School name: University of North Dakota

Type of school: 4-year public university

School locale: Grand Forks, ND, USA

Is your role mostly in-person, hybrid, online ? In-person and online asynchronous

For how many years have you taught psychology? 16 years (Yikes, I’ve been at this for a while!)

Classes you teach: Introductory Psychology, Cognitive Psychology (undergrad and grad), History and Systems of Psychology, and Interrogations and Confessions (grad)

Specialization: Experimental/Forensic

What size classes do you teach? Anywhere from 35 to 220 students

What is a book, article, research, or author/researcher that you would recommend that new teachers check out?  I highly recommend Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty by Elizabeth Barkley and Claire Major. I spent a lot of time with that book as a newer faculty member, and it informed a lot of my teaching choices. The book does an amazing job of laying the foundation for how closely connected student engagement and motivation are and includes many helpful techniques and strategies to use in the classroom (both online and in-person).

What do you know now about teaching that you wish you knew when you were starting? Things rarely, if ever, go perfectly every time you teach a course. Having self-compassion when things flop and being open to making improvements the next time around is so important! I also used to spend a lot more time trying to make things perfect in my courses and have learned to accept that sometimes “good enough” is good enough.

Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach. I developed a Social Psychology of Taylor Swift course in Summer 2024 and taught it again this past summer. Students learned about topics like nostalgia, empathy, revenge, allyship, and sexism through the lens of Taylor Swift’s life and music. There were some really great journal articles and Speaking of Psychology podcast episodes that I used for most of the course content. I also assigned some popular media articles and had students listen to specific Taylor Swift songs that overlapped with the topics we covered. It was so much fun to develop the course, and students were so active and engaged with the course material and with each other!

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity. In my History and Systems course, I have students do an introspection activity when we cover Wilhelm Wundt and his analytic introspection method. I bring in two different stimuli (e.g., chocolate, a balloon, a fuzzy pom-pom, etc.) and give students detailed instructions that are similar to what Wundt would have used with his trained introspectors. Students usually enjoy this activity, and it really underscores what early forms of data collection looked like, as well as the limitations of self-report methods.

What are three words that best describe your teaching style?  Inclusive, engaged, and innovative

What’s your workspace like? I try to make my office feel warm and cozy so it’s a place where I actually want to spend time. I have artwork from my kids, plants, a candle, and psychology-themed décor. I also have a big window that lets in a lot of natural light, which is much needed during the long, cold winters up here in the frozen tundra!

Tell us about a teaching “win” you’ve had and the context in which it happened. I had my History and Systems students help co-author an Open Educational Resource focused on the contributions of early eminent marginalized psychologists. They worked in groups to write the chapters and made the decision about whether they published their work in the final OER. The project was done in online asynchronous courses, so there was a bit more scaffolding on my end to make the project manageable. I was worried that only a few groups would want to publish their work, but a fair amount ended up deciding to. I’m proud of what students were able to contribute and find open pedagogy to be so rewarding. The OER is still being revised and added to, and my hope is that it will end up being something others can use. A shout out to fellow STP member Brittany Avila and her former students for also contributing to this project!

What are you currently reading for pleasure?  I’m currently reading Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It’s a historical fiction novel set in the 80s based on the first women in NASA’s Space Shuttle program. It’s a good mix of science, suspense, and romance. The book also accurately portrays the common barriers for women in STEM fields—especially during the 80s.

What tech tool could you not live without?  I use Perusall (a free social annotation platform) in most of my courses. It’s been a game changer in terms of adding another layer of accountability for students to actively engage with their assigned course materials, and in getting them to interact with me, my teaching assistants, and each other. I also love that I’m able to more easily see which parts of the course material students are either resonating with or struggling to understand. This has been especially helpful in my online asynchronous courses. I’m not usually a tech tool evangelist, but Perusall is worth checking out!

School name: Morningside University

Type of school: Private liberal arts institution

School locale: Sioux City, IA, USA

Is your role mostly in-person, hybrid, online (synchronous or asynchronous)? In-person

For how many years have you taught psychology? 16 years

What classes do you teach? Cognitive Psychology, Research Methods, General Psychology, Forensic and Legal Psychology, Brain and Behavior

Specialization: Cognitive

What size classes do you teach? 16-40 students

What is a book, article, research, or author/researcher that you would recommend that new teachers check out? What Inclusive Instructors Do by Tracie Marcella Addy, Derek Dube, Khadijah Mitchell, and Mallory SoRelle

What do you know now about teaching that you wish you knew when you were starting? If you are having fun while teaching, your students are more likely to have fun while learning. If any one class period feels a bit boring, change it up!

Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach.  I love teaching my students in General Psychology and Cognitive Psychology about the science behind learning and giving them tips for studying for exams.

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity.  When I teach Forensic and Legal Psychology, we do a lie detector demonstration. Four students steal an item from my bag, and we measure their heart rate, respiration, and galvanic skin response as they respond to questions. Then we examine their data and try to figure out which item they stole.

What are three words that best describe your teaching style?  Curiosity, authenticity, and engagement.

What’s your workspace like?  I, sadly, don’t have a window in my office, so my walls are covered in colorful artwork from my kids. I also keep thank you notes from my students out to remind myself why I work so hard. 

What is something you are currently focused on improving or changing in your teaching? Next year, I will be teaching a new psychology communication class focused on improving students’ written and oral communication skills. Although I have plenty of experience teaching APA-style writing, teaching students how to present research will be a new and exciting challenge for me.

What are you currently reading for pleasure? Most of my free time is spent reading for fun. I especially love reading fantasy. I recently read Katabasis by R.F. Kuang, and I recommend it to anyone in academia.

School name: The Chicago School

Type of school: Midsize (6,100 students including undergraduate and graduate) Public University with multiple campuses (metropolitan and online) in the U.S.

School locale: Anaheim CA, Chicago IL, Dallas TX, Los Angeles CA, San Diego CA, Washington, D.C., and Online

Is your role mostly in-person, hybrid, online? Online, Masters of Arts in Applied Psychology program

For how many years have you taught psychology?  I have been teaching psychology for nearly 18 years.

Classes you teach: Professional Ethics in Psychology, Diversity & Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Trauma & Crisis Intervention, Emotional Intelligence & Leadership, Global Issues in Suicide, Social Media & Cyberbullying

Specialization: Trauma

What size classes do you teach? Approximately 10-20 students per class

What’s the best advice about teaching you’ve ever received? Assume the best about students.

What do you know now about teaching that you wish you knew when you were starting?  APA Style format is hard for nearly all writers, no matter what their educational level!

Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach. I really enjoy teaching about trauma. I am a licensed therapist (IL, CO, FL) in addition to being a professor, and I have several trauma specializations such as EMDR, CPT, and TF-CBT. I love getting to teach students about the impact of trauma on the brain, trauma responses, and trauma interventions.

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity.  When I teach professional ethics, I have the students create Venn Diagrams of two ethical decision-making models of their choosing. This activity promotes creativity, as well as results in a visually appealing way to become familiar with multiple models of professional ethical decision making.

What are three words that best describe your teaching style? Warm, interactive, and productive

What’s your workspace like?  It’s full of animals! Since I work remotely, I have a home office. I have two dogs, one a trained therapy dog (Daphne), and the other a hurricane rescue dog from FL (Pavlov). I also have an axolotl in my office, and he is very active and engaged with the sound of my voice. I have my diplomas, pictures of my husband and children, and a small succulent. I also keep chapstick on hand (CO is DRY!), lotion, warm socks, and a heated blanket.

Tell us about a teaching “win” you’ve had and the context in which it happened. While I primarily teach graduate students, I was able to lead a group of undergraduate students at a recent APA Convention workshop for CE credit. None of the students had any experience at professional conventions and limited public speaking opportunities. The crowd that showed up for this presentation was standing room only in a large conference room, and everyone was so kind to the students and myself. The students did great, and it has become a core memory for us all! 

What is something you are currently focused on improving or changing in your teaching? I am working to create more ways for students to evaluate themselves as a component of various assignments. Self-evaluation is such a critical part of professional development, and it increases the connection that they have to the learning material in a unique way.

What is something your students would be surprised to learn about you?  I love American Football. I am a huge fan of the Denver Broncos and the Detroit Lions.

What are you currently reading for pleasure? I just finished The House of My Mother by Shari Franke, and I am currently reading Sociopath by Patric Gagne. If you can’t tell, I love memoirs!  

What tech tool could you not live without? My Apple Watch. I am very interested in and engaged with daily movement, fitness, and exercise as a way to prioritize my physical and mental health. This orientation supports me to have the energy and focus needed to best educate and care for others.

School name: University of Toronto St. George

Type of school: 4-year public university

School locale: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Is your role mostly in-person, hybrid, online (synchronous or asynchronous)? In-person, synchronous

For how many years have you taught psychology? 6 years

Classes you teach: Statistics I, Social Cognition, Psychology and the Law, Intergroup Relations

Specialization:  Psychology and law; social psychology; teaching of psychology

What size classes do you teach? Typically 50 students (except for Statistics I, which is 200)

What's the best advice about teaching you’ve ever received? Be clear about the intention behind every policy, every assignment, and every piece of information you hope to teach. Students should know why they are learning something and the rationale behind how they are being assessed.  Also, If there’s 10 minutes left in class, spend that time clarifying things that were already covered. Don’t try to cram in new content.

What do you know now about teaching that you wish you knew when you were starting? Setting boundaries is key. I used to think I needed to be available to students whenever they needed me, and this caused burnout very quickly. I am best at teaching and being there for students when boundaries are clear and respected.

Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach.  I love teaching Psychology and Law. It’s an applied topic so it always feels timely and important. Specifically, I love teaching about eyewitness memory and false confessions. Although these are often heavy and serious topics, it feels like I am doing a public service by giving students real-world examples of the psychological research discussed in class. Specifically, I focus on how one’s innocence may counterintuitively put someone more at risk for harm in legal settings. Know your rights! Speak to a lawyer!

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity.  I love doing in-class discussion groups, especially in Social Cognition. It gives students a space to talk about what they’ve learned and read in a semiformal and comfortable environment. It’s also reliably a way to see the students smile. (My jokes don’t always land)

What’s your dream course if you had the time and resources to teach it?  I was fortunate to teach one of my dream courses when I taught a Social Psychology seminar in Winter 2025. The topic was Social Psychology and the Media. Media is a pervasive influence on us, and it was virtually impossible to delve as deeply as I would have liked in 13 weeks. However, I loved sitting down to discuss research findings in this area along with the philosophical questions that psychology research has been limited in answering. One of the key takeaways is that our interactions with media are so deeply complex that classic methods in psychology research may usually fall short to truly understand how and why media affects our lives.

What is your teaching philosophy in 8 words or fewer? Effective science communication to various audiences is key.

What’s your workspace like? A place for all my doodads and knickknacks that don’t have a place in my home anymore.

What is something you are currently focused on improving or changing in your teaching?  Figuring out how to give students the feedback on their writing that they need to excel on their exam essay questions (and essays in general). I don’t have the capacity to sit down with each student to go over their writing. I’ve always recommended students go to the writing center, or meet with their TAs. I also usually have a scaffolded structure to major writing assignments (including draft and peer review steps). But even so, I’m always trying out new strategies to give students more reliable and timely feedback on their smaller writing assignments. 

What are you currently reading for pleasure?  The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

What tech tool could you not live without? PowerPoint… I use it for everything!

School name: Hong Kong Metropolitan University

Type of school: Government-established self-financing university

School locale: Hong Kong, China

Is your role mostly in-person, hybrid, online (synchronous or asynchronous)? In-person

How many years have you taught psychology? 6 years

Classes you teach: Psychology of Language, Cyberpsychology, Lifespan Developmental Psychology, Rehabilitation Psychology, Mental Health First Aid, Applied Research Project, Psychology Honors Thesis, Practicum and Experiential Learning Seminars

Specialization (if applicable): Music cognition, psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology

What size classes do you teach? About 30-100 students for lectures, 30 students for tutorials, and 1-2 students for research-related courses

What do you know now about teaching that you wish you knew when you were starting? Organizing teaching materials (e.g., topics with PowerPoint slides) into manageable chunks, ideally every 30 minutes to an hour, would be beneficial. This approach can help sustain students' attention and interest. In addition, incorporating interactive or surprising elements within each chunk can enhance engagement. For instance, while discussing executive function and inhibition, students could participate in a few trials of the flanker task in class. This hands-on experience will help them remember the learning materials, with a specific example.

Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach.  My favorite course to teach is Psychology of Language. This course refers to the study of psychological processes involved in language, such as visual word recognition, language comprehension, language production, bilingualism and multilingualism, etc. This subject represents my passion for psychology upon graduation from my Bachelor’s degree. Teaching this course allows me to revisit many tiny yet happy moments that guided me in navigating the field. At the same time, it shows students the diversity and vibrancy of various subfields in psychology.

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity.  One of my favorite in-class activities is asking students to step into the role of key opinion leaders (KOLs) and design a quick livestreaming e-commerce session to promote and sell a product. This signature activity is a highlight of the topic ‘Consumer cyberpsychology’ in the Cyberpsychology course, offered to senior-year psychology students as an elective.

In this class, I bring a selection of products for the students, such as fragrance, paper clips, etc. They first form groups and participate in a lucky draw to select one of the products. Each group then has 10 minutes to develop strategies to promote and sell their product as key opinion leaders (KOLs) in a livestreaming e-commerce session. When time is up, they present their strategies and "sell" their product in front of the class.

In general, I observe many creative and inspirational strategies to boost sales during the presentations, such as offering professional tips in selecting suitable fragrance etc. Afterward, we compile the common sales strategies proposed by all groups and compare them with existing research. This allows us to examine whether and how the students' strategies align with findings from previous studies. Through this approach, students gain a deeper understanding of the research by engaging in hands-on, experiential learning experience.

What’s your dream course if you had the time and resources to teach it?  My dream course to teach is Music Psychology, the field I studied in my PhD. This course explores how humans interact with music through various psychological processes. Possible topics include music reading, music therapy, musical perception, memory, aesthetics, training, and performance, etc. In particular, students will be able to gain hands-on experience in psychological research in music cognition. Proposing this course aligns with my teaching philosophy of showcasing the diversity and vibrancy of various subfields in psychology. In particular, I aim to foster the growth of music psychology, as an emerging and comparatively new subfield in psychology, through teaching as a form of advocacy.

What are three words that best describe your teaching style? Student-centered, experiential, experimental

What is your teaching philosophy in 8 words or fewer? Learning by doing in applied contexts

What’s your workspace like? My workspace is a cozy room at the University. A corkboard on the wall showcases a big cartoon world map that I brought from South Korea, which always reflects upon my journey in life. In addition, I posted notes and memos that students and colleagues gave me. There are some postcards that I received or brought from other places in the world. The two magazine pages ‘Art and the Mind’ were from the APA’s Monitor on Psychology, reminding me of my goal to contribute more to art and aesthetics.  On the table, there are three awards, which are the President’s Awards for Excellence in Inspirational Teaching 2022-2024, from the HKMU. The recognition motivates me to keep up with the good work and passion in teaching.

What is something you are currently focused on improving or changing in your teaching?  I am now trying to foster students’ research competency through classroom-based teaching. This idea stemmed from my observation that many students need guidance to develop their research skills but often lack the opportunity to explore research in structured settings. Thus, I incorporate lab-based sessions in my course, Psychology of Language. Students were introduced to online experiments related to the topics covered during tutorials. For example, in visual word processing, students work on a lexical decision task, which is a behavioral task that requires participants to judge whether a word stimulus is a real word or a non-word on a computer. This first-hand experience allows students to understand how an online experiment works.  In addition, my assignment design also aims to help students develop some possible research ideas. For example, students are asked to observe some daily scenarios related to the psychology of language, and develop a research question and a short proposal under guidance. This approach aims to enhance students’ research competency and highlight the application values of the psychology of language in real life.

What is something your students would be surprised to learn about you?  I am a big fan of maps and map reading. I enjoy navigating a city through maps, both in paper and digital form. It symbolizes and visualizes a journey of exploration to the unknown.

What are you currently reading for pleasure?  Atomic Habits by James Clear. My leisure reading is pretty much about psychology and personal growth. I am amazed by how Clear explains why tiny changes make a big difference in the four laws. This is definitely a recommendation for my students too.

**Editor's Note:  Jill first contributed to this blog in 2019 when she was a graduate student, so she is contributing again as her approach to teaching has developed a great deal in the intervening years.

School name: Holy Family University

Type of school: small private, Catholic, liberal arts

School locale: Philadelphia, PA, USA

Is your role mostly in-person, hybrid, online (synchronous or asynchronous)? In person

For how many years have you taught psychology? 10 years

Classes you teach: Introduction to Psychology, Child Development, Adolescent Development, Lifespan Development, Psychology of Popular Culture, Research Methods, Teaching of Psychology

Specialization: Developmental

What size classes do you teach? 20-30 students/course

What do you know now about teaching that you wish you knew when you were starting? One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that it’s okay not to know everything. When I was starting out, I felt an enormous pressure to be the expert at all times and to ensure that every lesson went smoothly. The reality, though, is that teaching (like life!) is unpredictable, and things don’t always go as planned. I’ve come to realize that there are great opportunities for growth in those moments. Not knowing an answer can actually be a powerful teaching opportunity: it allows me to model curiosity, resourcefulness, and the process of “looking it up” rather than pretending to have all the solutions. Similarly, when an activity or assignment doesn’t land the way I hoped, it becomes an authentic chance to model resilience and how to reflect, adapt, and move forward when things don’t go our way. They can also be really fun moments that help humanize me as an instructor, it’s all about your perspective. These experiences have shown me that the classroom is not just about delivering information; it’s also about demonstrating how learning, problem-solving, and perseverance look in real time.

Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach.  One of my favorite courses to teach is a class I developed at my university called The Psychology of Popular Culture. I’ve been teaching it through the lens of musical theater, which has been both engaging and a lot of fun. Each week, we focus on a different show (a few examples I’ve used are The Sound of Music, Mamma Mia!, Hairspray, Grease, and Come From Away - although there are lots of others!) and explore the psychological themes that emerge from its story. You’d be surprised by how much psychology is embedded in popular culture, especially in musical theater, from identity formation and family dynamics to prejudice, resilience, and moral decision-making.

One especially memorable discussion came after we watched Waitress. The show addresses difficult and complex topics, and at first the students were hesitant to engage. Their initial reactions to issues like infidelity were very black-and-white. But as the conversation continued, they began to recognize the nuanced realities behind human relationships and the many contextual factors that shape people’s choices. By the end of class, several students commented that the discussion opened their eyes to complexities they had never considered before.

That’s what I love about using popular culture to teach psychology. Because the material feels familiar and accessible, it lowers students’ defenses and invites them to engage with challenging ideas in a safe, meaningful way. It also makes abstract concepts more concrete - students can immediately see how psychological principles are playing out in the stories they’re watching. In that sense, pop culture becomes more than just entertainment; it’s an entry point for critical thinking, empathy, and deeper understanding of human behavior.

I also serve as editor of the Pop Culture Corner blog (hosted by Psi Chi), where many of my students have the opportunity to submit their final papers for publication. It’s incredibly rewarding to see their creativity extend beyond the classroom and reach a wider audience, giving their work a life after the course ends. (Check it out and feel free to encourage your students to submit if they are doing anything pop culture related!)

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity. Building on what I shared earlier, one of my favorite assignments is something I call the Psych in the Media Paper. For this assignment, students sign up for a week of specific course content (for example, Memory in an Introduction to Psychology class) and then select a fictional source such as a book, movie, TV show, musical, or video game to connect with that week’s material. For instance, during our Human Development unit, a student might analyze parenting styles as portrayed in the Harry Potter series, or for Social Psychology, they might explore peer relationships in Mean Girls.

I enjoy this assignment for several reasons. First, it gives students a creative and engaging way to apply psychological concepts to stories they’re already familiar with, which makes the material feel more relevant and approachable. At the same time, because they’re working with fictional examples rather than their own personal experiences, it creates a sense of safety and distance that allows deeper reflection without feeling overly vulnerable. Second, it’s an incredibly versatile assignment. I’ve successfully used it in introductory psychology, lifespan and developmental psychology, and it would also work well in courses like social psychology, psychology of gender, etc.

In practice, students write a short paper applying course concepts to their chosen topic, and they also record their selections on a Google form. Over the years, this form has grown into a spreadsheet of nearly a decade’s worth of submissions which showcases the incredible creativity and diversity of connections students make between psychology and popular culture. It not only shows how versatile psychology is, but also how powerfully students engage with learning when they can approach it through the lens of stories and media that matter to them.

What are three words that best describe your teaching style?  Goofy, Engaging, Innovative

What is your teaching philosophy in 8 words or fewer? Authoritative teaching: firm but supportive

What’s your workspace like? My office is bright and colorful. One of the things I love about my office is the large table which makes it a great gathering space for colleagues and students.

Tell us about a teaching disaster (or embarrassment) you’ve had and how you dealt with the situation. This doesn’t really qualify as an embarrassment or a disaster, but it was definitely a funny, lighthearted moment. On the very first day of my Senior Seminar course, while I was reviewing the syllabus, the “O” key on the classroom computer somehow got stuck. No matter what I did, the computer just kept typing out a long stream of “ooooooooo” across the screen. I tried everything - closing the browser, restarting the computer - but nothing worked to fix it. The students were cracking up, joking that the classroom must be haunted. It turned into a silly shared moment that helped break the ice and set a relaxed, welcoming tone for the semester.

What is something you are currently focused on improving or changing in your teaching? One area I am continually working to improve is finding the right balance between rigor and flexibility. Early in my career, I assumed this balance would eventually come naturally, but I’ve realized it is something that constantly shifts depending on the course, the students, and the context of the semester. My focus now is on intentionally designing flexibility into my courses in ways that maintain academic rigor.

For example, I allow students to drop their lowest weekly assignment grade. This practice acknowledges that “life happens,” gives students room to manage their own time, and eliminates the need for me to make case-by-case judgment calls. It also allows me to uphold high expectations for the quality of their work, since the flexibility is built into the course structure rather than coming at the expense of rigor.

Ultimately, my goal is for students to feel both challenged and supported. I’ve come to see that flexibility and rigor aren’t opposites; rather, when approached thoughtfully, they can actually complement each other and enhance the overall learning experience.

What are you currently reading for pleasure? I’m currently reading The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks which is the third book in the Montague Siblings series by Mackenzi Lee. They are clever, quirky, and relatively quick reads with great LGBTQIA+ representation.

What tech tool could you not live without? Canvas, and the Google suite (Drive, email, calendar)

School Name: Union College

Type of school: Small liberal arts college

School locale: Schenectady, New York, United States

Is your role mostly in-person, hybrid, online (synchronous or asynchronous): In person

How many years taught Psychology: Over 25 in both Psychology and Human Development Departments

Classes you currently teach: Developmental Psychology, Educational Psychology, Adolescent Development, Upper-Level Seminar on Child and Families

Classes you've previously taught: Statistics, Child and Family Policy

Specialization: Developmental/Educational

What size classes do you teach? 15-40 students. Smaller for seminars. Typical size of course is 25-30 students.

What is the best advice about teaching you’ve received? Teaching is about developing relationships. I learned this from my father who was an accounting professor and was deeply beloved by his students. I watched how he tutored his students, helped them to get jobs, and was even the godparent for some of his students’ children. Getting to know my students and letting them get to know me has been the most rewarding part of teaching and critical for student success.

What is a book, article, research, or author/researcher that you would recommend that new teachers check out? I recommend new teachers familiarize themselves with the research on the causes of student disengagement and how to create more engaging classrooms. I am a big fan of James Lang’s work and recommend two of his books, Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning and Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What to do About It?  My book, Eight Myths of Student Engagement: Creating Classrooms of Deep Learning is also a resource for new teachers.

What do you wish you knew about teaching when you were starting? Less is more. In my early years of teaching, I focused primarily on transmitting information to students. I was spending so much time on lecture preparation and was not getting the motivational and cognitive gains I had hoped for students. They were bored and only had a surface understanding of content. Now, I teach less content in greater depth and in a way in which students are more active in co-creating this knowledge. As a result of these changes, my classrooms are more engaging, students understand content more deeply, and it takes me much less time to prepare.

Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach: In educational psychology, my favorite topic to teach is metacognitive learning strategies. Many of my students are using ineffective study strategies and tell me that they wish that material on study strategies and metacognition was offered to all students and that they had learned these strategies earlier in their educational career.

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity: In several of my courses, I have students conduct interviews with individuals at different stages of the lifespan and connect these interviews to course content. My students have interviewed siblings, parents, friends, teachers, and/or grandparents. I have enjoyed seeing how effectively these interviews help them to see content in action as well as get to know their family and friends more deeply.  

What are three words that best describe your teaching style? Relational, student-centered, and engaging. My goal is to develop relationships with each of my students and get to know them as individuals in so they can grow as both learners and as people. I aim to create a student-centered classroom where my students are expected to be active participants in learning and take greater ownership of their educational experiences. Finally, I try to include both the academic and social features of engaging classrooms in my own teaching.

Tell us about a teaching "win" you've had and the context in which it happened: In my developmental psychology course last year, I asked students at the beginning of the term to set two goals related to participation and two goals related to their writing and reflect on their effectiveness in meeting these goals throughout the term. I was surprised by how positively students responded to the goal setting and reflection activities, how easy it was to implement these activities in the classroom, and how much both their participation and writing improved.

What is something you are currently focused on improving or changing in your teaching? Like many faculty, I am trying to figure out what is AIs appropriate role in the classroom. I have been reflecting on how can I integrate these tools in my courses in a way that can support student learning but not offload student thinking. This year, I changed the language in my syllabus and some assignments to try to better achieve this balance.

What is something your students would be surprised to learn about you?  I think students would be surprised that, even after over 25 years of teaching, I still get nervous before the first day of classes. I also think they would be surprised by how much I learn from them and how happy I am when they achieve success.  

School name: Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU)

Type of school: Private not-for-profit

School locale: I teach on their campus which is in Manchester, NH, USA

Is your role mostly in-person, hybrid, online (synchronous or asynchronous)? In-person

How many years have you taught psychology? 10 years at SNHU; 5 years during Graduate School at Baruch College, City University of New York

Classes you teach: Introduction to Psychology, Social Psychology, Industrial-Organizational Psychology

Specialization: Industrial-Organizational Psychology

What size classes do you teach? 30 students per class

What’s the best advice about teaching you’ve ever received?  See the students as an individual. They are a whole person, with varying responsibilities, concerns, motivations, and passions.

What is a book, article, research, or author/researcher that you would recommend that new teachers check out? I’m all about free open-source materials lately, so I’m going to unabashedly say new teachers should check out the totally free e-book I published through OER Commons called Photography’s Power and Potential for Teaching Psychology. So many students learn well from storytelling and visuals, so I created this book to help all students and educators alike.

What do you know now about teaching that you wish you knew when you were starting? Focus on skills-building and engaging activities. These will matter most for retention of information and motivation.

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity.

I love to use the arts within my psychology courses. We use poetry, music, and photography quite a bit. In Social Psychology, I have students take their own photos of topics we cover in class (e.g., discrimination, altruism, conformity), and we do a gallery viewing class day of their work. Students get to guess what topic each photo is about, and we have fun discussing the choices the photographer/student made to get their theme across to others (lighting choices, angles, contrasts, color choices, etc.).

What are three words that best describe your teaching style? 

Creativity, active learning, civic engagement

Tell us about a teaching disaster (or embarrassment) you’ve had and how you dealt with the situation. On my 1^st day of class as a teaching assistant for Research Methods back in graduate school, when I sat in my chair after introducing myself, the chair broke, and I crashed to the floor! I stood up and said, ‘well now you know a little more about me…I’m clumsy, and I can laugh at myself!’ We all had a good laugh and moved on. I like to think I single-handedly broke the ice for the whole class that day J.

Tell us about a teaching “win” you’ve had and the context in which it happened. A huge teaching win for me is when I organized a student exhibit in a gallery space to showcase my students’ original photography and poetry as it relates to Social Psychology last fall semester. Seeing people engage with those creative students and their work during the opening event at the gallery made me so proud of them and of what can be accomplished when we encourage creativity as connected to psychology!

What is something your students would be surprised to learn about you? I speak 3 languages and have traveled to about 40 other countries (often with only a backpack)!

What are you currently reading for pleasure? Joy Harjo’s memoir titled ‘Poet Warrior’. She is a powerful poet of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and was a Poet Laureate of the U.S.

School name:

 Texas A&M-Central Texas

School locale: Texas, United States

Is your role mostly in-person, hybrid, online (synchronous or asynchronous)? Mostly online synchronous and asynchronous, as well as a few in-person and hybrid courses

How many years have you taught psychology? 4 years

Classes you teach: Cognitive Psychology, Psychology of Learning, Animal Behavior, Writing in Psychology, Program Evaluation Fundamentals, Psychology Major Seminar

Specialization: Comparative Cognition and Behavior

What size classes do you teach? 20-30 students

What is a book, article, research, or author/researcher that you would recommend that new teachers check out? 

As someone with a special interest in Cognitive Psychology, I have to choose Roediger. So much of his research on the testing effect and retrieval practice has direct implications for classroom assignments, as well as helping students fully understand the benefits of studying and conducting multiple study sessions. I do a classroom activity in my memory chapters that fully involves retrieval practice, and students consistently give feedback that they wish they had been taught from a much younger age research-based strategies for HOW to study.

What do you know now about teaching that you wish you knew when you were starting?

Not to be scared of feedback. No one is ever going to get to a point in their teaching career where they can’t grow and learn more, and one of the main ways we experience this growth is by receiving and implementing feedback. I used to fear supervision or evaluation processes because it was all about getting the highest score possible. Now, I seek out opportunities to get feedback or input from both my colleagues and my supervisors. Even if I have confidence in how to implement an assignment or how to frame a certain concept, other faculty have different past experiences and have fresh perspectives to offer that can only help me improve what I’m doing. Feedback is one of the most valuable tools in our job.

Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach.

My favorite course to teach is Animal Behavior. It’s one of those courses where, although it’s heavily theory-based, the concepts are easy to apply to real-world  situations. The activities and assignments that I use in this course are so much fun and allot a number of opportunities for students to take agency of their work and creatively explore a topic they’re particularly interested in and motivated to investigate.  

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity.  

For my online classes, I love doing a priming question at the beginning of class related to the topic for that day, but I try to incorporate a camera-on aspect to the activity. For instance, in a Careers class, if we talk about professionalism, then the opening activity could be a competition to see who can set the most professional background from the stock photos on Teams or Zoom. Another example would be in Psychology of Learning, if we’re discussing metacognitive strategies, I’ll list each strategy one by one and tell students to turn their cameras on if they do that strategy. Not only does it give them an opportunity to get their opinions in the room early in class so they’re sharing with others, I find that those classes tend to result in more discussion overall.

What is your teaching philosophy in 8 words or fewer?

Lead by example and work alongside your students

What’s your workspace like? 

It’s a little bit of a contradiction, but it illustrates so many different facets of my personality very well. There’s really no overarching theme other than me: I enjoy all of the things that decorate my workspace. I have spooky little trinkets, such as pumpkins and skeletons, colorful and unique art prints of brains and synapses hanging on my wall, brain bookends, and dolphin and whale paperweights and memorabilia. And, of course, I have reminders from my children, including pictures and scribblings they’ve left me on my desk.

Tell us about a teaching “win” you’ve had and the context in which it happened.

At the beginning of the semester, one of my students was so shy and withdrawn that she refused to record herself, rarely spoke, and consistently submitted assignments late or not at all. I decided to reach out to her directly through a personal email expressing concern, offering flexibility, and inviting her to attend office hours so we could discuss how I could better support her. To my surprise, she responded with gratitude and scheduled a meeting. During that conversation, she shared that social anxiety made it difficult for her to participate in class or ask questions, but she was deeply interested in the material. She also told me that a past professor would sign his emails off with “In frustration,” which created a major block in her willingness to reach out herself when she was struggling, as she didn’t want to feel as though she were a burden. After much reassurance, I worked with her to build a plan that included alternative participation options and regular check-ins with me. She began attending office hours consistently, started turning in high-quality work, and eventually began contributing to class discussions. Not only was she ultimately successful in the course, she was even offering to help peers understand challenging concepts. This experience reminded me of the power of personalized outreach and the importance of creating a safe, supportive environment for students who may not initially feel comfortable engaging.

What is something your students would be surprised to learn about you?

Many of my students come to me seeking advice about how to overcome stage fright and social anxiety when giving class presentations. What they don’t know is I still get pretty nervous before every single lecture or research talk. I’ve just gotten much better over the years at masking these anxieties and successfully have created a façade of composure and confidence. They are always shocked when they learn this about me.

What are you currently reading for pleasure?
Right now I’m reading The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz with my neighborhood book club and Shark Heart by Emily Habeck on my own

What tech tool could you not live without?

My Google calendar app! Between meetings, university events, my kids’ extracurriculars, and my own social outings, I would *never* be able to keep track of it all without my calendar always at my fingertips.

School Name:  Norfolk State University

Type of School:  4-year Public Historically Black College/University (HBCU); NSU offers undergraduate, masters and doctoral degree programs.

School locale:  Norfolk, Virginia, USA

Role:  I teach in-person, hybrid, and asynchronous online courses with in-person and online office hours.

How many years have you taught psychology?  I began teaching psychology as an Adjunct Instructor at NSU in the Fall of 2021, and have been teaching full-time since Fall of 2023.

Classes you teach:  Introduction to Psychology, Basic Principles of Psychology, Writing in Psychology, Military Psychology, Sport Psychology, Systems (History) of Psychology, Psychology Seminar (Senior Capstone), CyberPsychopathology.

Specialization:  Military Psychology, Sport Psychology

Average class size: 20-35 students each semester

What’s the best advice about teaching you’ve ever received?  

The best advice about teaching that I have received is to be myself and let the students see my passion for the field of psychology. At first as a new instructor, I was unsure about this advice. But as time went on, I see how being myself impacted the students and how my passion for psychology motivated and inspired students. I feel it is an honor to help develop future psychology clinicians and researchers and thoroughly enjoy my job.

Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach.

My favorite course to teach is Military Psychology. I love to educate students on military culture, commonly seen diagnoses, and current therapy interventions. As a military veteran, I enjoy sharing ways in which future clinicians can best help this population.

What are 3 words that describe your teaching style?

Motivating, Flexible, Practical. I love to motivate students to be all that they can be in the psychology field. I think it is important to be flexible in teaching. Not all students/classes learn the same way, so I like to vary the course activities, so everyone has a chance to shine. And lastly, I like to show the practical application of our concepts in class so they can see how what they are learning will apply in their role in the field.

What’s your workspace like?  

I love my office! It has a floor-to-ceiling wall of windows and a large desk that has built-in shelves, and a bookcase. I try to keep a calm, inviting environment so it is pleasant for students as they visit for office hours.

What is something you are currently focused on improving:

Currently I am focused on AI to incorporate it in the classroom. I teach Writing in Psychology, and I feel it is important that students understand the pros and cons of AI before they enter the field. I want to make sure our students are as prepared as possible, so I set them up to succeed in their career.

What are you currently reading for pleasure?

I don’t really have time to read for pleasure, so it takes me awhile to get through a book, but right now I am reading The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom by Jonathan Haidt.