Faculty

Nielsen Pereira is an associate professor of Gifted, Creative, and Talented Studies at Purdue University. His research interests include conceptual and measurement issues in the identification of gifted and talented populations; design and assessment of learning in varied gifted and talented education contexts; and understanding gifted and talented student experiences in talent development programs in and out of school. He was the recipient of the 2020 Early Scholar Award from the National Association for Gifted Children and the 2019 Pathbreaker Award from the American Educational Research Association Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent special interest group.

Hua-Hua Chang is the Charles R. Hicks Chair Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at Purdue University. Dr. Chang’s interests are broad, encompassing both theoretical development and applied methodologies in psychometrics, including computerized adaptive testing, cognitive diagnosis, asymptotic properties in IRT, and test equity. Most recently, his work has been concentrated on developing web-based assessments to facilitate individualized learning. Dr. Chang twice served as Fulbright Specialist (Colombia 2019 and Australia 2005). He is a Past-President of the Psychometric Society and a Fellow of both the American Educational Research Association and American Statistical Association.

Ron Martella is a professor in the Colleges of Education and Health and Human Sciences at Purdue University. Ron is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral level and earned his Ph.D. in Special Education from Utah State University. He also has an MS in Behavior Analysis and Therapy from Southern Illinois University. Ron has expertise in behavior management, positive behavior supports (PBS), and multi-tier systems of support (MTSS). Ron has over 35 years of experience working with at-risk populations with particular focus on students who need academic and/or behavior supports. He has more than 190 publications including journal articles, textbooks, and curricular products and has conducted more than 260 professional talks. His research has focused on behavior and classroom management, self-management, problem-solving, academic instruction, and health and independent living skills, among other topics with K-12 students with and without disabilities and adults with disabilities. His textbooks include the topics of behavior management, instructional methods, and research methodology. He is a co-author on Lesson Connections and Core Lesson Connections for Reading Mastery Signature Edition, Read to Achieve (an adolescent reading program in science/social studies and narrative text), and SRA FLEX Literacy (for grades 3-12) published by McGraw-Hill.

Marcia Gentry is an engaged scholar and has received grants worth several million dollars supporting her work with programming practices and underrepresented populations in gifted education. She actively participates in the field and frequently contributes to the gifted education literature, and regularly serves as a speaker and She spent 11 years as a teacher and administrator in K-12 settings. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, gardening, hanging out in the horse barn, collecting contemporary Navajo weavings, spending time at her a cabin on Lake Superior, and working with her doctoral students. She was the 2014 recipient of the prestigious NAGC Distinguished Scholar Award—and at this same meeting one of her graduates received the Early Scholar Award and one of her doctoral students received the Doctoral Student Award.

Jean Sunde Peterson professor emerita and former director of school-counselor preparation at Purdue University, was a classroom teacher and state teacher of the year in her first career. In her second, she often worked clinically with gifted youth and their families. These experiences and her extensive research of bright kids’ social and emotional development inform her presentations. She has authored more than 140 books, articles, and invited book chapters and served two terms on the Board of Directors of the National Association for Gifted Children. Her most recent of 13 books are Bright, Complex Kids and Get Gifted Students Talking. She received the NAGC Distinguished Scholar Award in 2020.

Wanju Huang is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Learning Design and Technology at Purdue University. Prior to joining the LDT program, she was an instructional design manager at Teaching and Learning Technologies, Purdue Online, where she led a team of instructional designers and video producers for course design and development. She received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction (with a concentration in Technology) from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Huang received the Excellence in Teaching Award, University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) in 2022, the Central Regional Award for Excellence in Instructional Design, UPCEA in 2021, and the Purdue Online Innovative Course Design and Use of Technology Award in 2020. She has published and presented research papers related to online learning and instructional design at national and international conferences. Her research interests include: technology for building online communities, online identities and communication, the educational use of mixed reality, and the effectiveness of faculty development programs

Sarah Bright is a post-doctoral research associate at Purdue University. Her research interests include social and emotional learning in elementary gifted settings and the impact of instructional technology within gifted education. She has a bachelor’s degree in European history and politics from the University of Toronto, a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies from New York University, and a PhD in education with a focus on curriculum studies from DePaul University. She is a co-author of Learning with Content: Using Picture Books for Differentiated Teaching in K-3 Classrooms, published by Routledge/Profrock.