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I would appreciate it if colleagues could circulate this to potential candidates:
Spatial Cognition As A Contributor To The Development Of Science, Technology, Engineering And Mathematics (STEM) Skills
Principal Supervisor: Dr. Emily Farran (Institute of Education)
Co- Supervisor: Professor Michael Thomas (Birkbeck)
Spatial ability involves perceiving the location and dimension of objects and their relationships to one another; it is core to everyday living (giving directions, understanding diagrams, packing a bag). Spatial ability in childhood is a predictor of expertise in adulthood in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects (Wai et al., 2009). This proposal focuses on the development and training of spatial thinking and specifically how this impacts mathematical competence in children. In this studentship, you will first establish the developmental relations across space and mathematics cognitive skills in a cross-sectional sample of children between 5 and 10 years. You will then develop tasks which train or prime spatial thinking in children and explore the impact of these on small scale spatial cognition, as well as large scale spatial cognition (i.e. navigation, using our established virtual reality set-up). You will also determine the extent to which training spatial abilities transfers to improvement on number and maths tasks. This research is important if we are to push forward our understanding of the development of spatial cognition, the effects of exposure to spatial information, and how this impacts mathematical skills.
Candidate requirements
Applicants should hold a minimum of a UK Honours Degree in Psychology or a related discipline at 2:1 level or equivalent.
Closing date for applications: 14th March 2014
For more information see: http://www.bloomsbury.ac.uk/studentships/studentships2014/farranthomas/view
Thank you
Emily Farran
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Dr. Emily K. Farran
Psychology and Human Development
Institute of Education
25 Woburn Square
London WC1H 0AA
UK
tel: +44(0)207 6126272
http://www.ioe.ac.uk/staff/PHDT/PHDT_22.html
Out now: Farran, E.K. and Karmiloff-Smith, A. (Eds) (2012). Neurodevelopmental Disorders Across the Lifespan: A Neuroconstructivist Approach. Oxford University Press.
http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199594818.001.0001/acprof-9780199594818
