Professor Anna Barnett
Professor of Psychology, Oxford Brookes University, UK.
Professor Barnett will be giving a joint lecture with Dr Olivia Afonso on How We Learn to Write.
Speaker's biography
Anna Barnett is a Professor of Psychology based in the Centre for Psychological Research at Oxford Brookes University. She teaches a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, primarily in the area of developmental psychology.
Anna's research interests lie in the general field of motor development. Within this area, she pursues two different strands of research. The first has very practical applications, involving the development of suitable tools to assess motor skill. This has involved the re-standardisation of a test of general motor competence (the Movement ABC-2) for children aged 3-16 years. She has also developed a test of handwriting speed (the DASH) for children aged 9-16 years, with an extension for students aged 17-25 years (DASH17+). The second strand of her research focuses on various aspects of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) - including diagnosis and assessment in children and adults with this condition and exploration of the genetic contribution to motor difficulties.
Anna also has a special interest in the teaching and learning of handwriting skill, as an important component of the broader skill of writing. Her work in this area includes surveys of policy and practice in primary schools and examinations of handwriting in individuals with developmental disorders such as DCD and dyslexia.