Teaching Interests

Cognitive Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Introduction to Psychology
Group Dynamics
Personality
Psychology of Women
Psychology of Gender
Psychology of the Internet
Research Methods
Social Psychology
The Social Psychology of Sport
The Social Psychology of Sport Fans and Spectators
Statistics

Graduate

Intergroup Processes
Natural Groups
Social Identity Theory
Social Psychology: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives
The Social Psychology of Sport
The Social Psychology of Sport Fans and Spectators

My basic teaching philosophy is that students learn better and enjoy learning more when they think and do rather than listen passively. I believe that my role as the instructor is to guide students and assist them in the discovery of new information, new ways of thinking, and new ways of “doing”. Although I have extensive knowledge and experience with the material I am teaching, I prefer not to merely impart that knowledge and experience to students. If students can discover that knowledge on their own, then they can claim greater ownership of it than if they acquired it through more passive means. Toward that end, I structure my courses so that students participate in a variety of active- and collaborative-learning activities. These activities are designed with the goal that students will teach themselves and each other how to learn. An example of how I incorporate active- and collaborative learning activities in my courses can be found at this site.

Literature that has influenced my teaching philosophy includes:

Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (1998). Active learning: Cooperation in the college classroom. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company.

McKeachie, W. J. (1999). Teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Millis, B. J. & Cottell, P. G. (1998). Cooperative learning for higher education faculty. Phoenix, AZ: American Council on Education, Oryx Press.

Ware, M. E. & Johnson, D. E. (1996). Handbook of demonstrations and activities in the teaching of psychology, Volumes 1-4. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

I have spent many years thinking seriously about and reading a lot about online distance learning. My interest in online distance education was motivated by an observation I made of student behavior in my Introduction to Psychology class. Although the class was scheduled to meet for 3.5 hours one night per week, I observed that many of my students simply could not devote that many consecutive hours to sitting in class (due to family, work, and other obligations). I turned to online distance education in the hopes that it would provide students with a way to take a class without having to drive to campus and sit in a classroom for 3.5 hours.

Before developing the web sites for the course, I spent a lot of time reading about online distance learning. I took a course, "Internet Based Teaching" through e-Socrates to help me better understand the experience of being an online student. I attended several conferences to hear about other faculty members' experiences as online distance learning instructors.

I built the website for the course during the summer of 2000. I have taught the course numerous times and will continue to teach it in the future. My experience has been that students perform better in the online version of the course than in the face-to-face version of it. I received a grant (with colleagues Cathy Bishop-Clark and Amy Fisher) from Miami University to examine the effects of learning and personality styles on learning in an online and face-to-face class. Our results suggest that there are no differences in performance or satisfaction between students taking a course online or face-to-face. Further, neither learning nor personality styles seem to predict who will be successful in either type of course.

I currently have two course online, Introduction to Psychology and Social Psychology. I will continue to add more online courses, as they are in high demand.

I have read too many books and websites to list here, but here are a few good ones:

Brooks, D. W. (1997). Web-teaching: A guide to designing interactive teaching for the World Wide Web. New York, NY: Plenum Press.

The Institute for Higher Education Policy. (1999). What’s the difference? A review of contemporary research on the effectiveness of distance learning in higher education.

Palloff, R. M. & Pratt, K. (1999). Building learning communities in cyberspace: Effective strategies for the online classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Russell, T. L. (1999). The no significant difference phenomenon. Chapel Hill, NC: Office of Instructional Telecommunications, North Carolina State University.

Middletown, Ohio 45042

	Teaching Interests Courses Taught
	Undergraduate Cognitive Psychology Developmental Psychology Introduction to Psychology Group Dynamics Personality Psychology of Women Psychology of Gender Psychology of the Internet Research Methods Social Psychology The Social Psychology of Sport The Social Psychology of Sport Fans and Spectators Statistics Graduate Intergroup Processes Natural Groups Social Identity Theory Social Psychology: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives The Social Psychology of Sport The Social Psychology of Sport Fans and Spectators
	Teaching Philosophy
	My basic teaching philosophy is that students learn better and enjoy learning more when they think and do rather than listen passively. I believe that my role as the instructor is to guide students and assist them in the discovery of new information, new ways of thinking, and new ways of “doing”. Although I have extensive knowledge and experience with the material I am teaching, I prefer not to merely impart that knowledge and experience to students. If students can discover that knowledge on their own, then they can claim greater ownership of it than if they acquired it through more passive means. Toward that end, I structure my courses so that students participate in a variety of active- and collaborative-learning activities. These activities are designed with the goal that students will teach themselves and each other how to learn. An example of how I incorporate active- and collaborative learning activities in my courses can be found at this site. Literature that has influenced my teaching philosophy includes: Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (1998). Active learning: Cooperation in the college classroom. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company. McKeachie, W. J. (1999). Teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. Millis, B. J. & Cottell, P. G. (1998). Cooperative learning for higher education faculty. Phoenix, AZ: American Council on Education, Oryx Press. Ware, M. E. & Johnson, D. E. (1996). Handbook of demonstrations and activities in the teaching of psychology, Volumes 1-4. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
	Online Distance Learning
	I have spent many years thinking seriously about and reading a lot about online distance learning. My interest in online distance education was motivated by an observation I made of student behavior in my Introduction to Psychology class. Although the class was scheduled to meet for 3.5 hours one night per week, I observed that many of my students simply could not devote that many consecutive hours to sitting in class (due to family, work, and other obligations). I turned to online distance education in the hopes that it would provide students with a way to take a class without having to drive to campus and sit in a classroom for 3.5 hours. Before developing the web sites for the course, I spent a lot of time reading about online distance learning. I took a course, "Internet Based Teaching" through e-Socrates to help me better understand the experience of being an online student. I attended several conferences to hear about other faculty members' experiences as online distance learning instructors. I built the website for the course during the summer of 2000. I have taught the course numerous times and will continue to teach it in the future. My experience has been that students perform better in the online version of the course than in the face-to-face version of it. I received a grant (with colleagues Cathy Bishop-Clark and Amy Fisher) from Miami University to examine the effects of learning and personality styles on learning in an online and face-to-face class. Our results suggest that there are no differences in performance or satisfaction between students taking a course online or face-to-face. Further, neither learning nor personality styles seem to predict who will be successful in either type of course. I currently have two course online, Introduction to Psychology and Social Psychology. I will continue to add more online courses, as they are in high demand. I have read too many books and websites to list here, but here are a few good ones: Brooks, D. W. (1997). Web-teaching: A guide to designing interactive teaching for the World Wide Web. New York, NY: Plenum Press. The Institute for Higher Education Policy. (1999). What’s the difference? A review of contemporary research on the effectiveness of distance learning in higher education. Palloff, R. M. & Pratt, K. (1999). Building learning communities in cyberspace: Effective strategies for the online classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Russell, T. L. (1999). The no significant difference phenomenon. Chapel Hill, NC: Office of Instructional Telecommunications, North Carolina State University.