X. Christine Wang (she/her/hers)
Director, Fisher-Price Endowed Early Childhood Research Center; Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Research
Professor
LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION
DEAN'S OFFICE
Specialty/Research Focus
Curriculum and Instruction; Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Child and Adolescent Development; Cognition; Digital Innovations; Digital Media and Learning; Diversity; Curriculum and Instruction; Design Experiments; International Education; Literacy; Gender, Culture, and Equity; Global Issues; Immigrant Issues; Ethnography; Science Education; Learning Communities; Multimodality, Embodiment, and Digital Literacy; Qualitative Research Methods
Education and Training:
- PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- MEd, Beijing Normal University, China
- BA, Beijing Normal University, China
Awards and Honors:
- Best Paper Award at the ISLS Annual Meeting; International Society of Learning Sciences (ISLS); 2022-06-10;
- Dean’s Apple Award for Outstanding Service; Graduate School of Education, UB; 2022-05-13;
- Faculty STAR Award for Advising; Graduate School of Education, UB; 2022-05-13;
- Nominated for the Best Paper Award,; International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) annual conference (https://2021.isls.org/awards/); 2021-06-11;
- Faculty in Residence Fellow; UB GSE Faculty in Residence Fellowship; 2019-12-01;
Recent Publications:
Journal Article:
- *Deng T., Hu, B. Y., Wang, X. C., Li Y., Jiang C., Su, Y., & LoCasale-Crouch, J. (2022). Chinese preschool teachers’ use of concept development strategies in whole-group math lessons and its effectiveness. Early Education and Development. DOI: 10.1080/10409289.2022.2067428
- Eggleston, C., Wang, X. C., & Choi, Y. (2021). Mother-toddler shared reading with electronic versus print books: Mothers’ language use and perspectives. Early Education and Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2021.1943638
- Wang, X. C., *Choi, Y., Benson, K., Eggleston, C., & Weber, D. (2021). Teachers’ role in fostering preschoolers’ computational thinking: An exploratory case study. Early Education and Development, 32(1), 26-48. DOI: 10.1080/10409289.2020.1759012
Book Chapter:
- Wang, X. C., Flood, V. J., & *Cady, A. (2021). Computational thinking through body and ego syntonicity: Young children’s embodied sense-making using a programming toy. In E. de Vries, J. Ahn, & Y. Hod (Eds.). Proceedings of the 15th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2021 (pp. 394-401). Bochum, Germany: International Society of the Learning Sciences. [Nominated for Best Paper Award at ISLS 2021]
Other:
- Flood, V. J., Wang, X. C., & *Sheridan, M. (2022). Embodied responsive teaching for supporting computational thinking in early childhood. In C. Chinn, E. Tan, C. Chan, & Y. Kali (Eds.). Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2022 (pp. 855-862). Hiroshima, Japan: International Society of the Learning Sciences. [Winner for the Best Paper Award: https://2022.isls.org/]
Recent Presentations:
Invited Lectures:
- Wang, X. C. (2021, November). We-Syntonicity: Preschoolers’ sense-making of computational thinking using a programming toy in a teacher-guided session. Paper presented at Science Education Seminar, Harvard University, Boston, MT.;
- Wang, X. C., Eggleston, C., & Benson, K. (2020, October). Home/virtual schooling of young children: Discussion with the ECRC experts. Invited parent workshop via Zoom for UB Wellness and Worklife Balance, Buffalo, NY.;
Conferences:
- Wang, X. C. & Proctor, C. (2022, April). Computational thinking (CT) meets young children: Critical review of research on CT in early childhood. Paper presented at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.;
- Wang, X. C., Flood, V. J., & *Cady, A. (2022, April). We-syntonicity: Preschoolers’ collective embodied computational thinking in a teacher-guided programming session. Paper presented at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.;
- Wang, X. C. (2020, June). “Sometimes the Internet doesn’t know everything”: Exploring young children’s epistemic reasoning in their inquiry practice. Paper presented at the annual meeting of International Conference of the Learning Sciences, Nashville, TN. (Virtual);
Recent Grants:
Grant:
- Intergenerational Learning of Computing Thinking: Job Training/Learning Camp for Refugee Mothers and Young Children.; Local; LAI Faculty Summer Grant Camp; Awarded; (06/01/2022-08/31/2022)
- Reading and (Re)writing the World: Exploring Critical Pedagogy of Place in Early Science and Literacy Learning; Foundation and Research Organization; Spencer Foundation; Awarded; (08/01/2019-07/31/2020)
- ToM and Young Children’s Science Inquiry; Federal; NSF Funded National Living Lab Initiatives; Awarded; (11/01/2014-05/31/2015)
- Exploring Young Children’s Engagement with Multimodal Text; Foundation and Research Organization; Spencer Foundation; Awarded; (07/15/2013-07/14/2014)
- Exploring the Relationship between Theory of Mind and Practical Epistemology in Young Children's Science Inquiry; Foundation and Research Organization; Spencer Foundation; Awarded; (08/01/2009-07/31/2010)
Recent Activities:
Editorial and Review:
- Proposal Review Panel, Spencer Foundation, 2021
01/01/2021-12/31/2021
Professional Service:
- New York State P12 Digital Learning Advisory Council, April 2021-Present
04/01/2021-08/31/2022 - Co-Chair of the Review Committee, Jan Hawkins Award for Early Career Contributions to Humanistic Research and Scholarship in Learning Technologies, AERA Division C
01/05/2021-04/30/2022 - Executive Board, AERA-Early Education/Child Development SIG, Fall 2010-Present
06/01/2018-08/31/2022 - Executive Committee, AERA Division C–Learning and Instruction, Aug 2012-June 2014
09/01/2015-09/01/2015
Recent Editorships:
Editorship:
- Guest Editor; Special Issue “Computational Thinking in Early Childhood Education” for Early Childhood Research Quarterly (Expected Publication: December 2022)
05/01/2021-12/31/2022 - Editor; Journal of Research in Childhood Education
01/01/2017-12/31/2019 - Associate Editor; Early Childhood Research Quarterly
08/01/2016-07/31/2025