One of the most important benefits of read alouds in the early years is the exposure children gain to new words. Although many early skills support later reading success, early vocabulary knowledge improves reading in several ways, including supporting comprehension of words that children decode; helping children recognize words more quickly;…

The purpose of this study was to examine the most popular educational preschool apps available to consumers to establish their alignment with early literacy learning outcomes and learning science principles. More specifically, this study examined (a) the descriptive characteristics of popular educational apps detailed in the Apple App Store, (b)…

Children's exposure to technology primarily depends on parental decisions concerning when and how to introduce them to technology and some parents are not aware of the dangers on cognitive and social growth. However, there are significant research gaps on the factors that influence parental decisions on introducing preschool-aged children to…

Interpersonal connectedness (IC) is an essential social function across life but is critical for young children. IC begins at birth and is vital to emerging physiological and affect regulation, attachment, communication, and cognition. IC occurs through dynamic interactive behavioral coordination, resulting in an embodied dyadic state of shared…

Exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has critical health implications for developing fetuses and subsequently for infants and young children. Research has suggested that this ambient air pollutant can be found indoors in quantities that may be hazardous to human health. In low-income neighborhoods in New York City such as northern…

To date, applying what is known about child development to educational app design has been minimally studied and rarely tested. Using developmental and learning sciences research (e.g., Hirsh-Pasek et al., 2015), this dissertation identifies whether evidence-based teaching strategies are used in the design of existing educational apps and…