Joined 2017
Dr. Julia Torquati & Dr. Rachel Schachter, advisors
M.A., Early Childhood Education, Sookmyung Women’s University
Yuenjung’s research interest is understanding how to improve teacher-child interaction quality and early childhood classroom quality to support children’s cognitive skills, especially their executive function. She is currently working as a research assistant in the INSIGHTS-Nebraska project. This project is a temperament-based intervention to improve children’s social-emotional development. Yuenjung supports data collection and analyzes qualitative data in this project.
Yuenjung is primarily a qualitative researcher but is also interested in quantitative methodology. She has analyzed qualitative data for the PreSTAR project. She has additional experience administering child assessments such as MEFS and PPVT, and classroom quality assessment, such as Conscious Discipline and the CLASS. Yuenjung is developing her analytical skills in SPSS as well.
Yuenjung has previous experience teaching children aged 3 to 5 as a lead teacher and a director for seven years at a preschool in Korea. In the U.S. she has worked at the Ruth Staples Child Development Laboratory at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a graduate assistant.
Why CYAF at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
“I chose the Early Childhood Education program in CYAF at UNL because of diverse research opportunities and the faculty's extra support for graduate students. I have had opportunities to train on different child assessments, observe high-quality early childhood programming at Ruth Staples, and participate in many ongoing research projects. I also appreciate that our department faculty helps me find many resources to develop my research interests.”
Lab Participation
Awards/Honors
2022 CYAF Disertation Grant (January 2023)
Edward & Catherine Martin Fellowship (May 2023)
CEHS Student Professional Development Grant (Dec. 2022)
Luella Selover Fellowship (June, 2022 & June 2019)
Alan & Pauline Christensen Plantz Fellowship (June 2021)
Highlighted Publications & Presentations
Hong, S.-Y., Hamel, E., Joo, Y., & Burton, A. (2022). Enhancing preschool teachers’ reflective thinking on science teaching and learning using video reflections. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2022.2149435
Wilson, E., Eum, J., Joo, Y., Barrett, J.S., Sealy, M.A., Nugent, G.C. (2022). Rural parents’ experiences of stress and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and school closure. The Online Journal for Rural Research and Policy. https://doi.org/10.4148/1936-0487.1113
Hamel, E., Joo, Y., Hong, S.-Y., & Burton, A. (2020). Teachers' questioning practices in early childhood science activities. Early Childhood Education Journal. 49(3), 375-384. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01075-z
Rudasill, K. M., Reichenberg, R. E., Eum, J., Barrett, J., Joo, Y., Wilson, E., & Sealy, M. (2020) Promoting higher quality teacher-child relationships: The INSIGHTS intervention in rural schools. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 17(24), 9371. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249371
Joo, Y., Schachter, R. E., Piasta, S. B., & Yeomans-Maldonado, G. (2020). What language and literacy assessments do preschool teachers use and what do they learn from those assessments? Poster presented at National Research Conference on Early Childhood (NRCEC), Arlington, Virginia.
Hamel, E., Joo, Y., & Hong, S.-Y. & Burton, A. (under review) Teachers' questioning practices early childhood science activities. Early Childhood Education Journal.
Hong, S.-Y., Hamel, E., Burton, A., & Joo, Y. (2019). Preschool science talk in action and reflection (PreSTAR). Poster presented at Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), Baltimore, Maryland.
Joo, Y. (2015). The meaning of family as constructed by children growing up in multi-cultural families: with story-telling using picture books. Poster presented at the 25th EECERA Conference, Barcelona, Spain.