Find Sonia White on
PhD (University of Cambridge), MPhil (Educational Research) (University of Cambridge), BEd (Queensland University of Technology), BAppSci (Queensland University of Technology)
Sonia White is a Principal Research Fellow (ARC: DECRA) in the School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education. Her research interests focus on number and arithmetic development in children. Most recently Dr White has used behavioural, eye tracking and cognitive neuroscience methods to examine the different numerical processes that are the foundation of mathematics. These areas include the acquisition of Arabic digits and their semantic properties, spatial numerical associations, along with various elements of strategy application. Dr White is keen to further explore the underpinning cognitive mechanisms of arithmetic skills; with particular interest in the intuitive strategies employed by children during the first years of formal schooling. Understanding more about the development of numerical processing skills could have implications for curriculum construction, but also facilitate the design of early diagnostic and effective intervention programs for children with mathematics difficulties.
Additional information
Dr White began her career as a Secondary Mathematics Teacher in Queensland. Following her interest in educational neuroscience, she completed postgraduate study in the Centre for Neuroscience in Education at the University of Cambridge.
Her PhD thesis was entitled ‘The development of number processing skills in Years 1, 2 and 3’. Prior to returning to QUT, Dr White was a research assistant on the European Union (Framework VI) funded project ‘Humans, The Analogy-Making Species’; this was a collaboration with seven EU member institutions.
During her time at the University of Cambridge, Sonia was trained in both Electroencephalography (EEG) and Electromyography (EMG) acquisition techniques and associated analysis. In the Faculty of Education, she completed academic supervision of undergraduate students and was a seminar leader to graduate students for a range of topics related to psychology and education.
Dr White has been an invited speaker in both academic and school-based forums. She has contributed to conference proceedings at both a national and international level, most notable include Annual Conferences for the British Association for Cognitive Neuroscience, the British Educational Research Association and the Cognitive Neuroscience Society.
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- QUT Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence for Research (Mixed Team)
- Type
- Recipient of a Nationally Competitive Research Fellowship
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- Australian Research Council - Discovery Early Career Researcher Award DE160100830
- Type
- Assessor, Examiner or Supervisor Role
- Reference year
- 2014
- Details
- ARC Assessor for Discovery Projects, Discovery Early Career Researcher Award and Linkage Projects.
- Type
- Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2014
- Details
- Associate Editor for The Australian Educational Researcher
- Title
- Improving Outcomes through Accessible Assessment and Inclusive Practices
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP180100830
- Start year
- 2019
- Keywords
- Title
- Supporting Children's Early Mathematics Development
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DE160100830
- Start year
- 2016
- Keywords
- Title
- Which Children Develop Severely Disruptive School Behaviour?
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP160100319
- Start year
- 2016
- Keywords
- Title
- Transitioning from VET to university: Strengthening information literacy through collaboration
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 21286
- Start year
- 2012
- Keywords
- Early Childhood;Information Literacy;Vet-University Transition
- Evaluation of the Rhythm and Movement for Self-Regulation Program (RAMSR)
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Kate Williams - The effect of screen-based tasks on vision in school-aged children
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Joanne Wood, Dr Alexander Black, Dr Shelley Hopkins - The impact of accessible pedagogies on the classroom experiences, engagement and academic output of students with language and/or attentional difficulties
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Linda Graham - Meeting the Needs of Students: What Teachers Know About Developmental Language Disorder and Inclusive Practices
MPhil, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Linda Graham