Jingjing Sun is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the Department of Teaching & Learning. Her research has centered on children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development, with an emphasis on promoting academic engagement and wellbeing among all children. The privilege to work with Indigenous communities on the Flathead Nation in Montana, as well as schools in urban and rural settings in both the United States and China, has profoundly shaped Jingjing's research agenda. Collaborating with community leaders, educators, and interdisciplinary colleagues, Jingjing's work examines the impact of broader ecological systems, including culture, land, community, and tribal sovereignty, on learning and children’s social and emotional development in school. Further, Jingjing is passionate about supporting educators’ learning and wellbeing through extended professional development co-designed with community members and educators themselves. She helps teachers integrate collaborative discussions and social-emotional learning into their regular pedagogies. 

Jingjing directs the Collaboration & Reasoning Lab at the University of Montana and is proud to lead an interdisciplinary team of dedicated graduate and undergraduate students. She values mentoring the next generation of scholars in developing expertise in sophisticated mixed-methods designs and community-based participatory research.

Graduate Courses:

• EDEC 540 Neuroscience & Its Impact on Child Development
• EDU 510 Developmental and Learning Sciences
• EDU 626 Mixed Methods Research Design

Undergraduate Courses:

• EDU 221 Educational Psychology & Measurement 
• EDU 222 Educational Psychology​ & Child Development