OUR TEAM

The Early Childhood STEM Lab @ ETSU
is a group of educators and researchers dedicated to improving the quality of STEM teaching for young children.

Director

Alissa A. Lange, Ph.D., is the Director of EC STEM Lab, Director of the Center of Excellence in STEM Education, and an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at East Tennessee State University. Prior to joining ETSU, Dr. Lange worked at the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University, was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in Bogotá, Colombia, and was a U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Educational Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow in early math. The 2019 book she co-authored with Kimberly Brenneman and Hagit Mano is entitled "Teaching STEM in the Preschool Classroom: Exploring Big Ideas with 3- to 5-Year-Olds" and was published by Teachers College Press.

Early/Elementary Education STEM Collaboration Team

Laura Robertson

Ryan Nivens

Jamie Price

Collaborators & Advisors: Educators, Researchers, Partners

Kathleen Molina

Narges Sareh

Liria Caesar

Carol M. Trivette

Kimberly Brenneman

Kathy Bullen

Angela Shelton

Lynn Lodien

Lori Meier

Susan Taylor St. Lawrence

Elizabeth Schock

Students/Former Students

Kehinde Helen Orimaye

Qiuju Daisy Tian

Amie Craven

SciMath-DLL Team

Irena Nayfeld

​Irena Nayfeld, PhD, contributed to the SciMath-DLL project and to EC STEM Lab. See more of her current work here: https://www.irenanayfeld.com/about

Hagit Mano

​Hagit Mano, MA., MSc., contributed to SciMath-DLL and EC STEM Lab. She is an early childhood STEM specialist with over 25 years of experience working with young children in a variety of educational settings.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge many of the wonderful folks who have contributed to our work over the years. Contributors include Rosemary Geiken, Carol Trivette, Daisy Tian, Kim Brenneman (former PI of SciMath-DLL project), Hebbah El-Moslimany, Ellen Frede, Judi Stevenson-García, Alex Figueras-Daniel, Daryl Greenfield, Margaret “Peggy” Freedson, Jennifer Jacobs, Jorie Quinn, Doug Clements, Kwanghee Jung, Jamie Price, and Judy Beavers. Educators from Passaic, Long Branch, Elizabeth, and Union City Public Schools in New Jersey participated in the program and contributed to its development.

The SciMath-DLL model began and was substantially developed at the National Institute of Early Education Research (NIEER).

Work presented here is made possible by grants from the National Science Foundation (DRL-1019576 & DRL-1417040/DRL-1726082). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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