Rate My Professor Darrel Davis

Darrel Davis, Ph.D., is Chair and Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at Miami University’s College of Education, Health, and Society, and Faculty Associate at the Human Development, Learning and Technology Center. He earned a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of South Florida, and a B.S. in Mathematics Education from the University College of Belize. Before entering academia, Davis served as a high school teacher. He joined Miami University in 2007 as a Heanon Wilkins Fellow, became Assistant Professor in 2008, and progressed to his current leadership role as department chair.

Davis specializes in research on play activities and spaces, teaching and learning in online environments, and technology use in diverse and developing settings. His contributions include the co-authored book Technology Play and Brain Development: Infancy to Adolescence and Future Implications with Doris Bergen and Jason Abbitt, articles such as one in Journal of Research in Childhood Education (2014) and Psychology in the Schools (2014), and a chapter on playful activity as a medium for moral development. His scholarship has over 600 citations on Google Scholar. Davis developed Miami’s first student-teaching program in Belize, his home country, and study abroad workshops in Honduras emphasizing technology in international educational contexts. He redesigned the high-enrollment undergraduate course EDP 201, introducing free textbooks, an honors section, research integration, service-learning with local high schools, and student poster sessions. For his innovative undergraduate teaching using simulations, case studies, discussions, and reflective writing, he received the 2016 E. Phillip Knox Distinguished Teaching Award and recognition from the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities. Additional roles include coaching the men’s club soccer team, serving as a Howe Faculty Writing Fellow, and contributing to committees on writing and peer review of teaching.