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Christine Howe

Position/Status
Professor of Education

E-mail Address: cjh82@cam.ac.uk

Phone: 01223 767724

Qualifications
BA Hons (Sussex)
PhD (Cambridge)

Membership of Professional Bodies/Associations
Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences
Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Association
Member of Association for Science Education

Profile

Christine is a developmental psychologist, whose research lies at the interface between Psychology and Education. Her main interests are children's conceptual knowledge, particularly in the domains of science and mathematics, and children's developing communicative competence. For the past 20 years, she has also been bringing the two interests together, via research on 'interactive learning' in peer group, tutor-led and computer-mediated settings.

In 1999, Christine began a longitudinal study concerned with young people's experiences of racism, and followed this with a project on bullying in multi-ethnic schools. Christine edits the journals Social Development and Cambridge Journal of Education, and she sits on the Editorial Boards of five other journals. In 2006, she was elected Chair of the British Psychological Society's Developmental Section, and became a member of the ESRC's Training and Development Board in 2004.

Academic Area/Links

  • Neuroscience and psychology in education
  • Science education

Research Topics

  • Conceptual development in children
  • Knowledge acquisition in science and mathematics
  • Children's communicative skills
  • Group work in schools
  • Computer-mediated learning
  • Experiences of racism during adolescence and early adulthood

Current Research Projects

Primary school children's tacit and explicit knowledge of object motion. ESRC funding. 2007-2009

Course Involvement

  • M Phil/Med Psychology and Education
  • PGCE
  • BA in Education

Publications

Howe, C. and McWilliam, D. (2006). Opposition in social interaction between children: why intellectual benefits do not mean social costs. Social Development, 15, 205-231.

Howe, C., McWilliam, D. and Cross, G. (2005). Chance favours only the prepared mind: incubation and the delayed effects of peer collaboration. British Journal of Psychology, 96, 67-93.

Cassidy, C., O'Connor, R., Howe, C. and Warden, D. (2005). Perceived discrimination among ethnic minority young people: the role of psychological variables. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 35, 1246-1265.

Cassidy, C., O'Connor, R. C., Howe, C. and Warden, D. (2004). Perceived discrimination, self-esteem and psychological distress among ethnic minority young people. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 51, 329-339.

Howley, M. and Howe, C. (2004). Social interaction and cognitive growth: an examination through the role-taking skills of deaf and hearing children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 22, 219-243.

McWilliam, D. and Howe, C. (2004). Enhancing pre-schoolers ' reasoning skills: an intervention to optimize the use of justificatory speech acts during peer interaction. Language and Education, 18, 504-524.

Howe, C.J. and Tolmie, A. (2003). Group work in primary school science: discussion, consensus and guidance from experts. International Journal of Educational Research, 39, 51-72.

Howe, C.J. (2002). The countering of overgeneralisation. Journal of Child Language, 29, 87 5-895.

Anderson, A., Howe, C., Soden, R., Halliday, J. and Low, J. (2001). Peer interaction and the learning of critical thinking skills in further education students. Instructional Science. 29, 1-32.

McWilliam D. and Howe, C.J. (2001). Peer argument in educational settings: variations due to socioeconomic status, gender and activity context. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 20, 61-80.

Howe, C.J., Tolmie, A., Duchak-Tanner, V and Rattray, C. (2000). Hypothesis testing in science: group consensus and the acquisition of conceptual and procedural knowledge. Learning and Instruction, 10, 361-391.

Howe, C. J., Tolmie, A. and Sofroniou, N. (1999). Experimental appraisal of personal beliefs in science: constraints on performance in the 9 to 14 age group. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 69, 243-274.

Howe, C.J. (1998). Conceptual structure in childhood and adolescence: the case of everyday physics. London: Routledge. Pp xiv + 232.

Howe, C.J. and Tolmie, A. (1998). Computer support for learning in collaborative contexts: prompted hypothesis testing in physics. Computers and Education, 3/4, 223-235.

Howe, C.J. and Tolmie, A. (1998). Productive interaction in the context of computer-supported collaborative science. In K. Littleton and P. Light (eds.), Learning with Computers: Analysing Productive Interaction. London: Routledge, 24-45.

Howe, C.J. (1997). Gender and classroom interaction: a research review. Edinburgh: SCRE. Pp iv + 56.

Anderson, A., Howe, C.J. and Tolmie, A. (1996). Interaction and mental models of physics phenomena: evidence from dialogue between learners. In J. Oakhill and A. Garnham (eds.), Mental Models in Cognitive Science: Essays in Honour of Phil Johnson-Laird. Hove: Erlbaum, 247-273.

Howe, C.J., Tolmie, A., Greer, K and Mackenzie, M. (1995). Peer collaboration and conceptual growth in physics: task influences on children's understanding of heating and cooling. Cognition and Instruction, 13, 483-503.

Howe, C.J., Tolmie, A. and Mackenzie, M. (1995). Collaborative learning in physics: some implications for computer design. In C. O'Malley (ed.), Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 51-68.

Foot, H.C., Howe, C.J., Anderson, A., Tolmie, A.K. and Warden, D. (1994). Group and interactive learning. Southampton: Computational Mechanics Publications. pp 484.

Howe, C.J. (1993). Language: A special case for developmental psychology? Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp xi + 219.

Tolmie, A., Howe, C.J., Mackenzie, M. and Greer K. (1993). Task design as an influence on dialogue and learning: primary school group work with object flotation. Social Development, 2, 183-201.

Howe, C.J., Tolmie, A., Anderson, A. and Mackenzie, M. (1992). Conceptual knowledge in physics: the role of group interaction in computer-supported teaching. Learning and Instruction, 2, 161-183.

Howe, C.J., Tolmie, A. and Rodgers, C. (1992). The acquisition of conceptual knowledge in science by primary school children: group interaction and the understanding of motion down an inclined plane. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 10, 113-130.