School name:  Moravian University

Type of school:  Private University

School locale:  Bethlehem, PA, United States

Is your role mostly in-person, hybrid, online (synchronous or asynchronous)?   It’s a mix of hybrid, in-person, online synchronous, and online asynchronous.

For how many years have you taught psychology?  About 15 years in higher education, along with nearly 30 years of clinical experience in mental health and addiction.

Classes you teach:  Introduction to Counseling Skills, Helping Relationships, Professional Orientation and Ethics, Group Therapy, Human Development, Counseling Theories, Survey of Community Counseling Agencies, Substance Abuse, Advanced Counseling Skills: Cognitive and Behavioral Techniques, Motivational Interviewing, Culminating Experience Seminar, Internship, Practicum, Third Wave Cognitive Behavioral Modalities and Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Specialization:  Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), addiction, and recovery

What size classes do you teach?  Primarily graduate classes ranging from 12 to 30 students.

What’s the best advice about teaching you’ve ever received?   “Students remember how you made them feel long after they forget what was on the slide.” That advice stuck with me. When students know you genuinely care about their growth and development, they engage more deeply and take more risks in learning.

What is a book, article, research, or author/researcher that you would recommend that new teachers check out?  Two books that have had a significant impact on my professional development are Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond by Dr. Judith Beck and Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change by Drs. William Miller and Stephen Rollnick. Both books shaped the way I think about working with people and ultimately influenced how I teach.

Judith Beck’s work helped me develop a structured and practical approach to understanding thoughts, emotions, and behavior, while Miller and Rollnick’s work on motivational interviewing emphasizes empathy, collaboration, and meeting people where they are. Together, these approaches remind me that effective teaching, much like effective therapy, requires both structure and compassion. These books not only helped shape my career as a psychologist but also continue to influence how I mentor and train future clinicians.

What do you know now about teaching that you wish you knew when you were starting?  When I first started teaching, I thought I needed to be liked by every student and that making things easier would help them succeed. Over time, I’ve learned that good teaching is about being fair, consistent, and supportive while also holding students accountable.

Students who work hard, submit assignments on time, and spend hours preparing deserve a learning environment where expectations matter. If we let too many things slide, it can unintentionally be unfair to those students. At the same time, I try to balance accountability with understanding; life happens, and sometimes students need flexibility.

Ultimately, I’ve learned that part of our job as educators is to prepare students for the real world. Being compassionate while maintaining clear expectations helps students develop both competence and professionalism.

Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach.
One of my favorite courses to teach is Introduction to Counseling Skills (sometimes called Helping Relationships). In this class, I work with students who are often just beginning their journey into the counseling profession. It’s incredibly rewarding to watch them start developing the core skills that help people feel heard, understood, and supported.

The course is very experiential, with lots of role-plays and skill-building exercises. Students practice active listening, empathy, and other foundational counseling techniques in real time. These exercises are not only fun but also extremely beneficial, as they help students gain confidence and begin to see themselves as future therapists.

One of my favorite moments happens early in the semester during a role-play exercise. A student will often pause and say, “Wait… that actually worked.” That moment, when they realize that listening, empathy, and thoughtful responses can truly help someone, is when you can see them begin to believe that they can become effective counselors. Watching that shift happen is one of the most meaningful parts of teaching for me.

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity.  One assignment that consistently creates powerful learning experiences is asking students in my Substance Use and Addictive Disorders class to attend a 12-step meeting or another mutual support meeting (such as SMART Recovery or a similar program). For many students, the idea of attending their first meeting brings a lot of anxiety and uncertainty. They often worry about saying the wrong thing or not knowing what to expect.

What usually happens, though, is something meaningful. Students see firsthand the power of community, honesty, and mutual support. Many of them talk about how surprised they are by the openness, resilience, and hope present in those spaces. Learning becomes very real for them; it moves beyond theory and textbooks.

When students come back and reflect on the experience through their writing and class discussions, you can see the shift in their perspective. As someone in recovery myself, it’s especially meaningful to witness those moments of understanding and growth. Seeing students gain respect for the recovery process and the people in those rooms is always a powerful and rewarding part of teaching that course.

What’s your dream course if you had the time and resources to teach it?  The beautiful thing about this question is that I have the opportunity to help make this happen. At Moravian University, I recently developed a Master of Science in Substance Use Counseling (MSUC) program, which will begin in Fall 2026. The goal is to create courses that combine evidence-based approaches, such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Motivational Interviewing, with experiential learning to prepare students for real clinical work.

One exciting component of the program is the development of a clinical skills lab, where trained actors will play the roles of clients that students may encounter in practice. This allows students to practice counseling skills, receive feedback, and build confidence in a safe learning environment before working with real clients.

I’m incredibly excited about the launch of this program and the opportunity to help train the next generation of clinicians who will be working with individuals and families affected by substance use and addiction.

What are three words that best describe your teaching style?  Authentic, experiential, and supportive

What is your teaching philosophy in 8 words or fewer?  Prepare students to become confident, ethical, effective clinicians.

What’s your workspace like? My workspace is a mix of organized and lived-in. There are usually books related to CBT, addiction, and psychology nearby, along with notes from classes I’m preparing or ideas for new projects. I like having a whiteboard where I can map out concepts, sketch out the CBT triangle, or jot down ideas for lectures and discussions.

You’ll also notice some Philadelphia Eagles memorabilia around the office. It’s a small reminder that passion and loyalty matter, whether you’re talking about sports, teaching, or the work we do in mental health.

Students stop by my office often, sometimes to talk about coursework, sometimes about career goals, and sometimes just to check in. Those conversations are one of my favorite parts of the job. Teaching doesn’t happen only in the classroom, and some of the most meaningful mentoring moments occur in those informal discussions.

Tell us about a teaching disaster (or embarrassment) you’ve had and how you dealt with the situation.  Early in my teaching career, I remember preparing a lecture for the first time on substance use and the withdrawal effects of opioids. I had a PowerPoint slide listing some of the symptoms, including two terms: lacrimation and rhinorrhea. About halfway through the class, a student raised their hand and asked, “What does lacrimation mean?”

I paused and realized something that immediately made my stomach drop: I had included terms on the slide that I didn’t know well enough to explain. As I looked at the slide more closely, I also realized I wasn’t entirely sure what rhinorrhea meant either.

Instead of trying to give a vague or overly complicated answer, I told the class honestly, “That’s a great question. I don’t know exactly what that means, and I should.” We looked it up together and learned that lacrimation refers to teary eyes and rhinorrhea refers to a runny nose.

It was definitely an embarrassing moment, but it turned into a great teaching lesson for both the students and me. I told them that if you’re going to put something on a slide or present it to others, you should make sure you understand it inside and out. That moment reinforced for me that teaching isn’t about pretending to know everything; it’s about being honest, curious, and willing to learn alongside your students.

Tell us about a teaching “win” you’ve had and the context in which it happened.  One of the most meaningful teaching “wins” for me happens when I see students begin to believe in themselves as future clinicians. I remember a student early in their training session who was very anxious about conducting counseling role-plays in class. They worried about saying the wrong thing, not being helpful enough and being embarrassed in front of the class.

Over the course of the semester, through practice, feedback, and encouragement, their confidence grew. Toward the end of the course, after completing a counseling role-play, the student said something like, “I wish this class would continue, I love it.”

Moments like that are incredibly rewarding. Teaching counseling skills isn’t just about learning techniques, it’s about helping students develop confidence, empathy, and the belief that they can truly help people. Seeing that shift happen is one of the best parts of being an educator.

What is something you are currently focused on improving or changing in your teaching?  One area I am continually working to improve is my online asynchronous teaching. My goal is to make those courses feel as engaging and connected as possible, like the experience students have in an in-person classroom.

I try to be creative with assignments and discussions so that students are not just completing tasks on their own but actively interacting with the material and with each other. I also place a strong emphasis on building peer-to-peer connections and professor-to-student relationships, even in an asynchronous environment.

Creating that sense of community online takes intentional effort, but it is important to me that students feel supported, engaged, and connected to the learning process, regardless of the format of the course.

What is something your students would be surprised to learn about you?  Honestly, many of my students eventually realize there isn’t much that surprises them about me because I tend to be a pretty open book. I believe authenticity is important in teaching, especially when we are preparing future counselors and psychologists. When appropriate, I share experiences and perspectives that help students understand that growth, mistakes, and learning are part of every professional journey.

Over time, students often tell me that seeing that openness helps them feel more comfortable asking questions, taking risks in their learning, and developing their own professional identity.

What are you currently reading for pleasure?  No surprise to anyone who knows me; I’m currently reading Ray Didinger’s book Finished Business. As a longtime Philadelphia Eagles fan, I’ve always appreciated Didinger’s perspective on football, storytelling, and the history of the game. It’s a great reminder that sports can bring people together in powerful ways and often reflect larger lessons about perseverance, teamwork, and resilience. Go Birds!!

What tech tool could you not live without?  Probably Zoom. I use it in many different parts of my life—teaching, my private practice, presentations, and even staying connected with family and colleagues. It has made it much easier to bring people together regardless of location, whether that’s meeting with students, supervising clinicians, or inviting guest speakers into the classroom. It’s a great reminder that technology, when used well, can help create connections rather than replace them.

School name: Utah State University

Type of school: Four-year public university

School locale: Logan, Utah, USA

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

For how many years have you taught psychology? 14 years

Classes you teach: Introduction to Psychology, Health Psychology, Psychology of Human Connections

What size classes do you teach?  150+

What do you know now about teaching that you wish you knew when you were starting?
When I first started teaching, I thought my job was to deliver great content. Over time and with more experience, I’ve realized that great teaching is much less about what I say in front of the room and more about creating environments where students are actively engaging with ideas, practicing skills, and seeing themselves in the learning process. I wish I had understood earlier that students learn far more when they are doing something with the concepts, not just hearing about them. Now I try to design classes that include these elements so that students can connect research to real-life experience. I’ve also learned that connection matters more than perfection. When students feel like their instructor genuinely cares about them and their learning, they are much more willing to participate, engage with the material, and take intellectual risks.

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity.  

One of my favorite activities is something I call the “Fast Friends Lab”, which is based on research on relationship formation. It was first suggested to me by my colleague, Dr. Mona Xu. Students work in pairs and go through structured sets of questions that progressively become more meaningful. Before the activity, we talk about self-disclosure, vulnerability, and human connection. Afterwards, students reflect on what actually happened during the conversation and analyze their experience through the lens of research. It is a fun activity, but it also helps students see that the science of relationships isn’t just theoretical - it shows up in everyday interactions.

What are three words that best describe your teaching style?  Curious, Connected, Experiential

What is your teaching philosophy in 8 words or fewer? Learning grows when curiosity and connection meet.

What’s your workspace like?  My workspace tends to reflect a mixture of structure and a little bit of organized chaos. On any given day, you might find my desk covered with the things that help me move through the day, like drinks, notes for class activities, pens and pencils, and stashes of snacks, candy, or mints. While the desk itself can look busy, the overall space is warm, inviting, and organized. The artwork around my office reflects pieces of who I am, including nods to experiences that have shaped me, and reminders of things I hope to do or explore someday. It’s a space that helps me de-stress, think, create, and connect with students.

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

One of the most rewarding moments for me is when students begin to see themselves as contributors to the field, not just learners in it. In several of my courses, students design small research projects related to conceptual topics such as social connection and well-being. Some of those projects have developed beyond the classroom into being presented at undergraduate research conferences and even shared with policymakers. Watching students move from learning about research to actually doing it has been one of the most rewarding and meaningful parts of teaching for me.

What is something you are currently focused on improving or changing in your teaching?

One role I have at the university that is especially meaningful to me is serving as the Director of our first-year student program: Connections. The program is designed to help new students develop important academic and life skills while also giving them an early experience with mentoring and support as they begin their university journey.

Each fall, the program culminates in a special evening event where faculty dress in regalia and process together to help students visualize where they might be in four years, walking across the stage at graduation. It’s a powerful moment that reminds students of the path they are beginning.

My dad has been able to join me for this event, which has made it even more meaningful for me personally. Experiences like this have reinforced how important mentoring and connection are, both in supporting students and in our own lives. Over the past year, I’ve been making a more intentional effort to both mentor others and seek out mentors myself to cultivate deeper, more meaningful relationships.

What is something your students would be surprised to learn about you?  Students are sometimes surprised to learn that, outside of teaching psychology, I love skiing in the winter and golfing in the warmer months. Both remind me a lot of teaching; each involves challenge, persistence, and the process of discovering what you’re capable of as you keep learning and improving.

What are you currently reading for pleasure?   I love a good “whodunit” or fantasy series. I recently finished All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda, which kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end, and now I’ve circled back to the next book in the A Throne of Glass series called Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas.

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.

School name: Baylor University     

Type of school: Mid-size R1 institution

School locale: Waco, TX, USA

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

For how many years have you taught psychology? 12 years as a professor, and 4 years as a graduate student instructor

Classes you teach: Introductory Psychological Science, Introduction to Neuroscience, Cognition, Forensic Psychology, Psychology & Culture, and Psychology of Women and Gender

Specialization: Cognitive, Teaching

What size classes do you teach? The intro courses can be quite large, anywhere from 95-300 students, but the upper-level courses are capped at 28, typically!

What’s the best advice about teaching you’ve ever received? This piece of practical advice has saved me so much time with course planning; I’m thankful a mentor recommended this practice to me early on. Set aside 10–15 minutes right after each class to debrief: note what worked well and what didn’t, what students were most curious about, and what you might revise next time so future planning is more intentional and efficient.

Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach. One of my favorite topics to teach is eyewitness memory, whether it be in intro, cognitive, or forensic psychology. I love inviting students to experience how confident, sincere people can nonetheless have distorted recollections, then using that surprise to unpack memory as an active, reconstructive process rather than a literal recording. Depending on the class, I use brief “crime” videos or staged events, have students give their eyewitness reports, and then reveal how factors like leading questions, post‑event misinformation, and discussions with peers can systematically bias what they remember, even creating vivid details that never occurred. This topic is especially rewarding because it sits at the intersection of cognition, social justice, and society: students see how basic memory research connects to wrongful convictions and inequities in the legal system and understand why it’s important for them to know how to translate psychological science into the real world.

What are three words that best describe your teaching style?  Enthusiastic, engaging, and student-centered.

What is your teaching philosophy in 8 words or fewer? Inclusive, reflective teaching that empowers diverse student voices

What is something you are currently focused on improving or changing in your teaching? One area I am currently focused on improving in my teaching is building more intentional structures for student reflection and metacognition. While I already incorporate reflective activities, I want to refine these moments so students have clearer guidance on how to connect their lived experiences and learning processes to course concepts. My goal is to help students better recognize their own growth over time. By strengthening these reflective practices, I hope to create an even more accessible and empowering learning environment where students feel ownership of their learning and see themselves as active participants in knowledge-making.

What are you currently reading for pleasure? Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People

School name: Minnesota State University, Mankato

Type of school: regional comprehensive 4-year

School locale: Mankato, MN, USA 

Is your role mostly in-person, hybrid, online (synchronous or asynchronous)? Mostly in-person, though I have done and still do some online teaching

For how many years have you taught psychology? 22 years, 19 years post PhD

Classes you teach: Intro to Psych, Research Methods, Careers in Psychology, Social Psychology, Psychology and Law, Critical Thinking and Pseudoscience, History and Systems

Specialization: Social Psych

What size classes do you teach? Smaller ones range from 20 – 25 people, mid-size from 30 – 50 people, and Intro is taught to about 100 people per section.

What is a book, article, research, or author/researcher that you would recommend that new teachers check out? I really appreciate the work done on teaching Intro to Psych by the APA working group, and the book Transforming Introductory Psychology by Regan Gurung and Garth Neufeld is a wonderful combination of inspiring ideas and concrete examples to support changes in teaching Introduction to Psychology. I’ve used these ideas in my own teaching, particularly in emphasizing research as the foundation of the other content and ideas that I choose to include.

What do you know now about teaching that you wish you knew when you were starting?  When I was starting, I was really focused on covering content—I thought that if I’m not actively lecturing and making sure that everything in the textbook was included in class, then my students were ‘missing out’ on important information. Now, I focus so much more on active learning—I skip textbook chapters or leave out lecture content to make more room for student discussions, application, and other types of in-class projects. Students engage more directly with the key ideas of the course, and retain more information in the long run. It’s tough to admit but I know that my students can still learn a lot even if [especially if?] I’m not talking the whole time. I try to encourage graduate instructors and new faculty to focus in on key concepts, and to feel free to leave topics out when teaching undergraduate courses, giving students that time to practice and engage with course ideas.

Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach.  I love teaching Social Psychology, both because that’s the field my PhD is in so I have a depth of knowledge about the theories and key studies in the field, but also because I think it’s so clearly relevant to our daily lives. Students can easily see examples of course ideas, such as the fundamental attribution error, in their own lives. I really enjoy helping students understand and apply the scientific method to testing their own assumptions and experiences, and sharing the creative ways researchers in social psychology have worked to scientifically measure and understand human behavior.

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity.  I’ve created a project focused on examining a psychology-related misconceptions [such as the idea that the full moon influences our behavior]. Students work individually or in groups to write some survey questions to assess belief in the misconception they choose to focus on, and then we create a course survey that they distribute to their own networks. They also find empirical articles that tested the misconception, and create a final paper and presentation where they describe what they learned from the survey, and the research that has tested that misconception. Students build a lot of research skills and get really engaged in this project!

What’s your dream course if you had the time and resources to teach it?  I would love to design and teach a research course that is more focused on critiquing popular presentations of psychology in the media as well as on identifying pseudoscience, perhaps as a requirement for psychology minors who aren’t completing our department’s traditional statistics / research methods sequence. I think that focusing on this type of media literacy while building in an understanding and appreciation of the role of science would be so useful, not only to psychology students but students in many other majors. Though, these topics also mean that a course like this would need to be continually updated and revised, which definitely adds to the course preparation requirements.

What are three words that best describe your teaching style?   Enthusiastic, Questioning, Active

What is your teaching philosophy in 8 words or fewer?  Engaging students to appreciate science.

What’s your workspace like?  My office is full of carefully curated piles—I have a specific spot for each class I’m currently teaching, and each of my primary research projects. I easily forget what I’m doing if resources aren’t visible to me, so this helps me organize my main teaching and research materials where I can easily find what I need. Of course, I have tons of books, plenty of fun pens and markers, and all the post-its anyone could need—I think much better in analog, not digital. I have a memory of meeting with my undergraduate psychology advisor in his office with floor-to-ceiling stuffed bookshelves, and thinking, ‘being a professor seems like a pretty great job.’

What is something you are currently focused on improving or changing in your teaching?  I’m continually trying to balance flexibility with holding students accountable, and now the increasing use of AI tools is adding another wrinkle to that. I think that students can learn so much through regular, reflective writing assignments, but I’m reworking those to require specific description of course materials to encourage students to write these themselves, instead of using AI. I’m also being more rigorous in my expectations of class attendance and moving back towards more in-person teaching—I think this is useful both from a perspective of increasing social connections, and also ensuring that students are doing their work. But, balancing this with understanding that students’ lives are increasingly complex—they are working, they are caring for family members, they are commuting long distances to school, they are managing chronic illnesses, and that all students need support and flexibility to succeed, makes it tricky to design course policies and practices that are fair and accommodating. I appreciate reading about others’ teaching strategies as I keep honing my own approaches.

What are you currently reading for pleasure?  I read all kinds of things and am usually reading a few books at once—currently, I am reading a nonfiction book about the history of tap dancing [a favorite hobby of mine], and my fiction preferences tend to focus on horror and crime novels. Sometimes it’s tough to prioritize reading for fun but I always feel better when I can find the time to sit down with a book.

What tech tool could you not live without?  Can I count my paper planner? I need to write things down to remember them, so I keep my schedule and to-do lists organized in a weekly planner—without it, I’d be lost. In my classes and research, I love using Qualtrics for survey design, and my university offers all faculty, students, and staff a free account—so I always teach it to my students and encourage them to use this tool. I also appreciate resources like JASP, making statistical analysis freely accessible to students.

School name: College of Saint Mary

Type of school: small, private, Catholic, all women’s college

School locale: Omaha, NE, USA

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

For how many years have you taught psychology? 21 years (plus teaching during graduate school)

Classes you teach: General Psychology, Child Psychology, Human Services Fieldwork, Psychology Capstone, and assorted psychology electives

Specialization: Developmental

What size classes do you teach? 10-30 students per course

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

1. Sometimes less is more. That is, sometimes covering fewer chapters/topics/concepts is better than trying to cover everything.
2. It is important to keep work-related tasks and pressure in perspective. Very few things (e.g., emails, situations, problems) in higher education are urgent.

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity. One of my favorite activities is a fieldtrip that I plan when I teach Psychology of Learning. I take the students to a local police department for a talk about how the officers train the police dogs. The visit also includes some demonstrations with the dogs. This fieldtrip is an engaging way to show students important applications of operant conditioning in the real world.

What’s your dream course if you had the time and resources to teach it? I am teaching a dream course this semester! I am teaching Psychology Applied to Television and Film, but I am basing the entire course on the Apple TV show Severance. Shout out to Jill Swirsky for sharing her wisdom on teaching pop culture themed courses and to my college for allowing me to try something new! I am having so much fun integrating many references to the show in my syllabus and assignments, and I am having a blast incorporating various props and activities related to the show into my class periods. Instead of being macrodata refiners, like the characters in the show, my students are psychological concept refiners. My goal is to use this mysterious and important show to inspire curiosity and learning among the students, and I hope to encourage their appreciation of film and television, too.

What are three words that best describe your teaching style?  Enthusiastic, down-to-earth, engaging

What’s your workspace like?  My workspace is cozy and has just the right balance of academia and whimsy (and it usually has too many piles of miscellaneous papers and articles).

Tell us about a teaching disaster (or embarrassment) you’ve had and how you dealt with the situation. 

A few years ago, I was teaching General Psychology. I had a YouTube video embedded in my Power Point slides. The video was of cats wearing pumpkin hats, and the cats were ringing a bell for treats – a cute and amusing example of positive reinforcement. I have used the same video clip and link for years, and because the video was embedded, we could all see the still shot of the cats in their hats. I clicked on the video once, and it did not play. I clicked on it again and started to lecture. Suddenly, I could hear heavy, inappropriate-sounding breathing. Confused, I glanced around the room and over at the computer screen. I saw that my cat video was NOT playing. I only saw a split second of what was playing, but let’s just say that all I saw was a hand waving a toy in the air. It was not at all appropriate. I immediately and obnoxiously yelled to the students, “AAHH…LOOK AWAY!” I quickly ran to the computer and closed out the video and my slides. I apologized for the horrendous accident and explained that they were supposed to see cats ringing bells. I said that I had no idea what just happened or why it happened, and I made a comment about the importance of double-checking links. Students never said anything about it to me, and I didn’t notice them laughing, looking freaked out, or chatting during the rest of that class period. So, either they were stunned, or they were too busy looking at their phones and missed the whole debacle. Who knows. All I can say is that I learned my lesson to triple check old links in all of my slides.

What are you currently reading for pleasure?  Us Against You by Fredrik Backman (the second book in the Beartown series). This series is fantastic; it is all hockey and emotions.

What tech tool could you not live without?  Outlook and Google calendars.

School name: Goucher College

Type of school: Small liberal arts college

School locale: Baltimore, Maryland, USA

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

How many years have you taught psychology? 20+ (nearly 18 at Goucher)

Classes you teach: Introduction to Psychology, Human Learning & Memory, Cognitive Psychology, Seminar in Cognition, Teaching, and Learning

Specialization (if applicable): Cognitive psychology (applied memory)

What size classes do you teach? 15-25

What is the best advice about teaching you’ve received? I don’t know if or when someone explicitly gave me this strategy as advice, but I find it incredibly helpful to get in the habit of taking a few minutes right after each class period to re-save my slideshow (or agenda or whatever I’m using to guide class) from that day with next year’s date, then add comments and reminders for myself of how I want to update things based on how the class went. This is a piece of concrete advice I give to any instructors who ask. We forget we forget, so don’t count on remembering to do something differently next semester (or a year(s) later) if you don’t write it down!

What is a book, article, research, or author/researcher that you would recommend that new teachers check out? Inclusive Teaching, co-authored by my grad school buddy (from UNC-Chapel Hill) Viji Sathy along with Kelly Hogan. It’s just an outstanding resource with both deep dives into why inclusive teaching is important and some really helpful practical advice, a lot of which anyone can start implementing tomorrow in class.

What do you know now about teaching that you wish you knew when you were starting? I still prepare as much as ever, but I wish I knew back then that the more I embraced flexibility and “the unknown” during class, the more fun and engaging the whole enterprise will be. Sometimes the best classes are when things deviate from my plan and end up in an unexpected place with new insights and deeper learning. Also to relax and be my authentic (nerdy) self in the classroom.

Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach. My area of specialty is learning strategies and metacognition, so of course I love that (and I get to teach an entire seminar class about it, which is amazing!). Aside from this, one of my favorite topics is sleep. It’s fun to help students discover what actually happens during a third of their lives and how important it is to health, well-being, and memory.

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity. In Human Learning & Memory, I assign a Procedural Memory Project in which students choose a complex motor skill to work on for three weeks, form a practice plan based on the learning strategies we discuss in class, and keep a log and performance graph documenting their progress. They submit two video logs (VLOGs), one at the start and one at the end of the project. These include discussion about the skill and how the project relates to class topics, along with a video documenting their current state. It’s neat to watch them learn to juggle, knit, shoot free throws, shuffle cards (etc.)! And they can try out strategies then reflect on how it all went and what they might do differently in the future. I especially like this project because it helps encourage a growth mindset – that we can all get better at all kinds of things with strategic practice and motivation.

What’s your dream course if you had the time and resources to teach it? A class on psychology in musical theater!

What are three words that best describe your teaching style? Enthusiastic, organized, collaborative

What is your teaching philosophy in 8 words or fewer? I care deeply about student learning and well-being.

What’s your workspace like? I’m an organized person. If you catch me at the start of the semester, my office reflects this, but by those final weeks, all bets are off, and it can get to be something of a disaster zone. It’s also full of books and family photos, and snacks for visitors!

What is something you are currently focused on improving or changing in your teaching? I’m always looking for ways to make class time more fun and engaging. Though it heightens my anxiety somewhat to change the routine way I’ve been teaching a given topic (sometimes for years!), I embrace the excitement of trying out a new demonstration or discussion topic.

What is something your students would be surprised to learn about you? They might be surprised to learn how long it still takes me to prepare for every class, and that I still experience some anxiety when entering the classroom, even after teaching for over two decades!

What are you currently reading for pleasure? Recently I’ve enjoyed Heart the Lover by Lily King, Buckeye by Patrick Ryan, and Wreck by Catherine Newman. Reading is my absolute favorite pastime!

What tech tool could you not live without? Todoist app and Outlook calendar!

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.