Dr Birsu Kandemirci

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Birsu Kandemirci
About
Teaching and learning
Research
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About

I joined the Psychology department at Kingston University London as a lecturer in November 2019 following a period of 2 years as a post-doctoral researcher in the department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University, working on a project that focused on young children's language skills and their perspective-taking abilities.

I am particularly interested in collaborative projects and in supervising doctoral studies in creativity, psycholinguistics, executive functions, and theory of mind, and I have a keen interest in cross-cultural and/or cross-linguistic research.

In 2013, I was fortunate to be awarded full MSc and PhD scholarships from the Turkish Ministry of National Education. I completed my MSc in Developmental Psychology at Lancaster University in 2014, and my PhD at the University of Sheffield in 2018. My PhD research was on young children's creativity and the impact of touchscreen use and peer collaboration on creative performance, an area I hope I can develop further while at Kingston.

As well as presenting in academic conferences and seminars, I also value communicating research with the wider community and disseminate academic studies in public engagement events. I took part in public science festivals such as Pint of Science, Festival of the Mind, and British Science Week. I am the Pint of Science Coordinator for Kingston University, and in 2021, we held our first event. Our lab, Developing Minds, also holds events to share academic knowledge with the public.

Academic responsibilities

Lecturer in Developmental Psychology

Qualifications

  • 2007-2011: BSc (Hons), Mersin University
  • 2013-2014: MSc, Lancaster University
  • 2014-2018: PhD, The University of Sheffield

Teaching and learning

My expertise lies in developmental psychology, more specifically children's social and cognitive skills. In addition, I lead a module where the history of psychology and its connections to philosophical concepts are discussed, and critical reflections on psychology are covered. I teach at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and supervise final year undergraduate projects and MSc dissertations. 

In my teaching practice, I follow the Inclusive Curriculum Framework to create a learning environment where diversity is cherished. My lectures, interactive activities, assignments, and research projects are prepared acknowledging and celebrating different approaches to learning by tapping different abilities and interests. I make use of diverse audio-visual tools, introduce engaging activities, and aim to build an environment where students feel motivated to contribute to the discussion and feel comfortable to do so.

I firmly believe that university education should equip students with more than theoretical knowledge in their scientific subject. I bring topics such as sustainable and pro-environmental lifestyle, inclusivity, and the invaluable power of internationalisation into the classroom and encourage students to rethink these concepts embedding their theoretical knowledge.

Qualifications and expertise

  • AFHEA

Undergraduate courses taught

Postgraduate courses taught

Research

My research focuses on young children's cognitive and social skills, specifically their creativity, perspective-taking abilities, and linguistic skills. Recently I have also become interested in young children's humour appreciation. I conduct cross-linguistic and cross-cultural research to gain a broader understanding of these concepts.

Scholarly affiliations

  • British Psychological Society (BPS) member
  • BPS Developmental Psychology section member
  • Reviewer for the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
  • Reviewer for Cognitive Development Journal

Publications

Jump to: Article | Conference or Workshop Item
Number of items: 6.

Article

Sofuoglu, Zeynep, Sariyer, Gorkem, Aydin, Fulya, Cankardes, Sinem and Kandemirci, Birsu (2016) Child abuse and neglect among children who drop out of school : a study in Izmir, Turkey. Social Work in Public Health, 31(6), pp. 589-598. ISSN (print) 1937-1918

Conference or Workshop Item

Kandemirci, Birsu [Speaker] (2019) Language abilities and false-belief reasoning in 2 to 4 year old children. In: University of Oxford’s Department of Education : Research Group Seminar : Child Development and Learning; 19 Nov 2019, Oxford, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Kandemirci, Birsu, Thomsen, Ditte Boeg, Theakston, Anna and Brandt, Silke (2019) Does complement-clause mastery explain false-belief understanding? A longitudinal study with 2 to 3 year olds. In: Child Language Symposium 2019; 10 - 12 Jul 2019, Sheffield, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Kandemirci, Birsu, Matthews, Danielle and Hoicka, Elena (2018) Many sides of creativity : different domains, cultures, and measurement techniques. In: 2nd UK Creativity Researchers Conference; 22 May 2018, Canterbury, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Kandemirci, Birsu (2017) Is two better than one? The effects of collaboration on creative drawing. In: British Psychology Developmental Section Annual Conference 2017; 13 - 15 Sep 2017, Stratford-upon-Avon, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Kandemirci, Birsu, Matthews, Danielle and Hoicka, Elena (2017) Do touchscreen devices make children more creative? The effects of technology and collaboration on children's storytelling ability. In: 2017 SRCD Biennial Meeting; 06 - 08 Apr 2017, Austin, Texas. (Unpublished)

This list was generated on Sun Jun 20 07:03:19 2021 BST.

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