Jordan Bell

Room 246, Hughes Building Phone +61 Fax +61 (08) 8303 3770 jordan.bell@student.adelaide.edu.au

Area of Research

Child Psychology; Educational Psychology.

Awards

Australian Postgraduate Award.
Member of Golden Key International Honour Society.
Norman Munn Prize for Psychology II

Research Interests

I am interested in the concept of resilience, specifically educational resilience: the ability to "bounce back" from traumatic and stressful events or disadvantageous life circumstances and maintain achievement in school. The personal characteristics, family features and environmental factors that promote educational resilience have been well-documented over the last two decades in prospective longitudinal studies.

Research Project

My research will focus on comparing levels of resilience in children who have studied the Kumon Method of mathematics, with children who have not been exposed to the method. Beginning with a Systematic Review of the literature, the research will compare matched controls from both groups on a range of factors to see whether the Kumon Method of mathematical instruction promotes resilience. A further study attempting to increase levels of resilience in disadvantaged children may be conducted in 2008.