Greg Michaelson joined the Centre for Research in Digital Education as an Honorary Professor in October 2019.
Greg is a proponent of strong Computational Thinking, as a principled discipline for systematic problem analysis and program construction. He has recently published critiques of classic Computational Thinking as too computation oriented, and of the Logo/Microworld and Objects First approaches. He is a regular contributor to ‘Hello World!’, the magazine of Computing at School and the Raspberry Pi Foundation.
Greg has worked closely with Professor Judy Robertson on Scottish computing education activities for several years and presented as part of our seminar programme in August 2018 on the topic ‘What are algorithms, and how does machine learning work?’.
As an Honorary Professor within Digital Education, Greg will conduct research on the underlying cognitive foundations of computing education and inform the development of software tools, curriculum and learning materials for the Data Education in Schools project. Greg and Judy are currently conducting a schools based investigation into young people’s competences in introducing variables in programs. Their recently concluded pilot study suggests that there may be an unscaffolded gap between the abilities to perform and to represent abstractions in simple arithmetic problems.
Greg will help us to deepen our understanding of the conceptual underpinnings of computing and data science considering the implications of and contributing a critical understanding of data and algorithms in society.
Find out more about Greg here