Nina Powell

After her undergraduate studies in the US, Nina hopped across the pond to pursue a Ph.D. in the psychology of human behaviour and decision-making (Social and Cognitive Developmental Psychology) at the University of Birmingham (UK). After her doctoral studies and a postdoctoral position, Nina left the UK to join NUS in 2013 and has since made Singapore the place she calls home, firmly planting roots here. Her domain expertise is in in how people process information about moral judgments, and the development of cognitive reasoning used in making moral judgments. To date, her research has explored both children’s and adults’ moral judgments, capacity for moral reasoning and moral agency. Currently, Nina’s work focuses on the ethics of autonomy and care in AI and human interactions. She is particularly interested in human beings’ perception and evaluation of agency in non-human agents (i.e., robots, drones, etc.), and the ethical implications for technology-driven smart cities where human beings cooperate and engage regularly with AI and machines. Nina is currently the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Psychology, and promotes agentic teaching through reflective practice and values-driven approaches through her leadership in CAFÉ (Career Advancement for FASS Educators), CTLT Affiliates Programme and most recently, the NUS Teaching Academy.

My goal as an educator is to use pedagogical practices and the psychology of human agency to foster agency through student learning, and to enhance agency in educators. An agency-centred approach to education allows for students and educators to be influential, active creators. I cultivate agentic students and educators through an emphasis on reasoned reflection and values as foundational for goal-directed, intentional, and creative action. Students use their agency to learn by confronting areas of uncertainty in scholarship and embracing non-dual thinking to generate their own novel perspectives that address the very real ambiguities and complexities in scholarship. If students can cultivate a strong sense of agency in my classroom, then they are better equipped to be agentic in their endeavours after university by better understanding the complexity of problems to develop novel solutions, and ultimately to become influential in the world. I like to think of my classroom as a place for students to get comfortable with uncertainty and non-dual thinking, and to begin training their “agency muscle” before entering the higher-stakes post-university world.

My central educational goal is to cultivate agency in students and educators. Agency is necessary for students and educators to be able to influence outcomes rather than to feel passive to circumstances and determined by outcomes; to affect rather than be affected. For students, this means being influential in actively constructing knowledge and understanding, rather than just passively absorbing existing knowledge and understanding. For educators, this means being influential in making higher education what we believe it should be based on the values we hold and being effective in shaping educational practices. Fostering agency in higher education can be achieved by engaging our higher-order capacity for reasoned reflection, and by using a values-driven approach to reflect on what matters, why it matters, and for what goal or purpose.

About being a part of the Academy…

I am excited to be a part of this academy – a collective of passionate educators with a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, to better learn about educational approaches across contexts and educational philosophies. We share a common interest in thought-leadership, understanding the nuance of context, and care for the betterment of higher education. There is no better place to express our agency as educators than to be a part of a think-tank dedicated to shaping higher education based on a shared vision. I hope to bring reflective practice and agency-centred approaches to help advance the initiatives at the Academy, but to also learn and develop my own practice through this experience. 

Teaching Strengths

Agency-centred teaching, active/blended learning, reflective practice, ethical use of AI in education

Teaching Awards

• Inspiring Mentor Award (2021)
• Faculty Teaching Excellence Award (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
• Faculty Teaching Special Award: Innovation (2018)