I get particular pleasure from introducing psychological science and ways of thinking to
freshman students. Consequently I often teach sections of Introductory Psychology and
Psychology of Critical Thinking. I also enjoy working with psychology majors as they
are preparing to exit our program. For these students, I teach our Senior Seminar—a
discussion course that reviews the history of psychology and the major forces that have
led to our current mix of psychological specialties.
The first efforts to apply psychological research to “real life” occurred in the
workplace (nearly 100 years ago). I teach several courses that cover this area of
applied psychology. Psych 404 provides a thorough survey of industrial-organizational
psychology. Psych 403 is an experiential course featuring a set of exercises that deal
with the “softer” side of industrial psychology—communication, motivation, teamwork,
and leadership styles. All organizations have customers and each of us takes on the
role of consumer whenever we make decisions about what to buy, who to vote for, and how
to spend our earnings. Psych 309 is designed to shed light on consumer behavior. It
covers the psychology of advertising and much more. These three courses (which I teach
as often as possible) make up our offerings in industrial psychology. A fourth course,
Psych 405, originally covered human factors, or person-machine relationships. In
keeping with my shifting interests, this course has morphed into a broader coverage of
current research in ecological and environmental psychology.
Depending on which course I am teaching, I reveal a different teaching style and
philosophy. My introductory psychology course is a traditional lecture course.
When teaching the social-organizational skills course (Psych 403), my role is that of
classroom manager and timekeeper. Drop in on my senior seminar (Psych 485) and you will
find me acting as a discussion facilitator. Hence, I do not have a specific teaching
philosophy as far as teacher behavior is concerned. However, regardless of the course,
I tend to stay focused on learning goals, maintain a bit of flexibility, and always
stay mindful that a sense of humor and perspective is needed. I keep in mind that all
is transitory.
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I have conducted research on all kinds of questions—influence of lunar phase on “lunacy,”
questions children ask about sex, effects of furniture arrangement on conversation, etc.
While my research background covers a lot of ground, my current interests are limited to
two areas. First, I have an enduring interest in the problems and challenges of
evaluation research. This refers to research in which one evaluates the effectiveness
of a specific social action program of some kind—e.g., a Head Start education program
for children of migrant farm workers or a university mentor program linking students
with specific faculty members. Program evaluation may sound straightforward and
relatively simple at first glance—you simply measure the degree to which the program
is attaining its stated goals. In practice, this type of research is not so simple;
each evaluation project has its own challenges and pitfalls.
My second area of interest is in environment-behavior relationships. Much of my early
research dealt with environmental design and its impact on behavior. More recently, I
have developed interest in the role psychology can take in addressing the complex
environmental changes that have resulted from human impact. Our success as a species
appears to have set in motion global environmental changes that we are only beginning
to comprehend. It is my hope that a better understanding of environmental attitudes
and human motives will lead to more-effective programs promoting environmentally-
responsible behavior. I currently place a high priority on research projects in this
area.
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