The Teaching of Psychology in Autobiography: Perspectives from Exemplary Psychology Teachers Edited by Trisha A. Benson, Caroline Burke, Ana Amstadter, Ryan Sidey, Vincent Hevern, Barney Beins, & Bill Buskist.
41 A Dash of Indolence, A Pinch of Serendipity: My Personal Recipe for a Career in Teaching Bryan K. Saville James Madison University pp. 280-288

In hindsight, I guess B. F. Skinner (1956) was right: Serendipity is a good thing. In 1991, I enrolled at the University of Minnesota with good intentions of pursuing a degree in engineering. Unfortunately, I soon discovered other facets of college life that interfered with my ability to attend classes regularly. After 2 years of dismal academic performance, I was bored and ready for a change, so I decided to take Introductory Psychology-primarily because my roommate told me it was easy. Little did I know the impact my "lazy" decision would have. Not only did I enjoy the course, I actually earned a B in it, a grade that during my first 2 years surfaced about as often as the Loch Ness monster. I took a few more psychology courses, changed my major, and ultimately graduated in 1995 with a BA in psychology.

Enthralled particularly with the psychology of learning, I moved to St. Cloud State University to pursue a Master's degree in Applied Psychology. During this time, psychology became a learning endeavor, mostly because my advisor, Tony Marcattilio, pounded into my head that "Grades aren't everything!" I also attended my first professional conference and taught my first class, experiences that piqued my interest in an academic career.

I then headed to Auburn University in 1998 to obtain a PhD in Experimental Psychology. At Auburn, several events further augmented my interest in academics, the most important of which occurred during my first year. After learning that my first advisor would be leaving, I approached Bill Buskist and asked if he would be my advisor. Fortunately, Bill agreed, and I soon found out we worked well together. For the next 3 years, we pursued similar interests in the teaching of psychology and behavior analysis. My interest in teaching grew even more in early 2002 when I received the McKeachie Early Career Award from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP).

Shortly thereafter, I accepted a tenure-track position at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA), which looked especially appealing because it emphasized undergraduate teaching and because the Psychology department was developing a Master's degree in teaching (Saville, 2004). I have never worked harder than I did during my first year at SFA, which was the perfect place to start my academic career.

In 2004, I moved to James Madison University, where I am currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology. Although I enjoy teaching numerous courses, I typically teach General Psychology and Research Methods. In addition, my primary research interests are in the teaching of psychology and the experimental analysis of social behavior.

My Early Development as a Teacher

I was exposed to teaching early on. My mother worked for 30 years as a teacher, and I learned from her that teaching is difficult, yet rewarding. Unfortunately, it was not a career I saw myself pursuing. I remember thinking, "Why would anyone want to be a teacher?" If only I had been more vigilant to the words of my grandmother who always said, "You should be a teacher. You're so good at explaining things"

My first teaching experience came while I was at St. Cloud. Instead of completing an off-campus internship as part of the degree requirements, my advisor suggested an on-campus internship, part of which included teaching Principles of Behavior. His rationale was that it would be good practice for teaching at Auburn. Although I was initially hesitant, I quickly learned that teaching was demanding, time-consuming, and fun. Moreover, the positive feedback I received from students greatly influenced my decision to pursue an academic career. I am therefore indebted to Tony Marcattilio-an outstanding teacher, mentor, and friend-for giving me the opportunity to teach that class.

At Auburn, I became immersed in teaching. During my first year, I took a teaching seminar from Bill Buskist, in which we read McKeachie's (2002) Teaching Tips, discussed effective teaching, and wrote several papers on the teaching of psychology. Concomitantly, I taught labs for Bill's introductory social psychology course and had the opportunity to watch him captivate sections of 400-500 students-without the use of notes or a microphone! Needless to say, I learned a lot about teaching that year, and I attempted to assimilate some of Bill's practices into my own teaching style. Some of these attempts worked, others did not. Luckily, Bill allowed us to "find our own style," always guiding, but never pressuring us to do it a certain way. In addition, he told us not to worry when we made mistakes-it was simply part of becoming a better teacher.

I spent the next 3 years as a teaching assistant for several different courses, and I was fortunate to observe many outstanding teachers. My teaching experiences came full circle during my last year at Auburn. I once again was asked to be Bill's teaching assistant, this time in Research Methods. By then, Bill had become not only my advisor, but my mentor, my friend, and a source of endless advice. That year, I watched him create excitement in a large class of approximately 80 students, many of whom entered the class with trepidation; I even got to lecture sometimes, which came in handy when I subsequently taught large sections of General Psychology at SFA. In addition, I took an advanced teaching course, in which I had the opportunity to delve further into the teaching literature and to compose my first statement of teaching philosophy, an experience that allowed me for the first time to articulate my personal views on teaching.

My interest in teaching also found its way into my research, and I spent time examining such topics as student-teacher rapport (Buskist & Saville, 2001), elements of master teaching (Buskist, Sikorski, Buckley, & Saville, 2002), and students' textbook use (Sikorski et al., 2002). I also had the opportunity to interview Charles Brewer regarding his thoughts on teaching (Saville, 2001), quite the experience for a young teacher-scholar.

Working at Defining Myself as a Teacher

Although most of my teaching experiences were positive, I have faced several obstacles, the greatest of which plagues most faculty members: lack of time. During the last few years, I have learned that demands on my time are greater than they were in graduate school. Back then, I served as a teaching assistant and conducted research; now, I am responsible for teaching 2-3 courses, engaging in scholarship, performing service activities, and serving on thesis committees. Consequently, I often feel as if I am not able to devote as much time to my teaching as I would like. A recent comment by Brewer (2002) intimated that this may not subside any time soon:

As a beginning teacher, I thought that more experience would make [teaching] less difficult and less time-consuming. I have learned, however, that once you feel more comfortable with the courses you teach, other things will take up the time that you thought would be available (p. 503).

Fortunately, I have been able to balance my time to some extent, and I am lucky to be in a department that values effective teaching.

One way I have attempted to address this issue is by meshing teaching and scholarship (Halpern et al., 1998), specifically by conducting research on effective teaching practices (e.g., Saville, Zinn, & Elliott, in press; Saville, Zinn, Neef, Van Norman, & Ferreri, 2005). In this sense, the classroom has become my laboratory, my data the assessment outcomes (e.g., exam scores) that I would normally collect. As such, I no longer view my work as an either-or proposition in which teaching necessarily precludes scholarship or vice versa.

The Examined Life of a Teacher

Reflecting on my personal beliefs about teaching, I realize now that I think about teaching much differently than I did when I first started college. Back then, I failed to comprehend the impact teachers could have on their students' lives. Paradoxically, I held this belief even though my mother was a teacher. Now, approximately 8 years after my first teaching experience, I believe that teachers have the capacity to impact the life of each student who enters their classrooms.

As such, my teaching philosophy revolves around three central themes. First, I believe that passion is essential for pedagogical success. Just as I became interested in psychology by listening to the passionate lectures of my teachers, I too believe I can excite my students by being passionate. Second, I believe that student-teacher rapport is essential to learning, and I take great steps to establish rapport with my students. Finally, I believe that teaching is most effective when viewed as only one-half of a continuously evolving social exchange relationship. Conceptualized as such, it is easy to see how teachers and students can profoundly influence one another.

Within this context, there are three primary goals I hope to achieve each semester. First, I want my students to learn, and I am willing to do almost anything to achieve this goal. Second, I want students to enjoy my classes to the point that they want to investigate psychology further. Finally, I want my students to think critically about the material, and I want this skill to generalize to other parts of their lives. Although I may not inspire every student who enters my classroom, if I can achieve these goals, even to some extent, I will consider my time well spent.

In an attempt to achieve these goals, my teaching style has undergone considerable transformation in the last few years. I used to rely on lecture-based methods, simply because that is what my teachers typically used. Although I received positive feedback from students, I realized I needed to expand my repertoire if I wanted to become a better teacher. Consequently, after watching Bill Buskist successfully use problem-solving in his Research Methods course, I adopted a similar approach, spending more time engaging in discussion with my students. In the summer of 2003, I adopted interteaching (Boyce & Hineline, 2002), a behavior-analytic method of classroom instruction, into one of my classes. Not only did my students enjoy interteaching, I did too, and I subsequently incorporated it into all of my classes and into my research program (e.g., Saville et al., in press).

Although the methods I use have changed, my affection for teaching has not, and I continue to find it rewarding for two primary reasons. First and foremost, I enjoy helping students who may be lost as I was during my first years of college. Although the rewards come intermittently, there is nothing better than hearing students say how much they enjoyed my class or how I influenced them to become psychology majors. Second, I enjoy the freedom that comes with teaching-a freedom that comes with being able to structure my classes a certain way, teach subjects I find most interesting, and conduct research on topics that appeal to me. As Taylor and Martin (2004) recently stated, "Unlike most jobs, a faculty positiongives you considerable discretion in choosing what problems you want to study and what tasks you want to do next" (p. 386). Ultimately, teaching gives me a sense of freedom I would not find in any other profession.

Along with the rewards, however, come certain frustrations. Possibly the biggest frustration I experience is when students do not enjoy the subject matter as much as I do. Although I attempt to stimulate my students each semester, I am not always successful, and it can be disheartening when they do not find psychology as fascinating as I do. I have found that spending additional time explaining to students how certain material is relevant to their lives can be enough to spark an interest, although it does not alleviate the situation completely,.

I also become frustrated when students focus solely on obtaining a good grade, often at the expense of acquiring knowledge. Given the current emphasis on test scores, however, this tendency is not surprising, but when it leads students to engage in questionable practices (e.g., cheating) or to nitpick about every quarter-point on a 50-point exam, I quickly become perturbed. At times, I feel like Dewey Finn (Jack Black) in the movie School of Rock when he tells one of his students, "if you grade grub one more time, I will send you back to the first grade." As a remedy, I spend a considerable amount of time preaching to students the importance of learning simply for learning's sake. Some students "see the light" and come to realize why learning is important; others do not. Unfortunately, it is sometimes hard to modify a well-established belief in a semester or two.

Although these experiences can be frustrating, they also allow me to reflect on my teaching and find ways to improve it. Fortunately, there are several excellent resources that I have found especially helpful: (a) Teaching of Psychology (ToP), which always contains insightful articles; (b) various teaching-related books including those by McKeachie (2002), Davis (1993), Davis and Buskist (2002), and Perlman, McCann, and McFadden (1999, 2004); and (c) Darley, Zanna, and Roediger's (2004) The Compleat Academic, which offers advice not only on teaching, but on other issues important to new academicians.

In addition, several other activities have given me the opportunity to reflect on my teaching. First, the invitation to write book chapters on teaching (e.g., Saville, 2004; Zinn & Saville, in press) has forced me to examine my own practices. Second, serving as a Guest Reviewer for ToP has allowed me to read extensively on topics central to the teaching of psychology and to identify different practices that I can incorporate into my own classes. Third, regularly attending teaching-related conferences provides an opportunity to discuss teaching with colleagues, and I always leave these conferences with renewed vigor. Finally, as co-editor (along with Tracy Zinn) of E-xcellence in Teaching, a monthly e-column published on the PsychTeacher electronic discussion list, I have been able to work closely with leaders in the field to promote ideas on effective teaching.

Advice for New Teachers

Because I still define myself as a "new" teacher, it is strange to be offering advice to other new teachers, many of whom have been teaching nearly as long as I have. However, because I am relatively new, I am in the position to offer words of advice from the vantage point of someone who only embarked on an academic career 3 years ago. As such, I offer two primary pieces of advice to new teachers.

Be enthusiastic

I strongly believe that enthusiasm is integral for success in any facet of life. Similarly, enthusiasm for teaching is a characteristic that should be an essential part of your repertoire (see Brewer, 1982; Buskist et al., 2002). Without enthusiasm, it is unlikely that you will be able to convey the importance of your message; if you are not enthused about the subject matter, it is unlikely that your students will be either. Always remember that teaching is a "two-way street." If students are excited about the material, it is likely that you will also become more excited about teaching. Thus, by showing enthusiasm for teaching, a perpetual feedback loop will result, whereby both you and your students will continually be excited about psychology.

Consistently strive to improve your teaching performance

As a graduate teaching assistant with a pending dissertation deadline or a new faculty member with numerous meetings in the upcoming week, it may be easy to neglect your teaching. Do not let it happen. Instead, make it a priority consistently to improve your teaching skills.

How might a busy graduate student or new faculty member go about achieving this goal, especially when time is limited? First, read about effective teaching. Numerous books and journals provide a wealth of information on ways to improve your teaching performance (see Saville & Buskist, 2004, for a list of "essential readings" as suggested by members of the ToP editorial board).

Second, obtain feedback from students, peers, and faculty as often as possible. Most colleges and universities make use of end-of-the-semester student evaluations to help appraise their teachers' performances. Unfortunately, end-of-the-semester evaluations do little to benefit students during the semester. Consequently, you may have to obtain feedback from students in other ways (see McKeachie, 2002). In addition, ask your peers or teaching mentors to observe (and even videotape) your teaching (Buskist, Tears, Davis, & Rodrigue, 2002; Saville, 2004). Although daunting at first, such feedback will ultimately help to improve your classroom skills.

Finally, observe and learn from other teachers. Not only will you learn what works effectively for them, you may also acquire a new skill. In my interview with Charles Brewer (Saville, 2001), I asked him how teachers could improve their teaching effectiveness, to which he provided an enlightening answer:

Another thing that I have found helpful-and I still do this-is to observe other teachers with different styles. Last year, for example, I visited classes taught by a philosopher, a Russian historian, and a sociologist simply because they were reputed to be good teachers. I got useful information during each visit (p. 234).

If someone with the teaching expertise of Charles Brewer continually strives to improve his teaching performance, it seems a safe bet that new (as well as experienced) teachers would do well to do the same.

Final Thoughts

I agree with Buskist, Benson, and Sikorski (2005): Teaching is a calling. When I first entered graduate school, I had no intentions of pursuing an academic career. Now, nearly 9 years later, I see an exciting future, one in which I will have the opportunity to influence students the way my psychology professors influenced me. If I can have half the influence on my students that my professors had on me, I will consider my time in the classroom well spent. Last, although I would never advocate laziness-a characteristic that in my opinion rarely produces positive outcomes-I would be remiss to say that it is never functional: If it were not for my lazy decision to take Introductory Psychology back at the University of Minnesota, I likely would not be in the fortunate position I am today.

References

Boyce, T. E., & Hineline, P.N. (2002). Interteaching: A strategy for enhancing the user-friendliness of behavioral arrangements in the college classroom. The Behavior Analyst, 25, 215-226.

Brewer, C. L. (2002). Reflections on an academic career: From which side of the looking glass? In S. F. Davis & W. Buskist (Eds.), The teaching of psychology: Essays in honor of Wilbert J. McKeachie and Charles L. Brewer (pp. 499-507). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Brewer, C. L. (1982, August). Gladly learn and gladly teach. Presidential address for Division 2 at the meeting of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC.

Buskist, W., & Saville, B. K. (2001). Rapport-building: Creating positive emotional contexts for enhancing teaching and learning. APS Observer, 14, 12-13, 19.

Buskist, W., Benson, T., & Sikorski, J. F. (2005). The call to teach. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24, 110-121.

Buskist, W., Sikorski, J., Buckley, T., & Saville, B. K. (2002). Elements of master teaching. In S. F. Davis & W. Buskist (Eds.), The teaching of psychology: Essays in honor of Wilbert J. McKeachie and Charles L. Brewer (pp. 27-39). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Buskist, W., Tears, R. S., Davis, S. F., & Rodrigue, K. M. (2002). The teaching of psychology course: Prevalence and content. Teaching of Psychology, 29, 140-142.

Darley, J. M., Zanna, M. P., & Roediger, H. L., III (Eds.). (2004). The compleat academic: A career guide (2nd ed). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Davis, B. G. (1993). Tools for teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Davis, S. F., & Buskist, W. (Eds.). (2002). The teaching of psychology: Essays in honor of Wilbert J. McKeachie and Charles L. Brewer. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Halpern, D. F., Smothergill, D. W., Allen, M., Baker, S., Baum, C., Best, D., et al. (1998). Scholarship in psychology: A paradigm for the twenty-first century. American Psychologist, 53, 1292-1297.

McKeachie, W. (2002). Teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (11th ed.). Boston, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Perlman, B., McCann, L. I., & McFadden, S. H. (Eds.). (1999). Lessons learned: Practical advice for the teaching of psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Society.

Perlman, B., McCann, L. I., & McFadden, S. H. (Eds.). (2004). Lessons learned, Vol. 2: Practical advice for the teaching of psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Society.

Saville, B. K. (2004). From apprentice to professional: Community college teacher training. In W. Buskist, B. C. Beins, & V. W. Hevern (Eds.), Preparing the new psychology professoriate: Helping graduate students become competent teachers (pp. 31-36). Syracuse, NY: Society for the Teaching of Psychology. Retrieved January 26, 2005 from http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/pnpp/index.html

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Saville, B. K., & Buskist, W. (2004). Essential readings for teachers of psychology: Recommendations from the ToP editorial board. Teaching of Psychology, 31, 41-43.

Saville, B. K., Zinn, T. E, & Elliott, M. P. (in press). Interteaching vs. traditional methods of instruction: A preliminary analysis. Teaching of Psychology.

Saville, B. K., Zinn, T. E., Neef, N., Van Norman, R., & Ferreri, S. J. (2005). A comparison of interteaching and lecture in the college classroom. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Sikorski, J., Rich, K., Saville, B. K., Buskist, W., Davis, S. F., & Drogan, O. (2002). Student use of introductory textbooks. Teaching of Psychology, 29, 312-313.

Skinner, B. F. (1956). A case history in the scientific method. American Psychologist, 11, 221-233.

Taylor, S. E., & Martin, J. (2004). The academic marathon: Controlling one's career. In J. M. Darley, M. P. Zanna, & H. L. Roediger III (Eds.), The compleat academic: A career guide (2nd ed) (pp. 363-392). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Zinn, T. E., & Saville, B. K. (in press). Leading discussions and asking questions. In W. Buskist & S. F. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of the teaching of psychology. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

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