Psychological Sciences
Education and Behavioral Sciences
Ph.D. - University of Georgia, USA
MEd. - University of Georgia, USA
M.A. - Seoul National University, South Korea
B.A. - Seoul National University of Education, South Korea
Dr. Sue Hyeon Paek, an Associate Professor at the University of Northern Colorado, received a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and an MEd in Quantitative Methodology. As an emerging scholar, she received awards recognizing her contribution to research on creativity and gifted education such as the Barron Award at the APA Division 10. She has served on the editorial board of Thinking Skills and Creativity and the executive committee of the APA Division 10 as the secretary and the chair of the Microgrant Committee. She participated in several federal and local grant applications on a wide range of research topics, such as STEM education, environmental education, and creative problem-solving.
Throughout Dr. Paek’s 8-year of K-12 teaching experiences and 10-year of postsecondary teaching, she has developed her teaching philosophy and skills in a wide variety of face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses. She has taught undergraduate and graduate classes, including creative education, advanced measurement topics, and introductory and seminar courses in Educational Psychology at UNC.
Her teaching philosophy is based on situated learning (e.g., Lave & Wenger, 1991). In this perspective, the authentic situation, in which learning occurs, is emphasized. Accordingly, she situates learning in various forms of real activities that students encounter rather than only acquiring propositional knowledge in her courses. Simply speaking, she designs her classes to allow students to learn in the same context in which their knowledge is applied. Across levels, she emphasizes three principles: (a) She gives them opportunities to apply their knowledge and skillsets in authentic tasks. (b) She encourages them to reflect on their learning through interacting with peers and build up meaning together as a group. (c) Lastly, she stresses rigor in understanding knowledge required in the field.
Dr. Paek’s research interests are driven by inquiry into informing and improving evidence-based practices in creativity identification and development with an aim to promote the growth and education of individuals with diverse learning needs. She has focused on assessing creativity and what environmental factors systematicallycontribute to shaping its optimal development. More specifically, she has examined: a) how to integrate multiple aspects of creativity in formal and informal assessment to accurately identify creative potential, b) how environmental factors, including how people believe about creativity (implicit theory), affectcreativity identification, and c) how research improves informed decisions that contribute to reducing gaps in academic and creative success.These lines of research have resulted in peer-reviewed publications in field-leading journals, andnumerousconference presentations at local and national venues.
Paek, S. H., & Sumners, S. E. (2017, July) The Indirect Effect of Teachers’ Creative Mindsets on Teaching Creativity. The Journal of Creative Behavior. Advance online publication. doi/10.1002/jocb.180.
Paek, S. H., & Runco, M. A. (2017). Dealing with the Criterion Problem by Measuring the Quality and Quantity of Creative Activity and Accomplishment. Creativity Research Journal, 29 (2), 167-173.
Paek, S. H., Park, H., Runco, M. A., & Choe, H-. S. (2016). The contribution of ideational behavior to creative extracurricular activities. Creativity Research Journal, 28(2), 144-148.
Runco, M. A., Abdulla, A., Paek, S. H., Al-Jasim, F., & Alsuwaidi, H. N. (2016). Which test of divergent thinking is best? Creativity. Theories – Research – Applications. 3(1), 4-18.
Paek, S. H., Abdulla, A. & Cramond, B. (2016). A meta-analysis of the relationship between three common psychopathologies – ADHD, anxiety, and depression – and indicators of little-c creativity. Gifted Child Quarterly.60(2), 117-133.
Chand O’Neal, I., Paek, S. H., & Runco, M. A. (2015). Comparison of competing theories about ideation and creativity. Creativity. Theories – Research – Applications.2(2), 145-165.
Runco, M. A., Paek, S. H., & Jaeger, G. (2015). Is creativity being supported? Further analyses of grants and awards for creativity research. Creativity Research Journal. 27(1), 107-110.
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