Faculty Peer Visits

Instructional methods: Before class students are expected to read a chapter (or portion of a chapter) and complete a short on-line assignment.  In lecture section we review concepts from the reading and use think-pair-share strategies to answer conceptual questions or solve longer quantitative problems.  In the associated studio section, students work in small groups to practice problem solving techniques, perform short experiments, work on simulations or think through guided demonstrations while the instructors circulates and offers assistance as needed.  The combination of lecture and studio together constitutes a module of the course and there are 2 modules per week.  A follow-up online homework assignment finishes each module.

• Instructional methods: Hybrid lessons featuring lecture + discussion (co-produced by professor and students); students also present group-produced educational
  performing arts lessons and group-produced experiential education lessons.
• Course teaching philosophy/rationale: Hybrid lessons co-delivered by professor and student encourage the students to move from the role of passive listener to active processor of learning content that is then orally delivered to the class. The assignments calling for students to group-produce performative and experiential lessons compel students to engage in project management, the adaptation of learning materials, creative processes, collaboration, and public presentation.

Psychology 210 introduces some of the
statistical methods underlying psychological
research. We focus on descriptive and
inferential statistical techniques, and the
manner by which they may be employed to
design psychological experiments and analyze
behavioral data. This is a Course-based
Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE)
class, meaning in this class we will conduct
original research (see qep.unc.edu for more
info). It is our hope that by the end of this class
that you see that not only does statistics offer a
core background for understanding how
psychologists investigate human behavior, it is a
useful tool for navigating research claims and
data you may encounter in your everyday life.

• Instructional methods: Informal group work in a think-pair-share format, classroom response system (Learning Catalytics), problem solving, whole class discussions, undergraduate peer learning assistants.
• Course teaching philosophy: “I use a variety of methods to hold students accountable for their learning. I think of myself as a facilitator that sets up learning activities for a student, giving many opportunities to make mistakes and learn from their mistakes. I believe in frequent assessments with feedback through homework and in-class activities and online quizzes. By the time a student sits for an exam, his/her thinking will have gone from foundational content/vocabulary to determining how concepts connect to each other.”

What are you most afraid of? What curdles your blood and quickens the beatings of your heart? Who are the monsters that lurk beneath your bed? This course will explore how fear and horror are evoked through evocative words, shocking images and immersive sounds by applying key theories of the horror genre by Noël Carrol, Carol J. Clover and Barbara Creed to Stephen King’s iconic 1986 novel It, the video game series Layers of Fear and horror films from around the world. It will focus primarily on representations of monstrosity that have a basis in British Gothic literature but have been adopted by international filmmakers to represent culturally-specific horrors while provoking universal fears in their audiences. Films include Guillermo del Toro’s Cronos, Alejandro Amenábar’s Thesis, Hideo Nakata’s Ringu and Agnieszka Smoczynska’s The Lure.

• Instructional methods: Pair and group work, interviews, role play, surveys, games, songs, film clips, debates.
• Course Description: This is the first of two elementary Italian courses, ideal for someone with no prior knowledge of the language. This semester you will learn the basic skills of speaking, reading and understanding Italian. By the end of this course, you will be able to talk about student life, your interests, your family, shopping, and Italian. By the end of this course, you will be able to talk about student life, your interests, your family, shopping, and technology, with reference to both present and past experiences. You will develop a rich vocabulary, including phrases to use when studying or traveling in Italy. You will learn a lot about life in Italy, including the cultures of food, sports, education, and family. You will complete Chapters 1-4 of Sentieri, which you will continue to use in Ital 102 and Ital 203. The goal by the end of the course is to understand the logic of the language and to have simple conversations in Italian relating to basic themes of everyday life.

• Instructional methods: Traditional lecture; pair and share/individual reflection activities; group discussion assignments/activities (often case study based); aesthetics and technology of Greenlaw 101 to elicit teacher-student and student-student interaction
• Teaching Philosophy/Rationale: My first objective is to make each student feel comfortable participating in group dialogue. This is accomplished by first starting with pair and small group discussions about case study scenarios driven by course content. These discussions help students to build relationships and receive feedback on their critical thinking ideas. These discussions then progress into individual students providing a summary of these discussions to the class. Through continued use of these techniques over time, interpersonal relationships among students, oral communication skills and knowledge and critical thinking related to course content develop. I also aim to develop written communication in my courses via writing assignments which emphasize critical thinking as the content objective. Group writing assignments give students additional opportunities to develop working relationships, share ideas, and interact cohesively to create a polished final product. These group experiences are applicable to a variety of professional goals and are meant to encourage students to tackle questions they may encounter as young professionals.
• Course description: This is an introduction to sport & exercise psychology concepts. This is a popular elective for Exercise and Science students in all of our tracks (general track, sport administration, fitness professional, athletic training). It will become a required course for the general track beginning fall 2016. Students will: 1. Develop an understanding of how psychological factors influence involvement and performance in sport and physical activity settings. 2. Develop on understanding of how participation in sport and physical activity may impact the psychological and outcomes of those who chose to participate. 3. Acquire skills and knowledge about sport psychology theory and research that you can apply as a participant, coach, teacher, athletic trainer, sport administrator, or parent within relevant sport and physical activity settings. 4. Develop the ability to think critically about issues in sport and physical activity.

• Instructional methods: Prior to class students view instructor-prepared lecture videos and take an online quiz to prepare for in class activities including small group problem sets and discussions as well as individual quiz assessments using Poll Everywhere.
• Rationale: After years of using a traditional lecture format I started to realize that for most students all I was doing during class was getting the material out to them; there was very little time for a critical look at concepts and applying them towards solving problems. I wanted to use my limited time to have a more profound impact on student learning by building a higher level of understanding of concepts. I was inspired to remodel my classroom structure based on the interactions I had with students during exam review sessions. Since the students had engaged in the material beforehand on their own with homework and study guides we could have in depth discussions that addressed the particular aspects of concepts that gave them trouble. With the flipped classroom structure I am much more of a facilitator that provides students with applied problem sets that specifically address the most difficult concepts and clears up common misconceptions.
• Course Description: This is a general introduction to Earth systems that explores the environmental processes that transform matter and energy as well as how humans impact the way these systems work. The course satisfies the science w/ lab general education requirement and is required for our BA in environmental studies and minor in environmental studies/sciences. Therefore, the course is a mix of freshman through sophomores as well as science and non-science majors.

• Instructional methods: Individual quiz, small group problem solving and discussion, classroom response system (Poll Everywhere)
• Course description: “The purpose of this course is to introduce you to a new way of looking at the world. The course focuses on core economic concepts and provides opportunities to practice using them in contexts like you will encounter throughout your lives. It also introduces you to some basic models that economists use to make sense of what they observe around them. We will also explore how economists analyze the impact of different policies within the context of these models and determine whether the policy will have the intended, or an unintended, outcome. Foremost, the goal of the course is to help you think like an economist in ways that will help you make better decisions.”