Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
My research is inter-disciplinary in nature, drawing on methodology, theory, and practice in the fields of education, cognitive science, and psychology. In the area of early childhood development, I am interested how young children think about number and quantity, and how these basic skills (often referred to as number sense) support growth in mathematical skills. As part of this work I also examine how the development of cognitive skills, such as working memory or the ability to self-regulate behaviour, contribute to children’s typical (and atypical) development. I have also conducted research involving children and adults with hearing loss, and am keen to pursue studies examining how synchronous multi-sensory information (or a lack of) impacts on how we represent and activate numerical information.
My research also looks at the important environments in which children are learning and developing – the home environment and the classroom. This has included a focus on the informal numeracy interactions that may happen between children and parents, as well as the pedagogical approaches to numeracy that educators use in day care environments, and the quality of educator-child interactions.
Research findings from these studies have been used to examine early risk indicators of later mathematical difficulties, and have informed the development and implementation of classroom-based intervention.
All of this work falls within my broader interest in early childhood education, and the systemic factors that utlimately impact on the child's development and learning. Currently I am focusing on the well-being on early childhood educators and have been instrumental in bringing together researchers from across the world to form a research alliance looking at the pan-cultural and unique factors associated with educator wellbeing. We currently have representation from Canada, Iceland, Finland, China, Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia. Feel free to get in touch if you would be interested in joining us.
Teaching
EDUC8250 Effective Instruction in Mathematics, Science and Technology
EDST8000/EDUC7000/EDSX8000 Educational Research
EDUC2920 Research Inquiry in Education
Research student supervision
I would be happy to hear from students who are interested in undertaking research in any of the following areas:
1. Numerical cognition (experimental studies from a psychological/cognitive science perspective investigating how we represent and activate numerical information).
2. Numeracy in the preschool / early primary classroom (e.g., pedagogical approaches, instructional quality, intervention for low achievers).
3. Assessment and development of working memory and executive functioning/self regulation in young children.
4. Impact of hearing loss on child development and learning
5. Informal opportunities for learning numeracy and mathematics in the home and classroom environment.
6. Assessment and intervention for children with mathematical learning difficulties.
7. Impact of teacher-child interaction quality (in preschool) on children's longer term learning and development.
External positions
Principal Research Scientist, National Institute of Education
1 Dec 2011 → 4 Nov 2018
Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and Reader, University of Aberdeen
2000 → 2011
Teaching Fellow, University of St Andrews
1997 → 2000
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
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ECEWP: Early Childhood Educators' Well-being Project
Cumming, T., Wong, S., Bull, R., McFarland, L., MacQuarrie, A. & Woodland, K.
4/09/17 → …
Project: Research
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MQSN 21: Observe, Reflect, Improve: a tool to enrich Children’s Learning (ORICL)
Harrison, L. J., Wong, S., Degotardi, S., Bull, R., Davis, B., Ballsun-Stanton, B., Alexander, W., Williams, K. & Elwick, S.
21/09/21 → 20/09/22
Project: Research
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MRFF: Harnessing the health communication power of the early childhood sector
Degotardi, S., Amin, J., Bull, R., Harrison, L. J., Waniganayake, M., Hadley, F., Wong, S., Zurynski, Y., Donovan, M., Mendham, M., O'Connell, M., Highfield, K., Death, E., Boehm, N., Fox, S., Cannen, E., Paterson, A., McNicholas, J., Payne, R. & Dahm, M.
1/02/21 → 1/10/21
Project: Research
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MQRIS: A Test Library for Educational Researchers at Macquarie
Van Bergen, P., Wang, H., Degotardi, S., Andrews, R. & Bull, R.
1/01/20 → 31/12/20
Project: Other
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NSW Preschool Assessment Study: Review of Formative Assessment Practices in Early Childhood Settings
Harrison, L. J., Wong, S., Bull, R., Davis, B. & Elwick, S.
2/09/19 → 30/11/19
Project: Other
Research Outputs
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Harnessing the health communication potential of the early childhood sector
Degotardi, S., Amin, J., Bull, R., Dahm, M. R., Donovan, M., Hadley, F., Harrison, L. J., Sadow, L., Trần, D., Waniganayake, M., Wong, S. & Zurynski, Y., 13 Apr 2023, North Ryde, NSW: Macquarie University. 22 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
Open AccessFile6 Downloads (Pure) -
Heterogeneity in children at risk of math learning difficulties.
Múñez, D., Bull, R., Lee, K. & Ruiz, C., 15 Mar 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Child Development. 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Readability and beyond - Health literacy and numeracy and COVID-19 communications in Early Childhood Education: are we communicating effectively?
Dahm, M., Bull, R., Sadow, L., Trần, D., Zurynski, Y., Amin, J., Hadley, F., Harrison, L. J., Waniganayake, M., Wong, S. & Degotardi, S., 25 May 2023, (Accepted/In press) In: Patient Education and Counseling.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Screening for executive function difficulties: an evaluation of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function – 2nd Edition Screener, Teacher Report (BRIEF2-TS)
Nicolette, W., Khng, K. H., Bull, R., Ng, E. L., Sun, H. & Chan, W. T., Apr 2023, In: Psychological Assessment. 35, 4, p. 366-377 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Supporting leaders in early childhood education settings: an evaluation of a clinical supervision program for centre directors
Wong, S., Bull, R., Cumming, T. & McFarland, L., 2023, (Submitted) In: Children and Youth Services Review.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Datasets
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Dataset for The effects of a number line intervention on calculation skills
Ruiz Hornblas, C. (Owner), Kohnen, S. (Contributor) & Bull, R. (Contributor), Macquarie University, 12 May 2023
DOI: 10.25949/22799717.v1
Dataset
Activities
- 1 Editorial work
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Child Development (Journal)
Rebecca Bull (Member of editorial board)
Jul 2019 → …Activity: Peer-review and editorial of research outputs › Editorial work