News from the Nest | Psychology

Highlights Improved grades and retention: The average grade in the General Psychology course significantly improved by approximately 23.08%, rising from a low “B” average to a mid-“A” average. Improved pass rate: The pass rate increased by approximately 25.64%, and drop rates nearly disappeared by fall 2024. Decreased test anxiety: Excluding the years 2019-2020 due to the influence of COVID-19 on test anxiety, we observe a 40% drop in the first year Hawkes was implemented, based on the 2018-2019 report of 10 students, followed by an 80% decrease and eventually a 100% elimination of students reporting test anxiety at the Center for Testing Support. This case study demonstrates the value of making thoughtful, research-informed changes to course design, particularly when addressing both academic performance and student mental health. Background and Context In the 2019-2020 school year, the psychology faculty at Neosho County Community College (NCCC) were concerned about the pass rate and overall grades achieved in their introductory-level General Psychology course. Some of the concerns were that on average, 6-9% of the students starting the course dropped and that 14-18% received “Ds or Fs” as their final grades. The faculty felt these were not acceptable scores for a 100-level class. (These results were for the cumulative in-person and online courses offered.) On average, the college hosts 250-300 students in the General Psychology class each semester. A secondary issue occurred in the in-person classes on the main campus in Chanute, Kansas. This issue was that each semester 6-11 students were reporting mental health issues about taking the class as well as often voicing concern over their entire class load. Mr. Mark Johnston, a professor on the main campus, runs a test anxiety clinic for all students on the campus. He noted that many students reporting test anxiety or generalized anxiety were concerned about the work required and the assessments in their General Psychology courses. The psychology department saw a need for changes in the course and the course materials used. They also hoped to adjust teaching methods to address these issues. The psychology department reviewed several different textbooks and support materials, seeking a better tool to address the problems and make the course more enjoyable and meaningful overall. “Hawkes is a learning system, not just a textbook or software. Students are immersed in their learning from the moment they start to the very end of the course. The system has so many intuitive elements that even students who are not very computer literate find working in it easy and fulfilling.” – Professor Mark Johnston Implementation In the spring of 2020, the department decided to adopt Hawkes Learning’s Introduction to Psychology. This decision was reached due to a few reasons, one of which was that the courseware was mastery-based, something the faculty agreed was needed. They also valued the support Hawkes was offering to implement the change. The faculty also reviewed other schools’ use of the Hawkes system and felt that Hawkes’ supporting software would fulfill their needs. Over the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year, the faculty worked out a plan to present a uniform class with the same materials and the same teaching methods. Their goal was to provide all students taking the General Psychology class with a similar teaching and learning environment. This included standardizing the associated PowerPoint slides, lecture highlights, and, where appropriate, recorded lectures for online students. Similarly, weekly quizzes, exams, and papers were all standardized to present every student with the same materials and assessment procedures. Beginning in the 2020-2021 school year, the faculty implemented the Hawkes system. To their delight, the results exceeded their expectations. Outcomes within the course all exceeded state standards, and drop rates were almost nonexistent. Similarly, the overall grade averages rose from a low “B” average to a mid-A average. A similar unexpected outcome was noted in the text-anxiety clinic. Likewise, student self-reports on the course were all very positive for the Hawkes system and the mastery-based approach that the psychology faculty implemented. Over the ensuing school years, grades and satisfaction with the Hawkes Learning system have remained high. Similarly, the number of students coming in for test anxiety has less than or equal to 1 for four consecutive semesters. This suggested that the new system not only addressed academic struggles but also alleviated psychological barriers to success. At the start of the Fall 2024 semester, the department implemented the second edition of the textbook and learning tools. This included Hawkes’ AI Tutor feature to support students during their homework sessions. Grades across all General Psychology courses have remained high, as have student reports of the Hawkes system. At first, the AI Tutor tool was not often utilized, as students were afraid that using AI to help them might result in academic dishonesty charges. Once it was made clear that AI Tutor only supports learning and not actual testing, usage improved. Conclusion The integration of the Hawkes Learning System at Neosho County Community College has significantly transformed the General Psychology course, leading to remarkable improvements in both academic performance and student well-being. By embracing a mastery-based learning approach and standardizing course materials and assessments, faculty at NCCC effectively addressed persistent challenges such as low pass rates, high drop-out rates, and mental health concerns, particularly test anxiety. The results have exceeded expectations, with student grades improving, engagement rising, and anxiety-related issues sharply decreasing. These results demonstrate that students flourish in a supportive, engaging, and mentally healthy environment, further establishing Hawkes as a model of effective, student-centered education. Learn more about Hawkes Learning’s Psychology curriculum and mastery-based offerings here.

Transforming Student Success: How Hawkes Learning Boosted Grades, Retention, and Student Well-Being at Neosho County Community College

November 4, 2025

Highlights Improved grades and retention: Read More

Our Nassau Community College Hawkes Learning Student Ambassador, Lauren Zafonte, had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Murray Fullman and learning more about his devotion to teaching, especially as it relates to using Hawkes Learning. After 62 years of teaching, Dr. Fullman has seen it all – from teaching at the college level to junior high and high school. His passion for education and connecting with students has kept him going strong. Now, he’s found a valuable tool in Hawkes Learning for the past 6-7 years, which he uses for his Intro to Psychology courses. Dr. Fullman praises Hawkes’ concise, engaging content and the variety of learning modalities it offers students. He’s also been impressed by the exceptional support system from the Hawkes team. Truly an inspiring educator! *Interview responses have been lightly edited for content and clarity Can you start by telling me a bit about how long you’ve been teaching? I am probably going to shock you with this, but believe it or not, I’ve been teaching 62 years! I have been at Nassau Community College for 56 years. I actually started teaching when I had a graduate fellowship for my master’s degree. I’ve taught every level. I went from a graduate fellowship or teaching at the college I went to for my doctorate, where they never sent off my transcript, so I wound up teaching at a junior high school because I had to find a job. I ended up leaving the junior high because it was down in the South where I was only allowed to teach history up to 1865. Any memorable moments you’d like to share from your teaching experience? One of my students became a very famous singer. I was teaching at Hicksville High School, where he went at the time, and he played on Friday nights at the dances. I always say, if you find a job that you enjoy doing, you’ve worked the last day of your life. The interaction with students is my favorite part of teaching. I love being with people. When I get students like yourself, that to me is the most rewarding thing about teaching. You feel a sense of accomplishment, and I feel fortunate as to the number of people who are my colleagues now who really have gone into the field because of my influence. I was standing in line to board a plane during one of my many commutes between New York and Florida, because I taught in both states for 16 years, and suddenly a student walked up to me. He asked, “Are you Dr. Fullman?” He said he knew it was me because of my smile. He told me he is in the field now and actually has four offices. That to me, is the most rewarding thing. How long have you been teaching with Hawkes? When you first contacted me, I looked it up to see how long it had been. I was originally contacted by a fabulous representative. She came up to Nassau Community College and asked if she could demonstrate the courseware. She did such a fabulous job that I was totally enthralled by the program and what it had to offer. That was back in 2018, so I’ve been using Hawkes for quite a while. Which classes are you using Hawkes for? Intro to Psychology. Believe it or not, when I first came to Nassau, I did not like teaching Intro to Psychology. Before Hawkes, I only taught Abnormal Psychology for about 25 to 30 years. Then when I was introduced to Hawkes, I said to myself, maybe it is time for a change of pace. Since then, I do not even teach Abnormal Psychology. I love Hawkes so much that I will only teach Intro to Psychology. Would it be correct to say you’ve noticed a difference in the students since using Hawkes? Yes, I noticed the difference immediately with Hawkes. I’m the type of person that likes to be succinct and get to the point. I read Hawkes, and I find it really enjoyable. It’s short. It’s simple. I like the fact that you can get through reading the text without dragging yourself through it. I really think they are doing an excellent job. What is your favorite thing about Hawkes? Their resources are fabulous. The opportunity for the student to learn on multiple levels is incredible. We all have different learning modalities – some of us are visual learners and some of us are auditory learners. So, if you happen to be an auditory learner, you have the opportunity to listen to the material. I highly recommend Hawkes; I tout it off to other people when I’m talking about it. I think the support system is absolutely phenomenal! Meet the Author Lauren is a freshman Nursing major at Nassau County Community College, where she maintains a 3.9 GPA and a spot on the Dean’s List. She aspires to one day become a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner specializing in mental health. Her favorite classes are psychology and English. She is proud to serve as Treasurer of the ASAP (Advancing Success in Associate Pathways) program at NCC. While she does occasionally enjoy a good Netflix binge, her true loves are reading, poetry, and audiobooks. Lauren has a three-year-old pitbull, Luna, who loves to play and run, which keeps her active.

Instructor Spotlight – Dr. Murray Fullman of Nassau Community College

December 20, 2024

Our Nassau Community College Hawkes Learning Student Ambassador, Lauren... Read More

Faculty often have many roles at their university. We serve on committees, maintain office hours, perform volunteer work, attend graduations, conduct research, do a hundred other unnamed things, and sometimes we teach. Given the plethora of roles that we have at our universities, many of us doggedly seek out anything that can remove some of the administrivia from our calling. As a full-time professor and part-time course coordinator for Introduction to Psychology at my university, I am responsible for setting up and overseeing multiple sections of a course that is taught by a legion of invaluable instructors. Hawkes Learning makes the tasks related to coordinating these course sections simple, straightforward, and swift. Getting a course up and running in Hawkes is simple. You set up the class on the Hawkes Learning website and then link it to your learning management system via a few straightforward steps. First, you choose your eTextbook. Second, you create your Master Shell for the course. Third, you add the specific details for that term such as due dates, assignments, and values. Once your Master Shell is the way you like it, you can add instructors with a few clicks and assign them to duplicate sections of your Master Shell; this is especially convenient when you are asked to set up a new section 48 hours before the term starts. Finally, if you are using Blackboard like me, you can go into each instructor’s Blackboard page and connect their section to their Hawkes Learning course for them. This is exceptionally useful if you want to ensure all the instructors have their Hawkes Learning materials linked with their Blackboard course pages on day one. Whereas the first-time setup can be done swiftly, my favorite part about the Hawkes Learning platform is how easy it is to clone a course. The simplicity of the cloning process keeps you from having to reinvent the wheel (or in this case, Master Shell) each term. It is as simple as making a copy of the Master Shell from a previous term and shifting the dates. Bellevue University is on a trimester system, which means I am making duplicates of my Master Shell multiple times each year. Having used many other platforms for managing Introduction to Psychology classes, I have stuck with Hawkes Learning in part because this platform is by far the most straightforward and simplest to use. Case and point, it takes me less than half an hour to set up seven or eight sections each term. “My favorite part about the Hawkes Learning platform is how easy it is to clone a course.” I believe using the Hawkes Learning platform to coordinate multiple sections of a course is simple, straightforward, and swift. However, I would be remiss if I did not emphatically state that Hawkes Learning has an exceptional support team that is readily available, should you run into technical difficulties. With regular workshops, first-time setup camps, and lightning-fast support, troubleshooting assistance is a simple phone call or email away. The Introduction to Psychology textbook landscape is an embarrassment of riches. Nevertheless, Hawkes Learning is peerless in terms of technical and student support. Both in my personal experience and in the feedback I receive from my instructors and students, Hawkes Learning’s support team consistently comes through. So, if you are like many other faculty and course coordinators who are trying to find a way to make just one of your roles more manageable, consider Hawkes Learning for your next eTextbook. Hawkes Learning has the platform and the support you have been looking for. Having used many other platforms for managing Introduction to Psychology classes, I have stuck with Hawkes Learning in part because this platform is by far the most straightforward and simplest to use. Case and point, it takes me less than half an hour to set up seven or eight sections each term. Dr. Jerome Lewis About the Writer Dr. Jerome Lewis is an Associate Professor in Psychology at Bellevue University. His research focuses on the victim role and the psychology of morality. Dr. Lewis has a keen interest in service and the teaching of psychology. In 2022, he received BU’s Excellence in Service Award.

Managing Multiple Sections Made Easy: The Reality of Using Hawkes Learning to Coordinate Courses — A Guest Blog by Dr. Jerome Lewis

April 12, 2024

Faculty often have many roles at their university. We serve on committees,... Read More

Teaching an online class can present a whole series of unique challenges different from teaching a class to students in person. Some of these challenges include student engagement with the materials, keeping them motivated remotely, and ensuring that their learning is similar to in-person classes. Both first-time and seasoned professors face these challenges and a few other surprises in the online environment. When you add mastery-based teaching to this, things can get even more complicated without the right textbooks and learning management system (LMS). The Hawkes Learning system’s unique tools for all classes can help improve all of these issues. We’ve all had students postpone their coursework until the last minute. I often hear that I knew the material and just needed to knock out the assignment. Usually, these students fail to do well as they rush to their work and put in too little study time. While in the classroom, we can prompt students to finish their work. This is harder in the online environment, where we’re limited to posting assignments and emailing the students. The Hawkes system helps with this in several ways. First, using the mastery-based learning Hawkes is built around, students must get a passing grade to complete the assignment. I’ll be honest. In the first week or two of classes online, a few students still wait until the last minute and then don’t do well. Something I do is let them fail the first time or two, then have a quick Zoom meeting to discuss how to improve their scores. Almost universally, students respond well to this and find the success-based mastery idea appealing. Sometimes, the natural consequences of failure can be used as a strong motivator. Another feature of the Hawkes system is the assignment reminder system for students. At least at my college, students sometimes tell me they get too many emails from the college and choose only to read some of them. With the email coming from the Hawkes system, students know this is coursework-related, and reading responses are much higher. A word of caution here– change your message from time to time as students start just to ignore the same one over and over again. Some of what I discussed above about the reminder system, from the Hawkes system to assignment-related elements, applies to keeping students motivated. I find engagement drops mid-semester most often. This is a time to change things up a bit to catch students’ attention. Rather than email students their instructions in text form, I record short video segments and send these to students. I also include a meme or other humorous element to catch their attention. When I started this, students often commented that they checked the email to see what humorous element I included. In a two-year review, the number of non-completed assignments dropped from 18% mid-semester to 3% after making these changes. It could be argued to do this all semester, but changing things occasionally promotes better overall engagement. Another element I occasionally use is a point or two of extra credit for finding an error in my emails. This encourages me to check my work and allows students to see their professors as human and fallible. Scared of that last part? Don’t be. Let your students see you’re not perfect. It helps everyone. The last major hurdle I find in online courses is making the learning similar in the online arena to the classroom. There are a few things that can be done to help here. One that I’ve had mixed success with is open Zoom hours for students to get online with me and fellow students. Finding a time to do this can be tricky. At least for me, many of my online students have families and jobs. Finding a time that works for all students is challenging. I find that one-on-one Zoom meetings for students can be a better fit. Where possible, I schedule three or four students at the same time. A second feature I use that I doubt is revolutionary is recorded video lectures that students can watch when and where it fits their schedule. Hawkes provides great PowerPoint slides for the entire book (at least for psychology). I show the slides as I narrate the material for my online students. Student reviews often cite this as a favorite way to learn the material. I also include relevant personal stories or examples to highlight the slides’ points further. There are always other surprises when teaching online students. I practice patience and understanding for all but the most obvious attempts at getting out of work. What I do find works is good early and frequent communication with online students. This sets the tone for the semester. I also encourage students to ask questions as they go through the material. One example is if they have questions while reading their book or reviewing the PowerPoint slides. I give lots of praise for asking questions and often share the responses with the whole class so that even if a different student doesn’t want to ask, they still get the new information. On this last point, ask your students if they like to be named for asking the question that you share with the class. Some are fine with it, others not so much. Another element I use online is having students do corrections for their exams. In a mastery-based system, students get used to not making errors and can sometimes feel bad when they don’t do as well on an exam as they do their weekly chapter reviews. I make the corrections procedure somewhat punitive and time-consuming. I learned this element when I noticed students not putting as much effort into the exams. A common response was, “I miss the extra chances” that the chapter reviews provide. They responded much better by giving students room to make a mistake or two but not risk their grades. Undoubtedly, teaching an online class is different from teaching a live, in-person class. I encourage you to consider as many ways as possible to increase student engagement and persistence in the online world. Hawkes has several features that help you accomplish this. By adding the mastery-based learning Hawkes is known for, students do better in online classes and feel better about the learning they achieve. Professor Mark Johnston About the Writer Mark is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Neosho County Community College in Chanute, Kansas. Mark has served in this role for five years. His teaching experience extends another six years at Labette Community College Parsons, Kansas. Prior to beginning teaching, Mark held executive leadership positions in several healthcare roles. This included both hospital-based roles and long-term care settings. Mark is married and has two adult children and seven grandchildren. Mark resides in Parsons, Kansas, and commutes to Chanute to teach his classes. Outside of teaching, Mark enjoys cooking, fishing, and playing strategy board games with a group of other professors at other area colleges. Mark has master’s degrees in Psychology from Pittsburg State University and Human Development from the University of Kansas. Mark’s professional affiliations include being a member of the American Psychological Association and the Kansas Psychological Association and a negotiator for NCCC’s Professional Educators Association.

Teaching Online with Mastery-Based Learning: A Guest Blog by Mark Johnston

January 29, 2024

Teaching an online class can present a whole series of unique challenges... Read More

We are inspired by our Hawkes instructors and are eager to showcase their talent and compassion for their students. Recently, we had the pleasure of interviewing Professor Stephanie Thomas, a longtime Hawkes customer who currently teaches Introduction to Psychology at LaGrange College in LaGrange, GA. Read on to learn about her teaching style, technology recommendations and her current research: *This interview has been lightly edited for content and clarity. How long have you been teaching? I’ve been at Lagrange College for 3 years, and in total I have been teaching for 7 years. What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned during your career as a teacher? I have learned that a college instructor must “roll with the punches.” I’m a planner. I like to have everything lined up and planned out, but this past spring semester [with the rise of COVID-19] has taught me that you can’t plan for absolutely everything. There is always going to be something that comes up, or maybe a student approaches you with a situation you haven’t encountered before. Sometimes questions are asked in class that you’ve never thought about before, and it can derail the lecture. At first, I really didn’t like these situations, but I’ve learned to embrace it. If the question is somewhat relevant to the class discussion and the students are interested, I try to go with that and engage conversation. The subject of psychology is so much fun! I’m so involved in my field’s studies that sometimes I am surprised by students’ questions. Students are approaching psychology for the first time and have fresh minds full of wonderful questions! My freshman psychology class has brought up questions that have led to me expanding my course coverage to include new topics. Regarding your classroom structure, what setups or styles have you tried? What worked, and what didn’t work out? If we don’t include spring 2020 semester, my courses are typically set up [in a way that requires students to] read and work on their Hawkes assignments before they come to class. The goal is [to give them] a good understanding of the lesson’s basic objectives and definitions before coming into the classroom. I also think that it provides the opportunity for better questions…since the student has already interacted with the material. Class time involves examples and videos leading to class discussion. I try to incorporate a lot of activity so that the students will feel involved during class, and this is usually experienced within group work. How do you engage and motivate under-performing students? Since I teach Introduction to Psychology, I rarely have any students who are Psychology majors. Usually students are taking my class for general education requirements. Since most of the class aren’t Psychology majors, many of them are not very motivated. [They don’t always see how the subject is] relevant to their career and are just there to get the necessary core credits. I aim to help them recognize how this course is relevant to their futures; at the end of the term, I have my students submit a paper explaining to a future student how the Intro to Psychology course is relevant to their future career. The Hawkes Certify assignments help keep the student engaged outside of the classroom. Hawkes’ reporting tools help me identify if there are students not participating in the homework. These reports were especially helpful whenever our spring 2020 semester shifted due to COVID-19. The reports helped me see if a student needed additional outreach and attention based upon their last login date and homework completion. Since the assignments are low-stakes, it helps me intervene and assist the student before exam time approaches. I also include small check-in assignments for the class that do not really contribute to the overall grade, but are instead there purely as a means to help the student engage with the course. Is there a particular report in Hawkes you prefer to use? Hawkes reports provide helpful information to guide conversations with students. I typically look at which particular assignments the students have done, since some are required and some are extra credit. {This information can be found in All Student Scores and Assignment Reviewer}. Whenever students come to me concerned about their grade, I always look at whether they’ve attempted the extra credit or not. After looking at the extra credit lessons, I look at how much time they’ve invested in the homework portion of Hawkes. I not only look at the homework time (Certify), but also whether they’ve spent time reading in the Learn mode. This information really helps guide our conversations. Sometimes I’ll see a student jump straight into the Certify portion of the lesson without reviewing in Learn and Practice, and then they are concerned about their exam grade. Whenever I see this pattern, I’ll start our conversation with the question, “How much time do you think you’ve spent in the homework lessons?” I follow this question by sharing the actual Hawkes data with them, explaining the reality versus their perception of homework time. I feel we have covered this a bit so far, but if you had to describe your teaching style overall, how would you describe your unique style? Firstly, I love to incorporate many methods of technology in the classroom. Hawkes was new in the social science area, and as far as I know, I’m the only one in my department who uses this type of approach (online homework and eBook) for the course. I also incorporate Twitter in my class. We tweet all the time in class to keep the students active. I’m very hands-on, so I aim to learn all my students’ names. This is a bit easier for me since I’m at a smaller school. If my student is not performing well, I will make sure to seek out the student to directly communicate and provide needed support. I love that since my school is smaller, I can have those personal connections with the students. I hope that my students understand that I truly care about their success—that I’m not here to punish them, but instead aim to help them. I always hope they know I’m approachable and have their back! I try my best to make sure no one is “falling through the cracks” in my classes. I love the Twitter approach! Yes! Whenever I was at a larger school, I tried to find a unique way to interact with my students despite the large class size. I used Twitter as a platform to take attendance, engage the students, and provide an avenue for students to share their thoughts and questions in class. When I moved to a smaller school, I loved using Twitter so much that I decided to keep this approach. I believe that it helps students feel freer to share their thoughts and questions in class. It’s not anonymity but interacting online can give the illusion of anonymity. I believe the Twitter environment really helps students who would otherwise not speak up in class feel they have a more comfortable platform to share their ideas and questions. I don’t want to miss what a student has to say just because they feel uncomfortable with voicing their opinion aloud to the entire class. I typically write a hashtag on the classroom board, and students will tweet using the hashtag during class. After class, I’ll review the tweets, interact with them, and sometimes retweet the tweets containing strong points. Sometimes I’ll connect students who have similar ideas and opinions to help them continue that conversation outside of the classroom. How has Hawkes’ unique Mastery approach made a difference in your courses? I like that students can keep trying until they understand the concepts. I know that first year college students can get frustrated as they adjust to college and as they are developing their study skills. Whenever they see their first homework assignment or are told to read their textbook, they may feel embarrassed to ask questions or share that they feel overwhelmed. Since Hawkes offers a Mastery approach, the student has unlimited opportunities to try again and truly learn the material. Hawkes fits each student’s needs and offers students their own personalized learning experience with minimal effort on my part! I think it’s also really helpful that [there are] Practice Tests available. Many of my students have mentioned that they utilize the Practice Test feature in their studies. What led you to Hawkes Learning, and what keeps you coming back each year? Ever since I have been teaching Intro to Psychology, I’ve been using an eBook. Cost is a huge factor for me, and Hawkes is significantly more cost-effective when compared to other materials. Hawkes’ lifetime access is also very attractive to me! We have a comprehensive exit exam for the seniors at our college. If a student simply rented their textbook or did not use a textbook at all, they’re not going to have those resources to review in preparation for this comprehensive exam. I am encouraged to know that my students will have their online study materials with Hawkes years down the road. In what professional development activities have you been involved over the past few years? I attend webinars as much as possible. My college offers a Professional Development group on campus, so I attend those meetings. I actually prepared a presentation for the group before Covid-19 struck, and the presentation was “How to Utilize Technology in the Classroom.” It was very timely! I did not anticipate what was going to happen next! I talked about utilizing an online eBook during my presentation. Do you have any favorite conferences, blogs, speakers, etc. you follow? Given that I use Twitter in the classroom, I follow the hashtag #AcademicTwitter to follow what is going on in academia. It’s a great way to stay connected on what’s going on. I am a member of my professional organizations: APA (American Psychological Association) and SPSP (Society for Personality and Social Psychology) since I am a Social Psychologist. I love going to any conferences that I can! Since most of my research is undergraduate-based, last year we traveled to NCURR (National Conference on Undergraduate Research). We had many students from LaGrange College present there and hope to attend again next year (pending 2021 travel situations)! We also attended GURP (Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference). What is your absolute favorite thing about your campus or college? I like that it’s small. I went to school at a big state school [for undergrad and my doctorate]. I started teaching at a large state school. When I first taught Intro to Psychology, I had anywhere between 100-150 students in a section, and I had multiple sections. I was also an academic advisor and was responsible for over 700 advisees. It was a lot, and I couldn’t really make connections with most students since there were so many! I love that my classes are smaller here at LaGrange College—it allows me to make those personal connections with the students. If a student is absent from class, I can actually keep them accountable. My relationships with my students at a smaller school are so much deeper and richer than at a bigger school. I love getting to keep up with my students and watch them grow in their college experience. I’m usually one of their first instructors in college, and they typically do not know their major when they’re in my class. I love when a student takes my class, enjoys it, and then I convert them to be a psychology major! When I have the seniors in their capstone class and take them to research conferences, it’s rewarding to see their journey come full circle. What are you currently researching? My research is based upon characters in narratives, so I am interested how people engage with the main character when they read a story. I focus on a process called “experience digging.” This is when you are reading a story and you become the main character. In this scenario, the reader is seeing themselves as the main character and as the story plays out, the boundary between the reader and the fictional character becomes blurred. It’s difficult for the reader to see where they stop and the character begins. I study how this affects the reader’s thoughts, behaviors, and actions. I have a student in my senior class who is also researching this area, so I’m excited to see what she comes up with. This is what I did my dissertation on and my master’s thesis as well, so it’s my basic area of research. I’m a big reader-I really like books! It’s especially interesting to research characters in narratives since it ties together my hobby and profession! Do you have a particular book that you’re currently reading? Yes! I’m currently reading the Graphic Novel Series, March by John Lewis. It felt timely with our current events, so I bought the series at my local bookstore. I felt it was really important to educate myself about the civil rights movement, and I’m realizing there is much I didn’t know. What adjectives would you use to describe your presence in the classroom? I will pull these straight from my course evaluations! Students typically describe me as enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and approachable. Some students say I’m a little bit too peppy for an 8:30am class. Overall, what would you like your students to take from their learning experience with you? If specifically referring to Intro to Psychology, I’d hope they take away a few things: There is something related to psychology that they can use in their future career. I hope they can see that connection. Psychology is a science, and I hope that my students would be better consumers of science after my class. We spend a lot of time talking about the scientific method. It’s truly a science class, although we are not in a typical lab setting. What are one or two of your proudest professional accomplishments? I’ll go broad with my answer and say anytime a student gets into grad school or gets a job. That’s wonderful! This time of the year is when we typically post on our social media pages about our students receiving their grad school acceptance letters. It makes me so excited and proud. It truly reconfirms what I’m doing. I had two students get into their dream schools this year, and they didn’t think it was going to happen. Watching them and helping them with the application processes was so rewarding, especially when I got to see them receive their acceptance letter! It was just a great reminder of why I do what I do.

Instructor Spotlight: Meet Professor Stephanie Thomas

July 29, 2020

We are inspired by our Hawkes instructors and are eager to showcase their... Read More

If you’re a psychology instructor, one of the coolest resources around is the PsychSessions podcast. This podcast was created by instructors Garth Neufeld and Eric Landrum and focuses on the teaching of psychology. They connect with top psychology educators as well as up-and-coming superstars to have deep conversations about what it means to be a teacher of psychology. We had the chance to interview Garth and Eric to learn more about their podcast and advice they have for fellow psychology instructors. The following interview has been lightly edited for content and clarity. What led you to create PsychSessions? We discovered that we were both individually interested in started a podcast—something to do with the teaching of psychology. And we both had the good fortune to share that interest (independently) with our mutual friend Sue Frantz at Highline College. Sue provided the matchmaking service. Additionally, we both saw the opportunity to get great ideas about teaching psychology, which were primarily being distributed in journals and at conferences, to the general public and to teachers who either didn’t have access or didn’t have time to invest in professional development in traditional ways. Can you share an example of a story or teaching advice from a guest that has made an impact on you? Eric: It really is difficult to limit myself to just one story or one example of impact. But when pressed, I would have to say the interview with Bethany Fleck Dillon (Episode #28) from Metropolitan State University-Denver. It was such an honest and open interview. She talked about her ‘mommy guilt’ as a faculty member and I talked about my divorce. Those types of conversations remind us not only of the complexity of others’ lives, but also that the impressions we see on social media are not representative of our real selves. We tend to post our best moments, and not our real moments. I love this podcast episode because I feel like we truly captured real moments. Garth: I have found the podcast to be a tremendous source of professional development. I can barely believe that I had the opportunity to sit down with both Charles Brewer and Bill McKeachie before they left us. When I met Brewer, he was a force; his intensity was remarkable, even in his final months. And McKeachie was pure kindness. I learned from Bill that this is the best way to move through the world, and he did it with such grace, both privately and publicly. Surely Bill’s legacy is more about who he was than what he accomplished (which was incredible). Do you have an episode you’d recommend for a first-time listener who teaches Intro to Psych? Eric: It’s really bad form to play favorites with one’s children, because we are supposed to love them all equally, right? I’m afraid I can’t name names here. But we have plenty of textbook authors, leaders of national organizations, teachers at all levels (graduate school, community college, college, university), a mini-series devoted to the introductory psychology course, short sidebars that focus on one topic, and we are about to launch a new feature called AskPsychSessions. Folks sent us their questions about the teaching of psychology (or just teaching in general), and we wrangled experts in the field to provide answers. We’ll release the question and answer together is short micro-episodes so that listeners can binge-listen as much as they want. Garth: I’ll play it safe here, too. I think that most people begin with “Episode 2: Origin Stories” to get a feel for what the podcast will be like. Eric can correct me, but I think that is our most listened to episode. Now, that’s just Eric and me talking, so I don’t think it’s the best content we have on the podcast, but it probably is the best place to start. Many of our colleagues look for episodes with their favorite psychologists and educators. I find Eric’s “liner notes” to be really helpful in determining which episodes will be of most interest. We also have a brief overview (five minutes) before the episode begins. Your website describes your podcast as “Convos about teaching n’ stuff.” Can you elaborate a little about the “stuff”? We rarely talk for an hour about teaching only. The backstory / origin story of our guests is fascinating. Even when you meet up with your best friends at conferences, it’s rare that you would ask them if their parents went to college, or if they played a musical instrument in high school, or if they were a psychology major when they started their undergraduate course of study. These types of questions have led down fascinating conversational pathways that we never would have imagined. So, the podcast/interview platform is really so much more than about teaching. How do you choose your interviewees? The first part of the formula is about who we know in the teaching of psychology world, and fortunately, collectively we know a lot of teachers of psychology. So, we can ask for the favor of an hour of a person’s time, and almost everyone will say yes…eventually. The second part of the formula is who will be at a particular conference when Garth and/or Eric will be there. We really are committed to recording our podcast interviews in person. Not only does that help with sound quality, but the face to face nature of the interview is meaningful; laughing together in person is different than laughing together over a phone line. The third part of the formula is thinking about guests who we think our listeners would enjoy—but here’s a secret: we have discovered that every teacher of psychology has an interesting story to tell, no matter where they are in their career or what school they are at. What are one or two lessons you’ve taken away so far hosting your own podcast? Eric: One lesson is that this little idea that I once shared with Sue Frantz has turned into this important collaboration with a person who has become one of my best friends on the planet, Garth Neufeld. We had no idea that people would listen, and we really didn’t set out to become oral historians for the teaching of psychology. I wanted to do something different and stretch my skill set and see if I could make an impact in a way other than conference presentations, book chapters, and peer-reviewed journal articles. The other lesson that I have learned is that the podcast can be a vehicle to promote others and their work. It is a way to help our colleagues gain attention. I have discovered that the imposter syndrome continues to exist among faculty members coupled with high levels of humility; the podcast platform allows me to showcase their work in such a way so that they are not bragging about their work, but I get to brag about their work. And the podcast has led to other entrepreneurial opportunities that are just plain fun! Garth: Well, how do I top all of that? The most important lesson I’ve learned, apart from what Eric mentioned above, is that it is exciting to follow our creative instincts, and that the first step is the first step. As it has been said, you eat an elephant a bite at a time. It’s overwhelming to think about how to create 100 episodes, which we will hit in the new year. But it isn’t overwhelming to think about having a conversation with a friend about a crazy idea you have for an innovative way to serve your profession. Check out the podcast here: https://psychsessionspodcast.libsyn.com/. About the PsychSessions co-hosts: R. Eric Landrum is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychological Science at Boise State University, receiving his PhD in cognitive psychology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. He is a research generalist, broadly addressing the improvement of teaching and learning, including the long-term retention of introductory psychology content; skills assessment; improving help-seeking behavior; advising innovations; understanding student career paths; the psychology workforce; successful graduate school applications; and more. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, a fellow in APA’s Division Two (Society for the Teaching of Psychology or STP), and served as STP President (2014). In August 2019, he received the American Psychological Foundation’s Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award, arguably the highest award given to teachers of psychology in the United States. Garth Neufeld teaches at Cascadia College in Washington State. He is the founder of Teaching Introductory Psychology Northwest and the co-founder of the PsychSessions: Conversations About Teaching N’ Stuff podcast. Garth is the Director of Regional Conference Programming for the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and the co-chair of APA’s Introductory Psychology Initiative. He has served the national teaching of psychology community through the AP psychology exam reading, APA’s Summit on the National Assessment of Psychology, and APA’s Summit on High School Psychology Education. In 2018 Garth was awarded a presidential citation from the American Psychological Association (APA) as a Citizen Psychologist for his co-founding and ongoing participation as president of Shared Space For All, a non-profit organization that educates and mentors at-risk Thai children toward the prevention of prostitution. Garth is also the recipient of the 2019 STP Wayne Weiten Teaching Excellence Award.

Behind the Scenes of the PsychSessions Podcast

April 30, 2020

If you’re a psychology instructor, one of the coolest resources around is the... Read More

Introduction to Psychology offers students a comprehensive guide to core psychological concepts. Aligned with APA learning outcomes, the course emphasizes disciplinary diversity and the skeptical habits of a scientific mind. It features engaging, interactive practice and contemporary, multimodal learning that foster a meaningful exploration of a vast and growing field. In a conversational tone, Introduction to Psychology leads students to a foundational and relevant understanding of psychology through a consistent focus on applying concepts in their own lives. Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Psychological Science 1.1 What is Psychology? 1.2 Contemporary Psychology 1.3 Why Is Research Important? 1.4 Approaches to Research 1.5 Analyzing Findings 1.6 Ethics Chapter 1 Review Chapter 1 Review Chapter 2: Biopsychology 2.1 Human Genetics 2.2 Cells of the Nervous System 2.3 Parts of the Nervous System 2.4 The Brain and Spinal Cord 2.5 The Endocrine System Chapter 2 Review Chapter 2 Review Chapter 3: States of Consciousness 3.1 What Is Consciousness? 3.2 Sleep and Why We Sleep 3.3 Stages of Sleep 3.4 Sleep Problems and Disorders 3.5 Substance Use and Abuse 3.6 Other States of Consciousness Chapter 3 Review Chapter 3 Review Chapter 4: Sensation and Perception 4.1 Sensation versus Perception 4.2 Waves and Wavelengths 4.3 Vision 4.4 Hearing 4.5 The Other Senses 4.6 Gestalt Principles of Perception Chapter 4 Review Chapter 4 Review Chapter 5: Learning 5.1 What Is Learning? 5.2 Classical Conditioning 5.3 Operant Conditioning 5.4 Observational Learning (Modeling) Chapter 5 Review Chapter 5 Review Chapter 6: Thinking and Intelligence 6.1 What Is Cognition? 6.2 Language 6.3 Problem Solving 6.4 What Are Intelligence and Creativity? 6.5 Measures of Intelligence 6.6 The Source of Intelligence Chapter 6 Review Chapter 6 Review Chapter 7: Memory 7.1 How Memory Functions 7.2 Parts of the Brain Involved with Memory 7.3 Problems with Memory 7.4 Ways to Enhance Memory Chapter 7 Review Chapter 7 Review Chapter 8: Lifespan Development 8.1 What Is Lifespan Development? 8.2 Lifespan Theories 8.3 Stages of Development 8.4 Death and Dying Chapter 8 Review Chapter 8 Review Chapter 9: Emotion and Motivation 9.1 Motivation 9.2 Hunger and Eating 9.3 Sexual Behavior 9.4 Emotion Chapter 9 Review Chapter 9 Review Chapter 10: Personality 10.1 What Is Personality? 10.2 Freud and the Psychodynamic Perspective 10.3 Neo-Freudians: Adler, Erikson, Jung, and Horney 10.4 Learning Approaches 10.5 Humanistic Approaches 10.6 Biological Approaches 10.7 Trait Theorists 10.8 Cultural Understandings of Personality 10.9 Personality Assessment Chapter 10 Review Chapter 10 Review Chapter 11: Social Psychology 11.1 What Is Social Psychology? 11.2 Self-presentation 11.3 Attitudes and Persuasion 11.4 Conformity, Compliance, and Obedience 11.5 Prejudice and Discrimination 11.6 Aggression 11.7 Prosocial Behavior Chapter 11 Review Chapter 11 Review Chapter 12: Industrial-Organizational Psychology 12.1 What Is Industrial and Organizational Psychology? 12.2 Industrial Psychology: Selecting and Evaluating Employees 12.3 Organizational Psychology: The Social Dimension of Work 12.4 Human Factors Psychology and Workplace Design Chapter 12 Review Chapter 12 Review Chapter 13: Stress, Lifestyle, and Health 13.1 What Is Stress? 13.2 Stressors 13.3 Stress and Illness 13.4 Regulation of Stress 13.5 The Pursuit of Happiness Chapter 13 Review Chapter 13 Review Chapter 14: Psychological Disorders 14.1 What Are Psychological Disorders? 14.2 Diagnosing and Classifying Psychological Disorders 14.3 Perspectives on Psychological Disorders 14.4 Anxiety Disorders 14.5 Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders 14.6 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder 14.7 Mood Disorders 14.8 Schizophrenia 14.9 Dissociative Disorders 14.10 Personality Disorders 14.11 Disorders in Childhood Chapter 14 Review Chapter 14 Review Chapter 15: Therapy and Treatment 15.1 Mental Health Treatment: Past and Present 15.2 Types of Treatment 15.3 Treatment Modalities 15.4 Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders: A Special Case 15.5 The Sociocultural Model and Therapy Utilization Chapter 15 Review Chapter 15 Review

We’re Psyched About Our NEW Introduction to Psychology Course

January 3, 2019

Introduction to Psychology offers students a comprehensive guide to core... Read More

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