Nicole McNeil: Education, Multiplied.
From The Shamrock to The Dome, traveling a providential path to understanding how children learn and what role education plays in the development of a just society
Dr. Nicole McNeil, professor of psychology and Director of the Education, Schooling, and Society program considers the science behind children's cognitive development and the duality of the power of education to change people's lives.
Experience the Episode
Presented by Institute for Educational Initiatives
Friday, March 28, 2025 12:00 pm
From The Shamrock to The Dome, traveling a providential path to understanding how children learn and what role education plays in the development of a just society
Dr. Nicole McNeil, Sweeney Family Director of IEI’s Center for Educational Research and Action, professor of psychology and Director of the Education, Schooling, and Society program considers the science behind children’s cognitive development and the duality of the power of education to change people’s lives.
MoreMeet the Faculty: Nicole McNeil
Nicole McNeil is a professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame. Prof. McNeil studies cognitive development, with a primary focus on how children think, learn, communicate, and solve problems in the domain of mathematics. This work encompasses several interrelated areas such as numerical representation, symbolic reasoning, concept construction, skill acquisition, communication, and problem solving.
She asks questions like “What do children understand about math before they start learning it in school?” “How does children’s understanding of math change as the result of different environments?” “How do the ways in which we communicate mathematical information affect children’s understanding of math?” “How does existing knowledge affect learning of new information?” and “How do children construct new problem-solving strategies”?
Her research is funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Educational Sciences (IES) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). She is interested in theoretical issues related to the construction and organization of knowledge, as well as practical issues related to learning and instruction.