“Listen to learn, question to understand.” 

It is my belief that while learning is fundamental to teaching, it is not sufficient. Fostering understanding is the critical goal in my teaching and I attempt to accomplish this aim in a number of ways.

The most important thing I do to enhance student understanding is to be enthusiastically contagious. I believe that if I am energetic in how I present the information my students will be excited and engaged in the learning process within the classroom and beyond. When I spend time “wondering” with students about a topic they learn the process of asking questions rather than looking to me for concrete, textbook answers.  I have found this objective to be the easiest yet most fulfilling.  I am truly passionate about psychology and each day I teach I look forward to talking and speculating about psychology topics with my students.  Central to my teaching philosophy is the belief that as an educator I am responsible for nurturing and providing an example of lifelong understanding.

A collaborative and reciprocal learning environment is also a central component to my teaching style. Inherent in this belief is that students will learn psychology from my perspective and teaching style and I will learn from their questions and opinions. At the heart of this is providing a comfortable yet highly organized classroom atmosphere. I share my outline for each class period to establish a general backdrop for the topic and a summary outline of each lecture is reviewed to consolidate student’s learning. I regularly use discussion questions to pique students’ interest and engage them in the instructional process.  The student responses to such an atmosphere are astonishing.  I have been consistently and pleasantly surprised that many students implicitly know many psychological principles and enjoy the revelations they experience when they learn from themselves and each other. Likewise, I have noticed that a collaborative teaching style enhances individual student efforts as well as group efforts. 

As an educator, I am in an auspicious position to learn from my students who are experts in and of themselves.  I adopt an interpersonal teaching style that encourages students to share their opinions and information about which they are knowledgeable. During this process, I seek to highlight the interdisciplinary nature of psychology by connecting psychological concepts to other academic areas and to the world surrounding the students.  Students are then equipped with personally relevant and interesting examples that likely facilitate and motivate understanding and applications beyond the classroom.  I also solicit student feedback on demonstrations and class activities and make instructional decisions based on their input. Such experiential and exploratory techniques, I believe, help students feel empowered and invested in appreciating course information. Asking for student feedback has also provided me with information about what students may or may not be understanding. For instance, students requested practice exam items for review purposes. As a result I routinely give practice exam items in traditional formats and in more applied designs such as providing questions in the form of a psychological report. The greatest product of this collaborative approach is that each semester begins a new course for my students and me.

When students are involved in problem identification and problem solving true understanding takes place.  Through real life applications, critical everyday skills are appreciated. Fostering how my students apply psychological knowledge has been one of my greatest teaching goals. I strive to create a seamless integration of learning and living classroom information. Understanding cannot be contained within 50-minute periods or the walls of an institution, so I encourage students to view time outside of class as important to their learning process. I give written assignments that require students to notice and comment on how psychology appears in their lives. In addition, I frequently use case examples of every day events linked to psychology. My students are quick to share their experiences in response to such activities and as a result I enjoy knowing that they are grasping the course information at a deeper level.  Teaching psychology has provided a wonderful basis for exploring and understanding noteworthy cultural issues. By exploring cultural similarities and differences students obtain a broader, more flexible, and global understanding of psychological concepts.   

Finally, the most critical way of learning derives from my students’ relationships with themselves. To enhance this learning process, I frequently provide written and in-class activities that require students to think about their own thinking. For example, my students were asked to use psychological assessment and intelligence principles to create their own theory of intelligence. In addition, I provide students with opportunities to analyze their beliefs and personality via questionnaires. For instance, I provided students with questionnaires assessing their level of self-actualization and identity development. Such activities provide opportunities for personal insights and are used as personally relevant examples. Applied in-class activities, video examples, interactive CD-ROM simulations, and guest speakers are used to stimulate discussions and active participation and to facilitate personal thoughts and opinions. I strongly encourage students to ask questions, share comments or opinions, and importantly to think critically. I have found this objective to be the most challenging yet rewarding. When students achieve this level of understanding they ask pointed, insightful questions that push me to be keen. Most importantly enhancing their understanding as a product of their relationship with themselves ensures that they will take pieces of my course with them in their future endeavors.