Submitted by: William Ridgway (Chair) and Madeline Bruce (Associate Chair)

During these first few months of this new year, the GSTA Corner will be featuring brief interviews with all six members of our committee. This month, we are featuring this year’s Chair and Associate Chair. 

Type of doctoral program, year, & expected graduation:

William: I am a fourth-year doctoral student in the Psychological and Brain Sciences PhD program at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and on track to graduate in Summer 2023.

Mads: I am a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Clinical Psychology PhD program at Saint Louis University on track to graduate in the Summer of 2023. 

Classes you have taught and/or been a GTA for (undergraduate or graduate):

William: I have been the instructor of record for Introduction to Psychology. Since Fall 2022, I have been the instructor of record for Forensic Psychology.

Mads: I have been the instructor of record for Abnormal Psychology and a GTA for General, Clinical and Abnormal, Pediatric, and Trauma Psychology. 

Experiences you have been able to participate in because of being a part of GSTA:

William: Since joining the GSTA, I have been able to actively provide graduate students with essential resources and best practices for teaching. Additionally, I have had the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from extraordinary individuals.

Submitted by: William Ridgway, Chair, GSTA

Happy 2022!

We are excited to announce four new committee members will join the Graduate Student Teaching Association (GSTA) for 2022! Additionally, two of our previous members will be moving into their new roles as Chair and Associate Chair! We are grateful to our outgoing members and look forward to working with our new team. The GSTA will be meeting later in January to discuss the budget, ways to increase engagement with graduate students, and how to maintain the visibility of Division 2 and the GSTA. We look forward to another engaging year! Over the next few months, we will feature each of the GSTA members in more depth by asking them to share about their teaching and research experiences. Be on the lookout for these interviews to come!

Chair: William Ridgway

William Ridgway is a doctoral student in Psychological and Brain Sciences at University of Nevada, Las Vegas with master’s degrees in Experimental and Forensic Psychology. His academic research focuses on the application of psychological theories to criminal justice issues. William has been the instructor of record for Introduction to Psychology and Forensic Psychology.

Associate Chair: Madeline Bruce

Madeline (Mads) J. Bruce is a PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology at Saint Louis University. Her research currently focuses on posttraumatic adjustment, identity, and growth. Interested in evidence-based practice in her clinical work, research, and teaching, her work on trigger warnings was some of the first to subject this controversial topic to empirical scrutiny. In her free time, she enjoys ultra swimming, running, and eating.

Steering Committee Members

Jackson Pelzner

Jackson Pelzner is a doctoral student at University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a master’s degree in Applied Psychological Science. His research touches on topics in mental model construction, visual language learning, deep fakes and deception, and melody recognition. He currently teaches remote learning sections of Introductory Psychology.

Morgan Franklin

Morgan Franklin, M.A. is a 4th-year clinical psychology doctoral student at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale. Her research interests include treatment outcomes, technology-enhanced interventions, and examining processes of change proposed in the ACT framework. Morgan has 4 years of experience teaching several courses in multiple instructional modalities.

Madeleine Pownall

Madeleine Pownall is a Lecturer in Psychology and PhD researcher at the University of Leeds, UK. She was the 2021 recipient of the STP Wilbert J, McKeachie Teaching Excellence award. Madeleine is passionate about supporting early career educators, embedding open science into undergraduate training, and equality and inclusion in teaching.

Christopher Kleva

Christopher Kleva is a clinical psychology doctoral student at Virginia Commonwealth University with a concentration on Behavioral Medicine. Broadly, his research interests involve the classification of psychopathology and clinician cognition. Chris has assisted in teaching Introduction to Psychology and has led multiple lab sections of Research Methods.

Submitted by: Kelly Cuccolo, Laura Simon, William Ridgway, and Maaly Younis

In this month’s corner our focus is on the importance of maintaining consistency in our role as instructors throughout the semester. Similar to students approaching the end of the semester, we as instructors can also decline in motivation or performance. The purpose of the corner is to identify the importance of maintaining student rapport and the ways in which we seek to do so consistently throughout the semester. Specifically, how we allow for an immersive and enthusiastic classroom environment throughout the semester

Kelly: As we progress to the end of the academic term, students and instructors alike are feeling burned out and in need of a break. Given that rapport plays an important role in positive student outcomes, such as perceptions of learning (e.g., Demir et al., 2019) it is important for instructors to maintain those interpersonal relationships. Gratitude may be one simple way to promote student engagement and strengthen interpersonal relationships (Algoe et al., 2008; Flinchbaugh et al., 2012). In my classes, I work our mental health chapters into the end of the course given that this is a high-stress time for many students (and instructors). I express gratitude to my students for their hard work thus far in the course and acknowledge feelings of stress and burn out. This not only helps me remember all the effort and quality work I’ve gotten during the semester but also helps students’ feel acknowledged and visible. I also have students write letters to people who have been helpful in their personal/academic journeys, but whom they haven’t formally thanked. Many students get emotional during this exercise but feel re-energized and focused afterwards.

Laura: As primarily an Introduction to Psychology teacher, it is easier for me to be consistent as the semester gets tiring because the content, I enjoy teaching tends to coincide with the end of the semester. So, as it becomes harder to maintain energy and classroom dynamics, I get energy from the subjects I teach. Like with all jobs, some days are harder than others to be a positive and energetic force in the classroom, but I try to give myself grace on those days. I have also found that being transparent with students has been beneficial because they feel the fatigue throughout the semester and they may not realize that other people feel it too, making them feel understood or possibly less alone. Being transparent about semester fatigue is also a good opportunity to discuss coping skills and other healthy habits that I try to incorporate throughout my content as well, such as good sleep hygiene during Consciousness, study habits during Memory, etc.

William: Throughout the academic term, students’ engagement and motivation to learn can become compromised. To maintain engagement, motivation, and excitement, instructors – who can also decline in motivation or performance – can employ various strategies to combat potential disinterest and reluctance, especially as the term ends and impaired mood, fatigue, and sleep become more likely. First, instructors should always be a role model for student interest and get to know their students. This foundation allows for transparent conversations to take place that can address challenges students face collectively. Second, instructors should attempt to create assignments (e.g., term papers) that are both varied and novel (Patrick et al., 2000), and that provide a sense of control and choice over their learning (Patall et al., 2010). For example, consider a class like Forensic Psychology in which a term paper can focus on one of a multitude of well-known psychology and law cases, each focusing on a different area (e.g., eyewitness misidentification, repressed memories, false confessions, insanity defense, competency to stand trial). Such assignments allow for students to apply their interests, allowing for an enthusiastic approach. Last, instructors can combat potential disinterest and reluctance by engaging students in group discussions and assignments in which they are able to get to know one another and as a result, support one another. The collective pursuit of accomplishment can lessen feelings of overload. Overall, it is important for instructors to remain cognizant of the fact that student performance can become compromised – especially toward the end of the academic term – and implement strategies to assist with combating that moment.

Maaly: The end of semester burnout is real, and it hits both of us, teachers and students. As graduate teaching assistants, we experience it both ways as teachers and students as well given our unique positions. I tend to think of the ways that I would like to be supported as a student. As such, I encourage my students to take mental health days. I also talk to them about how managing stress is a big factor to end the semester peacefully and successfully. I tend to incorporate graded activities such as self-care, acts of kindness to help the students engage with themselves and others as well to stay motivated to learn and complete their final products. I also tend to incorporate fun extra credit activities to increase their motivation to complete school assignments. Students repeatedly reported on their evolution that these activities make them feel they are cared for as both humans and learners. I found that the key during this time of the semester is to demonstrate compassion and understanding along with providing the students with tools to combat the burnout.

References

Algoe, S. B., Haidt, J., & Gable, S. L. (2008). Beyond reciprocity: Gratitude and relationships in everyday life. Emotion, 8(3), 425–429. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.8.3.425

Demir, M., Burton, S., & Dunbar, N. (2019). Professor–student rapport and perceived autonomy support as predictors of course and student outcomes. Teaching of Psychology, 46(1), 22-33.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628318816132

Flinchbaugh, C. L., Moore, E. W. G., Chang, Y. K., & May, D. R. (2012). Student well-being interventions: The effects of stress management techniques and gratitude journaling in the management education classroom. Journal of Management Education, 36(2), 191-219. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562911430062

Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Wynn, S. R. (2010). The effectiveness and relative importance of choice in the classroom. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(4), 896-915.

https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019545

Patrick, B. C., Hisley, J., & Kempler, T. (2000). “What's everybody so excited about?”: The effects of teacher enthusiasm on student intrinsic motivation and vitality. The Journal of Experimental Education, 68(3), 217-236. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220970009600093

Schriver, J. L., & Harr Kulynych, R. (2021). Do professor–student rapport and mattering predict college student outcomes? Teaching of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/00986283211037987

Submitted by: Maaly Younis and Kelly Cuccolo

Mental health concerns can impede academic achievement, well-being, and quality of life. Mental health in higher education seems to be a topic of conversation, especially in the face of the disruptions and stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, educators may be seeking ways to protect, or enhance the well-being of students, and even feelings of connectedness.  Gratitude may be one way that educators can achieve these aims. Gratitude involves bringing mindful attention to the positive aspects in one’s life (Emmons & Stern, 2013) cited in Biber (2020). Biber (2020) further discusses the benefits of implementing gratitude practices as part of the classroom environment as it serves different purposes such as increasing prosocial behavior, increasing positive social interactions between the students and raises the students’ cognitive and emotional awareness. Gratitude exercises have also been found to reduce feelings of depression, anxiety and stress and improve connectedness and engagement with others and school in general. Furthermore, gratitude is associated with students’ satisfaction with school and trust in their teachers (Biber, 2020).

Teachers can implement gratitude exercises to help promote emotional regulation with their students, hone concentration, and emphasize social–emotional learning. Teachers can use the creation of a gratitude wall to instill gratitude in their students and promote emotional and social well-being. For example, expressions of gratitude from college professors have been positively associated with student engagement (e.g., attendance), connectedness, and well-being (e.g., happiness; Howell, 2014). Indeed, gratitude seems to be a relatively simple way to increase student engagement (Flinchbaugh et al., 2012). For instance, Flinchbaugh et al., (2012) had students complete a gratitude journal (listing up to five things students were thankful for in their lives) weekly before the start of the first class of the week. Zakrzewski (2013) provides a plethora of examples and activities for those looking to implement gratitude into their courses.

*Adapted from Difficult Dialogues (Vanderbilt University). Other useful resources are available at Carleton College and Learning for Justice

References

Biber, D. (2020). Social Emotional Learning for a College Classroom. College Teaching, 68(1), 49-52.

Flinchbaugh, C. L., Moore, E. W. G., Chang, Y. K., & May, D. R. (2012). Student well-being interventions: The effects of stress management techniques and gratitude journaling in the management education classroom. Journal of Management Education, 36(2), 191-219.

Howells, K. (2014). An exploration of the role of gratitude in enhancing teacher–student relationships. Teaching and Teacher Education, 42, 58-67.

Zakrzewski, V. (2013). Gratitude Activities for the Classroom. Greater Good Magazine. Retrieved from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/gratitude_activities_for_the_classroom

Submitted by William Ridgeway, Laura Simon, and Kelly Cuccolo

Teaching certain types of content, particularly content that might be personally meaningful to students, may spark unexpectedly difficult and personal questions and conversations. The conversations may be focused around race, gender, sexuality, or any element of a students’ personal identity. As such, it is important that before you even step into the classroom, you consider how these topics might resonate with your students and how these conversations will move you closer towards accomplishing your course learning goals.

If having challenging and brave conversations is an important part of how you will accomplish your goals for the course, consider trying to make this clear in the syllabus and setting the tone appropriately on the first day of class - this might look like community building through icebreakers where students get to know each other, and having students taken ownership of what they want discussions to look like.

It may also be beneficial to understand where students might be “coming from” with questions, insensitive comments, or becoming defensive/argumentative. For many, college is a new experience where their previously held beliefs are challenged or turned upside-down for the first time in their life, possibly creating cognitive dissonance. Other students simply may not understand that what they said or did was inappropriate. This is an opportunity for you as the instructor to help scaffold the way they reflect on what was said or done. Not everyone in your classes will be prepared or have the skills to navigate uncomfortable experiences, so it may be your job to help create a space where learning and growth is prioritized (because everyone is human and makes mistakes).

In the moment, when conversations become charged, you might remind students to take a breath and a moment to attempt to understand the other person’s perspective before responding. Another strategy is to have students take a moment to journal or do a quick write about their feelings before continuing with the discussion. For additional strategies, please visit the September GSTA Corner, http://teachpsych.org/GSTA-Corner/10980787

Despite the best possible preparation, you could ever do as an instructor, there will always be unexpected moments, questions, or events that were unavoidable or unanticipated. These events are not a poor reflection of your preparedness, but the very nature of teaching. In the moments where something unexpected happens, take a moment to collect yourself or formulate a response, utilize your training, and proceed with the knowledge you have gained throughout your education. It may be beneficial to reflect following the question or event on what went well or what could have been improved. At the very least, you will get an interesting story out of the experience and it will help you be more prepared in the future.

*All information adapted from: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/difficult-dialogues/

Some great resources: https://www.carleton.edu/doc/ai-seminars/climate/activities/ https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/teaching-while-white

Submitted by: Laura Simon, William Ridgway, Madeline Bruce, and Adam Green

Classroom Discussion and Attention Seekers

In The College Classroom: Conflict, Change, and Learning, Mann et al. (1970) discuss eight student classifications: compliant, anxious-dependent, discouraged worker, independent, hero, silent student, sniper, and attention seeker. Various needs underlie each classification, resulting in different approaches when it comes to classroom management. For example, consider the attention seeker — an individual who will continually try to be noticed, suggesting a cooperative orientation. When it comes to classroom discussion, attention seekers are appreciated for their ability to help keep the discussion going; however, the role of attention seekers can stand in the way of other students’ chances to participate in the discussion. In approaching such a dilemma, Svinicki and McKeachie (2014) recommend conveying to the class the importance associated with each student’s unique perspective. Instructors can also ensure that each student has had the chance to speak when calling on different individuals raising their hand to participate. In cases where the instructor is still experiencing an issue, a conversation can occur outside the classroom. While these conversations can be approached using different methods, certain comments can be beneficial in allowing for the instructor and attention seeker to be viewed as collaborators, such as “The other students are starting to depend on you to do all the work, so let’s make them speak up more” (Svinicki & McKeachie, 2014, p. 178).

Prevention is Key!

●     Ground rules: syllabus and first day. Firm but fair. Transparency and clear expectations

●     Awareness of your environment: classroom sizes influencing how an instructor responds (structure of the course - sizes of classes and discussion; knowing exits for emergency)

●     Creating a space

●     Be aware of department and university policies

●     Have a mentor: try to learn from their experiences, address the groundwork that is being laid before a problem arises.

●     Heterodox Academy provides a sample syllabus statement to establish ground rules for difficult conversations

●     To create a classroom environment that supports respectful, critical inquiry through the free exchange of ideas, the following principles will guide interactions among all of us in this class:

●     Treat every member of the class with respect, even if you disagree with their opinion

●     Reasonable minds can differ on any number of perspectives, opinions, and conclusions

●     Know that constructive disagreement sharpens thinking and deepens understanding

●     You will not be graded on whether your instructor or peers agree with your opinions

●     You will be graded on the evidence and reasoning that leads to those opinions

●     These principles guide the following expectations:

●     Sharing diverse perspectives, informed by critical thought and presented with compassion for others, is highly encouraged.

●     Respecting those who are sharing information and ideas. This includes actively listening to what others are saying and supporting each other by contributing to discussions.”

In the Moment

At some point in the semester, there will be a situation that you were not able to prevent or anticipate. Having situations is normal, how you react to it is what is important.

●     Use your resources

●     Do not hesitate to call your university’s classroom assistance, maintenance, IT, etc. as soon as possible.

●     While being true to yourself and your communication style, you can appropriately use humor or exert an authoritative presence.

●     Moderate the discussion

●     Remind students of ground rules.

●     Remain calm and model appropriate behavior.

●     Allowing all students the opportunity to have a voice.

●     Validate students’ emotions.

●     Reframe or de-escalate to the best of your abilities.

●     Being the authority in the room may be a new role for you but take comfort in knowing you can step up to the challenge.

●     You are probably going to get uncomfortable questions at some point (whether it is about the content or classroom expectations, etc.). It is okay to say you do not know, research the question, and come back with information. This models a humility and tenacity that will help our students.

●     If necessary, address the issue, whether that is directly or indirectly. "We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented" -Elie Wiesel.

After the Fact

●     Address the problem with your supervisor as soon as possible.

●     Be sure to make incident documentation if appropriate. Depending on the situation, it can be very important to create a paper trail with a detailed report of what happened.

●     Re-state ground rules and review expectations the next day.

●     Take care of yourself! Classroom management can be stressful, be sure to use your support systems and coping skills.

References

Mann, R. D., Arnold, S. M., Binder, J. L., Cytrynbaum, S., Newman, B. M., Ringwald, B. E., Ringwald, J. W., & Rosenwein, R. (1970). The college classroom: Conflict, change, and learning. Wiley.

Svinicki, M., & McKeachie, W. (2014). McKeachie's teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers. Cengage.

GSTA News

Congratulations to GSTA Steering Committee member Madeline Bruce for proposing her dissertation with distinction this summer.

Submitted by: Adam Green & Maaly Younis

Teaching a course is a great responsibility. You have the privilege of introducing your students to a part of psychology for the first time. They depend on you as a source of accurate, complete, and clearly presented knowledge. Designing a course is no small task and can even seem overwhelming at times. We recommend starting with broad goals, which you can use to build your course around. The way you design your course and its syllabus should help you accomplish your goals. For example, the way you assign points to tests versus activities reflects on the goals you prioritize (i.e.assessment of knowledge gained versus student engagement).

What should you include in a course?

●     Take the viewpoint of a student: what type of activities are useful and stimulating to you? Which simply seems to be busy work? (e.g., applying social psychological concepts to commercials versus comprehension quizzes on book chapters.)

●     From a teacher’s perspective, can you use these stimulating activities to evaluate their learning? If yes, fit as many into your course as possible! If no, still include them, just also include enough other ways to measure their learning.

●     The goal of education is to induce learning. Learning is best accomplished through engagement with relevant material, preferably presented in an interesting way.

●     Completeness versus thoroughness: we have a limited number of weeks (usually about 10 or 15) to teach an entire field within psychology. We can neither teach every topic within our field, nor can we be perfectly exhaustive when discussing any given concept. What we can do instead is to provide sufficient information and motivation for students to begin their own exploration of the field, both during and after your course.

●     To aid you, select a textbook (should you use one) which presents a full breadth of information in ways which engage students by providing applicable examples of concepts in the real world. Keep the cost of the book in mind as well!

What does a good syllabus contain?

●     Within your syllabus, clearly state your expectations for the course. Your syllabus is your vision for the class, and should be treated as your promise to the students (barring unexpected occurrences, which seem to be so common these days!).

●     Your syllabus is a resource for your students. A large majority of questions which may come up during the course of a class should be clearly answered in the syllabus, which you can kindly direct your students to when they inevitably ask them, anyway.

●     Include information on your contact information, the textbook, office location/hours, grading policy, student learning outcomes, behavioral expectations (including academic honesty), a timeline of the course, along with mandated important material such as disability policy.

Beyond the Syllabus:

●     You, as the instructor, are the leader of a class. This means you have a great deal of power in determining the tone of the class. Be positive, supportive, and engaging. Your students are likely to follow suit!

●     As is intuitive for anyone who has been a student (i.e., all of us!), the enthusiasm the instructor shows for the subject matter is key in engaging students.

●     If you can add to this by encouraging students to get involved with the material through experiencing engaging activities in class, participating in research through a research lab, or just exploring on their own for curiosity’s sake, you have succeeded as an educator by enabling both present and future intellectual development.

by: Maaly Younis, William Ridgway, Adam Green, Kelly Cuccolo & Madeline Bruce

At the end of every semester, there is always this moment when we, graduate teaching assistants, become concerned about how to interpret and deal with teaching evaluations. It is a daunting task, especially if it is your first-time teaching. A very important thing to remember is that research that has been done in this area shows that teaching evaluations have little to do with your efficacy as a teacher (Darling-Hammond, 2012). In this month we are sharing with our fellow graduate teaching assistants our ways of handling these evaluations and what they mean to us in terms of developing our experiences as instructors.

Maaly: Although I believe that teaching evaluations are not a 100% reliable source of data to evaluate my teaching efficacy, there is still value to the students’ opinions of how they perceive my teaching practices. So, I find it helpful to keep a reflective journal where I document and reflect on my teaching practices in terms of what works and what does not. Comparing my reflections to the students’ opinions is a good way to improve my future teaching planning and also keeping the practices that have good results and are perceived positively by the students. Another technique I use is peer evaluation. During the semester, I ask a few of my colleagues or mentors to observe my class and provide feedback. These notes are also helpful if any of them are consistent with the students’ feedback. In general, it is important not to let the negative comments put you down and remember that there is always room for growth and expansion as instructors in training.

Kelly: It can be easy to focus or dwell on that one negative evaluation, or those few critical comments, but take time to reflect on what you can act on and improve for future iterations of the course. You can’t change yourself, but you can make adjustments to the course such as talking slower during lectures or making assignment instructions clearer. If you tend to dwell on the negative feedback, it might be helpful to have a trusted mentor read through your evaluations first. They can help summarize what students saw as the strengths and weaknesses of your course, and help you process what changes you can realistically implement to improve.

William: Teaching evaluations — considered by some to be deeply flawed measures — can be quite useful for continued development. They attempt to point instructors in the proper direction, regardless of whether that direction stems from positive or negative feedback. Typically, instructors will tend to focus their attention on negative feedback and find it difficult to value a compliment and critique equally. Thus, it is important to remember that every instructor will receive negative feedback at some point during their career, and such feedback should be acknowledged. It is important to note what has worked well and what needs improvement. Finally, always remember to account for your experience. There are so many factors that comprise a “pristine” course and many of those factors are constantly evolving and are a function of experience.

Adam: It is important to remember that while we all want good reviews all the time, it is simply not going to happen. This is because there is no one teacher, or teaching style, that will be effective for and please all students. For example, some students are in search of accurate information which they can take with them into their further studies. Other students may not care as much for the nitty-gritty details, and instead want easily digested facts or rules which they can rely on when memorizing information for tests. Still others may simply despise the content itself and no teacher on the planet could make them enjoy it (stats teacher here!). Thus, we will always receive some lukewarm or negative feedback about our teaching. What we should focus on is which bits of criticism do we care about and respond to? Decide for yourself what areas of your teaching you consider important, and that you could improve upon. Reviews will probably never all be perfect, so the important thing is to decide which feedback you take to heart and which feedback you leave behind.

Madeline: Between our sincere desire to leave every student happy and the research that finds that teaching evaluations can be quite flawed and biased, processing and using student feedback can be difficult. What I would offer is to seek a mentor, a colleague you trust, or as my mentor puts it, “an old head who’s been there: make sure they have some grey hairs.” They can offer insight on common compliments and complaints, and, having likely known you for more than a semester, can help determine feedback from venting. There are times students provide constructive feedback for the course, but there are other times they take that space to leave concerns about issues on campus and beyond. Bringing another colleague can help illuminate themes so we can understand how to help students in and out of our classroom.

References

Darling-Hammond, L., Amrein-Beardsley, A., Haertel, E., & Rothstein, J. (2012). Evaluating teacher evaluation. Phi Delta Kappan, 93(6), 8-15.

GSTA Team News

Congratulations to GSTA Steering Committee Member Kelly Cuccolo for her new position as an assistant professor at Alma College!

Congratulations to GSTA Chair Maaly Younis for successfully defending her dissertation!

Submitted by Kelly Cuccolo

Last April I attended the virtual Midwest Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning [SoTL] hosted by Indiana University South Bend. This conference had an additional ‘Twitter Conference.’ Each presenter was allotted five-minutes, during which they put together a thread of 6-12 tweets relevant to their paper. Presenters then had five minutes to interact with the Twitterverse. Dr. Alison Kelly and I presented our paper, Improving Student Time Management Using Instructor Implemented Intervention, in this format. We created infographics using Piktochart (a free source) to accompany our Tweets.

This experience was beneficial, as it has practical applications for the classroom. Being limited to 280 characters and one picture per Tweet enforced concise planning of the presentation; it made me think about the most important background information, study design elements, results, and implications. This was a great exercise in specificity, concision, and communicating information clearly to a broad audience. I also got to network! I could easily follow anyone who liked or replied to my Tweets which ended up being a great way to find other people passionate about SoTL. Infographic assignments may be beneficial for students to help them develop scientific communication and critical thinking skills. Instructors could even consider hosting classroom Twitter conferences where students present and explain class concepts to their peers. The limited space prompts students to use critical thinking skills to select the most important pieces of information and concisely convey them. Some examples of ways in which instructors could utilize infographics and Twitter include having students debunk myths, create public-health style announcements, explain or critique research papers, or explain theoretical concepts.

Starting in June 2021, Maaly Younis and Adam Green will take over as the Chair and Associate Chair of the GSTA, respectively. We thank Amy Maslowski for her leadership and efforts as the former Chair of the GSTA! We are also excited to introduce Madeline Bruce as the newest member of the GSTA Steering Committee.

Maaly Younis, GSTA Chair

Maaly Younis is an Educational Psychology doctoral candidate at the University of Northern Colorado. Her research foci are studies of transformative learning and academic engagement, Photovoice, culturally responsive pedagogy, and diversity and inclusion. She teaches several undergraduate courses such as Introductory Psychology, Educational Psychology & Psychological Statistics.

Adam Green, GSTA Associate Chair

Adam Green is a doctoral candidate at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His research interests involve moral and political beliefs, and how these impact perceptions of others. He has assisted in several courses including Undergraduate and Graduate Research Methods, Undergraduate Statistics, and Graduate Statistics. He hopes to support and improve GTA experiences through the GTSA, as well as make statistics a less scary topic to learn (and teach).

Madeline Bruce, GSTA Steering Committee Member

Madeline (Mads) J. Bruce is a PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology at Saint Louis University. Her research currently focuses on posttraumatic adjustment and identity. Interested in evidence-based practice in her clinical work, research, and teaching, her work on trigger warnings was some of the first to subject this controversial topic to empirical scrutiny. In her free time, she enjoys ultra-swimming, running, and eating.