Dr Bisson’s research focuses on facilitating learning. She has worked primarily on facilitating foreign language learning through informal exposures (incidental learning). Her research has used multi-modal situations such as films with subtitles, and more simple situations involving single words and pictures to study the incidental acquisition of foreign language vocabulary. Dr Bisson is also interested in the predictors of learning and she recently investigated the cognitive (e.g. working memory, auditory/phonological abilities, orthographic abilities, executive fundctions) and affective (e.g. motivation and confidence) predictors of both incidental and explicit foreign language word learning.
A second line of research has compared the use or concrete and abstract examples to facilitate the learning of novel mathematical concepts. She has conducted randomised controlled trial studies with children and adolescents using a method known as comparative judgement to measure conceptual understanding.
Her other research interests include first and second language acquisition, implicit and explicit learning, bilingualism, mathematical cognition and psycholinguistics. As well as behavioural research methods, she conducts experiments using eye-tracking and EEG.
If you are interested in pursuing a Master or PhD on any of the above topics please do get in touch.