As an undergraduate psychology student, I have struggled to find ways to get involved and build my resume without being a grad student. An amazing way to gain fun experience is to join a psychology lab! I found out that you could join one as an undergrad at a Psi Chi undergrad/grad student mixer. I was absolutely stunned by this, since no one had told me, and I thought I was too young and inexperienced. However, I made a meeting with Dr. Brenna Hassinger-Das, the leader of the Science of Development (SCIDEV) lab at Pace, and the rest was history! This lab has been the most fun and enriching experience I could’ve been a part of at Pace, and has provided me with amazing research experience for my resume. In this interview with Dr. Brenna Hassinger-Das, you can learn about the psychology labs/projects that have gone on at Pace, and how you can be a part of them!
Q: What is your educational background?
A: I have a BA in Anthropology from Penn State University, an MSEd in Counseling and Psychological Services from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in Education (with a specialization in Learning Sciences) from the University of Delaware.
Q: What area of psychology are you most passionate about and what spurred your passion for this?
A: I am most passionate about developmental psychology. I did a postdoctoral fellowship for four years in a developmental psychology lab at Temple University. It aligns well with my PhD training in the Learning Sciences, since I was interested in how children learn and develop.
Q: What is your role at pace?
A: I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department (NYC), but I did just receive tenure and promotion, so I will be an Associate Professor starting in September.
Q: What are some of the courses you teach?
A: At the undergraduate level, I teach PSY 375 (Lifespan Developmental Psychology) every semester. I also teach Mentored Lab (PSY 327 and 328).
Q: What are some of your most notable projects that you have taken part of (both at Pace and not at Pace).
A: Probably my most notable projects are those that are a part of the Playful Learning Landscapes initiative. I am also a Science Advisor with the Playful Learning Landscapes Action Network (https://playfullearninglandscapes.com/), where we seek to work alongside communities to transform everyday spaces into places for playful learning between caregivers and children.
Q: Tell me more about the psych lab that you lead at Pace.
A: I run the Science of Development Lab, where we focus on research examining caregiver-child interaction in the contexts of playful learning and digital media use.
Q: What correlations are you hoping to make with these studies?
A: I investigate how caregiver-child interactions (and child learning) are affected by different contexts, primarily playful learning and digital media use. I want to learn more about how to support high quality caregiver-child interactions and language use.
Q: What is your favorite part about leading this lab?
A: I love working with students at all levels, from undergraduates to master’s to doctoral students!
Q: What do you hope to study in the future with this lab?
A: I hope to continue my current line of research at least for the foreseeable future.
Q: Who can join the psychology labs at Pace?
A: Anyone! You can be a psychology major or not! All you need is an interest in and commitment to doing research.
Q: How should students go about joining a psychology lab at Pace?
A: They can reach out to me if they have an interest, since I am also one of the Co-Directors of the Undergraduate Psychology Program on the NYC Campus. I also encourage students to check out the labs in the department to see which ones might align with their interests: https://www.pace.edu/dyson/departments/psychology-new-york-city/psychology-research-groups
Q: Tell me more about the psych projects you’ve participated in outside of Pace?
A: In my postdoctoral years, I helped lead a large IES-funded grant looking at how guided play supports vocabulary learning for children in Head Start.
Q: What did your other projects hope to accomplish?
A: My graduate school and postdoctoral work was focused on child learning outcomes in language and mathematics, but my current work is more focused on caregiver-child interactions.
Q: What have you found?
A: I have found evidence that interventions based in the science of learning (that focus on active, engaged, meaningful, and socially interactive learning) are well-suited for improving child outcomes. And playful learning is a great context that supports all of these characteristics.
Q: Where are you hoping to take your findings?
A: I hope that the findings of my Playful Learning Landscapes projects will help to influence policy, particularly for local governments looking to create updates to everyday places like streetscapes and parks.
Q: What have been some challenges you’ve encountered in both projects?
A: Some challenges I have faced in most of my projects center around working with partners. I am very focused on community-based work, which is very important, but this can add some roadblocks that are not present in lab-based research. The more people and organizations that are involved in a project, the more complicated it can become.
Q: What advice would you have to psych students?
A: My advice to psychology students would be to get involved in a professor’s lab, especially if you hope to go on to graduate school. By getting involved in a lab, you will learn about research but also form a relationship with a professor who can be a mentor to you and write recommendation letters.
So far at the lab, my favorite part has been going to the Staten Island Children’s Museum to collect our data. I’ve gotten to interact with participants in our research, which makes my time in the lab all the more special. Data-entering is also a surprisingly exciting part of the lab, where we get to look back at our data and officially code it. I’ve also enjoyed attending Mentored Lab class, where I’ve gotten to learn so much about the field of psychological research and how to write amazing papers and hone my research skills.
From one scared and shy student to another, the biggest piece of advice I can give is don’t be afraid to ask! You may feel like an imposter, asking to be a part of an official lab, but it never hurts to ask. And who knows? You may get to assist in important and cool research!
Another piece of advice I can give to both incoming and current psychology students: COME TO PSI CHI MEETINGS!!! Psi Chi is both a club and an honors society, and it looks fantastic on your resume! We have interesting PowerPoints and activities during meetings, and we also hold fun mixers and other events! We’re an amazing community of people (not just psych majors) who have a love for psychology!
Feature image via @Pace_SciDevLab