Interested in Children's Educational Media - Not Sure Where To Apply!

[SesameStreet]

Hello!

This is my first post, so I apologize if it all looks/sounds a little funny!

I'm a senior Psychology major interested in researching all forms of children's educational media (e.g., television, apps, books, etc.). Specifically, I'm interested in how already existing media and media created in the lab help children to learn on a cognitive, social, and emotional level, and I'm also interested in using knowledge gained from this research to develop new children's media and improve already existing media down the line as a career. I'm hoping to apply to PhD programs this application cycle, and maybe more next year if this year doesn't work out, with Covid and all. 

I've come across several professors that focus on how things like video games or background television negatively impact children. I've also seen some who are interested in how media influences children's eating habits. I'm not particularly interested in these things, though. 

I've found a few that seem to fit my interests moderately well, but I'm starting to freak out because I know deadlines for applications for Fall 2021 are fast approaching and I don't feel like I'm anywhere near ready to apply. Does anyone know any professors that have similar interests that I should be considering? And any additional advice would be appreciated as well!

Thanks in advance!

 

Signed, 

A Very Stressed Student ?

Edited October 19, 2020 by SesameStreet
clarification

[Rerun]

Hey! It's a stressful time for anyone who is applying this year, totally understand, hang in there! My friend graduated from UMass Amherst and did exactly children and media studies. She went to the School of Communication though. Her undergrad and master's was both in psychology. Now she's a media psychology professor in Indonesia. I don't know who did she work with. You can look up for publication by Laras Sekarasih. Try to find her email and reach out to her if you'd like. I believe she will be happy to hear from you.

[SocDevMum]

I agree with Rerun above... perhaps you need to look outside of psychology for what you want to do.  This sounds more like an Education or Communications program to me. Maybe Human Development, but that could be as much of a stretch as psychology. Assuming you've been reading papers to see who's doing the work - that's where you should start. Find out who and where the studies are being done, even if they aren't psychology programs. 

[psychhealth101]

Here's someone that may be a good fit! https://case.fiu.edu/about/directory/profiles/griffith-shayl.html

[t_ruth]

I would check out Learning Sciences programs. You can study media in Psych programs, Sociology programs, Communications programs, probably more. You likely want to find someone whose research or perspective you relate to...have you read much in this area that resonates with you?

I'm in Learning Sciences and study digital environments...feel free to PM me for more specific advice.

[SesameStreet]

On 10/25/2020 at 3:36 PM, t_ruth said:

I would check out Learning Sciences programs. You can study media in Psych programs, Sociology programs, Communications programs, probably more. You likely want to find someone whose research or perspective you relate to...have you read much in this area that resonates with you?

I'm in Learning Sciences and study digital environments...feel free to PM me for more specific advice.

I've read stuff from people across quite a few areas! The ones that have stuck out the most to me are in Psychology programs, Human Development and Family Studies programs, and Communications programs. I'm in the process of emailing these faculty now to see if they're accepting students for next fall. 

I'm not finished with the search yet, so I'll be sure to look into Learning Sciences! It sounds like something I would enjoy. Thanks so much for the advice!

[CommunityPsych]

I think the others have given good feed back.  To those comments, I would add that is is perfectly fine to reach out to authors of articles that are in line with your interests.  You can find out if they teach, whether they are accepting any students, or if anyone in their network could help you find a good program.

In short...don't be afraid to reach out to people who are already doing the work that you want to do.  I've found that almost always they are willing to offer help.

Good luck!

[lettuce2786]

You should DEFINITELY look into Rachel Barr at Georgetown. Her research interests are: "Transfer of learning skills by infants, utilization of information sources available to infants for learning including television, books and touchscreens, role of parent-child interactions during learning, bilingual and monolingual memory development." She is a wonderful mentor and kind person (so important for grad mentorship!!) and might be a great fit for you. Here's her lab website: https://elp.georgetown.edu/ 

They have two PhD programs at Georgetown: (1) Human Development and Public Policy and (2) Lifespan Cognitive Neuroscience. Sounds like Human Development and Public Policy would work well for you. Just FYI, though, they don't have a clinical program so you wouldn't be eligible for licensure or get any training in clinical work. As long as that's not your goal, though, it could be a great fit!

[SesameStreet]

2 hours ago, lettuce2786 said:

You should DEFINITELY look into Rachel Barr at Georgetown. Her research interests are: "Transfer of learning skills by infants, utilization of information sources available to infants for learning including television, books and touchscreens, role of parent-child interactions during learning, bilingual and monolingual memory development." She is a wonderful mentor and kind person (so important for grad mentorship!!) and might be a great fit for you. Here's her lab website: https://elp.georgetown.edu/ 

They have two PhD programs at Georgetown: (1) Human Development and Public Policy and (2) Lifespan Cognitive Neuroscience. Sounds like Human Development and Public Policy would work well for you. Just FYI, though, they don't have a clinical program so you wouldn't be eligible for licensure or get any training in clinical work. As long as that's not your goal, though, it could be a great fit!

I found her about a month ago and have already reached out to her (thankfully she's taking grad students - so many people I've emailed have said they aren't this cycle!)! I'm so glad to hear positive things about her!

What I'm discovering is that not a lot of people do what I'm interested in doing. The professors I've been talking with in my undergraduate program have all told me that most Psychology majors apply to 12-15 programs at once (who has that kind of time or money??), so I've been feeling so frustrated that I can't seem to find that many to apply to. With my research interests, I guess that's the nature of the beast. Some programs are better than none!

Thank you, lettuce, for this! I think working with Dr. Barr would be a great fit - now I just have to actually get in! ?

[SocDevMum]

7 hours ago, SesameStreet said:

The professors I've been talking with in my undergraduate program have all told me that most Psychology majors apply to 12-15 programs at once (who has that kind of time or money??),

My mentor told me to pick 10 I could potentially see myself working with - but he definitely never said apply to all 10! I think when you see those numbers, that applies to clinical psych programs. Clinical is notoriously competitive and yes, most clinical applicants apply to ten or more.  The rest of us, however, don't seem to require that many I only applied to 5 that I knew I would be very happy with and had made contact with the professor. Don't feel like you need to waste $1000 applying to programs that aren't a really great fit.

[alts98]

15 hours ago, SesameStreet said:

What I'm discovering is that not a lot of people do what I'm interested in doing. The professors I've been talking with in my undergraduate program have all told me that most Psychology majors apply to 12-15 programs at once (who has that kind of time or money??), so I've been feeling so frustrated that I can't seem to find that many to apply to. With my research interests, I guess that's the nature of the beast. Some programs are better than none!

 

Most people apply to 10+ programs to increase their chances of getting an interview/acceptance somewhere, especially if they only want to apply one round. As stated above, this is mostly beneficial if you are applying to extremely competitive programs like clinical. Given the limited number of funding/seats due to COVID, this could be a competitive application season. 

Most deadlines are December 1st for most psychology PhD programs. I would recommend applying to only 1-2 if you don't feel like you would have enough time to write outstanding applications (i.e. personal statement). Also, most professors or lab directors require weeks of advanced notice for letters of recommendation since it is possible they may be writing other letters as well and are busy with work in general. If you are serious about applying, my first step would be securing those letters of recommendation! 

If you want to stick to the psychology field, look into educational or developmental programs. Usually less competitive and you can probably find someone who is just as interested in what you are. I have also read that matches don't always have to be 100%, it could be a 80% match in interests. Sometimes professors are interested to know you may have something additional you can contribute to the lab! I also know some locations are doing virtual interview days so that could save money if you get interviewed and don't need to spend money to fly out. 

[t_ruth]

I applied to 10 (11 years ago) and got into all but two. The benefit in applying to so many was the variance in funding and the ability to leverage funding offers against each other.