We at the Children's Learning Lab (Çocuk Öğrenme Laboratuvarı) and the Center of Educational Technology are thrilled to welcome Bethany Rittle-Johnson from the Department of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University to Bogazici University! Sponsored by the TUBITAK 2221 program, Bethany will be sharing her expertise through a series of talks until May 29th. We invite you to attend these seminars and encourage you to share this information with your students who might be interested. First Talk: How Can Cognitive-Science Research Help Improve Education? The Case of Comparing Multiple Strategies to Improve Mathematics Learning and Teaching Date and Time: May 22, 15.00 Room: EF 506 (Faculty of Education) Brief Info: In this seminar, Bethany will share how to use comparison to support better learning of school mathematics within classroom settings. Additionally, she will share how cognitive science research can inform the design of effective educational materials and illustrate the challenges of transitioning from cognitive science research to classroom teaching. Second Talk: Encouraging Children to Explain Their Ideas When Learning Mathematics Date and Time: May 23, 10.00 Room: Demir Demirgil Hall Brief Info: Children have a natural drive to explain the world around them, and prompting children to generate explanations often improves their learning. Children's explanations often are not sophisticated but can still help them learn. In addition to reviewing evidence for the value of explanation for promoting learning, Bethany will identify evidence-based instructional guidelines for how to harness explanation to promote mathematics learning. Bethany will meet the students at the 4th SCED Graduate Research Symposium. Third Talk (Workshop): Promoting Mathematical Opportunities for Young Children Date and Time: May 28, 9.00 Room: Özger Arnas Hall (Kırmızı Salon) Brief Info: A patterning lens – looking for and making use of predictable sequences – supports children's development of early math knowledge. In this professional development workshop for preschool and kindergarten teachers, Bethany will highlight evidence-based guidelines for supporting children's use of a patterning lens, sample activities, and videos of young children engaging in effective patterning activities. Teachers will work in small groups to select patterning activities to use in their own classrooms. This workshop is for preschool teachers and those interested in early math teaching. We look forward to seeing you there.