Assignments

The course didactics consist primarily of a discussion format. Therefore, for each class (except the class for which you serve as a Discussion Leader), you will be expected to generate at least two discussion questions related to the specific topics and readings for the week. The tentative course schedule lists the assigned readings and topics for each week. Each question should be 1-2 sentences and should be appropriately placed into context and cite the reading/s associated with the question/s. These questions are to be posted on the D2L Discussion board no later than 11:59pm on Monday of the week that class meets.

Your questions should display thoughtful reflection on the readings, including:

1. How they relate to your own observations/experiences of teaching,

2. Evidence of critical thinking, and/or

3. Development of interesting ideas or questions that go beyond the immediate content in the reading

Note: You should not post questions that are clearly answered in the assigned readings.

You will receive a grade between 0-10 for each class based on the criteria below:

0 – Failure to turn in questions by date/time due.

5 – Only one completed question or a lack of thoughtful reflection in both questions.

100 – Completed questions show thoughtful reflection contributing to class discussion.

Each of you will team with another peer to plan and lead at 3 class discussions during the semester. Student discussants should experiment with at least one active learning strategy.

The student discussants should meet ahead of time to collate and organize questions as well as plan the discussion and the use of class time. You may also contact Dr. Blackhart to schedule a meeting to assist with planning. Constructive feedback from the instructor and peers will be provided at the conclusion of the class discussion.

You will each receive a grade of 0-100 based on the following criteria:

1. Advanced understanding of topic covered (25 points)

2. Evidence of preparation and organization (25 points)

3. Inclusion of thoughtful questions by peers (25 points)

4. Ability to effectively facilitate discussion and intervene when necessary (25 points)

Discussion Leader Schedule:

W1: Chloe, Eric

W2: Jordan, Tiffany

W3: Jessica, Kynah

W4: JT, Mary Jo

W5: Chloe, Jessica

W7: Mary Jo, Kynah

W8: Tiffany, Eric

W9: JT, Jordan

W10: Jessica, Kynah

W11: JT, Chloe

W12: Tiffany, Mary Jo

W13: Jordan, Eric

You will be required to give two 15 minute practice lectures (to take place on September 28th and on November 30th) to our class as if it were an undergraduate class. Further, you should experiment with at least one active learning strategy in each lecture. You may base your online teaching unit on any topic that is relevant to an undergraduate psychology course (e.g., Introduction to Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Social Psychology). This exercise is designed to help you become more comfortable in front of students and to gain feedback so that you can improve. Many people have some degree of social anxiety with regard to leading a class or lecturing and this fear can be a major stumbling block. One goal of this course is to make you feel more at ease when lecturing. Nearly everyone is anxious when they begin teaching – it is completely normal. Practice lectures will also help you in preparing full lectures in the future. The grades you received for the practice lectures will be determined by the feedback you receive from your peers as well as feedback received from Dr. Blackhart.

Requirement 1: Self-Critique. You will video record your practice lectures. Don’t panic; you will be the only one to view your recorded lecture, which you will use as the basis for your own self-critique of each practice lecture. You should write about your experience in a 2-page APA style paper (approximately 1⁄2 paragraph for criteria 1-4 below). The self- critique of your first practice lecture is due October 5th; the self-critique of your second practice lecture is due December 7th.

Your self-critique will be graded from 0-100 and based on the following criteria:

1. Brief description of personal experience (e.g., feelings, thoughts, behaviors) (20 points)

2. Ability to identify strengths (20 points)

3. Ability to identify areas in need of improvement (20 points)

4. Ability to integrate previous course material and discussion (20 points)

5. Clarity of writing of your self-critique (20 points)

Requirement 2: Peer Feedback. We will use a Teaching Observation Form that will provide a framework for our evaluations and feedback. For each student lecture, each of you will complete this form for your peers. You should keep each form and turn in all forms after the last practice lecture for that day (you may want to make adjustments in your initial ratings after you have observed all lectures). The feedback that you provide to your peers should be objective. That is, you are to give feedback and helpful suggestions based on objective criteria and not on extraneous factors (e.g., friendship bias). These are due at the end of the day in which practice lectures take place (October 5th & December 7th).

You will receive a grade between 0-10 for each Teaching Observation Form you complete based on the criteria below:

0 – Failure to provide feedback to peer.

5 – Provided minimal feedback or little constructive feedback.

10 – Provided thoughtful and constructive feedback on most sections of the Teaching Observation Form (Note: You must provide constructive feedback in addition to a ranking to receive a perfect score).

This should be a short (i.e., it would take a student about 10-30 minutes to complete) online lesson in which students actively engage with the material in some form. This online unit may include various components, such as a pre-recorded mini-lecture, a video clip, a reading, an interactive online activity, or quiz questions over the unit, and will include a mix of different activities. As with the other teaching practice requirements, you may base your online teaching unit on any topic that is relevant to an undergraduate psychology course (e.g., Introduction to Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Social Psychology). The online teaching unit will be created on the D2L site for my section of PSYC7000. I will add each of you as instructors to that shell so that you will be able to create your online teaching unit in D2L (and this will also give you the ability to copy it to another course shell in D2L if you want to use it for a course that you teach in the future). The online teaching unit should include the following:

• Learning objectives for the unit and a clear explanation of what students are to do;

• At least two components, such as a mini-lecture, a video clip, a reading, an interactive online activity, quiz questions over the unit, etc.; and

• Instructional content / materials and learning activities are tied together in a cohesive way and contribute to the achievement of the stated learning objectives for the unit.

The online teaching units are due by 11:59pm on Wednesday, November 9^th. The grade you earn will be based on the instructor’s ratings and on your peers’ ratings of your online teaching unit on the evaluation form. In addition, each of you must also evaluate your peers’ online teaching units.

Peer Feedback. We will use an evaluation form that will provide a framework for our evaluations and feedback. You will complete this form for each your peer’s online teaching units. The feedback you provide to your peers should be objective. That is, you are to give feedback and helpful suggestions based on objective criteria and not on extraneous factors (e.g., friendship bias). The online teaching unit evaluation forms you complete for each of your peers must be submitted to the D2L drop box no later than 11:59pm on Wednesday, November 16^th.

You will receive a grade between 0-10 for each Online Teaching Unit Evaluation Form you complete based on the criteria below:

0 – Failure to provide feedback to peer.

50 – Provided minimal feedback or little constructive feedback.

100 – Provided thoughtful and constructive feedback on most sections of the Teaching Observation Form (Note: You must provide constructive feedback in addition to a ranking to receive a perfect score).

Each student will develop and turn in two course syllabi. Each syllabus should include all major areas discussed in class as well as projected chapters/readings to be covered and dates for exams (refer to the ETSU academic calendar to coordinate your course schedules for each syllabus). However, you are not required to go into detail about specific topics that will be covered each class. You may find it helpful to request syllabi examples from past undergraduate faculty and/or ETSU faculty. There are also examples on the APA Division 2 web site and other online resources.

Both syllabi are due by 11:59pm on Sunday, November 20^th.

Syllabus #1: The first syllabus you create will be for PSYC1310, Introduction to Psychology. A template will be provided to assist you in creating the syllabus for this course. You should prepare the syllabus as though it will be taught the first semester you will teach PSYC1310, if you know when that will be.

Syllabus #2: The second syllabus you create will be for any undergraduate course of your choosing; exceptions include laboratory courses, courses that you have already taught, and PSYC1310. You will develop the course syllabus with the assumption it would be taught at ETSU in the spring semester of 2023. Once you have chosen a course you should choose a textbook or course readings.

You will receive a grade of 0-100 based on the following criteria:

1. Comprehensive coverage of core areas as discussed in readings and in class (30 points)

2. Evidence of thoughtful and individual contributions (Note: Creativity and integration of teaching strategies/content covered in the course encouraged) (30 points)

3. Organization and readability for undergraduate audience (30 points)

4. Accessibility of syllabus (10 points)

Note: The instructor will provide constructive feedback on a rough draft of syllabus #2 if it is received at least two weeks prior to the due date. Peer review/feedback is also encouraged.

Your teaching statement should describe your general approach to or philosophy of teaching (e.g., values/goals, what you believe are important characteristics of instructors, pedagogy or preferred methods of teaching, assessment, professional development) and include opening and summary paragraphs. Because some of you have not taught before, you will be writing about what you believe your approach will be in the future based on what you have learned in this course and from your personal experiences.

Teaching philosophies help you think critically about what you value as an instructor. Although you may discuss your ideas with one another, your teaching statement is very personal and individualized. As a result, I should not see teaching philosophies that are too similar to one another. Your teaching statement should be approximately 1-2 pages in length, single-spaced.

The teaching statement is due by 11:59pm on Sunday, December 4^th.

You will receive a grade of 0-100 based on the following criteria:

1. Comprehensive coverage of core areas as outlined above and as discussed in readings and in class (40 points)

2. Ability to personalize information specific to the task (30 points)

3. Overall organization and clarity of writing (30 points)

Note: The instructor will provide constructive feedback on a rough draft of your teaching philosophy if it is received at least two weeks prior to the due date as outlined in the course schedule below. Peer review/feedback is also encouraged.

Critique of Teaching Philosohpy: In addition to writing and turning in your own teaching statement, you will be required to critique one of Dr. Blackhart’s old teaching philosophy statements. The goal of this assignment is to help you find what is wrong with that teaching statement in order to help you write a better teaching statement for yourself. Your critique is due by 11:59pm on Friday, November 11th.