Skills Underlying Maths: Understanding the role of executive functions in the development of mathematics proficiency.
Lead Research Organisation:
Loughborough University
Department Name: Mathematics Education Centre
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Camilla Gilmore (Principal Investigator) | |
| Lucy Cragg (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Cragg L
(2017)
Direct and indirect influences of executive functions on mathematics achievement.
in Cognition
Cragg L
(2014)
Skills underlying mathematics: The role of executive function in the development of mathematics proficiency
in Trends in Neuroscience and Education
Cragg L
(2017)
When is working memory important for arithmetic? The impact of strategy and age.
in PloS one
Gilmore C
(2015)
The role of cognitive inhibition in different components of arithmetic
in ZDM
Gilmore C
(2020)
What can cognitive psychology tell us about the challenges of learning mathematics (and what do we still not know)?
in Impact: Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching
Gilmore C
(2014)
Teachers' Understanding of the Role of Executive Functions in Mathematics Learning.
in Mind, brain and education : the official journal of the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society
Gilmore C
(2016)
Congruency effects in dot comparison tasks: convex hull is more important than dot area.
in Journal of cognitive psychology (Hove, England)
Gilmore C
(2017)
The interaction of procedural skill, conceptual understanding and working memory in early mathematics achievement
in Journal of Numerical Cognition
Hubber P
(2019)
Mathematics students demonstrate superior visuo-spatial working memory to humanities students under conditions of low central executive processing load
in Journal of Numerical Cognition
Hubber Paula Jane
(2015)
Understanding the role of visuo-spatial working memory in adult mathematics
| Description | The research funded on this grant has revealed the ways in which executive functions, the skills required to monitor and control thought and action, are involved in learning and doing mathematics. With respect to our four main objectives: 1. To determine the relative contribution of executive function skills in factual, procedural and conceptual mathematics knowledge: We collected and analysed data from 293 individuals on a range of executive function and mathematics tasks. We showed that holding and manipulating information in mind (working memory) and ignoring distractions (inhibition) are more important for retrieving mathematics facts from memory and carrying out mathematical procedures than they are for understanding mathematical concepts. Working memory seems to play a direct role in mathematics achievement as well as contributing indirectly through these components of mathematical knowledge. 2a. To pinpoint the role of working memory in the solution of mathematical problems: A series of 6 experiments were carried out to address this objective. We found that solving mathematical problems across a range of strategies involves storing and manipulating both verbal and visuospatial information in mind. However, adults studying mathematics at university do appear to show an advantage for manipulating visuospatial information in mind under certain conditions. 2b. To explore the role of executive function skills in learning new mathematical concepts, facts and procedures: We studied 88 children in year 4 (8-9-year-olds) as they learned new mathematical material relating to understanding of fractions and decimals. Children demonstrated greater learning of fractions compared to decimals over a 6 month period. Tentative early findings suggest that working memory and shifting ability were related to learning a new topic, but these relationships were largely accounted for by children's attention levels in the classroom. We went beyond our original aims and collected further data on these children in summer 2015, however we are still finalising the conclusions for this phase of the project. We also carried out a new pilot study investigating how individuals learn new arithmetic facts. Initial findings suggest that success in learning new arithmetic facts seems to be related to an individual's working memory capacity. 3. To understand how the relationships among executive function skills and mathematical abilities develop with age: In contrast to our original predictions we found that the relationships among executive function skills and mathematical abilities are remarkably stable between age 8 years and adulthood. The group of 293 individuals tested for objective 1 was made up of 4 different age groups: 8-9-year-olds, 11-12-year-olds, 13-14-year-olds, and young adults. The relative contribution of executive function skills to factual, procedural and conceptual mathematics knowledge did not differ across these age groups. We also compared the extent to which 9-11-year-olds, 12-14-year-olds and adults rely on working memory when solving mathematical problems (objective 2a). We found that children rely on working memory resources to a greater extent than adults, but this is largely because they are slower to solve mathematical problems, and therefore rely on working memory resources for longer, rather than requiring more of them. |
| Exploitation Route | Our research brings together two fields and therefore our findings may be of interest to a range of academics. Our findings may encourage academics interested in the role of executive functions in learning to consider investigating factual, procedural and conceptual components of mathematics separately in their own research. Similarly, our findings may encourage academics interested in mathematics education to consider the role of executive functions, particularly working memory and inhibition, in mathematics performance more generally. Our research would also be of use to academics investigating working memory training by identifying which aspects of mathematics might be most influenced by such training. Education professionals and parents could use these findings to help them consider reasons why children may struggle with mathematics. Our findings could also raise teachers' awareness of the demands on children's executive functions in the classroom and consequently help them to develop approaches to teaching and supporting learning that reduce reliance on working memory and inhibition. Policy makers and designers of mathematics curricula, assessments and learning resources could also use these findings to consider the cognitive demands involved in their materials, for example in respect to whether it involves factual, procedural or conceptual aspects of mathematics. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education |
| URL | http://www.sumproject.org.uk |
| Description | The research conducted as part of this project has revealed the ways in which executive functions, the skills required to monitor and control thought and action, are involved in learning and doing mathematics. These findings have had impact on teachers, educational professionals and policy makers, children and parents, and the general public. Our research has been used to improve knowledge of the range of skills involved in mathematics, increase understanding of the barriers to learning mathematics, and change teacher practice. Teachers The primary beneficiaries of our project were teachers. Throughout the project we worked closely with teachers both to inform the design of our studies about learning and to maximise the impact of our engagement activities. We have raised teachers' awareness of the importance of executive function skills for learning mathematics and given them a greater understanding of the reasons children may struggle with learning mathematics. Our engagement activities with teachers included providing CPD sessions, running workshops in schools, and producing online and printed information materials outlining our findings. These activities have led to measurable changes in teacher knowledge, with over 90% of attendees at our CPD sessions reporting that the training improved their understanding of mathematics learning. Teachers also reported that the training would impact on their practice in the classroom, for example: "Very useful as have lots of need in the class and this will be helpful for many children" "I liked the ideas that I can take back and use for working memory and magnitude of number" "Useful activities to use with children to determine barriers". We have had positive impact on teachers beyond those who directly attended our CPD sessions by producing an information booklet, launched in Autumn 2015, about the skills involved in learning mathematics. We distributed printed versions of this to 250 schools, sent PDF versions to teachers on our mailing list, and promoted an online version via social media and on TES Connect (subject specific community boards for teachers). The online version of the booklet has been viewed or downloaded over 120 times to date. This booklet is also being further disseminated by special educational needs support services to SENCOs and teachers. They reported: "We just wanted to let you know how useful we have found the Summary Findings booklets and leaflets for class teachers and parents. The whole team now includes one of the booklets with our assessment reports where maths difficulties have been identified. We find them useful as part of our general feedback." Our research has had impact on teachers at all stages of their career, including trainee-teachers. We helped to inform teachers about educational neuroscience by taking part in the Wellcome Trust "The Science of Learning" online platform, where we answered questions from teachers about various aspects of learning. Tutors on PGCE courses reported that they had included discussion about the importance of executive functions for mathematics learning in their courses as a result of receiving our materials. Finally, teachers have also benefitted from receiving better support from special educational needs professionals as a result of our research and activities (see below). We continue to monitor the downloads of our teacher materials and to survey teachers for evidence of impact. Education Professionals and Policy Makers Our project also impacted on the wider community of educational professionals by increasing their understanding of the range of skills involved in learning mathematics and common barriers to children's learning. This has helped them both to improve the support they give children directly and helped them to support other teachers, thereby increasing the reach of our impact. We gave a series of regional and national presentations for approximately 500 special educational needs professionals and tutors for children with specific needs. Immediately following these events, participants reported that the sessions had improved their understanding of the topic and given them ideas to implement in professional practice: "Really helpful - ideas to use straight away and understanding of children I work with greatly increased." "Very inspiring & practical. I feel much more confident in my assessment and advice for numeracy and facilities" "This was so useful & applicable in practice: an excellent model for identifying difficulties with mathematics." We also surveyed attendees 9 months after the sessions which revealed that more than 70% of professionals reported that the session had enhanced their teaching skills, and 65% had applied the knowledge gained from the talk, for example respondents reported that the session: "Has helped me to be more specific when giving advice to teachers about strategies to help pupils and give them greater awareness of the underlying difficulties." "I can discuss problems that my students may have had when in primary education, and make them reflect on the support or otherwise they have had" The information provided in these sessions was also disseminated to special educational needs professionals more broadly through an article in the Professional Association of Teachers of Students with Specific (PATOSS) learning difficulties journal, which is sent to all members of the society. We have also influenced reports for educational policy makers by contributing to the British Psychological Society (BPS) submission to the British Educational Research Association (BERA) / Royal Society of Arts (RSA) inquiry into Research and Teacher Education 2014. The interim and final inquiry reports both drew attention to elements of the BPS response based on our research. For example, based on our research we highlighted that 80% of teachers have received no formal training about important aspects of child cognitive development that underpin learning processes in mathematics and therefore there is a need for this training as part of teacher education. The BERA/RSA interim report picked up on this and stated that teacher education programmes should be informed by research including "educational psychological studies of teaching - studying learning processes, child development". Children and Parents Children have benefitted from the project via increased engagement with science both through active participation in the project and from interactive workshops about psychology and neuroscience, which we have run in schools and at The University of Nottingham. Several parents emailed us spontaneously to report how much their children had enjoyed taking part in the project. In our school workshops we involved children in a series of interactive activities, which allowed us to introduce ideas arising from the project in the context of discussing learning, memory and the brain. Students engaged with all of the activities and asked insightful questions that indicated their grasp of the topics covered. Teachers reported that these workshops had been positive for children, themselves, and their school more generally, for example: "Our science day was a great success and I have been delighted with the science buzz about school. This is in no small l part down to visitors such as yourselves who kindly gave up time to come in to see us. We are very grateful to you and your colleagues and I will be sure to contact you again to support other science events" Feedback collected from sixth-form students who attended workshops we ran at the university revealed that students' knowledge of the importance of working memory for mathematics significantly increased after the workshops. Parents have benefitted from a better understanding of the difficulties that their children may face with mathematics. In particular, we demonstrated impact on parents' knowledge via the University of Nottingham Summer Scientist Week 2015. This event takes place annually and in 2015 was specifically linked to our project and themed around exploring the skills needed for learning and doing mathematics. The event was attended by around 500 children and we directly engaged with 230 parents to inform them of the skills involved in learning mathematics. We surveyed parents' knowledge of this topic before and after the event and found that parents were significantly more knowledgeable about the importance of executive functions for mathematics learning after engaging with our materials (e.g. posters, information leaflets). We also kept parents informed about the project through regular newsletters and at the end of the project we produced and widely circulated an information leaflet outlining our findings. Parents responded positively to this and a small number of parents contacted us for advice about their children's mathematics learning. We were able to direct them to sources of information and support that might help. General Public We have raised public awareness of the challenges involved in learning mathematics, as well as science research more generally, through participation in numerous community science events (e.g. Science in the Park, The Big Bang East Midlands, 3-2-1-Ignition* Science pop up shop, Nottingham Scibar) promoting science research to the public. Feedback collected revealed that these events changed attendees' perceptions of science, for example: "I wasn't very good at science at school and my daughter loves it. Your science pop up shop has increased our knowledge and has been enjoyable too. Thank you for the positive experience" "Really interesting. Thank you for organising" These events also led to requests for more information about the project both from individuals and the media. For example, we were invited to discuss our research on a local radio station and in this way reached a wider audience of listeners. Throughout the project we have also seen increased traffic to our project website (>2000 visits to date). The website has sections for parents, young people and teachers informing them of our findings. Project staff The research staff employed on the project have benefitted through the training, skills and experience gained. We employed three research assistants who have all progressed their career as a result of working on the project: one has gone on to successfully complete a PGCE and is now a qualified primary school teacher, one has moved into university administration and is now an Operations Manager and one has gone onto a further research job. The project also included a linked studentship and the student recruited to this position successfully completed her PhD within 3 years and is now working as a post-doctoral researcher. |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | Education Endowment Foundation Guidance Report for Teachers |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Camilla Gilmore contributed to a guidance report for teachers "Improving Mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1" published by the EEF (Education Endowment Foundation). The report highlighted five recommendations to support practitioners in developing the maths skills of 3-7 year-olds. The report has formed the basis of training activities for teachers delivered by the EEF and via the Research Schools Network and has received coverage from the educational media. |
| URL | https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/tools/guidance-reports/early-maths/ |
| Description | Preterm Birth Information for Education Professionals |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Findings from the Skills Underlying Mathematics project were incorporated into a e-learning resource for educational professionals about the educational difficulties of children born pre-term. The resource included strategies for supporting preterm-born children's mathematics learning by overcoming difficulties with underlying cognitive skills. The resource was evaluated with a group of primary school teachers and found to increase their knowledge and confidence in supporting preterm children in the classroom. The resource is now freely available online and has been used by over 6000 unique users in the first 10 months since its launch. It has been promoted by a wide range of stakeholders including: Department for Education; Times Educational Supplement; Association of Educational Psychologists; NAHT, Professional Association of Teachers Of Students with Specific learning difficulties; Early Years Educator magazine; Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment, Northern Ireland; European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants; Neonatal units across the UK. Educational professionals have reported that they have used the resource for their school training days and changed their practice as a result, for example by changing the school application form so that new students joining the school are immediately registered in terms of prematurity. Parents of preterm children have reported that they have sent the resource to their child's school. |
| URL | http://pretermbirth.info |
| Description | Expanding Excellence in England |
| Amount | £6,594,814 (GBP) |
| Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
| Department | Research England |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2019 |
| End | 07/2022 |
| Description | Optimising Learning of Multiplication and Division Facts in Schoolchildren |
| Amount | £41,548 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 2246744 |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2019 |
| End | 09/2023 |
| Description | Skills Underlying Maths: The Role of Inhibitory Control in Learning Multiplication Tables |
| Amount | £416,415 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ES/T004940/1 |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2020 |
| End | 06/2023 |
| Title | Factual, Procedural and Conceptual Mathematics Tasks |
| Description | A suite of tasks designed to measure cognitive components of mathematics performance in adolescents. |
| Type Of Material | Physiological assessment or outcome measure |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | These tasks have been used in a large ongoing study of mathematics difficulties in preterm born adolescents - the PRISM-2 study based at the University of Leicester. |
| Title | Skills underlying mathematics: executive functions and components of mathematics |
| Description | This data collection contains data from a large battery of mathematics and executive function tasks administered to a sample of 403 participants aged between 5 and 25 years of age. The data collection includes standardised assessments of mathematics, the Numerical Operations and Mathematical Reasoning subtests from the Weschler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT-II UK), in addition to age appropriate experimental mathematics tests of factual knowledge, procedural skill and conceptual understanding in the domain of arithmetic. Executive functions were assessed with experimental tasks measuring verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and selective attention. Questionnaire measures of mathematics anxiety and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function were also administered. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The data has been provide to the UK DataService and will be available for other researchers to access from March 2016. |
| URL | http://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/852106/ |
| Description | Continuing Professional Development (CPD) session for teachers and special educational needs professionals |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We ran a CPD session for approximately 30 teachers and special educational needs professionals about "Understanding the barriers to learning in mathematics". This interactive session introduced attendees to research arising from the project in the context of understanding the underlying reasons for mathematics learning difficulties. There was extended discussion with attendees throughout the interactive session. All attendees chose to sign up to our mailing list to receive further information about the research project. Feedback was collected from attendees - 96% of attendees agreed that the training improved their understanding of barriers to learning in mathematics; 83% of attendees found the training helpful to them and their school. Sample comments included: "Very useful as have lots of needs in the class and this will be helpful for many children" "Very thought provoking and knowledgeable" "Interesting and relevant to my current work" "I Liked the ideas that I can take back and use for working memory and magnitude of number" "Most useful was learning ideas to improve working memory. Being shown how a child feels when asked to hold information" "Useful activities to use with children to determine barriers." "Most useful was understanding strategies to help improve children's memory and understanding the need to use visual prompts" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Contribution to the BPS submission to BERA-RSA inquiry. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | In 2013-2014 the RSA and BERA conducted an inquiry into Research and Teacher education. We submitted material based on the findings of our project to the British Psychological Society response to the Inquiry. Our submission featured in the BPS response and we were credited as co-authors of the response The RSA-BERA interim and final inquiry reports both drew attention to elements of the BPS response based on our research. For example: 1. Our research cited in the BPS response revealed that 80% of teachers have received no formal training about important aspects of child cognitive development that underpin learning processes in mathematics. The RSA-BERA interim report states that teacher education programmes should be informed by research including "educational psychological studies of teaching - studying learning processes, child development" 2. Our research cited in the BPS response revealed that the internet is a popular source for teachers to find out about research development, and therefore teachers need to have the skills to determine which sources of research on the internet are reliable. The principles for the future outlined in the RSA-BERA final report highlight that "Every teacher is entitled to work in a research-rich environment that supports the development of their research literacy, and offers access to facilities and resources (both on-site and online) that support sustained engagement with and in research." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Espresso research digest for teachers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | In collaboration with Cambridge Mathematics, we produced an 'Espresso' - a two-page accessible research summary for teachers. The focus of the Espresso was working memory and mathematics. We reviewed the research conducted by ourselves and others which demonstrates the relationship between working memory and mathematics performance and proposed strategies which teachers can incorporate into their classroom practices. The aim of the Espresso was to increase teachers' awareness of working memory and their understanding of why it is important for mathematics, how to identify children who may have working memory difficulties and ways that they can adapt their teaching to reduce working memory demands. The Espresso was released in December 2017 and was downloaded over 750 times in the first 3 months. 80% of teachers who left feedback about the Espresso reported that the content was useful or very useful. One teacher reported "I like the espresso approach and the way that research helps support further development". The Espresso also received attention via social media. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.cambridgemaths.org/espresso/view/espresso-10/ |
| Description | Interactive sessions about learning, memory and the brain for children in Years 4, 6, 8, 12 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | We have run a series of 11 sessions in primary and secondary schools with students in Years 4, 6, 8 & 12. In each session we engaged children in a series of interactive activities, which allowed us to introduce ideas arising from the project in the context of discussing learning, memory and the brain. For secondary school children this also provided an opportunity to introduce them to the ideas that are covered in Psychology degrees. All of the sessions have been extremely popular with both teachers and students. Students engaged with all of the activities and asked insightful questions that indicated their grasp of the topics covered. All of the schools expressed their interest in future sessions, and many further invitations have resulted. For example, one teacher emailed to say: "Our science day was a great success and I have been delighted with the science buzz about school. This is in no small l part down to visitors such as yourselves who kindly gave up time to come in to see us. We are very grateful to you and your colleagues and I will be sure to contact you again to support other science events" Feedback was collected from sixth-form students, 86% of whom rated the session as engaging. Our session was one of a series of six, and 100% of students reported that the course gave an insight into this area of study at university level and 78% reported that it increased their interest in this area of study. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2013,2014 |
| Description | Interview and artlcle in TES |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Lucy Cragg was interviewed by TES about the role of executive functions in mathematics learning and how teachers can support children's learning. This article also appears in the TES Research Series (Vol 3). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.tes.com/news/tes-magazine/tes-magazine/tes-focus-onexecutive-function |
| Description | Interview for TES podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Camilla Gilmore was interviewed for the TES 'Podagogy' podcast. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.tes.com/news/why-early-maths-teaching-should-focus-play |
| Description | Interview for TES podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Lucy Cragg was interviewed for the TES 'Podagogy' podcast. This received over 2500 downloads in the first three months. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://tesnews.podbean.com/e/tes-podagogy-talks-to-professor-lucy-cragg/ |
| Description | Invited departmental seminar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Invited departmental seminar "Skills underlying maths: The role of executive functions in the development of maths proficiency" at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London. This led to a request to share the methods developed during the project which will be used in future research conducted at Birkbeck. There was also an increase in twitter followers after the event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Keynote address at Stoke-on-Trent SEND services Inclusion event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This activity was a keynote presentation at a CPD event organized by Stoke-on-Trent SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) services for a range of professionals working with children who have special educational needs or disability. The audience of approximately 150 included teachers, special educational needs professionals and social workers. The presentation discussed research arising from the project in the context of understanding the reasons why some children struggle to understand mathematics. After the session there was formal and informal discussion with practitioners at the conference. Following the conference two further invitations for us to present at regional special educational needs training events followed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Keynote presentation at Annual PATOSS Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This activity involved a keynote presentation at the Annual Conference of PATOSS - the professional association of teachers of students with specific learning difficulties. The audience was made up of approximately 300 PATOSS members - teachers, special educational needs professionals and tutors. The presentation discussed research arising from the project in the context of understanding the reasons why some children struggle to understand mathematics. There was extended formal and informal discussion with education professionals at the conference after the presentation. Following the conference we had email contact from 4 individuals seeking further information to apply the material in their practice. Two invitations for us to present at regional special educational needs training events followed. An associated article was published in the PATOSS Bulletin to be sent to all members. Feedback was collected from attendees - 100% rated the presentation as 'Excellent' or 'Good'. Delegates reported that the presentation had improved their understanding of the topic and given them ideas to implement in professional practice. Sample comments included: "Interesting research delivered in an easy-to-understand way." "It was a 'light bulb' moment for me - I want to know more." "Really helpful - ideas to use straight away and understanding of children I work with greatly increased." "Very inspiring & practical. I feel much more confident in my assessment and advice for numeracy and facilities." "Superb, interesting, thought-provoking - all sorts of implications, especially for classroom delivery." "This was so useful & applicable in practice: an excellent model for identifying difficulties with mathematics." "Will definitely follow this up extremely interesting research. " "Very clear and well documented. Practical suggestions helpful." We are currently surveying delegates 9 months after the presentation to gather evidence about changes in practice resulting from the presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Participation in community science events |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We have participated in 6 community events promoting science research to the public. These included The Big Bang East Midlands event, Science in the Park and Nottingham's 3-2-1-Ignition* science pop up shop, as well as university community days. At the events we ran an interactive stand introducing visitors to our research by discussing memory, learning and mathematics. This included games and activities for both children and adults to take part in. At all events our activities were very popular and visitors engaged with the research team in discussion about both the activities and our research more broadly. Feedback was collected from the 3-2-1-Ignition* science pop up shop. 100% of the public who visited the shop said they thought that the shop would encourage young people to take up STEM subjects for further study and/or careers. 76.6% of the public said that the shop changed their perceptions of science. Sample comments included: "I wasn't very good at science at school and my daughter loves it. Your science pop up shop has increased our knowledge and has been enjoyable too. Thank you for the positive experience" These events led to requests for us to take part in further public engagement activities. Our research featured in a blog report about the Science in the Park written by a journalist (http://nottinghamscience.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/science-in-park-2013-pt1.html). We were also invited to discuss our research on a local radio station (Radio Dawn) and in this way reached a wider audience of listeners. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2013,2014 |
| Description | Project newsletter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We have produced a series of newsletters which report the ongoing progress of the project. This has been sent to the parents of all participants in our research and has also been handed out at local and regional science public engagement events. This newsletter has prompted responses from parents who have indicated that: "Thanks for the findings, my son enjoyed taking part in this Research." "I enjoyed your newsletter, thanks." "Matthew enjoyed the study. He likes Maths, and was excited to tell me what he was doing when you visited." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2013,2014 |
| Description | Skills Underlying Maths website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In October 2015 we launched a new project website. This now provides information for parents, teachers and the general public about the aims and findings of the project. Two booklets summarizing the findings of the project for parents and teachers can be downloaded from the site. There are also links to other sources of information. There is information for academics about the academic outputs of the project. The site is kept active via a twitter feed. In the 4 months since the launch of the new website the site has received 368 views from 161 unique visitors. These came from 14 different countries, with the majority being from the UK (89%). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015,2016 |
| URL | http://www.sumproject.org.uk |
| Description | Skills Underlying Maths: Summary of findings for teachers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | We produced a booklet for teachers summarizing the findings of the project and the implications for education. We publicized this by: Emailing a PDF to teachers on our mailing list. Placing the booklet information and a PDF for download on our website. Posting a link on twitter. Posting about the project and booklet on the TES Connect (subject specific community boards for teachers). The booklet was sent to 70 teachers on our mailing list. We logged 94 visits to the online version of |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://thesumproject.wordpress.com/teachers/ |
| Description | Summer Scientist Week 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Summer Scientist Week is an annual event run at the University of Nottingham organised by the project Co-I. Each year around 500 children and their parents spend half-a-day at the University learning about research findings, taking part in research studies and enjoying games and activities. In 2015 the event was linked to the SUM project and was themed around exploring the skills needed for learning and doing maths. Alongside posters displayed at the event highlighting research in this area, parents (n = 230) were given a leaflet summarising the findings of the project and explaining the different skills children need to learn and do maths. To explore the impact of these materials we collected pre-test and immediate post-test questionnaires from 140 parents. These questionnaires asked parents to rate the importance of a range of skills for learning mathematics. The questionnaire was developed as part of the project and we have previously used this to explore teachers' views (Gilmore & Cragg, (20000). Analysis of the questionnaire responses demonstrated significant change in parents' knowledge and understanding of the skills necessary for learning and doing maths. Parents rated domain-general cognitive skills, and executive functions skills in particular, as significantly more important for maths after compared to before the event. This change was specific to the skills which were the focus of the event as there was no change in ratings of the importance of domain-specific skills. Parents also reported that they found the information in the leaflet useful. For example "I found the information in the leaflet very useful and informative."; "The scientist school helps as an extension to make maths more fun and to demystify it"; "definitely interesting on learning styles and on different ways of explaining the same thing". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/psychology/careers-outreach/spring-scientist-week/studies-2015/studies.... |
| Description | Talk at Nottingham Scibar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Hosted by the British Science Association and CAMRA, Nottingham SciBar is a monthly event held in a pub where a research scientist presents a short introduction to their work and how it affects everyone. This is followed by a friendly discussion. We presented an overview of the findings of the project focusing of understanding the range of factors that contribute to success in mathematics, including maths specific skills like quantity estimation and conceptual understanding and general thinking skills such as memory and flexible thinking. The talk generated lively discussion and questions. Feedback collected at the event included "I think one of the greatest barriers to success in maths is modern teaching methods. I have been teaching adults and children who have difficulty with maths for over ten years, mainly one-to-one, and I welcome any insights into how to help them. I was interested that making the student the focus of maths questions helps them, and I will consciously do this more. The role of inhibition is interesting as I find a frequent mistake is 2+3=6 or 2x3=5, only with the smaller numbers perhaps because these are better embedded and the student is relying on recall from associative memory. The limitations of working memory reinforce the need to use pen and paper for calculations. Do you have an email list I could join for news of the outcomes of your research?". Posts on the event website included "Really interesting. Thank you for organising". The event resulted in more people being added to our mailing list. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.meetup.com/Nottingham-SciBar/events/224943944/ |