Education

2012 University of Virginia, B.A.
2020 University of Minnesota, Ph.D.

Courses Taught

Psychology of Child Development
Psychology in Evertday Life

Career Specialties

Amanda Grenell specializes in developmental psychology. Her research interests include cognitive development, play, and STEM learning in early childhood. 

Professional and Community Activities

Her research focuses on understanding the cognitive processes underlying math and science learning, how they develop in early childhood, and how they support learning in formal and informal contexts. One primary line of research aims to understand how specific cognitive processes essential for learning develop in informal contexts such as play. This work focuses on the interrelations between self-regulation, pretend play, and learning in early childhood. 

A secondary line of work focuses on how individual differences in cognitive processes, such as executive function and metacognition, may interact with different aspects of formal learning environments to predict academic math and science learning. She is particularly interested in determining how cognition may influence the effectiveness of specific instructional approaches and materials to optimize learning.

She has conducted research in various settings with community partners such as schools, childcare centers, and museums. She has also disseminated her research through publications in peer-reviewed journals (e.g., Journal of Experimental Child Psychology) and presentations at national and international conferences (e.g., Society for Research in Child Development and the Jean Piaget Society conferences).

Some of her recent publications include:

Grenell, A., Butts, J.R., Levine, S.C., & Fyfe, E.R. (2024). Children’s confidence on mathematical equivalence and fraction problems. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 246, 106003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2024.106003

Grenell, A., Ernst, J.R., & Carlson, S.M. (2024). Preschool children’s science learning: Instructional approaches and individual differences. Early Education and Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2024.2360884

Grenell, A., Hine, E., & Fyfe, E.R. (2024). Repeating and growing patterns in early mathematics textbooks. Journal of Curriculum Studies.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2024.2319659

Borriello, G.A., Grenell, A., Vest, N.A., Moore, K., & Fyfe, E.R. (2023). Links between repeating and growing pattern knowledge and math outcomes in children and adults. Child Development,94(2), e103-e118. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13882

Grenell, A., Gardner, B., Nelson, L.J., & Fyfe, E.R. (2022). Children’s confidence using incorrect strategies on mathematical equivalence problems. Cognitive Development, 62, 101167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2022.101167