Dr. Ophelie Desmet
<b>Department: </b>Educational Psychology<br><b>Research Area: </b>Interventions for academic underachievement; social-emotional aspects of talent development; gifted education
Department: Educational Psychology
Research Focus: Interventions for academic underachievement; social-emotional aspects of talent development; gifted education
Potential Student Project(s):
Project 1: You'll assist in studying creativity and academic achievement in secondary school students. Tasks include administering and scoring creativity tests, entering data, performing basic statistical analyses (calculating means, correlations), creating visual data representations, and discussing results. You'll gain handson experience in educational research methods, data collection, and analysis while exploring the relationship between creativity and academic success.
Project 2: You'll contribute to research on improving identification of diverse gifted students, including those with disabilities. Depending on your interests, you may clean and organize data, perform descriptive analyses, review research papers on positive psychology and gifted identification, or create curricular or teacher training materials. This project offers experience in educational psychology research, cognitive assessment, and working with human subjects data.
Both projects provide excellent opportunities for students interested in psychology, education, or counseling to apply classroom knowledge in a real-world setting.
Attributes/skills/background sought in undergraduate:
We're looking for inquisitive, reflective, and detail-oriented students who are comfortable with technology and quantitative and/or qualitative data analysis or are willing to learn. Ideal candidates are reliable, organized, and able to complete tasks on time. Strong communication skills and intellectual curiosity about psychology and education are crucial. Experience in learning theory, human development, classroom assessment, or educational technology is beneficial but not required. We value creative thinkers who can ask insightful questions and are dedicated to exploring interesting research topics. A desire to present or publish research is a plus.
Mentoring Plan:
We will meet weekly for an hour to discuss project progress, address questions, and set goals. You'll be integrated into our research team, participating in lab meetings and collaborating with graduate students. I'll provide hands-on guidance in research methods, data analysis, and academic writing. As you gain experience, you'll have opportunities to take on more responsibility and potentially contribute to conference presentations or publications. I'm committed to fostering your growth as a researcher and helping you connect this experience to your academic and career goals. The student researcher will work 5 h/week on the project including a 1-on-1 interaction with me for at least 1 hour/week.
Contact: 765-285-8500, TC 403