Jamie Jirout, Phd (CV)
​principal investigator

Jamie Jirout leads the Research in Education and Learning Lab at UVA. She is originally from Florida, and attended the University of Miami where she majored in psychology and began studying cognitive development with Dr. Daryl Greenfield. She earned her Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University under the mentorship of Dr. David Klahr. While at CMU, she developed a measure of young children's curiosity based on uncertainty preference, which she continues to use in her research today. She was trained in the Program for Interdisciplinary Education Research, and was affiliated with the Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center. Jamie then joined the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center as a postdoc working with Dr. Nora Newcombe at Temple University. While there, she worked at the Temple Infant and Child Lab to study the development of spatial reasoning skills, and how spatial learning takes place through playful activities. She continues research in these areas now as a faculty member at the University of Virginia. Jamie enjoys living in Charlottesville, VA with her family, including her daughters who provide inspiration and feedback on new research protocols and are expert research participants.

Current students and lab members

Sierra Eissen
Current PhD student in Psychology and two-year VEST fellow, co-advised by Angelline Lillard and Jamie Jirout. Sierra's dissertation work will investigate spatial learning using physical and digital devices. 
Karime Cameron
Current MEd student in Educational-Psychology and Applied Developmental Science. Karime is completing her research internship in the lab, where she is conducting an experiment test curiosity-promoting instruction on children's question asking. 
Tessa Boutwell 
Current MEd student in Educational-Psychology and Applied Developmental Science.  Tessa is completing her research internship in the lab, where she is conducting a study of the relation between college students' retrospective play experiences with their STEM interests and efficacy, and relations among gendered beliefs about toys, interests and efficacy, and spatial ability. 
Tiffany Leones 
Current MEd student in Educational-Psychology and Applied Developmental Science.  Tiffany is the current Spatial Learning As Play coordinator at the Children's Discovery Museum. Tiffany is studying children's interactions with spatial play materials and their use of representations during play, and how these relate to parents' scaffolding and children's spatial skills. 
Mckenzie Canard 
Current MEd student in Educational-Psychology and Applied Developmental Science.  Mckenzie is our other Spatial Learning As Play coordinator at the Children's Discovery Museum, helping to study children's interactions with spatial play materials and their use of representations during play, and how these relate to parents' scaffolding and children's spatial skills.  
Jinhee Lee  
Current UVA student who serves as a lab manager for the RELL. Jenny coordinates the Curiosity in the Classroom project, as well as helping out with collection at Living Lab and various other tasks. 

YSI (Youth and Social Innovations) Student research assistants: Kelsi Jensen, Jay Huff
USOAR Student research assistant: Gracie Tillman
Other UVA undergraduate student research assistants: Meg Ritchie, Caroline Crossman, Jasmeen Dhillon 
 

      

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Alumni

Mary Grace Britton
Former Spatial Learning As Play (SLAP) Coordinator
      

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Savannah Sunvold
Worked on the curiosity and exploration projects

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Kayleigh Warburton
Worked on the Exploring Spatial Play and Implicit Associations Project

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