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Research opportunities
York has active research in children’s language and literacy, mathematics, learning and memory, mental health and wellbeing, neurodevelopmental disorders, sleep, social development, and vision. We frequently have opportunities for schools, pupils, and families to shape and participate in national and international research studies.
Many research studies take place in school, giving pupils an opportunity to see science in action. Researchers are always keen to discuss ways to maximise the benefits of a school's participation. This might be through staff room discussions, related science activities for pupils, or feedback on class assessments.
Other studies work with families outside of school time. Schools and practitioners can support this research by promoting opportunities to interested families, for example via school newsletters.
Current research opportunities are posted below.
Studies recruiting teachers and/or pupils
Studies recruiting teachers and/or pupils
How do we reason about numbers and arithmetic problems?
How do we reason about numbers and arithmetic problems?
The Numerical Cognition Lab at the University of York investigates how children and adults develop their numeracy and mathematics skills throughout the life span. During our childhood, we learn that adding and subtracting numbers map onto new quantities. In this study, we investigate how children and adults solve addition and subtraction problems.
Recruiting:
Recruiting:
Schools based around York/North Yorkshire with children between the ages of 6 – 11 years old to participate in some computer-based number games and activities at school.
Please see this Information Sheet for more detailed information. Please email Dr Tabea-Maria Haase (tabea-maria.haase@york.ac.uk) if you have any questions and/or if you would be interested in participating.
Sleep, executive function, and maths anxiety in adolescents
Sleep, executive function, and maths anxiety in adolescents
This study explores secondary school pupils’ anxieties about maths, and whether these feelings are linked to sleep and executive functions (cognitive processes that enable us to plan, monitor and execute goals). It is well-established that poor sleep can have detrimental effects for mental health; this study investigates whether this also applies to academic forms of anxiety.
Recruiting:
Recruiting:
Secondary schools who can email a link to parents for pupils to complete a short online survey (20 mins) from home. The survey would include a few short questionnaires and an arithmetic task.
Optionally, schools who additionally consent for their pupils to participate in a follow-up study in school (45-60 minutes). This would involve some computer-based cognitive tasks in small groups.
Please see this Information Sheet for more detailed information. Please email Eleanor Redfern (egj505@york.ac.uk) if you have any questions and/or if you would be interested in participating.
“Understanding Sexism”: an intervention school lesson
“Understanding Sexism”: an intervention school lesson
We have created a lesson to encourage adolescents to critically engage with sexist content on social media. The session involves counter-arguing sexist claims from "influencers" and teaching children to be perceptive surrounding tricks influencers use to persuade them in regards to sexism. We would like to trial this lesson in schools in the hopes that it can be made part of the curriculum to help reduce the harmful effects of sexism.
Recruiting:
Recruiting:
Year 7 classes in and around the Yorkshire area to trial the intervention lesson. A researcher will present the lesson to classes of students, and measure attitudes towards gender before and after the session.
Please email Ellen Lavender (erl541@york.ac.uk) for further information and/or if your school would be interested in participating.
Studies recruiting families through schools
Studies recruiting families through schools
How does the brain learn and make decisions over adolescence?
How does the brain learn and make decisions over adolescence?
The Developmental Neuroscience Lab at the University of York are exploring how people learn and make decisions and how that changes as we age. The study is investigating how people use different types of information to make a decision and how that depends on the way the brain is developing across adolescence. The project involves participants playing a short computer-based task while we collect images of their brain using an MRI scan.
Recruiting:
Recruiting:
Adolescents aged 13-17 years
Adults aged 25-29 years
Please click here for more detailed information, and email Dr MaryAnn Noonan (maryann.noonan@york.ac.uk) if you would be able to circulate this information in your school.
Archive
Archive
Looking quiet above? We're sure to have more studies up and running again soon. Here's a taste of our recently completed projects:
Feedback on "Understanding Sexism": an intervention school lesson. We are sought feedback from British teachers about a new, educational intervention lesson created to encourage adolescents to critically engage with sexist social media content.
The links between language, emotion, and sleep. Emotions are an interesting class of words - and so important for children to be able to relate to others and manage their own behaviour. This project examined how parents and children use emotion-related language, and emotion language is related to sleep, mental health and wider communication abilities.
Student survey on smartphone use, sleep, and wellbeing. This project invited schools and sixth form colleges to take part in an online survey examining students’ attitudes towards smartphone and social media usage, and how these may relate to sleep and mental wellbeing.
Camouflaging in Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). You might have come across the idea of “camouflaging” or “masking” in relation to autism. This is where autistic people might cover up their differences to non-autistic peers, perhaps even without knowing they are doing so, in order to fit in and avoid trouble. This project explored camouflaging in DLD, a common but very under-recognised neurodevelopmental condition.
How do we integrate information in memory at different stages of development? Integrating information in memory is a fundamental part of learning. This project worked with Year 4 and Year 5 pupils to look at how this ability changes from childhood to adulthood.
Rethinking Special Educational Needs. The traditional diagnostic criteria for SENs and mental health difficulties do not always capture the full range of strengths and challenges faced by children. This project gained feedback from SENCOs, teachers, and families on alternative profiles of strengths and difficulties.
To be first to hear about these opportunities, please join the network, and do get in touch if you have particular areas of interest.
To be first to hear about these opportunities, please join the network, and do get in touch if you have particular areas of interest.
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