Elena M. Silla
I am a first year graduate student studying Learning Sciences at the University of Delaware. I study math learning and cognition in elementary-aged children. I aim to do research that promotes effective and equitable learning in the math classroom. I am especially interested in creating and strengthening research-practice partnerships, and working with teachers to do research that has an impact in the classroom.
Current Research Questions
- How does students’ ability to think flexibly when solving problems promote their conceptual understanding, and how might different problem formats affect students’ flexibility?
- How aligned are teachers’ instructional techniques with cognitive research when teaching arithmetic, specifically in regards to math equivalence?
- Do visual representations and/or warm-up activities help middle-school students learn underlying concepts in algebra, specifically when used with self-explanations and worked examples?
Previous Experience
My interest in studying applied mathematical cognition began while studying Psychology and Education, Schooling, & Society at the University of Notre Dame. I was an undergraduate researcher in the Cognition, Learning, and Development (CLAD) Lab.
After graduation, I taught 4th grade for two years in Richmond, CA through Notre Dame’s ACE program, with an emphasis on using research-based principles while instructing.
Prior to starting at UD, I also worked as a researcher and lab manager at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. There, I studied conceptual knowledge of algebra and how to emphasize the learning of conceptual principles through an intelligent tutoring system.
