Sen Wang
Research Assistant Professor
Dr. Sen Wang is a Research Assistant Professor in the Teaching & Learning Department at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and a faculty affiliate of the Wheelock Institute for the Science of Education (WISE). Her research examines how children’s interactions with social and symbolic learning environments shape language and literacy development, with particular attention to vocabulary, knowledge building, and reading comprehension.
Specifically, her research program addresses three interconnected questions: What features characterize the learning environments children encounter? How do children’s interactions with these environments shape learning and development? And how can these environments be intentionally designed to improve literacy outcomes? Across this work, she seeks to identify theoretically grounded principles for designing effective and equitable language and literacy learning environments.
Recent News
Education
PhD, Reading Education and Language Arts, Florida State University
MS, Reading Education and Language Arts, Florida State University
MS, Philosophy, Chengdu University of Technology and Science, China
BA, Child, Youth, and Family Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
AA, English Translation, Sichuan International Studies University, China
Selected Publications
Wang, S., Cabell, S. Q., Schatschneider, C., Phillips, B. M., & DeCoster, J. (2026). Exploring preschoolers’ vocabulary and knowledge acquisition from informational video and shared reading. Early Education and Development, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2026.2635575
Hadley, E.B., Wang, S. & Cabell, S.Q. (2025). Exploring explicit vocabulary instruction during kindergarten informational text read-alouds. Early Childhood Education Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-025-02098-0
Wang, S., Cabell, S. Q, Hadley, E. B., Pentimonti, J., & Leushuis, A. (2025). The frequency of informational text read-alouds in kindergarten and its association with students’ vocabulary and knowledge development. Early Childhood Education Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-025-01885-z
Fundelius, E., Wade, T., Robbins, A., Wang, S., McConomy, M. A., & Fumero, K. (2022). Universal design principles for multimodal representation in literacy activities for preschoolers. Inclusive Practices, 0(0).
Hwang, H., Lupo, S. M., Cabell, S. Q., & Wang, S. (2020). What research says about leveraging the literacy block for learning. Reading in Virginia, 35.
Selected Presentations
Wang, S. (2026, May 6). Advancing research on AI and child development: Interactive discussion of priority questions, methods, safety, and policy [Webinar]. Society for Research in Child Development.
Wang, S., & Hadley, E. B. (2026, April). Growing words: An integrated framework for building vocabulary knowledge in the early grades [Roundtable presentation]. American Educational Research Association annual meeting, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Wang, S., Cabell, S. Q., Wong, K. M., DeCoster, J., & Vasile, R. (2025, May). What children are watching at home and its relation to their language skills [Poster presentation]. Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Conference 2025. Minneapolis, MN.
Wang, S., Cabell, S. Q., Schatschneider, C., Phillips, B. M., & DeCoster, J. (2025, May). Exploring the impact of shared book reading and video viewing on preschoolers’ vocabulary and knowledge in informational text [Poster presentation]. Biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Conference 2025. Minneapolis, MN.