor: Carole R. Beal
• Developed mathematical instruction software focusing on fraction concepts. Built a database of whole number and fraction word problems for the 5th - 6th grade levels. Helped design hints in the tutorial tailored to girls' instructional needs. Conducted evaluations of software in classroom settings. Collaborated with both schoolteachers and computer scientists during software development.

• University of Massachusetts, 1999 - 2000

• Masters Thesis (NSF Gender Equity Program)
• Supervisor: Carole R. Beal
• Designed and built testing materials. Assessed kindergartners' and first graders' knowledge of a basic fraction concept. Wrote materials for presentation and publication.

• Scientific Research Reasoning Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 1999 - 2000

• Tinkerplots: tools and curricula for enhancing data analysis in the middle school
• Supervisor: Clifford Konold
• Developed data-analysis software for 5th - 8th graders. Assisted in the selection of elementary operators that would allow students to build their own data representations "from the ground up". Prepared and ran after-school workshops at which program prototypes were tested.

• Scientific Research Reasoning Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 1999 - 2000

• A study of student investigations in data-sharing projects
• Supervisor: Clifford Konold
• Transcribed video taped interviews. Evaluated children's understanding of central tendency and spread of data.

• Washington University, St. Louis, MO, May 1996 - August 1996

• Supervisor: Desiree White
• Measured memory spans of patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's.

• Washington University, St. Louis, MO, August 1996 - May 1997

• Supervisor: Desiree White
• Administered the Woodcock Johnson and Peabody Picture Vocabulary tests to cerebral palsy children before and after spinal surgery.

Publications & Presentations

• Wing, R. E., & Beal, C. R. (Manuscript in preparation). Young children's understanding of fractional parts and the role of to-be-divided materials. Mathematical Thinking and Learning.
• Wing, R. E., & Royer, J. M. (2003). Gender Differences on SAT math items: A Different Approach to Problems. (Poster in preparation). Society for Research in Child Development, Tampa, FL.
• Royer, J. M., & Wing, R. E. (2002). Making sense of sex differences in reading and math assessment: the practice and engagement hypothesis. Issues in Education, 8, 77-85.
• Konold, C., Robinson, A., Khalil, K., Pollatsek, A., Well, A., Wing, R., & Mayr, S. (2002). Students' use of modal clumps. Presentation at the American Educational Research Association Annual Convention. New Orleans, LA.
• Konold, C., Robinson, A., Khalil, K., Pollatsek, A., Well, A., Wing, R., & Mayr, S. (2002). Students' use of modal clumps to summarize data. In Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Teaching Statistics. Cape Town, South Africa.
• Arroyo, I., Beck, J., Beal, C. R., Woolf, B. P., & Wing, R. E. (2001, May). Analyzing students' response to help provision. Paper presented at the 10th International Conference on AI and Education, San Antonio, TX.
• Wing, R. E. & Konold, C. (2001, April) A data-analysis construction set for the middle grades. (Seminar presentation) Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN.
• Wing, R. E., & Beal, C. R. (2001, April). Knowledge about fractional parts and sizes and the significance of the to-be-divided material: Blended materials enhance reasoning. (Poster presentation) Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN.
• Wing, R. E., & Beal, C. R. (2000, June). Blended materials enhance very young children's reasoning about fractional parts and sizes. (Poster presentation) American Psychological Society, Miami Beach, FL.
• Berry, J., Wing, R. E., Crawley, A., & Beal, C. R. (2000, April). Collaborative learning with AnimalWatch: The impact of partner gender on girls' math achievement and attitudes. (Roundtable presentation) American Educational Research Association, New Orleans LA.

Teaching Assistantships

• Technology and Education Instructor: Carole Beal Fall 2000
• Educational Psychology Instructor: James M. Royer Fall 2002

Related Service

• First grade instructor for religious education. 2001 - present

We would like to introduce you to the rest of the LATAS Staff at UMass and James M. Royer, Ph.D.

Our research is directed towards the creation of a theoretical understanding of the nature of learning disabilities.

If you are a parent or an educator who is interested in further information about The Cognitive Aptitude Assessment Software (CAAS) is software, download a trial version of the Researchers Cognitive Aptitude Assessment Software

Parents, are you concerned about learning disabilities?

 

 

Goals | Approach | Diagnostic Assessment
Educational Interventions | Theory Development
Do Our Efforts Work? | Costs
Data We Collect | Confidentiality of Data