Caroline Hornburg, PhD
In my work as the Director of the Learning and Development Lab at Virginia Tech, I focus on children's understanding of core mathematical skills within early childhood and middle childhood that provide the foundation for later learning. Specifically, my main lines of research are (1) What is the impact of prior knowledge on later learning? and (2) How can we optimize the learning environment to improve children's understanding of key concepts? These research strands are interrelated, as optimal instructional design builds from children's prior knowledge.