LEAP Lab: Learning, Education, and Play

Aloha, and Happy New Year from the LEAP Lab Team! We hope that everyone had a joyful and safe holiday season.

As we ring in 2021, the LEAP Lab would like to congratulate three of our lab members, Zack, Renee, and Erica - for graduating in December! We are so proud of their hard work and dedication! Thank you for your wonderful contribution to our lab, we are all very excited for the three of you as you begin such an exciting journey!

Mahalo and Happy New Year!

Aloha, and welcome to the Learning, Education, and Play (LEAP) Lab’s official page! The LEAP Lab, directed by Dr. Emily Daubet, is part of the Psychology Department at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Affiliated with the Community, Cultural, and Developmental program area, the LEAP Lab investigates how young children learn through play, early STEM development, and equity in education. Join us on this page for updates on current research, fun information about the lab and our members, and opportunities to participate in research. You can also visit our website (uhleaplab.weebly.com) for more information.

Mahalo, for your interest in our research!

The LEAP Lab would like to give a big congratulations to three of our own members, Kelly Leung, Manu Moreira, and Bailey Wanner, for being accepted into the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)! We are beyond excited for you during this new experience and can't wait to see where this opportunity leads you and your research!

Aloha, and thanks for joining the LEAP Lab page for another week of meeting our incredible team members!

This week we are introducing Manu!

Brief introduction:

"Aloha, My name is Manu and I am currently a Junior at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. I am a BA in psychology and I came to join the LEAP Lab through taking Dr. Daubert's statistics class my Sophomore year. My main hobby of interest as of recently has been playing video games and doing a lot of YOGA to destress from school."

What project(s) are you currently working on for the LEAP Lab or on your own?

"Currently I am working on my UROP proposal for observing group differences in college experience between different demographic groups such as rural, urban, and suburban."

What are your research interests?

"My current research interest is looking into the differences in development between people who come from different demographic backgrounds"

What do you enjoy most about LEAP Lab?

"The atmosphere between all our members"

Fun Fact: What is your favorite activity to do outdoors?

"I love to surf."

Thanks for meeting our members! Return back to our page to keep up-to-date with our members and research!

Aloha! Welcome back to another week of reading all about our team members!

For this week's Team Member Tuesday, we are introducing Erica!

Brief introduction:

"Hello! My name is Erica (she/her), and I am a Psychology and Political Science double major at the University of Hawaiʻi. I’m originally from southern California and love hanging out at the beach with friends and eating good food. I joined LEAP Lab after I met Dr. Daubert in her statistics course, and I couldn’t be more grateful. The lab has helped me focus on what I am passionate about in Psychology and provided me with greater experience."

What project(s) are you currently working on for the LEAP Lab or on your own?

"I am currently working on an independent research project to find the difference in social development between only children and children with siblings during the coronavirus pandemic."

What are your research interests?

"My research interests include distinguishing social and cognitive development within the quality of education for ethnic minority children in lower socioeconomic areas."

What do you enjoy most about LEAP Lab?

"I enjoy working with everyone and sharing all of our interests, projects, and ideas with the lab and about psychology. Everyone in the lab is so intelligent, and it has been great to work with everyone!"

Fun Fact: What is your favorite activity to do outdoors?

"I love to be at the beach and swim in the ocean with my friends!"

Mahalo again for joining in on our Team Member Tuesday's! See you again next week!

Aloha to another week of meeting our wonderful team members! For this week's Team Member Tuesday, we are introducing Bailey!

Brief Introduction:

"Hi! My name is Bailey, and I’m one of the undergraduate students working in the LEAP Lab. My major is Psychology with minors in Education and German. Although I was initially intimidated by research, being part of the LEAP Lab has given me a greater passion for it and enabled me to engage in some of my own research interests."

What project(s) are you currently working on for the LEAP Lab or on your own?

"Currently, I’m working on a project that examines ethnic identity and sense of belonging in Hawaii, as well as working with our group project in understanding the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on children and parents."

What are your research interests?

"My current interests center on the impact of parent child relationships and it’s impact on motivation, self-esteem, anxiety and attachment style."

What do you enjoy most about LEAP Lab?

"My favorite thing about being apart of the LEAP Lab is getting to work with my fellow research assistants. Also, I’ve enjoyed learning more about research as I prepare for grad school."

Fun Fact: What is your favorite activity to do outdoors?

"I enjoy good conversations with friends over a nice iced chai; or laying on the beach with an interesting novel."

Linked-In profile link:
http://linkedin.com/in/bailey-wanner-8b5738174

Thank you, Bailey, and all of our wonderful team members! Please join us again here on our lab's Facebook to meet more of our amazing team!

Bailey Wanner - Research Assistant - University of Hawaii at Manoa | LinkedIn View Bailey Wanner’s profile on LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional community. Bailey has 7 jobs listed on their profile. See the complete profile on LinkedIn and discover Bailey’s connections and jobs at similar companies.

Aloha, everyone! We hope you are having a wonderful start to a new week!

For this week's Team Member Tuesday, we are introducing our graduate student, Vera!

Brief Introduction:

"Vera Umansky, she/they pronouns, interested in developmental psychology and art (specifically ceramics, painting, and metal work). I am a PhD student in the LEAP lab, and decided to come to UH Manoa to do in PhD because I really admire the work that Professor Daubert does and really wanted the opportunity to come work with her!"

What project(s) are you currently working on for the LEAP Lab or on your own?

"I am currently working on my application for the NSF grant for a project that aims to discover the best online pedagogical approaches for kindergarteners learning mathematics. I am also working to support several of the undergraduate RAs with their projects!"

What are your research interests?

"Math learning, bilingual children, bilingual education, and learning through art and play"

What do you enjoy most about LEAP Lab?

"I am new to the lab as of the 2020-2021 school year, but I really love the closeness of the research assistants and the supportive environment that they create"

Fun Fact: What is your favorite activity to do outdoors?

"I love to swim in the ocean! I try to swim every day. "

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vera-umansky-045b16152/

A warm mahalo to Vera and all of our wonderful LEAP lab team members! Come back next week to meet another amazing lab member!

Aloha, and happy Tuesday!
Welcome back to another week of meeting our wonderful LEAP Lab team members!

This week, we are introducing Robert!

Brief introduction:
"Hello! My name is Robert. My preferred pronouns are he/him. I am a psychology and human development and family studies double major. I occasionally do a little photography and video making when my friends and I go on road trips or travel. I initially got into the LEAP Lab when I attended Professor Daubert's statistics course when the lab just started. She was seeking potential undergrad research assistants and I luckily was able to join the lab. I am glad I applied for a position because I was unsure of what I wanted to do as a psychology major but after being here for a few semesters, the experience has really helped guide me toward a foreseeable career in the field."

What project(s) are you currently working on for the LEAP Lab or on your own?
"I am currently on a project but in the research phase. I am currently trying to aim for a research topic centered on certain factors related to social withdrawal that may play a role in internalizing behaviors within children. I am planning this project for the upcoming spring 2021 session of UROP."

What are your research interests?
"My research interests focus on social withdrawal and attachment types and their influences on internalizing behaviors within children."

What do you enjoy most about LEAP Lab?
"What I really enjoy most about LEAP Lab is the fact that as a lab, we are really supportive of each other in each of our projects or our goals in psychology."

Fun Fact: What is your favorite activity to do outdoors?
"My favorite activity outdoors would probably be hiking. I especially love hiking mountains."

Thanks for joining us and thank you to our amazing Lab members!

Thank you for joining us again for another week of Team Member Tuesday Posts!

This week, we are introducing Renee!

Brief introduction:

Hi, my name is Renee and I am a senior majoring in Psychology. This is my second semester in the LEAP Lab, and I initially joined the lab because I was interested in how children learn through play. Outside of the lab, I enjoy cooking/baking and taking my dog to the beach.

What project(s) are you currently working on for the LEAP Lab or on your own?

I am currently working on organizing data from our study about how COVID-19 has affected Hawai'i's families and analyzing the data to see how parents are supporting their children's academic learning during this time.

What are your research interests?

My research interests center on the benefits of informal and outdoor learning in early childhood education.

What do you enjoy most about LEAP Lab?

I enjoy our lab meetings and being able to hear about what everyone has been working on.

Fun Fact: What is your favorite activity to do outdoors?

Stand-up paddleboarding

Join us again next Tuesday to meet another wonderful LEAP Lab member!

Welcome back to another week of meeting our awesome lab members!

This Tuesday, we are introducing Kelly!

Brief Introduction:
Hi! My name is Ka Lam (Kelly) Leung, and I'm currently a psychology and political science double major at the University of Hawaii at Manoa working as a research assistant in the LEAP Lab. In my free time, I like to paint and learn about historical fashions.

What project(s) are you currently working on for the LEAP Lab or on your own?
Currently, I am developing a study on how the economic effects of COVID-19 have affected the decisions of students pursuing higher education.

What are your research interests?
My research interests primarily focus on the development of multilingualism in children, as well as how certain legislation and educational initiatives affect students of lower socioeconomic status.

What do you enjoy most about LEAP Lab?
I most enjoy the collaboration of the LEAP Lab, because there is such a diverse range of perspectives, which really inspires creative studies.

Fun Fact: What is your favorite activity to do outdoors?
I love having picnics at the beach with my family.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

This week for our Team Member Tuesday shout-out, we are introducing Zach!

Brief introduction:

"My name is Zachary Belmonte, he/him, interested and interested in developmental and clinical psychology. My hobbies are exploring new restaurants and watching movies. I major in psychology (BS) and I got into LEAP Lab during the last spring semester".

What project(s) are you currently working on for the LEAP Lab or on your own?

"I am currently working on revising our lab's COVID-19 survey paper and assisting our others to recode our survey data."

What are your research interests?

"My research interests are primarily toward developmental psychology."

What do you enjoy most about LEAP Lab?

"I enjoy how close we are as a lab and how we participate in research that pertains to our research interests."

Fun Fact: What is your favorite activity to do outdoors?

"My favorite activity is taking long endurance runs."

Join us again next Tuesday to meet another one of our amazing LEAP Lab members!