Philosophy
My central goal is to bring out individual potential by increasing student governance of learning to promote motivation and increase critical thinking skills. In my courses, you will typically find a mix of activities, lecture, discussion, and writing. I try to give students choice and voice in their learning whenever possible. I work to create a welcoming classroom environment that celebrates diversity and is accessible to all.
Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SOTL)
I am currently researching best practices for leveraging technology use in higher education. More specifically, I am assessing whether the integration of digital and social media into my courses relates to student attitudes, engagement, and perception of learning. This is an ongoing process that involves surveying students in a variety of courses with varying levels of digital and social media use related to the course.
Why?
“Knowledge” is becoming less centralized, more accessible, and viewed as a collective agreement based on social review (Greenhow & Gleason, 2014). As access to information increases, I view my role in the classroom not as the “deliverer” of knowledge but rather a “facilitator” for exploring knowledge. Although students use technology frequently and are often referred to as “digital natives” (Prensky, 2001), the Education Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR) 2011 report suggests student tech use is broad, not deep. Moreover, ECAR suggests students still need support to use technology in a meaningful way. Therefore, in my courses, I aim to provide a working model for using digital and social media to develop personal learning networks and foster lifelong learning.
Courses Taught
- Behavioral Research I (Course Materials)
- Introduction to Experimental Psychology
- Neurobiology of Disease (w/ lab)
- Physiological Psychology (w/ lab)
- Memory & Cognition (w/ lab)
- Basic Statistics for the Social Sciences (w/ lab)
- General Psychology
- Intimate Relationships
- Child Development
- Lifespan Development
Additional Teaching Interests
- Neuropsychology
- Aging Mind and Brain
- Drugs and Human Behavior
- Socioemotional Aging
- Judgment & Decision-Making
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Social Neuroscience
- Neuroeconomics/Decision Neuroscience
- Moral Psychology or Neuroscience
- Psychophysiology
So you want to be a scientist 