Meet our current INSTRUCT team below. Click here for our Alumni and Friends
Michelle is the reason for the INSTRUCT group madness. Her scientific interests in cognitive science, neuroscience, cognitive development and education are the reason why we are all here. She's often heard telling people that INSTRUCT exists because of her own excitement about the science of cognition and her desire to work with teachers/schools so that our children can be empowered by an education that is improved by research about what makes learning most exciting and successful. See Michelle's profiles with The Faculty of Education webpage and Cambridge Neuroscience or download a copy of her recent curriculum vitae. In addition to her research, she is a bye-fellow, undergraduate tutor and Director of Studies for Education at Gonville and Caius College.
Hale is an affiliated lecturer in Psychology and Education at the Faculty of Education. Her main line of research focuses on the language and cognition interaction. She studies the development of linguistic structures and their relationships to cognitive and social abilities in different types of discourse. Her second line of research focuses on how and why we are using social network sites and technological devices, and how their use interacts with cognitive abilities.
Hale obtained her BA in Psychology and her MA in Developmental Psychology from Bogazici University, Istanbul. She received her PhD in Cognitive Science from Middle East Technical University, Ankara. She has taught courses on cognitive psychology, developmental psychology and cognitive science at the undergraduate and graduate level.
See Hale's profile with the Faculty of Education webpage (link coming soon)
Maria is an affiliated lecturer in Psychology and Education at the Faculty teaching undergraduate and master students. Maria’s research interests include designing learning environments to promote conceptual and procedural understanding of science concepts, phenomena and skills and utilising cognitive science and neuroscience to improve educational practice, especially in the primary school years. Maria is an open science advocate and strives to incorporate its principles in her research.
Maria completed her doctoral studies as part of the INSTRUCT lab in 2020. She explored the effects of different learning environments on primary school children's decision-making skills in socio-scientific issues. She has previously pursued an MPhil in Educational Research (Cantab) and an MA in Science Education (University of Athens) and is particularly interested in utilising cognitive psychology findings and methods to improve science education.
She is a primary school teacher by training and her research has a strong focus on teaching practice with a keen interest in conducting classroom-based experiments.
See Maria's profile with the Faculty of Education webpage
Elisabeth has recently completed a PhD at the University of Warwick, continuing her research there as a post-doctoral research fellow. The focus of her research includes how visual attention is affected by emotional stimuli; more specifically, the spatial and temporal selection of schematic e motional faces and their effect on attention capture and engagement. She is interested in the differences between negative and positive facial expression and their relation to the theories of threat relevance and negative affect bias associated with underlying mechanisms of visual attention. In addition, she does work in sublimin al motor priming and visuo-motor control, and the development of executive function. Dr. Blagrove has been an integral part of our task switching projects in arithmetic and reading.
Reinaldo is interested in researching about the chess and its relationship among metacognition and problem solving to improve the cognitive skills for better achievement in the teaching-learning process. He is a Visiting Researcher in Education and Psychology at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, and also an Associate Professor in Electronics at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of São Paulo, Campus Sertãozinho, Brazil. Experienced in teaching Electronics, Mathematics and Chess classes for a broad age range of students, from 13 to 50 years old, during several years. Furthermore, he is the PI of the Research & Study Group in Teaching and Learning (GEPEA), which has registered at the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) since 2015. Bachelor in Electrical Engineering majored in Electronics from Federal School of Engineering of Itajubá (1995), Licentiate in Mathematics from University of Franca (2006), Bachelor in Law from Universidade Paulista (2011), Licentiate in Electrical Engineering majored in Electronics (2012) and in Law (2013) from Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of São Paulo, Campus Sertãozinho, Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, majored in Power Electronics and Drives for Electrical Machines, from Federal University of Santa Catarina (1997) and Doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering, majored in Telecommunications and Telematics, from University of Campinas (2006). See Reinaldo’s profile and curriculum vitae here.
Chengyi is a postdoctoral research associate at the Centre for Family Research, Department of Psychology. The key question motivating her research is how culture interacts with important social contexts to impact children’s socio-cognitive skills. Chengyi’s PhD and postdoc work involves international collaborative investigations into executive functions in children and families from different cultures.
Chengyi completed her PhD under the supervision of Professor Claire Hughes at the University of Cambridge. Prior to coming to Cambridge, she obtained her BSc in Psychology with highest distinction from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Ibtehaj is a language instructor and educator. She taught English as a foreign language to students of different levels, ages, nationalities and socio-economic backgrounds. She gained a BA in English Language Translation from King Saud University and an MA in Linguistics for Language Teaching from the University of Southampton. She also holds a DELTA (Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) qualification, provided by Cambridge Assessment. Ibtehaj worked as a professional development Coordinator for seven months and as an academic and curriculum Supervisor for two years at King Saud University. Her main role was to assist and train language teachers on different language teaching methods and strategies.
From her experience, one of the most important language skills that her students tend to struggle with is reading comprehension. This has motivated her to find the links between executive functions, language competence and reading comprehension, aiming to help students improve their reading skills in their first and the second language, which, in return, could contribute to their academic achievement.
Julie is an experienced teacher, educator, academic mentor and researcher based in Cambridge. She gained a BA in Geography at the University of Cambridge before completing a PGCE at Oxford University. Following a career as a teacher and leader in secondary schools, Julie returned to studying, and to Newnham College, to compete a MEd in Psychology and Education. Her current doctoral research explores barriers to inclusion for autistic pupils in mainstream secondary school.
Julie’s work focuses on using observational data to both expand our understanding of the ways in which autistic pupils experience classroom activities and support teachers in developing their inclusive educational practice. Her doctoral research builds on her MEd study in which she developed behavioural measures to explore differences in attention, reasoning and discomfort associated with autism in a scientific reasoning task.
Alongside her research, Julie is a specialist learning mentor for the University of Cambridge and supervises undergraduates studying education. She is also a school governor, working with The Morris Education Trust on the design of The Cavendish School, opening in September 2021 to provide specialist provision for children with autism.
https://cambridgeeducationperspectives.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/JulieBailey222
Nicky is a part-time doctoral researcher, based in Cambridge. She gained her MPhil from the University of Cambridge in Social and Developmental Psychology and has worked as a Qualitative Social Researcher and Consultant. Throughout her career, she has researched children’s experiences of bullying in school, the mental health of incarcerated young offenders, and the experiences of carers of patients with long term health issues.
She returned to Cambridge to complete her PhD in Psychology and Education. Her current research explores taking a child and practitioner-led approach to physical activity within the primary school context.
After completion of an Mphil in Psychology and Education in Cambridge, Lei is pursuing a PhD in the same field of study. She is fascinated about cognitive science and its potential in informing educational strategies and interventions. In particular, she is interested to investigate the association between domain-general cognitive skills and academic outcomes. Lei's research project focuses on the specific role of cognitive flexibility or shifting – a component of executive functioning – in mathematics achievement. A cross-cultural comparison will be conducted to explore the universality versus cultural specificity of the interplay between shifting and mathematics skills.
Aiman is originally from Malaysia and is currently pursuing a PhD in Psychology and Education. He is also a PhD Fellow at the University of Malaya. He completed his Master’s Degree in Child Development and Education at Oxford and his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology at Indiana University, USA. Before starting his PhD, Aiman worked as a Research Assistant at the Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development, and Learning (PEDAL) for two years, looking at delivering a book sharing intervention to families with young children in England and Wales. He is interested in developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, and how research in these domains can contribute to practice in education, specifically in the context of education – both formal and informal – in Malaysia. For his PhD, he plans to investigate how metacognition and executive functions relate to each other in secondary school students, and whether teaching practice has any influence on the two concepts. Aside from this, Aiman is also interested in philosophy of education especially from the perspective of Islam.
Yibing Li is currently pursuing a PhD in Psychology and Education at the University of Cambridge. She gained her BSc in Applied Psychology from Beijing Forestry University and gained her MA in Education (Psychology) from University College London. As a psychological and educational researcher, her research interests include the development of spatial cognition, cross-cultural studies in gender, and STEM education, especially focusing on children aged 6-12. Now, she is supervised by Dr. Jillian Lauer and advised by Professor Michelle Ellefson, respectively in CUDL lab and INSTRUCT lab. Yibing is welcome for enquiries and discussions related to her research fields through emails.
Tamer is a PhD researcher and practitioner who seeks to build the bridge between theory and practice based on cognitive psychology principles and neuroscience to design a research-based learning environment that engages learners' minds and hearts.
He is mainly interested in examining the links between cognitive processes such as executive functions and motivational aspects in learning, with a special focus on science learning for middle and high school students, using psychological development as a lens
Rui Wang is a Ph.D. Candidate in Psychology and Education in Cambridge. She has graduated with an MPhil in Psychology and Education, Cambridge, and a BA in International Liberal Art at Waseda University. Over the course of studying at Cambridge, she has been involved in the Thinking of Science project, which explores executive functions' role in thinking counterintuitive science questions. With her past teaching experience in China, Japan, and Kenya, she is particularly interested in pedagogy related to pedagogy using multimedia and the relationship between cognitive development and online education. She is also a member of the Cambridge China Education Forum (CCEF), and is funded by the Cambridge Trust-CSC scholarship.
Jing Xiao is a full-time PhD student in Psychology and Education at the University of Cambridge. She graduated with an MPhil in the same route, Psychology and Education, from Cambridge. Jing is interested in individuals' cognitive development and employs quantitative research methods to investigate the relationship between executive functions, science education, and creativity. Her diverse interests span social psychology, mental health, and developmental psychology.
Yiqiong (Miriam) is a full-time PhD in Pyschology and Education. Previously, she completed a MPhil in Psychology and Education within the faculty an undergraduate in Psychology at the Universtiy of Glasgow. Her research focuses on the role of feedback play in cognitive monitoring and metacognition and its implication in learning using quantitative measures. She is also interested in the debate of neuroeducation and the implication of cognitive psycholgy in education. Besides, she takes the Co-chair role of Cambridge China Education Forum 2020.
Iris is a PhD student under the supervision of Professor Wegerif in the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge. Her research interests include artificial intelligence literacy, STEAM education, dialogic education, arts-based pedagogy, and early childhood and primary education. She is also a member of the Cambridge Educational Dialogue Research (CEDiR) group.
Esther is a first-year PhD student in Education (Educational Psychology). She previously completed an MPhil in Education (Certificate of study) and an MPhil in Psychology from the University of Cambridge after graduating with a BSc in Psychology from Durham University. Her area of research before joining the INSTRUCT lab focused on autism and its relationship with cognitive processes, namely Bayesian integration and local and global processing. After completing her MPhil study in Psychology, she became motivated to explore the field of Educational Psychology. For her PhD, she aims to expand on her MPhil dissertation investigating narrative development and its possible relationship with different social and cognitive skills, with the goal of informing better educational practices and support for narrative development.
Hi I'm Bo, and I come from China. I am a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Rupert Wegerif and Dr. Steve Watson. My research focus includes the learning sciences, learning analytics and AI in education.
Jiayin is a first-year PhD student whose interest falls in the early-stage development of preschoolers’ executive functions. Jiayin looks to investigate the impact of preschooling quality on children’s cognitive development and she intends to carry out her research in the preschools in mainland China. Previously, Jiayin completed an MPhil study in Research in Second Language Education within the faculty and an undergraduate in linguistics at Fudan University.
Hanum is a full-time MPhil student in Psychology and Education. After graduating as class valedictorian from Faculty of Psychology at Universitas Indonesia, she worked in the intersection of education, learning & development, and mental health. Her hands-on experience with educators taught her that they need as much support as their students in developing themselves. Driven by this insight, she now explores how cognitive mechanisms aided by technology can optimise teachers’ self-development activities. Hanum aspires to someday turn her research into impactful policies and practices to help Indonesian teachers thrive.
Ruofei (Fei) Du is an MPhil student in Psychology and Education at the University of Cambridge. Her research interests focus on cognitive psychology, executive function, and metacognition, with an emphasis on how these domain-general abilities contribute to educational practice.
Before joining Cambridge, Fei completed her BSc in Psychology with Education at University College London. Her undergraduate dissertation, supervised by Prof. Roberto Filippi, examined the association between multilingual experience, executive function, and metacognitive awareness in young adults. Fei has also interned at the Cognitive Development Laboratory at the University of Hong Kong, where she explored math education with a focus on negative number processing. In her current master’s studies, she aims to further investigate executive function and metacognition, particularly the quantification and measurement of metacognitive processes.Beyond her studies, Fei enjoys dancing (contemporary & Chinese folk dance) and cinema.
Xinyi is a full-time MPhil student in Psychology and Education. Her fascination with psychology and teaching took root in high school, leading her to complete her undergraduate studies in Psychology with Education at the Institute of Education, UCL.
Xinyi draws inspiration for her research ideas from her everyday life, particularly through her observations of her younger sister. She is especially interested in developmental and socio-emotional concepts, such as Theory of Mind and empathy. Aspiring to become an A-level psychology teacher for international students, she aims to ignite students’ intrinsic drive for the subject and is also keen to explore various topics related to learning motivation.
Before coming to Cambridge, Max studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and University of East London (UEL). He is experienced in the fields of economic geography, economics, applied positive psychology, coaching psychology, and educational psychology. During the pandemic he completed coaching training at the Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC) and Cambridge University Institute of Continuing Education (ICE). He works and volunteers for NGOs and charities helping underrepresented, underprivileged international students navigate Higher Education including Project Access International, PocketConfidant AI, and CoachBright. Max researches the relationships between education, technology-enhanced learning, and alternative schooling, with emphasis on the psychology of play and experiences of international students. Previously, he conducted a systematic review exploring the extent to which design, implementation and delivery of self-compassion interventions targeted at university-level students affect student experiences in "Exploring the use of multi-session, group-based self-compassion interventions for university-level students: A systematic review" (2021, unpublished). After Cambridge, Max intends to extend his research into a DPhil and continue working alongside charitable organisations in pursuit of helping young people successfully transition into adulthood.
Hanna is a full-time MPhil student MPhil in Education and Psychology. Prior to her arrival at Cambridge, she had completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology in Germany. Her research there focused on how primary school teachers perceived the executive functions and self-regulation in their students during COVID-19. During her MSc in Psychology at Stockholm University, she conducted research on socio-emotional learning from a family systems perspective. Her research interests include executive functions, metacognition, and self-efficacy, with a particular focus on their role in young students and primary education.
Ruike is an aspiring researcher and MPhil student at the University of Cambridge, specialising in Psychology and Education within the Faculty of Education. Her primary research focuses on Positive Psychology, Socio-emotional Learning, Child and Adolescent Mental Health, and Pedagogical Innovation. Her current research project examines "The Influence of Abstract Reasoning and Self-Regulation on Misconception Correction in STEM Education Among Chinese Secondary Students." Simultaneously, Ruike is actively pursuing her PhD application, aiming to extend her master's achievements by integrating principles of Positive Psychology into educational interventions and applying them within the traditional Chinese STEM education system.
Before coming to Cambridge, she completed a BSc in Psychology with Education at the Institute of Education, University College London. Her undergraduate dissertation explored the psychological growth of Chinese parental caregivers and its cross-generational effect on the resilience development of their children with eating disorders. Additionally, Ruike worked as a teaching assistant and ran a Psychology Club at The MacDuffie School, Shanghai.
Moxun Zheng is an aspiring psychologist and MPhil student at the University of Cambridge, specializing in Psychology and Education. His research interests focus on metacognition and cognitive functioning and their applications in educational and clinical contexts. Before coming to Cambridge, he completed a BSc in Psychology at King's College London. His thesis explored the predictive role of metacognition and cognition on psychotic-like experiences through structural equation modeling. He has also served as a research assistant, contributed to multiple projects and co-presented at the 14th IEPA Conference. His current focus is translating psychological research into meaningful educational impact.
Yi Zhong is a full-time MPhil student in Psychology and Education at Cambridge University. Her research interests focus on children's moral behaviour, specifically on their executive function, theory of mind, and rule-breaking behaviour. Before studying at Cambridge, she completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, specializing in psychology. She worked as a Research Assistant in developmental psychology lab, where she gained hands-on experience on interacting with children in experimental settings. She also conducted an individual research project on the Cognitive Correlates of Cheating Behaviour in Children with or without Siblings. Currently, Yi aims to expand her research interests to include metacognition, and to explore its relationship with children's academic performance.