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Mark Torrance

Mark Torrance

Associate Professor

School of Social Sciences

Staff Group(s)
Psychology

Role

I am coordinator and leader for Psychology undergraduate and taught postgraduate Research Project (dissertation) modules.

Research areas

My research explores the cognitive and educational processes associated with writing – keyboarded and hand-written production of anything from sub-word units to multi-sentence text. Previous and current research covers, amongst other things, written picture naming, spelling processes, psycholinguistic processes underlying written sentence production, writing in children with dyslexia, reading during writing, identifying and supporting young struggling writers, and empirical evaluation of approaches to writing instruction.

External activity

Selected Current

  • ProWrite: Biometric technology for improving college students' writing processes. Evgeny Chukharev-Hudilainen (PI - Iowa State University) and myself (co-PI / local PI). US National Science Foundation. 750,000 USD. 2020-2024.
  • SourceWrite: Real-time, Biometric, Intention-informed Scaffolding Of Source-based Writing Processes. Evgeny Chukharev-Hudilainen (PI - Iowa State University), myself (co-PI / local PI), Jens Roeser (NTU co-PI), Rianne Conijn (Eindhoven University, co-PI). US National Science Foundation. 850,000 USD. 2023-2026.
  • Research team member. Technological and Preventive Approach on Learning Disabilities in Writing: Progress Monitoring and Evidence-Based Practices (TECPRE_LDW). Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation. Raquel Fidalgo (University of León). 2023-2026.
  • Academic collaborator in the Doctoral Program: Educational Psychology and Educational Sciences Doctoral Program in the Faculty of Education, Psychology, Sociology and Philosophy Department of the University of León
  • Joint Editor, Journal of Writing Research

Selected Recent

  • Research team member and scientific advisory board. Norwegian Research Council (FINNUT) grant 273422 DigiHand: The emergence of handwriting skills in the digital classrooms. 2018-2021
  • EarlyWritePro - Developing methods for understanding early writing through analysis of process dysfluencies. PI / leader. European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction Emerging Fields Group.19,000 EUR 2018-2021
  • Working Group Coordinator (Literacy Technologies) and Steering Committee member, EU COST Action IS1401 Strengthening European Capabilities by Establishing the European Literacy Network (ELN; https://www.is1401eln.eu/en/).
  • Statistics Editor, Journal of Second Language Writing