Teaching Assistants Mentoring Group Profiles

  • Sandra Baker: EDHD 320

    "An important goal for me in teaching this course is to offer students a fundamental understanding of developmental theory, and how it may serve to explain our individual life trajectories. Ultimately, I hope to illustrate the interactive nature of said social, cognitive, and biological processes; providing the most comprehensive picture of development possible (given the generality of the course) for students coming in with little or no knowledge of developmental phenomena."

  • Alaina Brenick: EDHD 306

    "I believe that learning is an adventure that I take on together with my students. As much as I serve as a resource in the front of the room for my students to turn to and learn from, I truly want to learn from them as well. As an instructor I want to go through an experience with my students in which we all support and challenge one another to move beyond our current level of understanding, beyond our current views of the world and the situations in which we find ourselves."

  • Soo Eun Chae: EDHD 306

    I believe the important components of teaching EDHD306 are helping students engage in learning, making them develop their own perspectives on research, and providing chances to present the perspectives in a professional way. To this end, the class will provide opportunities to construct students' own research topics and methods through scientific thinking processes.

  • Ebony Dashiell-Aje: EDHD 230

    I want my class to be a memorable encounter. Together, my students and I will embark on a journey that will teach us more about ourselves and help us develop a broader concept of others. Using a variety of techniques, I want to create significant learning experiences; in hopes that each lesson will lead everyone to better understand the role they play in shaping our world.

  • Daniel Dinsmore: EDHD 306 and EDHD 460

    "My goal is to provide students with the opportunity to examine the complex interactions of the psychological processes involved in learning and be able to create their own working models of these processes to inform both their own learning and the learning of others. This class is particularly enjoyable to teach because my specific research interests are in expertise development and strategic processing."    

  • Alice Donlan: EDHD 320

    As a new teacher, I'm most excited to learn from my students. My primary goal is to provide students with the background knowledge and tools necessary to discuss human development in depth. I am looking forward to hearing about students' opinions, observations, and reflections on social, cognitive, and physical development.

  • Sandra Loughlin: EDHD 400

    My goal as an instructor is not simply to prepare my students for an exam, but help students understand and retain the material to such an extent that it impacts their thoughts and action beyond the course. In short, I want to help students reach the “Aha!” moments, when course content meets life experiences. This goal influences how I perceive the subject matter and students, how I prepare for class, what I expect of my students, and how I evaluate student progress. I have taken this approach in teaching both children and adults, and I am excited to work now with undergraduates as they reach for the "Aha!"

  • Danette Morrison: EDHD 320

    With this being my first endeavor into teaching I am most excited about the type of interaction that I will have as an instructor with my students. I am interested in seeing the teacher-student relationship from the angle of the teacher and understanding their perspective and the roles that they have to take once in such an influential position. I am hoping to learn from each student how to be a strong motivator, how to keep them engaged, and to learn how to be an effective facilitator of knowledge!

  • Meghan Parkinson:EDHD 425 and EDHD 460

    "I want students to be active learners - responsible for constructing meaning from text, lecture, and each other. We do not all have to construct the same meaning, but we must have the background and vocabulary to understand each other and communicate our viewpoints. This broad belief about teaching defines four teaching philosophies that guide active learning within my classes: 1) Learning is most effective when students make connections between their prior knowledge or experience and new concepts; 2) When students become fluent in concepts of human development they gain more complex and analytical means of understanding their world; 3) Learning is collaborative in nature and requires feedback from peers and the instructor through written and oral discussion; 4) Learning assessments should reflect the relevance of course material to students' experiences and individual efforts to construct meaning."

  • Cam Richardson: EDHD 320

    "My teaching philosophy centers on helping students develop a general interest in learning, by attempting to make the topic of human development both engaging in its own right as well as applicable to as many different academic disciplines as possible."

  • Shannon Russell: EDHD 320

    "I thoroughly enjoy the interactive educational process [of teaching], working together to broaden our awareness of the world.  By sharing differential perspectives, ideas and experiences, we can work towards refining our understanding of ourselves and those that surround us."

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