Our Research
The Preschool at the University of North Florida (UNF) serves the University's academic community by providing a rich environment for faculty and students to conduct research. Our interdisciplinary and collaborative research, typically observational in nature, often involves campus-wide University departments and projects. The UNF Preschool also serves as a site for field experiences for the University and the region. If you are interested in learning more about research opportunities at the Preschool, please contact our Research and Professional Development Director, Dr. Adrien Malek-Lasater at a.malek@unf.edu.
Project Requests
The UNF Preschool is a part of the College of Education and Human Services (COEHS). As part of this, the UNF faculty design, study, and share innovations in Early Childhood STEAM (Science, Technology, Arts, Mathematics) Education. The move has allowed for highly qualified and credentialed personnel preschool staff to support preschool education excellence across Northeast Florida, as well as mentor university undergraduate and graduate students. The preschool is the nexus for an internationally informed and interdisciplinary network of teachers, teacher educators, university faculty and researchers to come together to teach, study, and disseminate exemplary practices.
The UNF Preschool Vision is to be a model Reggio-inspired center that serves as a resource for preschool education excellence across northeast Florida. Our long-term goal is to serve as a world-class epicenter for early childhood STEAM education. We provide a comprehensive infrastructure that supports the development, application, and research of innovative, high quality, inquiry and play-based learning.
Strengthening the impact of UNF Preschool is a priority. With that in mind, the UNF Preschool works with liaisons in various COEHS departments as well as across the university, community, and state to strengthen the UNF Preschool's teaching, learning and outreach. The integration of the UNF Preschool and the College of Education and Human Services will continue, as always, to serve the University's academic community. Our partnership allows for international collaborations, expanded interdisciplinary research opportunities, internships and transformational learning opportunities for our students, community partnerships and external funding opportunities.
Volunteer Opportunities
At this time, there are limited volunteer opportunities for face-to-face interactions at the UNF Preschool. If you are interested in volunteering your time remotely or in other ways, please contact our Research and Professional Development Director, Adrien Malek-Lasater at a.malek@unf.edu.
COEHS Faculty
Meet the College of Education and Human Services' Early Childhood Education Faculty who work closely with the UNF Preschool to develop curriculum and best practices.
Publications
Articles
Brown, S., & Winterbottom, C. (2020). A review of Clinically based teacher education in action: Cases from professional development schools review.Teachers College Record, https://www.tcrecord.org
Guardino, C., Hall, K., Largo-Wight, E., & Hubbach, C. (2019). Teacher and student perceptions of an outdoor classroom. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 22(2),113-126. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42322-019-00033-7
Largo-Wight, E., Guardino, C., & Hall, K. (2020). Cultivating a healthy school environment: The feasibility of an outdoor classroom for school-based health promotion. Florida Public Health Review, 17(7), 60-66. DOI:https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/fphr/vol17/iss1/7
Largo-Wight, E., Guardino, C., Wludyka, P.S., Hall, K., Wight, J.T., & Merten, J.W. (2018). Nature contact at school: The impact of an outdoor classroom on children's well-being. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 28 (6), 653-666. DOI: 10.1080/09603123.2018.1502415
Largo-Wight, E., Hall, K., & Guardino, C. (2018). Interdisciplinary academic and community partnerships to promote child well-being at school: The Outdoor Classroom Intervention. Florida Public Health Review, 15 (4), 36-40
Simpson, D.,Mazzocco, P.,Loughran, S., Lumsden, E., McDowall Clark, R., & Winterbottom, C. (2020). Parent-practitioner engagement in preschool education and the threat of negative thinking about the poor across England and the USA. Review in Education.
Parkinson, M. M. & Dinsmore, D. L. (2019). Understanding the developmental trajectory of second language acquisition and foreign language teaching and learning using the Model of Domain Learning. System. DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2019.102125
Farley, K.F, Brock, M., & Winterbottom, C. (2018). Evidence-based practices: Providing guidance for early childhood educators. The Journal of Research in Childhood Education. 32(1), 1-13.
Simpson, D.,Loughran, S., Lumsden, E., Mazzocco, P., McDowall Clark, R., & Winterbottom, C. (2018). Talking heresy about 'quality' early childhood education and care for children in poverty. Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 26(1), 3-18.
Simpson, D.,Loughran, S., Lumsden, E., Mazzocco, P., McDowall Clark, R., & Winterbottom, C. (2017).'Seen but not heard.' Practitioners work with poverty and the organizing out of disadvantaged children's voices and participation in the early years. EuropeanEarlyChildhoodEducationResearchJournal, 25(2), 177-188.
Winterbottom,C., & Winterbottom, S.S.(2016). Socialjustice:Acase-studyexaminingtheinfluenceofprimaryheadteachersintwoManchesterschools.Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(6), 755-768. DOI: 10.1007/s10643-016-0823-9
Winterbottom,C.,& Mazzocco,P.J.(2016).ReconstructingTeacher Education:A Praxeological Approach to Pre-Service Teacher Education. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal,24(4),495-507.DOI:10.1080/1350293X.2014.975940
Book Chapters
Hall, K.W. (2020). "Preservice Teachers as Book Buddies in an Urban Classroom: Transformational Learning Experiences in Public Schools." In Community-Based Transformational Learning: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry into its Benefits and Challenges. Edited byC.Winterbottom, J.S. Nicholson, & F.D. Richard. Bloomsbury Publishing: London.
Winterbottom, C. (2020). "Community-Based Transformational Learning through Study Abroad Experiences of Early Childhood Students Mentoring in the United Kingdom." In Community-Based Transformational Learning: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry into its Benefits and Challenges. Edited by C.Winterbottom, J.S.Nicholson, & F.D. Richard. Bloomsbury Publishing: London
Parkison, P., & Winterbottom, C. (2020). "Justice and Liberation in Teacher Education." In Advocacy in Education: Research Based Strategies for Teachers, Administrators, and Teacher Educators. Edited by E. Ethridge, J. Davis, C. Winterbottom, & A. Beisly. NY:NovaSciencePublishers,Inc., 2020.
Winterbottom, C., Nicholson, J.S., & Richard, F.D. (2020). "Student-Centered Learning: Investigating the Impact of Community-Based Transformational Learning Experiences on University Students." In The Routledge Handbook of Student-Centered Learning and Instruction in Higher Education. Edited by S. Hoidn & M. Klemenčič. Routledge.
Winterbottom, C. (2019). "A Pedagogy of Inquiry: Preparing Teachers to Work with Immigrant Families." In Immigrant Experiences: Expanding the School-Home-Community Dialogue. Edited by R.L. Lowery, M.E. Oslick, & R. Pringle. Rowman and Littlefield, Lanham, MD, pp. 57-68.
Parkinson, M. M., & Maggioni, L. (2017). The potential of course interventions to change preservice teachers' epistemological beliefs. In G. Schraw, J. Brownlee, L. Olafson, & M. VanderVeldt (Eds.). Teachers' Personal Epistemologies: Evolving Models for Transforming Practice. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Press.
Winterbottom,C.,& Mazzocco,P.J.(2017) "Integrating Praxeology: Engaging Early Childhood Students in Service-Learning Pedagogy." In Early Childhood Pedagogies: Creating spaces for young children to flourish. Editor Jane Murray. Routledge, United Kingdom, pp. 198-213.
Winterbottom, C., & Munday, M.F. (2016). "Redefining Early Childhood Epistemology: Exploring Service-learning Pedagogy in an Early Childhood context." In Service Learning as Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education, Theory, Research, and Practice. EditedbyK. Heider.NY:Springer,2016, pp. 15-31.
Winterbottom, C., & Brunell, A.B. (2016). "Praxeological Education: What are the Teacher Perceptions of Service-Learning in Early Childhood Education in Ohio?" In Praxeological Learning: Service-Learning in Teacher Education. Edited by C. Winterbottom and V.E. Lake. NY:NovaSciencePublishers,Inc., 2016, pp. 93-103.
Books
Cheek, K.A., & Hall, K.W. (2021).Florida Teacher Certification Examinations: PreK/Primary-PK-3. Research & Education Association: NJ.
Winterbottom, C., Nicholson, J.S., Richard, F.D. (2020). Community-Based Transformational Learning: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry into its Benefits and Challenges. Bloomsbury Publishing: London.
Ethridge, E., Davis, J., Winterbottom, C. (2020). Advocacy in Education: Research-Based Strategies for Teachers, Administrators, Parents, and the Community. NY:NovaSciencePublishers,Inc., 2020.
Dinsmore, D. L., Fryer, L. K., & Parkinson, M. M. (Eds.) (2020). Handbook of strategies and strategic processing. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429423635
Presentations
Parkinson, M. M., Dinsmore, D.L., & Zoellner, B.P. (2021, April). Debugging children's regulation in pairs. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, virtual.
Ehrlich, S., & Winterbottom, C. (Apr 2020). "Exploring Service-Learning in a Digital World: Reconstructing Pedagogical Practices in a Teacher Education Program." Accepted to the American Educational Research Association Conference, San Francisco, California, United States.
Hall, K.W., & Sanders, S.P. *(Mar 2018). "Pie with a Fork: Etiquette and Code Switching." National Association for Professional Development Schools Conference, Jacksonville, Florida, USA. *School Principal
Hall, K.W., & Sanders, S.P.* (Feb 2018). "Reaching all children: Envisioning the Public Waldorf School as an Amalgam." Alliance for Public Waldorf Education 2018 National Conference. Sacramento, California, United States. *School Leader
Batte-Edwards, N., Dixon, C., Bingham, G., Pickens, M. T., Kung, M. (2020, Feb). Coaching and Reflective Practice for Promoting Preschool STEM Education. Presentation at Region IV Head Start Conference. Atlanta, GA.
Winterbottom, C., & Hall, A.F. (Oct 2019). "Teacher and Administrator Voices: Is Service-Learning an Effective Pedagogy for Early Childhood Settings?" Accepted to the International Association for Research on Service-Learning & Community Engagement Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States.
Hall, A.F., & Winterbottom, C. (Oct 2019). "Service-Learning "Success": Identifying the Influence of Social and Cultural Constructs on Perceptions of Professional Competency." Accepted to the International Association for Research on Service-Learning & Community Engagement Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States.
Winterbottom, C., Richard, F.D., Nicholson, J., et al. (Oct 2019). "Community-Based Transformational Learning in Local and International Contexts: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry." Accepted to the International Association for Research on Service-Learning & Community Engagement Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States.
Zoellner, B. P., Parkinson, M. M., Dinsmore, D. L., & Lacefield, K. (2019, August). Using storytelling to scaffold children's cognitive processing during robotic coding. Paper presented at the biennial conference for the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction, Aachen, Germany.
Winterbottom, C. (Apr 2018). "A Community of Learners: Using a Service-Learning Pedagogy in an Early Childhood Setting to Create a Learning Community." Accepted to the AmericanEducationalResearchAssociationConference,New York,New York,UnitedStates.
Winterbottom, C. (Apr 2017). "The Impact of Service-Learning in Teacher Education." Accepted to the AmericanEducationalResearchAssociationConference,San Antonio,Texas,UnitedStates. (Chair)
Winterbottom, C., & Ohlson, M. (Apr 2017). "What are the Teacher Perceptions of Service-Learning in Early Childhood Education in Ohio?" Accepted to the AmericanEducationalResearchAssociationConference,San Antonio,Texas,UnitedStates.
Kocyigit, B., Jones, I., & Winterbottom, C. (Apr 2017). "An Exploration of Teacher-Child Relationships and Interactions in Elementary Science Lessons." Accepted to the AmericanEducationalResearchAssociationConference,San Antonio,Texas,UnitedStates.
Hall, K.W. (Nov 2017) "Literacy Learning and assessment and the whole child: Paper or computer?" Roundtable. Literacy Research Association Annual Conference. Tampa, Florida, United States.
Hall, K.W., & Sanders, S.P. (Feb 2017)." When academics are just one piece: Social justice and learning in a public school inspired by Principles of Public Waldorf." Professional Development Schools National Conference, Myrtle Beach, SC, United States.
Largo-Wight, E., Guardino, C., Hall, K., Wludyka, P.S., Thomas, E*. & Ottenstein, C.* (Feb 2016). Cultivating healthy school environments: Teachers' and students' perceptions of learning in the outdoor classroom. 16th Annual American Academy of Health Behavior, Ponte Vedra Beach Florida, United States. *Graduate students