School name: Lipscomb University
Type of school: Private, Christian, Professions-focused Undergraduate/Graduate-Doctorate Medium. Enrollment is approximately 5000 total students.
School locale: Nashville, TN, USA
Is your role mostly in-person, hybrid, online (synchronous or asynchronous)? Hybrid; roughly half my teaching is in-person, and the other half is for our online asynchronous degree program
For how many years have you taught psychology? 16 - My first adjunct role was in 2009, and my first full-time faculty position started in 2012.
Classes you teach: Introduction to Psychological Research, Drugs and Behavior, Biological Psychology, History and Systems, Psychology of Sustainability
Specialization: Behavioral Neuroscience
What size classes do you teach? 15-30 students
What is a book, article, research, or author/researcher that you would recommend that new teachers check out?
Artze-Vega, I., Darby, F., Dewsbury, B., & Imad, M. (2023). The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching. Norton.
You can get the ebook for free online! And it is full of great ideas and ways of thinking that help put you in your students’ shoes. If you’re just getting started with teaching, I recommend this book.
I also recommend anything by Dr. Regan Gurung, who I look up to as a role model because of his influence in the domain of teaching and learning in psychology.
What do you know now about teaching that you wish you knew when you were starting?
Teaching can be a weird profession because it is often done in isolation, and the role models we draw from are often our own teachers. As I learned in the “Teaching Squares” group facilitated by our campus CTL, you can ask your colleagues if you can sit in to observe one of their classes and vice versa! If you have the ability to do this in a low-pressure, nonevaluative way, it can be great for building openness and community while growing your awareness of the craft of teaching. We are all always learning!
Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach.
History and Systems - we offer this at the senior level. It’s fun to help students exercise metacognition here as we trace different ways of thinking about psychological topics across time and culture. I also have students do their own self-reflection about the influences and experiences that have led them to their major and intended path forward. Soon-to-be grads can experience anxiety about what comes next, but the course supports learning where they fit in the grand scheme of things and developing their own narrative around that!
Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity.
The website www.neurotree.org (and its related site www.academictree.org) is a wiki-type family tree resource showing the relationships between academics and their “children” or “ancestors” in the various disciplines. When the website is fully functional, I have students use it to find connections between modern researchers (sometimes their own professors!) and Wilhelm Wundt or other founders of this discipline. Seeing the connections and the big names in your “ancestry” is a real treat, but it also gives context to the passage of time and the evolution of influence in academia.
What are three words that best describe your teaching style?
“Clear is Kind” - a phrase borrowed from Brene’ Brown, but so helpful in most domains of life.
What is your teaching philosophy in 8 words or fewer?
Learning experiences are never wasted.
What’s your workspace like?
Open Door. Essential oil diffuser. White Board with current projects and Letter of Recommendation request queue. Bookshelves with books, games (Charty Party!), rodent stuffed animals, and awards. Bright colors wherever possible. On the wall next to the computer monitor: personal SMART goals, annual to-do list, and 5-year program action plan. Daily task notebook and print Undergraduate catalog always within arm’s reach. Snacks in the drawer.
What is something you are currently focused on improving or changing in your teaching?
Students sometimes perceive my classes to have “busy work” - which indicates that assignments that make total sense to me as scaffolding or skill-building don’t always land as intended with the students. The Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework has been useful in helping me think through what exactly I want students to be able to do, and how to communicate that to them, before they get started on the task. At this point, I have the TILT framework header on the assignments for most of my classes - and at the end of the semester when we talk about the learning outcomes, it helps draw connections between assignments and course goals.
What is something your students would be surprised to learn about you?
I’ve been playing violin and viola since middle school, and until 2019, a friend and I had a small business where we played for weddings and other small events. Recently I joined a community orchestra and am having a great time reactivating this part of my identity.
Also, I’ve taken a “first day of school” selfie every year since 2013. I’ve been documenting the progression of my own career (and the graying of my hair!) in this fun way.
What tech tool could you not live without?
Google Calendar! Really, all the Google products, but the Calendar keeps me on track at home and at work.
