As a psychology graduate student at University of Illinois at Chicago, Jason Braasch felt somewhat daunted when he introduced himself to the first class he taught in 2008. The course was a three-hour statistics class and his audience was a savvy group — 15 K-12 teachers who had returned to school to earn their master's degrees. Minutes before he stood up to teach the class, a student several years his senior who assumed Braasch was a student asked him what he thought the professor would be like.
"It was a humbling experience," says Braasch.
Eager to prove himself, he read every detail from his PowerPoint slides as he tried to cram in the intricacies of scales of measurement, correlation, regression and t-tests. After several sessions, he surveyed his students to get feedback on his teaching and found that some were struggling. In response, he slowed down during lectures and included more examples to help students relate the course to their daily lives. (The mid-course survey was so valuable that he still uses it.)
Like many graduate students, Braasch was thrust into teaching with little classroom experience on that side of the desk. Since then, Braasch — who earned his PhD in 2009 and is now an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Memphis — has discovered that being more flexible in class and adapting lessons to the class's energy and interests has made him a better teacher.
Other strategies for success for new teachers include:
Make it active
Create activities that help students learn the concepts. Sadie Leder-Elder, PhD, for example, creates active learning opportunities in class to help students connect a topic to their own lives. Leder-Elder, an assistant psychology professor at High Point University in North Carolina, often uses Poll Everywhere, an online tool used to take an anonymous poll during class. During her "Close Relationships" course, she polled her students to find out if they had ever been in love and displayed the results in real time in front of the class from her computer. This activity prompted a discussion about how psychological research was relevant to personal experiences with love — without asking students to divulge private information in front of peers. To gauge whether the material she is covering is clear, she will also sometimes send a poll to ask "How much do you understand this concept?" or "How much does this apply to your life?"
In her introductory psychology class, University of West Florida psychology professor Jane Halonen, PhD, asks students to think of three wishes — things that would make their lives better if they came true. She heard answers such as "unlimited money" and "new shoes." The personal question set the stage for discussing some of the counterintuitive findings about what makes people truly happy. "It is a three-hour class in the afternoon, and I have to think of ways to keep them continuously involved or they may lose focus, especially at that time of day," Halonen says.
Kris Leppien-Christensen, PhD, a psychology professor at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California, encourages student participation by facilitating group games such as Jeopardy or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Students' responses to the questions — which are gleaned from class material — give him a pulse on whether they understand what they are learning. He is also well-known at the college for handing out full-size candy bars occasionally when students answer or ask questions in class. "They could buy candy bars themselves, but for some reason the recognition in front of class is important," he says.
Dress for success
For many novice graduate student teachers, their proximity in age to their students can be a source of anxiety, says Leder-Elder. She taught her first course as a master's degree student in 2002, and was only one or two years older than everyone in the class, a psychological statistics course at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
"I was nervous about commanding respect from the students," she says.
So, she decided to dress for the role, arriving in a suit. The strategy gave her confidence and promoted a constructive, cooperative learning environment throughout the semester, Leder-Elder says.
Clothing may seem like a superficial strategy to build credibility, but a study published in Teaching of Psychologyopens in new window in October suggests that students' opinions of their teachers can be influenced by physical appearances. In the study, participants rated female students giving presentations who wore one of four outfits: casual, party, business casual or business formal. The results showed strong evidence that those in more formal attire received higher overall presentation ratings.
Build a strong syllabus
Another strategy for building credibility is having a detailed syllabus that spells out class policies and leaves little room for misinterpretation of expectations, suggests Stephen Chew, PhD, a veteran psychology professor at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.
"Some students will test limits and try to take advantage of junior faculty because they are close in age to the students," explains Chew, who has been teaching for 30 years. "A detailed syllabus saves you a lot of headaches later."
When Chew started teaching his first courses, his syllabi were usually only one page. But as he encountered difficult situations through the years, he made changes to address these issues for future students. Now his syllabi are usually more than four pages. For example, he learned to clearly outline his make-up exam policy, which states that "make-up exams are given at the discretion of the teacher, who hates giving make-up exams."
When Chew hires graduate students to teach for him, he encourages them to use his syllabus as a template rather than trying to create a brand new one. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, he says, and graduate students can always alter an existing syllabus. They can also find sample syllabi through APA's Div. 2 (Society for the Teaching of Psychology). The society's website features links to syllabi in more than 30 categories — such as introductory psychology, ethics and history — that have been vetted by faculty volunteers. Graduate students who join Div. 2 are members of its Graduate Student Teaching Association, which gives students the opportunity to pose questions to other members in online discussions. Members also receive a subscription to Teaching of Psychology and an online newsletter that announces relevant events and issues.
Learn from the best
It is also critical for graduate student teachers to seek out mentors who are willing to share their own secrets to leading a successful class, says Regan A.R. Gurung, PhD, a psychology professor at University of Wisconsin, Green Bay.
"Find a teaching champion," he explains. "Seek out someone in your school who is passionate about teaching, and usually those faculty are more than willing to answer your questions and share about their experiences."
Create a community
Cultivating a personal connection with students has a power of its own, says Halonen, who has been teaching for more than three decades.
"The sooner you can learn the names of students, the better," she says. Halonen downloads their pictures from the school directory to learn names and also pays close attention to the personal details that come through their writing. "It creates an engaging atmosphere because they see that you know them."
Braasch creates community in class by asking students to share their names and answers to personal questions, such as why they chose psychology as a major, favorite extracurricular activities and goals for the future.
"It gives you a sense of who your students are, which allows you to better tailor your course to them," he says. "It helps me create examples that are more relevant, and when they see that I am interested in them as people, it tends to make the discussions much better. They are more engaged and reflective, and even willing to speak up when they do not understand."