Our popular Mathematics Education Research Seminar Series, with invited external speakers, is open to everyone. If you wish to subscribe to the mailing list for the seminars, visit this site and follow the instructions.
Latest seminar
Finger counting: Evidence against a common educational misconception
Prof. Catherine Thevenot | 11th February 2026, 4:30 - 5:30pm
Location: Donald McIntyre Building, Room GS4
Abstract: Primary school teachers worldwide, including in England, often associate finger counting with mathematical difficulties. However, findings from my laboratory suggest the opposite. Children aged 4½ to 6½ who use finger counting show higher cognitive skills and better arithmetic performance than those who do not. Moreover, children aged 7½ who solve arithmetic problems efficiently without overt finger use are not genuine non-finger users, but rather former finger users who have internalized their calculation procedures. The good news is that finger-based calculation can be taught to children who have not spontaneously discovered this strategy, leading to substantial improvements in their addition skills.
Previous speakers
Some of the speakers we’ve had in recent years:
- Jill Adler
- Branko Andjic
- Nicolas Balacheff
- Alan Bishop
- Margaret Brown
- Pamela Burnard
- Beth Burroughs
- Nigel Calder
- David Clarke
- Paul Cobb
- Brent Davis
- Peter Dudley
- Paul Ernest
- Lianghuo Fan
- Carla Finesilver
- Colin Foster
- Susan Gerofsky
- Hala Ghousseini
- Lulu Healy
- Jeremy Hodgen
- Celia Hoyles
- Matthew Inglis
- Merrilyn Goos
- Manu Kapur
- Magdalene Lampert
- Zsolt Lavicza
- Gosia Marschall
- John Mason
- Candia Morgan
- Jane Moss
- Elena Nardi
- Terezinha Nunes
- David Pomeroy
- Despina Potari
- Luke Rolls
- Flavia H. Santos
- Alan Schoenfeld
- Karin Sørlie Street
- Jon Star
- Gabriel Stylianides