Medha Tare, PhD

Medha Tare is a researcher and leader in the learning sciences and technology area with experience in both the academic and non-profit sectors. Her work centers on addressing the needs of the whole child, including considering individual differences among learners, their environments, and the media through which they learn. Medha is currently the Senior Director of Research at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop where she works on shaping and conducting research on children’s learning media. Prior to Sesame Workshop, she was the Director of Research for the Learner Variability Project at Digital Promise, leading the development of public resources on the cognitive, socio-emotional, and background factors that impact children and adults’ learning. She has also served as a Learning Sciences Exchange Fellow through New America, working across sectors to promote early learning and help young children and their families thrive.

Medha earned her PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of Michigan and her BA in Cognitive Science and English at Rutgers University. She has served as an advisor on national and international educational initiatives and has numerous peer-reviewed publications including in the Journal of Research on Technology in Education, Language Learning and Technology, and Journal of Cognition and Development.

Research

My research interests span several major areas. Broadly, my work in the learning sciences examines individual differences (e.g., cognitive, biographical) that influence learners’ success in a variety of educational environments (e.g., classrooms, online, immersion). I have studied the effects of educational technology interventions on learning outcomes and worked with educators on professional development and adoption of new pedagogies. I also have expertise in children’s cognitive and language development, examining children’s acquisition of language, social, and conceptual knowledge through interactions with parents or in informal contexts such as museums and media.

Technology, Learning, and Design

• Tare, M. (2024, March 8). Re-imagining reading: How reluctant readers would design their own educational technology. Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. (online)
• Alonso, D., Tare, M., & Rood, E. (2024). Understanding well-being in digital spaces. Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. (pdf)
• Tare, M., & Rood, E. (2023). Swimming with sharks and walking on Mars: Synthesis of a cross-sector forum on immersive technology in secondary education. Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. (pdf)
• Tare, M. & Guha, M.L. (2023). We’re hinged. They’re not. It’s in that space that creativity happens: Adult co-designers’ perspectives on designing technology with children. Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children conference, Chicago, IL. (pdf)
• Tare, M. (2023, March 22). Designing with kids: How children and adults can co-create new technology. Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. (online)
• Tare, M., Shell, A. R., & Jackson, S. R. (2022). Student engagement with evidence-based supports for literacy on a digital platform. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 54(2), 177-187. (online)
• Tare, M. & Shell, A.R. (2019). Designing for learner variability: Examining the impact of research-based edtech in the classroom. Washington, DC: Digital Promise Global. (online)
• Tare, M., Nobles, S., & Xiao, W. (2018, March 14). Partnerships that work: Tapping research to address learner variability in young readers. Digital Promise Global. (online)
• Tare, M., Golonka, E. & Clark, M. (2017). Virtual reality for language learning. Signal Magazine, 71(10), 39-41. (online)
• Golonka, E., Tare, M., & Bonilla, C. (2017). Peer interaction in text chat: Qualitative analysis of chat transcripts. Language Learning and Technology, 21(2), 157–178. (pdf)
• Tare, M., Golonka, E., Vatz, K., Bonilla, C., Crooks, C. & Strong, R. (2014). Effects of interactive chat versus independent writing on L2 learning. Language Learning & Technology, 18(3), 208-227. (pdf)

Individual Differences in Learning

• Tare, M., Shell, A.R. & Jackson, J. (2022). Shifting mindsets: Designing lessons for learner variability. Digital Promise: Washington, DC. (online)
• Tare, M., Pape, B., & Shell, A.R. (2022). Understanding and supporting the whole child: Lessons from the Learner Variability Project. In A.L. Betts & K.P. Thai (Eds.), _Handbook of research on innovative approaches to early childhood development and school readiness. IGI Global. (online)
• Tare, M. (2021, December 21). How can we support the “whole child”?: Researchers should break free of silos to impact learning. BOLD. (online)
• Tare, M., Cacicio, S., & Shell, A.R. (2021). The science of adult learning: Understanding the whole learner. Digital Promise: Washington, DC. (online)
• Tare, M., Golonka, E., Lancaster, A.K., Bonilla, C., Doughty, C.J., Belnap, R.K., & Jackson, S.R. (2018). The role of cognitive aptitudes in a study abroad language-learning environment. In C. Sanz & A. Morales-Front (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of study abroad research and practice (pp. 406-420). New York, NY: Routledge. (pdf)
• Vatz, K., Tare, M., Jackson, S., & Doughty, C. (2013). Aptitude-treatment interaction studies in second language acquisition: Findings and methodology. In G. Granena & M. Long (Eds.). Sensitive periods, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment (pp.273-292). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
• Linck, J.A., Hughes, M., Campbell, S., Silbert, N., Tare, M., Jackson, S., Smith, B., Bunting, M., & Doughty, C., (2013). Hi-LAB: A new measure of aptitude for high-level language proficiency. Language Learning, 63, 530-566. (pdf)
• Tare, M. (2006). Assessing the foreign language needs of the Department of Homeland Security. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 3, Article 5. (pdf)

Children’s Informal Learning

• Tare, M. (2018, October 18). Encouraging out-of-school reading and writing habits. Digital Promise Global. (online)
• Tare, M., French, J.A., Frazier, B.N., Diamond, J., & Evans, E.M. (2011). Explanatory parent-child conversation predominates at an evolution exhibit. Science Education, 95, 720-744. (pdf)
• Tare, M., Chiong, C., Ganea, P. & DeLoache, J. (2010). Less is more: The effect of manipulative features on children’s learning from picture books. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31, 395-400. (pdf)

Children’s Language Development

• Tare, M. & Gelman, S.A. (2011). Bilingual parents’ modeling of pragmatic language use in multiparty interactions. Applied Psycholinguistics, 32, 761-780. (pdf)
• Tare, M. & Gelman, S.A. (2010). Can you say it another way? Cognitive factors in bilingual children’s pragmatic language skills. Journal of Cognition and Development, 11, 137-158. (pdf)
• Tare, M. & Gelman, S.A. (2010). Determining that a label is kind-referring: Factors that influence children’s and adults’ novel word extensions. Journal of Child Language, 37, 1007-1026. (pdf)
• Shatz, M., Tare, M., Nguyen, S., & Young, T. (2010). Acquiring non-object terms: The case for time words. Journal of Cognition and Development, 11, 16-36. (pdf)
• Tare, M., Shatz, M., & Gilbertson, L. (2008). Maternal uses of non-object terms in child-directed speech: Color, number, and time. First Language, 28, 87-100. (pdf)