Quick bio of Dr Simon Bignell

Dr Bignell is a British Developmental Psychologist with interests in Children’s Language, Education and Cyberpsychology.

A graduate of the former School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences (COGS) at University of Sussex and postgraduate of the Department of Psychology at University of Essex, Simon’s research focus is on children’s language skills with a particular emphasis on children with inattention and hyperactivity; along with a growing body of developmental projects using online virtual worlds.

Having previously worked in research roles at the Universities of Sussex, Essex, London South Bank and The Open University he is currently a full-time Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Derby’s Psychology Department. He has published in peer-reviewed journals (including British Journal of Developmental Psychology) and was the Associate Editor for Conferences for the British Psychological Society's monthly publication The Psychologist for many years.

He was awarded the University of Derby Staff Excellence Award for Excellence in Learning, Teaching & Assessment and has been nominated for several awards including the Times Higher Education Awards ‘Most Innovative Teacher of the Year’.

Simon has led several funded (JISC, HEA) pedagogical research projects including ‘Virtual Pathways: Supporting students into the virtual campus’ and the collaborative ‘Problem-based Learning in Virtual Interactive Educational Worlds for Psychology’ (PREVIEW-Psych) project.