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A Bit About Us
Meet the Team
Dedication. Expertise. Passion.
Dr Sarika
Dr Sarika Kewalramani, PhD
Dr Sarika Kewalramani, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer at Swinburne University of Technology, Department of Education, Melbourne.
She has 10+years of teaching Science and Mathematics in Australian primary and secondary educational settings. Sarika's research expertise resides in conceptualising kindergarten and primary teachers' understanding of the nexus between creative STEM-based play by integrating technologies such as robotics as inclusive teaching practices and curricula programs in ways that promote students learning and development.
Through her research, Sarika provides exemplars of evidence-based practices to meaningfully integrate technologies (e.g. Robotics toys) in developmentally appropriate ways to progress for example children’s language, problem solving, inquiry, social communication skills - key dispositions needed for children to engage with STEM learning.
She is the founder and lead researcher for the AIR play program that aspires to engage children in STEM learning trajectories early on.
Dr Kelly-Ann Allen, PhD FAPS, is an Educational and Developmental Psychologist, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education, Monash University, and an Honorary Senior Fellow at the Centre for Wellbeing Science, University of Melbourne.
Her research underscores the importance of a sense of belonging as a universal human need and she has built an international reputation for her work in the area of school belonging.
She is the Lead-director and founder of the international consortium, the Global Belonging Collaborative and is the current and founding Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Belonging and Human Connection.
Dr Kelly-Ann
Dr Kelly-Ann Allen, PhD FAPS
Acknowledgements and Funding
Our sincere gratitude goes to all those who participated in this study (educators, early childhood services, parents and children) despite the COVID-19 pandemic, where we reverted to online modes of data collection.
The contributors to this program would like to especially thank the Department of Education and Training VIC for their support in including the program, Improving Child Social and Emotional Development with Robot Play within their set of tools and resources and accessible to early childhood services, families, communities and allied health professionals through the School Readiness Funding Menu.
This website development was funded by the Monash University, Faculty of Education, School of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Capacity Building Grant.
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