Event overview
Dr Margherita Malanchini, Queen Mary University, will present research about Noncognitive skills in education: the interplay between genes, environments, and development
Abstract: Characteristics such as personality, motivation, and socioemotional competencies have been found to account for academic achievement beyond cognitive abilities.
These characteristics have been broadly described as noncognitive skills. Noncognitive is an imperfect term that has been used to define those skills that differ from what has traditionally been education’s primary focus: academic and cognitive performance.
The role that noncognitive skills play in education has mostly been conceptualized and investigated in terms of environmental effects. However, genetic research has shown that noncognitive skills are moderately heritable and that they are genetically correlated with educational success.
A more comprehensive framework for investigating the role that noncognitive skills play in education would therefore include both genes and environments, and their interplay. In the current talk, I will present evidence for the important role that noncognitive skills play in academic development, triangulating findings across multiple genetically-informative methods.
I will focus on presenting our recent investigations into the interplay between genetic, environmental, and developmental processes. I will then discuss how a holistic view of education, one that considers both cognitive and noncognitive skills and their biological and environmental underpinnings, is a fundamental step for moving towards a more inclusive and evidence-based model of education.
Biography:
Margherita Malanchini is a developmental psychologist at Queen Mary University of London, where she directs the Cognition, Development, and Education (CoDE) research laboratory.
Her research seeks to understand why children and adolescents differ so widely in their learning, behaviour, and cognition by investigating psycho-social and biological pathways. Margherita collaborates closely with developmental, genetically-informative cohort studies in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States.
She also works in partnership with non-profit organizations to evaluate the effectiveness of educational interventions. The goal of Margherita’s research is to inform developmental interventions, ultimately allowing children and adolescents to thrive.
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Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Feb 2025 | 4:00pm - 5:00pm |
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