Laurel Felt is a doctoral candidate at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. She applies a skills-based perspective to the study, design, and evaluation of media-rich programs for youths’ holistic development and lifelong learning. She is also interested in public health and international partnerships.
For her dissertation, she will develop a theoretically sound, focus group informed, professionally vetted curriculum to complement GameDesk‘s state-of-the-art emotion regulation-oriented video game, Dojo. Based on her extensive literature review and play-testing with members of the youthful intended audience, Laurel also will develop a series of recommendations to inform revisions of Dojo, which GameDesk’s development team will implement. Finally, Laurel will assess the individual and combined impacts of her curriculum and Dojo via experimental design in several Los Angeles public school classrooms. Quantitative and qualitative data gathered inductively and deductively will inform this participatory research experience. Hopefully, the lessons learned from this project will: suggest new lines of research and product development; yield viable strategies for supporting youths’ social and emotional development; and promote holistic wellness throughout learning communities.
Laurel received a MA in Child Development from Tufts University in Medford, MA, and a BS in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. She currently lives in Los Angeles.
