Seminer-Dr. Burcu Ünlütabak

Dr. Burcu Ünlütabak tarafından "Is the Curious Child Universal? Questions Asked by Turkish Preschoolers from Middle-SES and Low-SES Families." başlıklı seminer gerçekleştirildi.

İngilizce Özeti:

Research with preschoolers growing up in Western cultures highlights the importance of children’s questions as a tool for learning from others; but research in different sociocultural contexts is needed to examine universal and different aspects of this  phenomenon. There are good reasons to expect that the way children show their curiosity and ask questions differ across cultures and socioeconomic status (SES) groups. These differences may arise from cultural values, family expectations; but one key factor is maternal education, which has been shown to affect mother-child interactions—and, possibly, children’s question-asking behavior (e.g., Tizard & Hughes, 1984; Hart & Risley, 1995). In my talk, I will present findings from my research examining questionasking behaviors of preschoolers in Turkey, comparing those from middle-SES and lowSES groups. I will also discuss the implications of my work for promoting children’s learning and conceptual development. 

Dr. Burcu Ünlütabak is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at The Science of Learning Institute at Johns Hopkins University. She works with an interdisciplinary research team to develop and evaluate a novel spatially-enhanced 3rd grade science curriculum and teacher supports. This project aims to advance evidence-based STEM educational student and teacher practices through a new curriculum and professional development.  Dr. Ünlütabak received her masters in Developmental Psychology from Boğaziçi University and Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Lehigh University. Her research focuses on the language and communicative development of young children in relation to their social and cognitive abilities. She is very much interested in how children learn from more knowledgeable others around them (i.e., parents, teachers) and the role of family and cultural factors in children’s social and cognitive development. She deeply cares about identifying ways that parents and educators can support children’s learning and development during preschool years and beyond.