Learning is like putting together a puzzle, with individual pieces of information linking together to form a bigger picture. Connecting each piece creates a coherent picture that clarifies previously unidentifiable segments. I love teaching because it is rewarding to watch students link pieces of information together to gain a deeper appreciation for the discipline of psychology, use of statistics, and the value of each in everyday life. In order to engage in the richness of psychology and its connections to the real world, students need the support of a dedicated teacher who can help them increase their comfort with psychological concepts and research methods and statistics, cultivate practical skills to tackle challenging problems and increase their confidence in their problem-solving abilities, and communicate information clearly and read it critically. To meet these goals, I believe it is necessary for me to foster an inclusive classroom climate that generates personal connections and an appreciation for diversity. I aspire to create a comfortable, yet challenging environment, where students gain the skills and confidence necessary to not only master psychological concepts and research methods, but also be effective in whatever career they choose.

Increase comfort with research methods and statistics.

I think that students learn better when they are comfortable with a topic. However, many students can become initially anxious when discussing research methods and statistics. This anxiety means that some students barely look at these puzzle pieces, let alone connect them to concepts or use them to evaluate the research they read about (e.g. COVID-19 findings). When I teach undergraduate research assistants about the statistics we use, I try to alleviate some of this anxiety by using familiar concepts to introduce a statistical technique. For instance, I collect data from the group about relatable topics, such as how much they slept the night before versus after an exam. Then, as a group, we’ll walk through their expectations for which night they would get more sleep, and how we can compare if the two nights’ sleep were different using a t-test. After, we talk about how we use the same procedure in our research. Research assistants often tell me that they were able to further connect these mini-lessons to material they learn in their classes. I have found that this same technique, using relatable information, is helpful for explaining abstract cognitive processes to undergraduate students. I think that this same anxiety can appear when students encounter psychological research for the first time. I think it is important for students entering the major to engage with the process of psychology research because I think it allows them think critically about the concepts and reflect on what we know about the concepts.

Cultivate practical skills to tackle challenging problems and increase confidence in problem-solving.

At some point in their lives, my students will face a problem that feels daunting. One effective strategy is to break the large problem into smaller chunks and plan solutions for each piece. To help students practice this strategy, I design assignments that require breaking larger problems into smaller, manageable pieces. For instance, in the statistics classes I teach, I first provide students with problems that are explicitly broken into steps and then ask students to identify how the steps link together. As our knowledge progresses, I expect students to identify the steps on their own and apply them to new problems. Students actively engage with this process and with each other, often discussing the most effective ways to break down an assigned problem. By the end of the semester, students can independently determine the most appropriate analysis to use, how to implement it, and how to justify their choices.

Communicate information clearly and consume it critically.

Beyond discipline-specific expertise, I ensure that my students have the opportunity to learn and practice effective communication and critically consume what others communicate. I believe these intertwined skills will benefit the student regardless of the career they choose. To promote these skills in the research lab, research assistants create 10-minute presentations linking their lab responsibilities to their intended career path and participate in a 5-minute question and answer period. By talking about and defending their ideas, research assistants learn to articulate their personal goals and transferable skills to others. After graduating, several students have noted that these presentations have helped as they applied for graduate school and subsequent jobs. In my research methods class, students read popular media articles (e.g. A Buzzfeed article), identify the research being presented and evaluate how the authors convey the results. By explaining whether the findings portrayed are accurate, students will need to clearly communicate the intent of the article and determine if they should accept the conclusion.

Foster an inclusive classroom climate that generates personal connections and an appreciation for diversity.

I mentor groups of 10-15 undergraduate research assistants per semester, and each student brings unique perspectives and experiences to our lab. On the first day of each semester, we meet to discuss mutual expectations. Mentees discuss their backgrounds, why they are interested in children’s social cognitive development, and their career goals. Every other week, our lab meeting is dedicated to discussing their personal growth in lab and any challenges they faced in the previous two weeks. By normalizing mistakes and framing them as opportunities to grow, I believe undergraduates feel more connected to each other. I believe it is important for all students to feel represented in the classroom and included in the topics we study. Until recently, psychological research has focused on Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, Democratic (W.E.I.R.D) populations. In my cognitive psychology class, students discuss how representative this research is and similarities and differences found in cross-cultural work. Students have the option to write a final paper research detailing a cognitive process they are interested in and evaluate theories about the process in light of newer cross-cultural work. I also consider representation when designing course materials. When I create PowerPoint presentations, I intentionally include pictures of people of various races, ages, genders, and abilities. At the beginning of the semester, students fill out a survey including their favorite TV shows and movies. I show example clips from their submissions to highlight particular processes, such as reinforcement learning. Students mentioned that they appreciate this, and it helps them understand the material more. By the end of my cognitive psychology course, students brought their own clips to class we could further discuss the processes portrayed. I feel that these strategies would help students connect concepts from Introduction to Psychology to their own lives and to courses outside of psychology.

I truly enjoy teaching. I think it is exciting to make connections between puzzle pieces, but more rewarding to see others make the connections themselves. I hope to continue improving the methods I use and adapt to each class so I can effectively facilitate students’ own excitement about connecting puzzle pieces.