Dr. Joanne Lee

The main focus of my research is on early childhood learning in language and mathematics. Learning in both home and child care settings and through technology and traditional play are examined. I also study monolingual vs. bilingual learners and children with special learning needs (e.g., visual impairment). I am partnering with the Ontario Early Years Centres and the public libraries in the Waterloo region on research as well as on program creation and delivery. I am also involved in a partnership with an educational software company to develop evidence-based games for students with autism spectrum disorder.

• Featured Researcher in ‘Research Matters’ campaign by Council of Ontario Universities (2012-2013).
• Co-developer of ‘LittleCounters^®’ program (2009).
• Waterloo Region The Record’s Top 40 under 40 Award (2009).
• Petro Canada Young Innovator Award (2007).

I am looking to supervise graduate students in the areas of language or mathematics development of young children, including children with special learning needs such as autism spectrum disorder and visual impairment.

I have research assistantship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students interested in early childhood learning of children, both with and without developmental disabilities.

Fieldwork in community-based centres (e.g., program delivery) and educational software industry are also available. Please contact me for more information.

Scholarly Publications

• Lee, Joanne, Donna Kotsopoulos, Anupreet Tumber and Samantha Makosz. “Gesturing about number sense.” Journal of Early Childhood Research. (in press).
• Kotsopoulos, Donna and Joanne Lee. “Let’s talk about Math: The LittleCounters® approach to building math skills.” (2014).
• Lee, Joanne, Donna Kotsopoulos, and Carly-Anne Stordy. “Mathematically-relevant input during play of a caregiver with a visual impairment and her toddler. “ International Journal of Early Childhood. (2012).
• Lee, Joanne and Donna Kotsopoulos. “Improvement of Educational Value of the VINCI Tablet via Enhancement of the User Interface.” A Technical Report to the Ontario Centres of Excellence: Technological Problem Solving Program. (2012).
• Lee, Joanne. “Size matters: Early vocabulary as a predictor of language and literacy competence.” Applied Psycholinguistics. (2011).
• Lee, Joanne and Letitia Naigles. “Mandarin learners use syntactic bootstrapping in verb acquisition.” Cognition. (2008).