Andrew Coppens

Andrew Coppens

Associate Professor
Phone: (603) 862-3736
Office: Education, Hamilton Smith Hall 321, Durham, NH 03824
Websites:

Andrew D. Coppens, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Education in Learning Sciences
Director of Graduate Programs in Educational Studies

Coppens holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of California Santa Cruz. Coppens' appointment involves research and teaching in cultural and developmental psychology, the learning sciences, and qualitative research methods. His research focuses on cultural processes of learning and development in the family and community contexts of non-dominant communities.

He has conducted research on children's learning and development in everyday, informal settings with rural, middle-class, and Indigenous-heritage communities in the US, Mexico, Ecuador, Germany, India, and Bhutan. Much of this research examines cultural patterns in whether children's learning involves their integration in or segregation from the work of adults and other experts, as well as the cultural strengths that children take up from learning in informal settings.

Coppens is one of several founding PIs of the New Hampshire Youth Retention Initiative (YRI), a collaborative and interdisciplinary research program understanding the affordances and constraints for youth and families imagining and pursuing varied educational, occupational, and residential futures. The research is focused on developing sustainable and strengths-based educational and workforce pathways for youth, and to address human capital extraction patterns among rural communities. YRI research is or has been funded by UNH CoRE, the Spencer Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the NH Charitable Foundation.

Courses Taught

  • EDUC 701: Human Develp & Learn:Educ Psyc
  • EDUC 701/801: Hum Dev & Lrn: Cultural Persp
  • EDUC 718: Critical Social Justice Ed/Hon
  • EDUC 801: Hum Dev & Lrn: Cultural Persp
  • EDUC 818: Critical Social Justice Educ
  • EDUC 904: Qual Inquiry in Research
  • EDUC 950: Culture in Rrch on Lrn & Dev
  • EDUC 982: Qual Fieldwork & Data Analysis
  • EDUC 999: Doctoral Research

Education

  • Ph.D., Psychology (designated emphasis in Latin American & Latino Studies), University of California
  • M.S., Psychology, University of California
  • B.S., Kinesiology: Outdoor Education, University of New Hampshire

Research Interests

  • Culture and child development
  • Qualitative research methods
  • Rural Education
  • Children's collaboration, learning, motivation, and prosocial helping

Selected Publications

  • Seaman, J., Coppens, A. D., Hartman, C. L., Bastoni, A., Moscouver, K., LaChaine, C., & Gronneberg, J. (2024). Outdoor recreation shows promise as an equitable context for youth informal STEM learning in amenity-rich rural areas. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 48, 100815. doi:10.1016/j.jort.2024.100815

  • Bader, J. D., Ahearn, K. A., Allen, B. A., Anand, D. M., Coppens, A. D., & Aikens, M. L. (2023). The decision is in the details: Justifying decisions about socioscientific issues. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 60(10), 2147-2179. doi:10.1002/tea.21854

  • Coppens, A. D., & Rogoff, B. (2022). Cultural variation in the early development of initiative in children's prosocial helping. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, 31(3), 656-678. doi:10.1111/sode.12566

  • Coppens, A. D., Corwin, A. I., & Alcala, L. (2020). Beyond Behavior: Linguistic Evidence of Cultural Variation in Parental Ethnotheories of Children's Prosocial Helping. FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY, 11. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00307

  • Reagan, E. M., Coppens, A. D., Couse, L. J., Hambacher, E., Lord, D., McCurdy, K., & Pimentel, D. S. (2018). TOWARD A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING THE TEACHER RESIDENCY FOR RURAL EDUCATION. In INNOVATION AND IMPLEMENTATION IN RURAL PLACES: SCHOOL-UNIVERSITY-COMMUNITY COLLABORATION IN EDUCATION (pp. 81-106). Retrieved from https://www.webofscience.com/

  • Seaman, J., Sharp, E. H., & Coppens, A. D. (2017). A Dialectical Approach to Theoretical Integration in Developmental-Contextual Identity Research. DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY, 53(11), 2023-2035. doi:10.1037/dev0000383

  • Rogoff, B., Coppens, A. D., Alcala, L., Aceves-Azuara, I., Ruvalcaba, O., Lopez, A., & Dayton, A. (2017). Noticing Learners' Strengths Through Cultural Research. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE, 12(5), 876-888. doi:10.1177/1745691617718355

  • Alcala, L., Rogoff, B., Mejia-Arauz, R., Coppens, A. D., & Dexter, A. L. (2014). Children's Initiative in Contributions to Family Work in Indigenous-Heritage and Cosmopolitan Communities in Mexico. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, 57(2-3), 96-115. doi:10.1159/000356763

  • Coppens, A. D., Alcala, L., Mejia-Arauz, R., & Rogoff, B. (2014). Children's Initiative in Family Household Work in Mexico. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, 57(2-3), 116-130. doi:10.1159/000356768

  • Coppens, A. D., Silva, K. G., Ruvalcaba, O., Alcala, L., Lopez, A., & Rogoff, B. (2014). Learning by Observing and Pitching In: Benefits and Processes of Expanding Repertoires. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, 57(2-3), 150-161. doi:10.1159/000356770

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  • Most Cited Publications