Derek Piper's Resource Page  .. .
Updated September 2002

Click on the sunset for my homepage.

Research Interests:
Currently my interests have narrowed down to:  Gifted underachievement, talent development (especially for the economically disadvantaged), learned industriousness, self-efficacy, teacher efficacy, optimistic explanatory style, self-regulated learning, expert/novice knowledge, the applications of neuroscience (e.g. Emotional Intelligence and especially the neurotransmitter Dopamine), epistemological beliefs, the effects (if there are any) that male elementary teacher have on children from single parent homes, and for fun I study humor.  Believe me...they are all connected somehow!  For the most part, the aforementioned concepts have come to a point where application into the classroom would be productive.  I would like to eventually spend time implementing these solid, well researched concepts at the elementary and middle school level.

Issues I would like to explore:
 

• The relationship between challenge and lack of challenge for high-ability children in early elementary classrooms and industriousness as a preadolescent.
• Time perception.  It's development and the consequences of abnormal perceptions of time in late elementary and adolescent students.
• The beliefs and knowledge of teacher efficacy and student self-efficacy in the current teaching force.
• The beliefs and knowledge of self-regulated learning in the current teaching force.
• The degree to which teachers would find inservice training in self-regulated learning useful.
• The long term effects of teacher efficacy (in specific areas of course) and long term student performance.
• The explanatory style (degree of optimism and pessimism), self-efficacy measures, and self-regulation of "overachievers".
• Self-regulated learning and Dr. Betts' Autonomous Learning Model.
• Talent development and self-efficacy beliefs...especially in regard to economically disadvantaged gifted students.
• The traits of experts and self-regulation.
• I would like to learn more about mentorships (e.g. college students working with "at-risk" gifted).

• The work that Dr. Seligman has done with explanatory style in the classroom.
• Teacher education and the constructs of self-regulation, self-efficacy, and explantory style.
• I wish to continue to learn more and apply findings in Neuroscience.
• Recently I have been reading up on the challenges male elementary teachers face and the effects they have on students.
• Methods and means in which I can find the time to pursue these interests!

Athabasca University
This sites provides a great place to begin any search into psychology.  The link goes straight to the educational psychology section.
Dr. Bill Huitt's Home Page
A well organized overview of the field.
    This man has an incredible number of Ed. Psych links...click here to see them.
The Statistics Homepage
A resource for those days when you feel it should be called sadistics.
A Project-Based Approadch to Teaching Educational Research By Dr. Van Haneghan...helpful when you need to teach it.

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Cognitive Science

Click Here for an introduction to Cognitive Science including history, trends, and research!
Athabasca University
This site provides a great place to begin any search into psychology.  The link goes straight to the cognitive psychology section.
CogLab
Provides explanations of all kinds of experiments one could do...it would be a blast if I knew the passwords!
Neuroscience for Kids
Like the title says -- neuroscience activities for kids...a great source of information for the classroom.
Brainconnection.com
An excellent, nontechnical guide to the brain.  A very rich site.
Neuroscience Databank and other topics.
Neuroscience Education
All you will ever need to know about the field (almost).  Loaded with other useful links!
Neuroscience Tutorial
From the Washington School of Medicine.  This is much like a learn-it-yourself activity!
Biological Intelligence
Hundreds of links in alphabetical order and with descriptions!

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Self-Efficacy, Optimism, and Self-Regulated Learning

Contextual Learning Website
It is not always easy to find information on self-regulated learning on the web.  This is the best I have for now.
Feedback and Self-Regulated Learning:  A Theoretical Synthesis by Butler and Winne from Review of Ed. Research (1995)
A self-efficacy website composed by Dr. Pajares at Emory University.  Chalk full of information from one of leaders in the field!  Definitely a must visit site.
Seligman (Optimism)  in "Omni" magazine.
Dr. Pritchard's lecture on optimism - provides a good overview of the construct.
The Martin Seligman Research Alliance
A lecture given by a professor in Australia gives an overview of optimism and incorporates learned industriousness.
Emotional Intelligence, ect. A comprehensive resource with a section for academics and others.

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Learned Industriousness

Industriousness: How It Can Be Learned by Dr. Robert Eisenberger.
Mental Health Net has a good article about learned industriousness, humanism, and positive addiction.

Epistemological Beliefs

Epistemological beliefs in preservice teachers  By Mrs. Brownlee.  This is a study with loads of useful references.
Epistemological Sophistication  by Dr. Elby and Dr. Hammer...questions some current thinking in this area. This paper primarily deals with science but, once again, has oodles of references.
 
 

Gifted Education and Talent Development

Hoagie's Gifted Resource Page
Dr. Michael Sayler's "Recent Empiric Research on the Education of Gifted Education.
    * One could write a thesis off of this page!  Very Impressive.
More resources from the University of North Texas regarding gifted education for teachers, researchers, and parents.  You can get almost anywhere you want to go from here.
Recent developments in gifted education from Education Week.

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Home Page of Derek Lee Piper

To be continued....