On Wednesday we had the pleasure of hearing not one but two talks from one of our visitor, Lauren Margulieux. These talks were organised as SICSA Distinguished Speaker events and were led as hybrid sessions with online participants attending from across the UK.

Lauren's first talk was about her work in formulating a Multiple Conceptions Theory, a basis for interdisciplinary research from a background of cognitive psychology. The theory states that learners develop better conceptual knowledge when they are guided to compare multiple conceptions of a concept and Lauren encouraged us to consider opportunities and mechanisms for guiding students towards deep understanding through multiple perspectives. This stirred several ideas among the audience who shared their thoughts in the discussion session, prompting multiple conversations about possible future directions of research which could incorporate the theory.

After lunch, Lauren presented a workshop on effective research methods and designs for CS Education, prompting discussions about the best way to capture and analyse data. She laid out several pathways for effective Computing Science education research design considering various factors and constraints arising. The discussion was said to be very valuable, with researchers sharing some of their planned projects or projects which had been troublesome in the past, applying Lauren’s guidance and getting audience perspectives on how to plan their future work effectively.

First published: 29 March 2022

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