Yale Education Collaboratory Spring 2025 Student Highlight

The Education Collaboratory (EdCollab) at Yale Child Study Center (YCSC) welcomed a vibrant group of student research assistants for the 2024–2025 academic year. Representing a range of backgrounds and interests, these students supported various projects across the lab, with several working directly with EdCollab Director and YCSC Associate Professor Christina Cipriano, PhD, on their senior theses and capstone projects.

Some were returning members and others were new faces, but all brought unique strengths and enthusiasm to the work of the lab. Students Alyssa Erthum, Ava Van Straten, Perri Hawkins, Yagmur Ozturkoglu, Mimi Papathanasopoulos, Devika Kothari, Carigan McGuinn, and Fabiha Rafrafin joined EdCollab this year. As part of a staff spotlight series, their contributions are outlined below, along with their answers to some related questions and some insight as to what draws them to the lab's mission of advancing the science of learning and social and emotional development (SEL).

For the past two years, Hawkins has been an integral part of the Education Collaboratory. Over the most recent academic year, she contributed significantly to Project Flourish, beginning as a member of the coding team and later transitioning to the group responsible for processing articles as part of a systemic review of current research in social and emotional learning.

As she prepares to graduate this semester, she is winding down her time at the EdCollab. In her final months, she has continued to support the Living Systemic Review team, helping to catalogue recent SEL research within carefully defined - and as she says “sometimes finicky” - parameters. This work provides valuable insight into emerging SEL interventions and their effectiveness as seen through the lens of contemporary scholarship.

Beyond her research, Hawkins enjoys traveling with friends (as she did this past spring break) and has been an active member of the on-campus dance group, Danceworks.

What’s a skill you’ve learned during your time at EdCollab?

"Working at the Ed Collab, particularly on the living systemic review team, has really taught me how to carefully dissect the research papers I read. There are a lot of small things to pick up on in abstracts that can make or break whether or not it fits into a meta- analysis that I had never considered prior to my time at the lab."

Ozturkoglu worked with the Education Collaboratory as part of her thesis project, which focused on the biological implications of emotion regulation strategies. Cipriano served as her second thesis advisor, supporting her work throughout the year.

Her research involved using the Student Emotion Regulation Assessment (SERA), a tool developed by EdCollab, alongside a collection of [finger]nail samples to measure students' stress hormone concentrations - specifically DHEA and cortisol. Her goal was to explore potential associations between chronic stress hormone levels and various emotion regulation strategies measured by the SERA. Her broader research interests include stress, emotion regulation in children and adolescents, culturally competent mental health care, and community health education initiatives.

Outside of her research, Ozturkoglu finds energy in being around her community and spending time with friends and family. She loves engaging in arts and crafts, going on walks, watching movies, reading, and playing board games. Socializing and connecting with the people she loves is what most re-energizes her spirit.

What’s a piece of advice that has shaped your approach to education or research?

"Viewing education from an interdisciplinary lens has really shaped the way I approach education research. Education is so interdisciplinary and being open to perspectives from all different fields is incredibly important when partaking in this work."

An undergraduate research assistant at the Education Collaboratory, Erthum is currently supporting two projects. She works with Almut Zieher, PhD, on the COMPASS/SELOC project, coding SEL indicators embedded within various primary school curricula. In addition, she is part of the dedicated team contributing to a living systematic review of SEL intervention studies in K - 12 classrooms across the United States.

Outside of research, Erthum is energized by spending time outdoors. At Yale, she helps lead first-year orientation trips into the woods - so it’s no surprise that backpacking is one of her favorite ways to recharge and stay refreshed.

What’s a skill you’ve learned (or hope to learn) during your time at EdCollab?

"One thing I’ve learned from the COMPASS/SELOC project is how creative teachers can be in incorporating SEL into the core curriculum in elementary education. I’ve seen many phenomenal educators create such welcoming spaces for children to grow and thrive in their emotional and cognitive well-being. As a research assistant, I’ve learned how to approach these videos with curiosity in understanding the deeper trends and efforts of teachers in the classroom."

Straten has served as an undergraduate research intern at EdCollab since the fall of 2022. Her work spans coding qualitative classroom data, contributing to psychological research and writing, and helping translate findings into accessible resources for educators, students, and school leaders. Sitting at the intersection of research, practice, and impact, her role supports both discovery and dissemination.

Her primary research focus is COMPASS, an observational checklist rooted in the pedagogies of social and emotional learning (SEL). Straten reviews and codes classroom videos to identify effective SEL practices in real-world school settings and assists in literature reviews and psychological writing. She is especially interested in how SEL strategies can be seamlessly integrated into traditional academic instruction.

Beyond research, she is deeply energized by the legal process - particularly as it relates to protecting children from exploitation and harm. With a strong commitment to child advocacy, she is passionate about the intersection of law, psychology, and education as a multidisciplinary framework for advancing child welfare and defending children's rights through policy and legal action.

How does your work at EdCollab align with your broader academic or career goals?

"My work at the Education Collaboratory has helped me bridge my interests in psychology, education, and child protection. Through COMPASS, I’ve had the opportunity to study the foundational teaching strategies that support children’s social-emotional growth, insights that are critical not only in educational settings but also in informing broader systems of care and protection."

Additional student contributors this year inclluded Mimi Papathanasopoulos, Devika Kothari, Carigan McGuinn, and Fabiha Rafrafin, who are not depicted above. The EdCollab team looks forward to continued work with these students and to see how they grow and advance the science of social and emotional learning in the future.