Students brought their research to the Pittsburgh, showcasing Eastern and the CECE

Three undergraduate students--Corrie Bonomi (Sociology, Early Childhood Education), Meghan McAuliffe, and Ella Pitman (Data Science)--presented their research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in April 2025.

The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) encourages student researchers to participate in NCUR. According to CUR's website, the conference is "dedicated to promoting undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity in all fields of study." NCUR 2025 took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from April 7 to 9.

The conference “offers a forum for premier undergraduate students to demonstrate their exceptional scholarship,” said Sudha Swaminathan, professor of Early Childhood Education and faculty supervisor for the trip. She noted that Eastern students showcased their work alongside prestigious institutions such as Princeton University.  

“In this midst, our Eastern students confidently presented their impressive work, showcasing our liberal arts focus and devotion to research,” said Swaminathan. 

Swaminathan, director of the Center for Early Childhood Education, shared her pride in the student presenters, especially in her students in the Early Childhood Education program. They “demonstrated that they could go beyond the research and answer questions stretching the research findings to future research, classroom implications, and the state of early education.” 

Corrie Bonomi's research, titled "Emergent Bilingual Preschoolers’ Math Proficiencies and Development," examines the cognitive processing skills of dual language learners during math learning in a supportive classroom environment. Corrie presented her research at CREATE in 2024 and 2025.

Meghan McAuliffe's research is titled, "Study of Relationship Between Complexity of Play and Social Participation in Preschoolers' Play." Meghan presented her research at CREATE in 2025.

Ella Pitman's research, titled "Study of Programming Behaviors by Preschoolers and Its Impact on Their Math Abilities," examined the behaviors of preschoolers while programming with tangible robots in order to identify the types of programming behaviors that preschoolers exhibit. Ella presented her research at CREATE in 2024 and 2025.

All three students worked as research assistants for the CECE and are recipients of the Jeffrey and Nancy Trawick-Smith Early Childhood Undergraduate Research Award.