Cross Talk Series

In late 2023, in response to requests from members of the LRDC community, the Center launched the "LRDC Cross Talk Series" (originally named the Cross-program Research Talks). This informal, in-person series features talks by graduate students, faculty, research staff, and invited speakers from other departments at Pitt and from other institutions. The goal of the series is to strengthen internal connections, to strengthen and initiate external connections, and to identify new research collaborations. The series is open to the entire university community and to guests from the community.

Upcoming Talks

December 14, 2026, 1:00 - 2:30pm, Internal Award Presentation
Portia Miller, Jamie Hanson, & Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal
Future Expectations and Opportunity Gaps: Engaging Low-Income Latino/a and Black Youth through Participatory Action Research
January 11, 2027, 1:00pm - 2:30pm
April Belback
"The Transformative Impact of Shared and Collaborative Advising"
February 1, 2027, 1:00pm - 2:15pm
Rebecca McGregor Reiner
"Exploring How Children Talk about Doing Hard Things"
February 8, 2027, 1:00pm - 2:30pm
Jimena Cosso
"Strengths-based Approaches Supporting Children's Early Math Skills"
February 15, 2027, 1:00pm - 2:30pm
Justin Kitzes
Talk title forthcoming 
March 15, 2027, 1:00pm - 2:30pm, Internal Award Presentation
Erin Walker
Leveraging a Role-Based Collaboration Technology to Scaffold Multi-Stakeholder Experiential Learning
March 22, 2027, 1:00pm - 2:30pm
Anthony Petrosky and Sara DeMartino 
A Network for Instructional Improvement: How Teachers and Leaders Made it Work 
April 12, 2027, 1:00pm - 2:30pm, Internal Award Presentation
Timothy Nokes-Malach and Scott Fraundorf
Contrasting Cases as a Form of Doing Mathematics 
April 19, 2027, 1:00 - 2:30pm, Internal Award Presentation
Angela Stewart and Khirstin Scott
Connectedness through Social Technologies: Toward a Framework for Adolescent Black Girls in Informal Learning Settings

Previous Talks

Fall 2026

October 5, 2026
Daphne Henry, Sirry Alang, Sharon Ross
"Race, Class, and Context: Exploring Intersectional Influence on Child and Adolescent Health"


September 28, 2026
Kevin Ashley & Scott Fraundorf
"Teaching Reading and Summarizing via Argument-Focused Text Annotation"

Summer 2026

August 31, 2026
Leo Schumann
From Uniform to Precision: A Year of Building Action Research Infrastructure at Pit

Spring 2026

May 4, 2026
Diana Leyva
"Ingredients 4 Learning (I4L)"


April 20, 2026
Scott Fraundorf
"Getting There is Half the Journey: Developing a Metacognitive Framework for Digital Literacy"


April 13, 2026
Kevin McManus
"Crosslinguistic influence and second language learning. Insights from the lab and the classroom"


March 30, 2026
April Belback, Kevin Binning, and Leo Schumann
"Fostering Action Research at Pitt"


March 2, 2026
Heather Bachman
"Addressing inequities in opportunities to learn: Implications for designing a collaborative research agenda at the LRDC"


February 23, 2026
Melissa Libertus
"From Loving Math to Sharing the Love for Math: How LRDC Made Me a Scientist with Broader Impact"


February 16, 2026
Rip Correnti (PI), Amanda Godley, Diane Litman, and Lindsay Clare Matsumura
"Using ChatGPT to Analyze Classroom Discussions."


February 9, 2026
Jay Huguley
"Parenting While Black: Designing, Implementing, and Assessing Racial Learning Interventions for Black Families"

Fall 2025

November 17, 2025
Cassie Quigley
"I would consider being a scientist now:" Exploring Influences and Barriers of STEM Occupational Identity: Self-efficacy, Self- Concept and Belonging


November 10, 2025 
Isabel Beck, Cheryl Sandora, Julie Fiez
"Testing the Efficacy and Mechanism of a Glass Analysis Method Reading Intervention"


November 3, 2025 
Jamie Hanson
"Testing Links Between Motivation, Achievement, and Neurobiology"


October 27, 2025 
Julie Fiez, Frances Mary D'Andrea, and Tessa McCarthy
"Studying the Neural Basis of Braille Literacy and Numeracy"


October 20, 2025 
Craig Zilles
"Exams with More Learning and Less Stress with a Computer-based Testing Facility"


October 13, 2025 
Tetsuya Yamada
"How a Growth Mindset Shapes Math Achievement: The Moderating Role of Classroom Practices and the Mediating Role of Multidimensional Engagement Across Adolescence"


September 29, 2025 
Jennifer Iriti and Kevin Binning
"Building Pathways to Equity in College STEM: Testing an Ecological Belonging Intervention in High School Precollege STEM Programs"


September 8, 2025 
Richard Sadler
'Not Just Redlining': An Urban Geographer's View on Neighborhood Change Influencing Health Disparities.

Spring 2025

April 21, 2025 
Danielle Lowry and Yiwen Lin 
"Evaluation for Learning: Pittsburgh Promise."


March 10, 2025
Talia Stol and Brooke English
"Evaluation for Learning Team: United Public-Private School Transformation."

2024, 2023

March 26, 2024 
Graduate student Shirley Duong (Advisor, Melissa Libertus)
"Early Math, Social Interactions."


March 26, 2024 
Post-Doctoral Fellow Gaisha Oralova (Working with Chuck Perfetti)
"Understanding Incremental Reading Processes Under Natural Reading Conditions: A Co-Registered EEG and Eye-Tracking Study."


December 6, 2023
Chuck Perfetti and Isabel Beck
Different perspectives on the Reading Wars