RESEARCH
I became a psychology researcher to solve problems.
What I am most passionate about are matters of learning, digital media experiences, and psychological development. These are areas of human life where research approaches provide incredible opportunities to understand important issues, test plausible solutions, and inform ways to improve those solutions.
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Over the past 10 years, my research has touched on three interconnected aspects of human learning. (1) How does the visual design of digital media influence what people learn, think, and feel? (2) Can play based experiences foster learning and interest in learning? (3) What can the brain tell us about how we learn math?
This work has allowed me to collaborate with multiple research and development teams and understand the strengths of approaching these questions from different theoretical and methodological lenses. This work also presents exciting opportunities to collaborate with experts across multiple levels of research and design, including teachers, artists, neuroscientists, computer programs, and project managers.
DIGITAL MEDIA LEARNING
Educational games and interactive media can be powerful tools in modern instruction. I study how learning occurs through these interactions to test applied theories of learning and cognitive development. My research focuses on questions about how the visual design and composition of educational content shapes learning through digital media.
INTEREST DEVELOPMENT
Informal learning experiences, such as educational games, shows, and museum exhibits, aim to inspire learning through active exploration and play. My work focuses on the goal of inspiring interest and assessing whether active and play-based experiences can motivate children and adults to learn more.
MATHEMATICAL COGNITION
Math is often presented in schools as a collection of rules, strategies, and facts to be memorized and repeated. However, this approach may fail to help students understand the logic of the rules or the reasons why strategies work. My research explores the neural and cognitive foundations of math knowledge to tests how visual and interactive experiences may help develop math knowledge.
PERSPECTIVES &Â APPROACHES
RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB
In my research I utilize a diversity of qualitative and quantitative methods to answer specific questions. This approach draws upon my work in neuroscience, learning science, and video game labs. I have specific expertise in study designs to evaluate cognitive performances, user experiences with educational media, affective dispositions, and fMRI neural activity. Learning new approaches to address unique research questions is a joy of this work.
WHY EDUCATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE?
At its core, Educational Neuroscience is about genuine collaborations between educators, designers, and researchers working to make impactful advances in instruction and learning theory. From the neuroscientist's perspective, theories of cognitive development and learning are critically tested when interventions are translated and implemented in real learning contexts. From the educator's perspective, many myths of the brain rejected by neuroscientists (e.g. right brain vs left brain, learning styles) are seductively used as marketing devices to sell curriculum. From the designer's perspective, there is a rarely realized potential to utilize the expertise of neuroscientists and educators to create learning experiences informed by theory and practice.
ACADEMIC PROFILE
PH.D. EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 2020
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Dissertation: From brains to games and back again: Accessing the magnitude of fractions and ratios across contexts
This work examined how people understand fractions and ratios by connecting evidence across three uniquely powerful data sources: math video gameplay data, traditional cognitive tasks, and fMRI brain activity.
M.ED. MIND, BRAIN, & EDUCATION, 2012
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Projects and Internships at CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) focused on connecting insights from neuroscience, learning science, and educational practice to inform the design of educational media.
B.S PSYCHOLOGY & BIOLOGY, 2010
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Through coursework in cognitive development, neurobiology, and media production, I assembled my own expertise at the intersection of research and education.
PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
PEER REVIEWED MANUSCRIPTS
Binzak, J.V. & Hubbard, E.M. (2020). No calculation necessary: Accessing magnitude through decimals and fractions. Cognition.
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Kalra, P., Binzak, J.V., Matthews, P. G. & Hubbard, E. M. (2020). Symbolic Fractions Invoke an Analog Magnitude Representation in School-age Children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
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Demir-Lira, Ö.E., Suárez-Pellicioni, M., Binzak, J.V., & Booth, J.R. (2019) Attitudes Towards Math is Differentially Related to the Neural Basis of Multiplication Depending on Math Skill. Learning Disability Quarterly.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Binzak, J.V., Matthews, P.G. & Hubbard, E.M. (2020, September) Neural representations of symbolic and nonsymbolic fractions in adolescents. In Y. Park (Chair), Neural Development of Symbolic Math Knowledge from Childhood to Young Adulthood. Symposium conducted virtually in the Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society Meeting, Dublin, Ireland. ( would have been nice )
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Binzak, J.V., Toomarian, E.Y., Matthews, P.G., Hubbard, E.M. (2019, September). From the Lab to the iPad: Understanding Fractions in assessment-based and game-based contexts. Talk presented at the Learning Sciences Graduate Student Conference, Evanston, IL.
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Binzak, J.V., Toomarian, E.Y., Matthews, P.G., Hubbard, E.M. (2019, August). Fractions War: An iOS Game to Measure and Train Magnitude Processing with Fractions. Poster presented at the Make Play Learn Conference, Madison, WI.
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Binzak, J.V., Matthews, P.G., Hubbard, E.M. (2019, June). Confidence counts: Relationships between math dispositions and fractions knowledge. Poster presented at the 2nd Annual Meeting of the Mathematical Cognition and Learning Conference, Ottawa, Canada.
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Binzak, J.V. (2018, October). From Brains to Games: Investigations of Symbolic and Nonsymbolic Ratio Processing with fMRI and Gameplay Data. Talk presented at the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society Conference, Los Angeles, CA.