The Ludicast

Ludic Pedagogy Lab

In The Ludicast, we engage in conversations with a diverse group of educators, about why and how they develop fun lessons, using play, playfulness, and positivity. Visit us at www.ludicpedagogylab.com Cover Art: by israel palacio on Unsplash

  1. The Psychology of Play

    17/03/2024

    The Psychology of Play

    Our guest today is Dr. Thalia R. Goldstein, Associate Professor of Applied Developmental Psychology at George Mason University. In addition to her work in the university classrooms, she directs the Play Lab https://playlab.gmu.edu/, which conducts research that looks both at the effects of engaging in pretend play and theatre on children's social-emotional skills. Dr. Goldstein is also the co-director of the National Endowment for the Arts Research Lab, the Mason Arts Research Center (MasonARC).  If that wasn't enough, she's also a professional actor, dancer, and circus performer/coach. In a previous life Thalia was a competitive gymnast. Dr. Goldstein's current research and interests include projects on: 1) What implicit and explicit teaching strategies the very best acting teachers use with high school students to improve their social and emotional knowledge; 2) How varying levels of embodiment and representation improve children's learning and retention of social and factual information in pretend play; 3) How acting (versus reading) affects children's understanding of mental and emotional states; 4) How moral reasoning may be different for children in the pretend versus real world; 5) How marching band may be an ideal test case for intergroup context and belongingness across racial and ethnic backgrounds; 6) How video game play may be associated with creativity; 7) How children understand, and parents explain, Santa Claus and other cultural characters; 8) How dance experience is associated with affective theory of mind

    1hr 20min

About

In The Ludicast, we engage in conversations with a diverse group of educators, about why and how they develop fun lessons, using play, playfulness, and positivity. Visit us at www.ludicpedagogylab.com Cover Art: by israel palacio on Unsplash