Venera GashajLoughborough University | Lough · Mathematics Education Centre
Venera Gashaj
PhD
About
15
Publications
6,096
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305
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
I am interested in mathematical and numerical cognition, as well as the development of basic numerical concepts and motor skills. Furthermore, I am interested in how students learn math and what helps (instructional designs) or hinders (math anxiety) them to do so.
Methods: longitudinal behavioral designs, experimental neuroimaging techniques.
Additional affiliations
April 2022 - present
University of Tuebingen
Position
- Teaching Fellow
September 2019 - March 2022
January 2018 - August 2019
Education
September 2013 - March 2017
September 2011 - July 2013
Publications
Publications (15)
Mathematics achievement is an important predictor of later life and career prospects. Therefore, it is highly relevant to identify early determinants of math achievement. Recently, non-cognitive aspects such as home learning environment (home numeracy) and math anxiety were observed to significantly predict mathematics achievement beyond domain- sp...
Grasping mathematics can be difficult. Often, students struggle to connect mathematical concepts with their own experiences and even believe that math has nothing to do with the real world. To create more concreteness in mathematics education, we focus on the role of the body in learning, and more specifically, embodied interactions for learning de...
We explore the relationship between mathematical skills and motor skills across three age groups of normally developing children. The existence of such a relationship is postulated in classical accounts of human development. In contemporary research, the existence of a relationship between motor development and the development of abstract concepts...
Despite variety of cultures, our shared biology and the universality of finger counting suggests that numbers are embodied. Another lines of research show that numerical cognition might be bound to what our bodies are able to do. Differences in finger counting are apparent even within Western cultures. Relatively few indigenous cultures have been s...
Brain dynamics have recently been shown to be modulated by rhythmic changes in female sex hormone concentrations across an entire menstrual cycle. However, many questions remain regarding the specific differences in information processing across spacetime between the two main follicular and luteal phases in the menstrual cycle. Using a novel turbul...
We examined the relation between different kinds of play behavior (video games, exergames, board games) in kindergarten (T1) and components of executive function (EF; inhibition, switching, verbal and visuospatial updating) in kindergarten and second grade (T1 and T2). Ninety-seven children participated in this longitudinal study. Parents were aske...
Being physically active plays an essential role in a child's physical development. While there is ample evidence for a positive association between physical activity (PA) and motor skills in children, the question of how PA should be implemented to optimally foster motor skill proficiency is less clear. To address this gap, the current longitudinal...
The aim of the current study was to explore individual differences in basic numerical skills in a normative sample of 151 kindergarteners (mean age = 6.45 years). Whereas previous research claims a substantial link between executive functions and basic numerical skills, motor abilities have been put forward to explain variance in numerical skills....
Research Findings: This study examined the interrelations between fine motor skills, executive functions, and basic numerical skills in kindergarten as well as their predictive value for mathematics achievement in 2nd grade in a sample of 136 children. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to uncover the unique predictive value and medi...
The present longitudinal study included different school readiness factors measured in kindergarten with the aim to predict later academic achievement in second grade. Based on data of N = 134 children, the predictive power of executive functions, visual-motor coordination and physical fitness on later academic achievement was estimated using a lat...
The present study aimed to contribute to the discussion about the relation between motor coordination and executive functions in preschool children. Specifically, the relation between gross and fine motor skills and executive functions as well as the relation to possible background variables (SES, physical activity) were investigated. Based on the...
Little is known about how children learn to associate numbers with their corresponding magnitude and about individual characteristics contributing to performance differences on the numerical magnitude tasks within a relatively homogenous sample of 6-year-olds. The present study investigated the relationships between components of executive function...
Recent research in cognitive sciences shows a growing interest in spatial-numerical associations. The horizontal SNARC (spatial-numerical association of response codes) effect is defined by faster left-sided responses to small numbers and faster right-sided responses to large numbers in a parity judgment task. In this study we investigated whether...
Projects
Projects (2)
The main aim of this study is to explore emotions and attitudes towards mathematics among elite STEM students. More specifically, we are interested in what characterizes STEM students who report high mathematics anxiety and how mathematics anxiety is related to other anxiety types as well as to motivation, attitudes, perceptions, and positive emotions towards mathematics. We will run Bayesian correlations, Exploratory Factor Analysis, and Latent Profile Analysis. Results could guide future efforts and help us understand this relatively understudied population.
