Dr J.E. van Schaik (Johanna)

In her research, Jo aims to translate findings from (neuro)cognitive psychology to understand and inform science and technology learning and education during primary school. She primarily focuses on physics concepts, computer programming and computational thinking. She is also interested in means of improving all young learners' science motivation and attitudes. Jo co-supervises PhD students on projects investigating individual differences in science education and the implementation of educational robotics in primary school classrooms. She employs a range of behavioral research methods including laboratory experiments, classroom studies, and questionnaires, as well as electroencephalography and motion tracking techniques.

Jo received her master's degree in cognitive neuroscience at Radboud University, where she subsequently received a grant to conduct her PhD research in the Baby and Child Research Center and Donders Institute. Upon completion of her PhD in 2017, she worked as a postdoc on a personal NRO grant at the educational science departments of Leiden University and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her postdoc research focused on the learning mechanisms of inquiry learning and the implications thereof for hands-on science learning design and implementation. She then worked as an assistant professor at Vrije Uniersity Amsterdam for one year before joining the Behavioral Science Institute as an assistant professor in educational science.