Kimberly Kelly

Kimberly R. Kelly, Ph.D.

Education

  • M.A. (2005) and Ph.D. (2011)  in Human Development & Psychology from Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at UCLA

Research Interests

Dr. Kelly’s scholarship focuses broadly on the intersection of language and cognitive development, learning through social-interactive processes, and socio-emotional development in preschool-age children. Her multi-pronged research agenda utilizes both qualitative and quantitative approaches and integrates interdisciplinary theory from developmental psychology, education and linguistics to address issues facing children and families today. Her research also investigates the development and origins of child conversational and narrative skills and explores socio-emotional and cultural factors that contribute to children’s development of linguistic skills. Her current research project explores how family digital media practices mediate family informal science learning and child STEM literacy through partnership with the Aquarium of the Pacific. Dr. Kelly is also the co-PI on the Provost-funded HIPs@theBeach project examining High-Impact Practices, including internships, undergraduate research, and service learning, at CSULB. Dr. Kelly’s work on narrative story completion methodologies recently received the Distinguished Research Award in Human Development from the American Educational Research Association, Division E. Dr. Kelly also mentors undergraduate students in her Child Language Interactions and Memory lab, and she is currently serving as curriculum committee chair for the President’s Commission on Sustainability.

Teaching

  • HDEV 180: Lifespan Human Development 
  • HDEV 307: Approaches to Childhood
  • HDEV 331: STEP into Human Development: Skills, training experience, and purpose
  • HDEV 333: Professionals in Human Development
  • HDEV 337: STEPs to Graduate Study: Preparation for HDEV graduate study
  • HDEV 320:  Quantitative Methods in Human Development 
  • HDEV 406: Personal Narrative & Storytelling; Emotion, Cognition, & Culture
  • HDEV 470: Seminar and Practicum 
  • CLA 492: Liberal Arts Internship