Penny Van Bergen

I am a Professor of Educational Psychology and current Head of School in the University of Wollongong's School of Education. I have strong leadership experience in the higher education sector, including as Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching, Director of the Centre for Children's Learning in a Social World, chair of a university-level Academic Appeals Committee, and Director of Research. I am also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and have been awarded nine teaching awards between 2011 and 2018 (including from the Office of Learning and Teaching, Macquarie University, Unijobs, and the Australian Psychological Society). Underpinning my teaching is a strong commitment to creating undergraduate research opportunities for education students.<br><br>I have two key lines of research. <br><br>- I explore on how children and adolescents develop memory and emotion skills. My current research focuses on how family, teachers, and aged care residents reminisce with young people, and how cultural learning pathways support children's memory and perspective-taking. <br>- I consider the importance of student-teacher relationships in childhood, adolescence, and higher education. I particularly interested in mapping the relationship factors that best facilitate learning and development. <br><br>If you are interested in conducting masters or PhD research in these areas, please reach out to me at pennyvb@uow.edu.au. Educational psychology, Learning sciences, Other education not elsewhere classified