Fascinated by the workings of the human body, Monica Ayuen Dot (BSc 26) is especially interested in the brain and how it shapes who we are.
“Growing up, I saw many people with different developmental experiences, and it made me curious about how the brain works and why people develop the way they do,” shared Dot.
Dot is fueling her curiosity in how the brain works as a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) winner.
She is working with Dr. Amy Desroches, this summer on a research project entitled Reading and Math Achievement in the Early School Years, or Early Predictors of Emerging Literacy Skills in Nursery and Kindergarten with co-investigators Dr. Stephanie Bugden and Dr. Stephen Smith, all from the Department of Psychology.
“Ultimately, we are examining what processes underlie successful development of reading and math, and why some children struggle to learn these skills,” said Dr. Desroches. “We are looking at how the development of these skills might overlap and are also exploring the role of emotion processing and regulation in the development of reading and math.
Being able to participate in this project allows me to contribute to research that can ultimately support children, including those in underserved communities like the ones I grew up in.
Monica Ayuen Dot
Earlier research has found that early literacy skills are among the strongest predictors of later academic success.
Tools that measure a child’s early literacy skills can help predict how they may learn to read in a classroom setting. These include looking at how well a child can recognize letters and the sounds they make, as well as how quickly they can name familiar items such as objects, colours, letters, or numbers.
Together, performance on these tasks can help identify children who may be at risk for reading difficulties and support early interventions that can reduce future long‑term reading challenges.
“Ultimately, we are examining what processes underlie successful development of reading and math, and why some children struggle to learn these skills,” said Dr. Desroches. “We are looking at how the development of these skills might overlap and are also exploring the role of emotion processing and regulation in the development of reading and math.”
Collecting data in the field
Under Dr. Desroches’ supervision, Dot has been working with nursery and kindergarten children to assess their early literacy and numeracy abilities.
Over the summer, Dot will help analyze changes in these literacy-related skills across the school year and examine the relationships in the learning process to help the understanding of early literacy development and factors associated with successful reading skills.
“Through this work, I will also be interpreting developmental patterns to better understand how foundational literacy skills emerge during the first year of school,” explained Dot.
This research resonates with Dot and her experiences growing up in an internally displaced persons camps in South Sudan and in Northern Uganda.
“In these camps many children struggled with language and reading but had no access to assessment, support, or research‑informed interventions that could help improve their skills,” shared Dot.
Later, when Dot worked at the Excel Empowerment Centre in Canada, she observed similar challenges among the children of newly arrived refugee and immigrant families.
“These experiences shaped my desire to understand why some children face early literacy difficulties and how early identification can change their long‑term outcomes,” said Dot. “Being able to participate in this project allows me to contribute to research that can ultimately support children including those in underserved communities like the ones I grew up in.”
Dot just graduated with a Bachelor of Science in neuroscience and is one of the five World University Services of Canada (WUSC) graduates from this past June.
