Dr. Jo Van Herwegen

Bio

Dr Jo Van Herwegen is an associate professor at UCL Institute of Education and director of the Child Development and Learning Difficulties lab. She is a member of the Management Committee for the Centre for Educational Neuroscience (CEN) and member of the Executive Committee for the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction. Her research focuses on improving educational outcomes, especially for those with special educational needs and learning difficulties, using evidence from developmental psychology, educational neuroscience, and neurodevelopmental disorders. She was awarded the British Psychology Society Developmental Section Margaret Donaldson prize in 2020 for her contribution to developmental psychology and impact and her research on mathematical development has contributed to the Families Connect programme from Save the Children and the dyscalculia definition from Education Scotland.

Dyscalculia

Good mathematical abilities have been related to successful financial, physical and mental health outcomes. Yet, a significant proportion of individuals (up to 22% have mathematical learning difficulties and dyscalculia is as prevalent as dyslexia (prevalence 6%; 1-2 children per class of 30). However, dyscalculia is less well known. In this talk I will discuss findings from several surveys with teachers, trainee teachers and students about the facts and myths around dyscalculia, where these neuromyths come from, why they matter and how they can be addressed.

Recommended Articles

Outhwaite, L., Anders, J., & Van Herwegen, J. (2022). Mathematics Attainment Falls Behind Reading in the Early Primary School Years (CEPEO Working Paper Series). UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities.

Van Herwegen, J., Thomas, M., Marshall, C., & Gordon, R. (2022). Neuromyths about Special Educational Needs: What should teachers know [Digital scholarly resource]. Retrieved from https://my.chartered.college/impact_article/neuromyths-about-special-educational-needs-what-should-teachers-know/.

Gini, S., Knowland, V., Thomas, M. S. C., & Van Herwegen, J. (2021). Neuromyths About Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Misconceptions by Educators and the General Public. Mind, Brain, and Education. doi:10.1111/mbe.12303

Costa, H. M., Outhwaite, L. A., & Van Herwegen, J. (2021). Preschool Teachers’ training, beliefs and practices concerning mathematics in pre-schools in the UK: implication for education and practice. doi:10.31234/osf.io/rdx6c

Costa, H. M., Nicholson, B., Donlan, C., & Van Herwegen, J. (2018). Low performance on mathematical tasks in preschoolers: the importance of domain-general and domain-specific abilities. JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, 62 (4), 292-302. doi:10.1111/jir.12465