Sudha Swaminathan

Biography

Dr. Sudha Swaminathan is Professor of Early Childhood Education, specializing in math and educational technology. She has conducted research at the Center for Early Childhood Education on effective ways to enhance children’s mathematical development during play and has explored the impact of various technology-based applications, including coding, on supporting and challenging children’s socio-cognitive growth. Dr. Swaminathan earned her masters and doctoral degrees in Early Childhood Education with a concentration in Math Education from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Research Interests

• Early childhood math
• Educational technology
• Teacher education

Of Note

Dr. Swaminathan recently completed a series of six studies on math talk during play to identify effective teacher interactions. Parts of this research have been published, presented at the annual conferences of the American Educational Research Association and featured on WNPR.

Teaching Interests

• Early childhood math education
• Educational technology in early childhood education
• Cognitive development in the early years

Publications

Clements, D. H., Sarama, J., Swaminathan, S., Weber, D., & Trawick-Smith, J. (2018). Teaching and learning geometry: Early foundations. Quadrante: Revista de Investigação em Educação Matemática, 2, 7-31.

Trawick-Smith, J., Swaminathan, S., & Liu, X. (2015). The relationship of teacher-child play interactions to mathematics learning in preschool. Early Child Development and Care, 186, 716-733.

Swaminathan, S. (2012). Educational Technology in Early Childhood Teacher Education: Taking the Road Less Traveled. In D. Polly, C. Mims, & K. Persichitte (Eds.), Creating Technology-Rich Teacher Education Programs: Key Issues. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.