Gurupriya Ramanathan
Education
- Boise State University, EdD, Curriculum and Instruction, 2021
- Syracuse University, MS, Early Childhood Special Education, 2018
Bio
Dr. Ramanathan's areas of specialization include early childhood special education, and science and engineering education. Her previous teaching experiences include teaching across preschool through 2nd grade, as well as special education (self-contained) and inclusive classrooms. Prior to joining Salisbury University, Dr. Ramanathan worked as a research assistant at Boise State University where she contributed to a variety of projects investigating early childhood science education, as well as, providing instructional coaching for teachers to implement high-quality practices in their preschool classrooms.
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Research Interests
Dr. Ramanathan's research program is centered on students with disabilities and early childhood education. Her current research interests revolve around:
- Designing inclusive science and engineering learning experiences for the classroom;
- Promoting the development of 21st century skills through project-based science and engineering;
- Supporting teachers in the implementation of science and engineering education.
An extension of this research program includes Makerspaces in early childhood settings: professional development for educators to integrate Maker activities in classrooms; and benefits of a Maker Mindset on teaching and learning. -
Selected Publications
Ramanathan, Gurupriya, Cosso, Sydney and Pool, Juli (2023) Engineering in Preschool: What Little Minds Can Teach Us About Big Skills. Early Childhood Education Journal.
Web Address
Ramanathan, Gurupriya and Hagenah, Sara (2022) Influence of Peer Perseverance on Students' Engagement in Preschool Engineering Design Activities. 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.
Web Address
Mere-Cook, Yvette and Ramanathan, Gurupriya (2022) Promoting Inclusive Teaching and Learning Using the Engineering Design Process. vol. 77. no. 2. Young Children.
Web Address
Ramanathan, Gurupriya, Carter, Deb and Wenner, Julianne (2021) A Framework for Scientific Inquiry in Preschool. vol. 50. pp. 1263–1277. Early Childhood Education Journal.
Web Address
Ramanathan, Gurupriya and Ensher, Gail (2020) Illustrations from the Field: The Story of Jacob. Mental Health in the First 5 Years: Infants, Young Children, and Their Families. pp. 81-87. ZERO TO THREE.
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Current Courses
Fall 2024
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Spring 2025- Loading ECED 251...
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- Professional Memberships
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)NAEYC promotes high-quality early learning for all children, birth through age 8, by connecting practice, policy, and research.
National Science Teaching Association (NSTA)NSTA is a community of science educators and professionals committed to best practices in teaching science and its impact on student learning.
- Presentations
The influence of maker education on pre-service early childhood and elementary educatorsNovember, 30 2023Literacy Research Association (LRA) Annual Conference, Atlanta, GAThe Roundtable presentation describes a research project that is currently in progress at the Department of Early and Elementary Education. The project investigates the impact of maker education on pre-service teacher instruction when infused into an early literacy methods course (ELED 330: Integrated Language Arts, grades 3-6). We are currently investigating pre-service teacher use of maker educational practices when working with students in an upper-level literacy course (ELED 410: Literacy Assessment and Intervention; taken the semester following ELED 330), which has a clinical component in the May Literacy Center (literacy clinic based on campus), and in their internship settings (in a local public-school classroom). Work on publishing final results in academic and practitioner journals is ongoing.
Preschool engineering: What little minds can teach us about big skillsNovember, 18 2023National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Annual Conference , Nashville, TNThe presentation summarizes a research project studying the nature of social interactions that take place between preschool students with diverse social and emotional skills when engaging in engineering activities. While a variety of interventions have been designed to support preschool students with disabilities, they target foundational skills such as inviting peers to play and taking turns with materials, leaving a research gap on more complex social skills such as collaboration. Engineering encompasses hands-on activity, inquiry, and teamwork that develops a student’s collaboration and problem-solving skills. Given that preschool students with disabilities require further support in these skills, engineering activities provide naturally embedded opportunities for collaboration, and students’ engagement in engineering is a gap in the research that needs to be explored. In this study, four engineering activities were implemented over a four-week period. Analysis of video clips of student participation and teacher interviews revealed that students assigned responsibilities to each other and completed the activities in small groups, and other students who needed teacher support worked intermittently with peers. The importance of engineering activities in providing the platform for students with diverse needs to work together and engage in authentic peer interactions is discussed as was the implications of these findings and recommendations for practitioners. <br>This session will be helpful to two sets of audiences: a) audience members who have never used or implemented engineering in their classroom/profession: this session will break down and simplify engineering in preschool to the audience, especially its connection to social-emotional development and ways to connect engineering to their practice with young students; b) audience members who already design and implement engineering activities in their classrooms: this session will provide a toolkit of strategies to these audience members to take back to their classrooms and further implement.
Benefits of Multiple Genres in Shared Book Reading: How to Get the Most Out of a Science TextApril, 2 2022State of Maryland Literacy Association Annual Conference, VirtualThe use of varied genres in early childhood may accelerate language development, encourage reading, prevent later literacy failure, and help close the opportunity gap. Additionally, it gives children a leg up learning essential concepts for science. Giving children opportunities to experience science phenomenon or participate in science investigations and then backing it up with informational texts that explain science concepts also helps break down science concepts for children and give them the language needed to describe observations, explain scientific phenomena, evaluate and communicate information, and make conclusions. Several studies indicate the dominance of narrative fiction may contribute to reading difficulties in school, especially as children start to read textbooks. This presentation begins with a review of literature suggesting that introducing children in early childhood to multiple genres may offer promising advantages for literacy development. The presentation also includes techniques for getting the most from the use of science texts, both at home and in the classroom. An example of a science investigation for young children, followed by examples of informational texts related to the investigation, and how to present these to children is described.
- Service Activities and Community Relations
Information Technology Consortium Standing Committee - Seidel School of Education faculty representative, 2023-2024
Early and Elementary Education Living and Learning Community (LLC) - Faculty Lead, Fall 2022-present
Department of Early and Elementary Education Makerspace - Committee Member, Fall 2021-present- External Collaboration Highlights
2023-2027 - Pathways to Professions (P2P): Building a Promising Future for Teacher Diversity and Student Success, U.S. Department of Education, Teacher Quality Partnership Program ($3,700,000; PI: Huang), Advisory Board Member, 2023-present.
2019-2023 - STEMI²E²: STEM Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education Center, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services ($7,250,000; PI: Vinh), Research Fellow 2020-2021.