MEC seminar - 13 January 2021

40 mins Presentation + 20 mins Q&A: Dr. Silke Goebel “Writing numbers and reading digit strings – fundamentals of arithmetic development in primary school” (University of York)

Abstract: Adults easily move between spoken number words and written Arabic digit strings. In my presentation I will describe the development of these skills in children from learning single digits to becoming experts in reading and writing multi-digit numbers. I will explore hurdles on this journey and discuss in how far language affects the development of these skills. In the second part I will present results from our longitudinal study showing that number reading and writing skills in Year 1 predict arithmetic development over the next two years as well as early fraction understanding in Year 3. In sum, our results highlight the importance of number transcoding skills in early primary school.

15 mins: Break

40 mins Presentation + 20 mins Q&A: Mr Muhammod Turk “Epistemological and Professional Identity Development in Undergraduate Engineering Learners” (Loughborough University)

Abstract: Intellectual development has been a key goal of higher education to produce well-rounded graduates. Intellectual development is interrelated with other dimensions of development, namely epistemology and identity. Several research investigations with learners in higher education in different disciplines have shown that learners’ epistemological beliefs and professional identity development are important for higher education. The present study links these findings to UK’s FE college and university undergraduate learners within the engineering context. This talk aims to present an overview of the present study and epistemological development frameworks. Furthermore, in light of study findings, it is argued that over-emphasis on sophisticated beliefs may not be desirable for engineering education. Consequently, sophisticated epistemological beliefs should not be considered as a measure of intellectual development for engineering learners.