Welcome!
Sara A. Smith received her Doctorate in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition from the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, followed by postdoctoral research in the Brain.Experience.Education Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is an Associate Professor at the University of South Florida.
The broad aim of her research program is to gain a better understanding of linguistic experience and how it impacts language, cognition, literacy, and academic achievement. The goals of her research are to 1) generate predictive theories of language acquisition that incorporate individual differences and learning environment; and 2) develop scalable technology-enhanced solutions for enabling learning, informed by the first goal. She focuses on emerging technologies for teaching and learning, including digital environments and immersive virtual environments.
Dr. Smith is the author of more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, holds a patent for a system of language instruction via AR, and been PI/Co-PI on over $4M in grant funding, including from the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Education.
She partners with schools, industry, and government agencies to solve challenges together and build innovative learning solutions.