Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy aligns closely with holistic constructivism. My goal is to create collaborative learning environments and encourage hands-on learning experiences. This is accomplished in different ways, dependent on the course focus. In research methods specifically, this may involve forming small groups who work together on a project of their own interest. While some lecturing is necessary to scaffold students' knowledge, students in my research/statistics classes can expect to spend the majority of the time practicing hands-on strategies and gaining first-hand exposure to the common pitfalls that researchers run into (such as small sample sizes, difficulties in recruiting, problems with priming, etc.). Rather than solely learning information, my students can expect to develop critical problem-solving skills that are required of independent and collaborative researchers.

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Additionally, I create an enriching learning environment by assigning work that moves students toward an over-arching final product, with opportunities to receive detailed feedback. For instance, in research methods, students complete APA manuscript components individually over the semester before compiling the components together into a complete paper. This allows them to improve each part before turning in their final manuscript for grading. Other assignments are designed to stimulate critical and creative thinking about the research process. An oft favorite lab assignment is the “Design an Experiment” activity in which student groups receive a folklore adage and design an experiment to test whether the “old wives’ tale” is true or not, and then share their design with the class. This requires them to operationalize variables and get creative with methodology. 

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Finally, I am focused on providing equity and equality in learning. I recognize that all students come from unique experiences and I strive to be considerate of these backgrounds in the activities and assignments that I require. At the beginning of each semester, I start with an anonymous survey to all students in the course that asks them to rate their skill level on the topics we will examine, and whether they have access to the resources required by the course. Based on this information, I adjust my teaching methods to fit each course section. Additionally, I am very responsive to students’ inquiries on assignments and projects and make myself available much of the time for in-person meetings. Most importantly, I believe that while we strive to educate our students, we should also be learning by listening to what the students need for success and keeping up to date with empirically supported teaching strategies.

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Teaching Experience​

I have experience teaching multiple psychology courses at the undergraduate level at the University of Kentucky and Metropolitan State University. These teaching experiences have involved multiple settings and responsibilities, including face-to-face and remote instruction, developing course content, assessing student progress, helping students meet learning objectives, and grading.

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As an undergraduate, I assisted several of my fellow students in completing individual research projects as part of a voluntary lab. This involved encouraging each other to produce high-quality work, checking and re-checking assumptions of our research, and attending several conferences to support each other. Additionally, I am currently mentoring an undergraduate student on graduate school and career applications through the Kentucky Psychological Association. 

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My experiences have prepared me to teach introductory and specialized psychology courses to both psychology majors and non-majors. I am fully prepared to teach research methods and statistics courses in psychology and would be interested in further developing courses in introductory psychology, social psychology, and psychology of victims. Additionally, my experiences at Metropolitan State University prepared me to teach a diverse range of undergraduate students in terms of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, and generational involvement in higher education.

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My goal is to use evidence-based teaching strategies in all my courses and encourage students to develop strong collaboration and critical thinking skills. These skills are integral for future careers, educational pursuits, and extracurricular success. In particular, I implement active learning and a jigsaw classroom approach (as developed by Elliott Aronson) whenever possible. This approach splits students into set, diverse groups in which they are responsible for helping each other learn and has been shown to be effective at developing a deeper understanding of the material, increasing amicable inter-group relationships across diverse groups of students, and encouraging students to take responsibility for their own learning.

I have implemented these methods successfully at the University of Kentucky in a face-to-face and a remote format for psychological statistics and advanced research methods courses. Students have been appreciative, as evidenced by above-average ratings in official teaching evaluations and positive responses on qualitative surveys. Retention in these courses has remained consistently above 90%.