Dimitris Pnevmatikos (2)

Professor of the Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Western Macedonia

Dimitris Pnevmatikos, PhD, is currently the Vice-Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Western Macedonia in Greece, which he founded in 2019. He is also the head of the Lab of Cognitive Science and, as a member of the Primary Education Department, has contributed significantly to numerous courses at graduate and postgraduate levels. He was head of the Post-graduate Program in Educational Sciences and has supervised over 100 theses, 14 PhDs, and three postdocs. He has published over 130 articles and books, including the Greek national books for 1st-grade mathematics and is a member of important education and curriculum design committees. Prof. Pnevmatikos has served in key roles (Executive Committee member and SIG Coordinator) in the European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction (EARLI) and the Hellenic Psychological Society. He also served as the President of the Association for Values and Knowledge Education (AVaKE) from 2018 to 2022. He reviews for numerous scientific journals, being on their editorial board and as an ad-hoc reviewer. He guest edited a Special Issue on Critical Thinking for the Journal of Education Sciences in 2023. He has led crucial national and European projects as the principal investigator, including FP6, Thales, ARISTEIA, and HORIZON2020, ERASMUS+, fostering significant advancements in STEM education, understanding cognitive mechanisms in children, teacher training courses, critical thinking skill education, and the development of Social Assistive Robots (SARs) and digital platforms for schools.

Presentation title: Creating Critical Thinking Professionals: Challenges for Higher Education and Strategies for Enhancing Critical Thinking