Teaching Philosophy
Learning is a kind of science, and the same critical skills that researchers cultivate in the course of their work are those that will best enable students to engage in the course of their learning - the capacity to make connections across multiple different domains, to delve into new problems with the ability to ask good-quality questions, to recruit the necessary information to answer those questions, and ultimately to build reliable knowledge structures.
In the service of this idea, I strive to:
1) Reinforce the idea that students are central co-constructors of their own knowledge (not passive recipients of static, established knowledge).
2) Centralize the many ways in which People of Color are overlooked and sometimes exploited in Psychology and Human Development, among other social sciences, with an emphasis on realizing the contributions of marginalized populations to modern science.
3) Encourage students to think of learning/science in terms of process, not product.
4) Help students become critical consumers of information - and responsible portrayers of it (build a strong foundation in oral and written communication).
Teaching Experience
Fall 2016 | Spring 2017
EDHD (Education, Human Development) 411, Child Growth and Development
Instructor on Record: Dr. Lucas Payne Butler
Course Description: Theoretical approaches to and empirical studies of physical, psychological, and social development from conception to puberty. Implications for home, school, and community.
Primary Duties: host office hours to attend to student questions, provide feedback on student assignments, craft discussion questions for student activities during class sessions, maintain an online grade book
Fall 2017
EDHD (Education, Human Development) 413, Adolescent Development
Instructor on Record: Dr. Ann Battle
Course Description: Adolescent development, including special problems encountered in contemporary culture. Observational component and individual case study.
Primary Duties: host office hours to attend to student questions, provide feedback on student assignments, help craft discussion prompts for student activities during class sessions, maintain online grade book, attend regular meetings with the instructor on record to craft student assessments
Guest lectured topics: How to Cite in APA; Foundational Theories in Child Development
Spring 2018
EDHD (Education, Human Development) 201, Learning How to Learn
Instructor on Record: Dr. Patricia Alexander
Course Description: Immerses students in the theoretical and empirical study of learning by engaging them in orchestrated experiences and activities drawn directly from the disciplinary research. Students achieve a deep understanding of their own learning, as well as the means of enhancing that learning both in school and out-of-school contexts.
Primary Duties: host office hours to attend to student questions, provide feedback on student assignments, host in-class discussion sessions, monitor student activities, maintain online grad book
Additional Duties: lead three weekly breakout discussion sections (taught independently), design lesson plans for these discussion sections, craft activities that complemented main course work
Spring 2021
PSYC 101, Introductory Psychology
Instructor on Record: Hailey Gibbs
Course Description: Surveys the multifaceted aspects of both the science and practice of psychology. Biological, cognitive, and social bases of behavior and mental processes are explored, as are the key features and importance of critical thinking skills and solid psychology research.
Primary Duties: generate new course materials, manage online course interface (MOODLE), teach classes, host discussions, hold office hours for individual meetings with students
ADDITIONAL RELEVANT EXPERIENCES:
Graduate Student Mentor, Summer 2019
Step Up Program for Early Research Exposure
The STEP-UP HS program is supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases of the National Institutes of Health Grant #: 2R25DK078382-12
Primary Duties: host and mentor two high-school-aged students who worked in the lab for the summer to garner early research experience prior to college; provided foundational skills development in reading academic papers, recruiting families for research, collecting data, communicating scientific findings, presentation skills (students were required to create presentations representing their summer work to display at the Summer's-end program meeting, marking their completion of the Step Up program)
Teaching Certificates
CIRTL Scientific Teaching Fellow 2020-2021
Certification awarded for participation in the CIRTL & Summer Institutes on Scientific Teaching
Workshop
In recognition of demonstrated commitment to undergraduate education by participating in the CIRTL
Summer Institute on Scientific Teaching
Instructional Guides
APA Citation Guide & The Basics of Writing
Developed for use in the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program at Wor-Wic Community College (Instructor on Record: Mr. Stuart Gibbs)