Teaching Philosophy
My approach to teaching begins with striving to emulate the best teachers I have encountered throughout my life, those individuals who were passionate about their areas of expertise and helped instill in me a life-long love of learning. These teachers set high, but attainable, expectations and provided with the tools to meet them.
Three focal goals form the foundation of my teaching philosophy, which I have pursued in my roles as a course instructor, teaching assistant, laboratory manager, and research mentor: (1) create an active and engaging learning environment, (2) foster the development of critical thinking skills, and (3) create a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning environment.
Three focal goals form the foundation of my teaching philosophy, which I have pursued in my roles as a course instructor, teaching assistant, laboratory manager, and research mentor: (1) create an active and engaging learning environment, (2) foster the development of critical thinking skills, and (3) create a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning environment.
Teaching Experience
Courses Taught
2012 - 2013 Psychology of Women & Gender, University of Minnesota
Teaching Assistantships
2009, 2011 Introduction to Social Psychology, University of Minnesota
2010 Psychology of Women & Gender, University of Minnesota
2008 - 2010 Introduction to Psychology, University of Minnesota
2006 - 2007 Introduction to Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University
2007 Reason, Passion, & Social Cognition*, Carnegie Mellon University
2006 Experimental Design for the Behavioral and Social Sciences**, Carnegie Mellon University
Note: All courses listed were taught in the Department of Psychology, with the exception of those designated by *(Department of Social and Decision Sciences) and **(Department of Statistics).
Invited Lectures
2015 Dyadic Data Analysis (graduate course), University of Houston
Longitudinal modeling with dyadic data
2015 Sleep and Anxiety Center of Houston (workshop), University of Houston
Over-time data analytic methods for studying sleep
2013 Psychology of Gender (undergraduate course), Macalester College, St. Paul, MN
Gender differences in health: Political forces in women’s health
Gender in the workplace: Negotiating work and parenting roles
2013 Introduction to Psychology (undergraduate course), Macalester College, St. Paul, MN
Developmental psychology: Attachment orientations across the lifespan
2012 Introduction to Individual Differences (undergraduate course), University of Minnesota
Attachment: Theory and research
Teaching Development
2013 Teaching Institute, 2-day teaching workshop series
Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Washington D.C.
2013 Practicum for Future Faculty, 3-credit graduate seminar
Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Minnesota
Mentor: Dr. Joan Ostrove, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN
2011 Teaching in Higher Education, 3-credit graduate seminar
Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Minnesota
2012 - 2013 Psychology of Women & Gender, University of Minnesota
Teaching Assistantships
2009, 2011 Introduction to Social Psychology, University of Minnesota
2010 Psychology of Women & Gender, University of Minnesota
2008 - 2010 Introduction to Psychology, University of Minnesota
2006 - 2007 Introduction to Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University
2007 Reason, Passion, & Social Cognition*, Carnegie Mellon University
2006 Experimental Design for the Behavioral and Social Sciences**, Carnegie Mellon University
Note: All courses listed were taught in the Department of Psychology, with the exception of those designated by *(Department of Social and Decision Sciences) and **(Department of Statistics).
Invited Lectures
2015 Dyadic Data Analysis (graduate course), University of Houston
Longitudinal modeling with dyadic data
2015 Sleep and Anxiety Center of Houston (workshop), University of Houston
Over-time data analytic methods for studying sleep
2013 Psychology of Gender (undergraduate course), Macalester College, St. Paul, MN
Gender differences in health: Political forces in women’s health
Gender in the workplace: Negotiating work and parenting roles
2013 Introduction to Psychology (undergraduate course), Macalester College, St. Paul, MN
Developmental psychology: Attachment orientations across the lifespan
2012 Introduction to Individual Differences (undergraduate course), University of Minnesota
Attachment: Theory and research
Teaching Development
2013 Teaching Institute, 2-day teaching workshop series
Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Washington D.C.
2013 Practicum for Future Faculty, 3-credit graduate seminar
Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Minnesota
Mentor: Dr. Joan Ostrove, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN
2011 Teaching in Higher Education, 3-credit graduate seminar
Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Minnesota
Student Comments
General Comments
“I deeply appreciate the thought you have put into this class. It is refreshing to find an instructor who cares this much about us learning. You made learning structured and virtually impossible to not do without being overbearing. Thank you.”
“I love Jen + her approach to this material - very empirical, no political agenda.”
“Jen had a serious passion for this course. She is an amazing instructor.”
“Jen was amazing! She was the best teacher I've had so far. I learned the most from her than any other teacher in my college career.”
“She made class a lot of fun. I liked her spunky personality, she always seemed happy and was always well prepared for class.”
Teaching style
“I like your style of teaching - class doesn't get boring at all - very informative."
“Jen was energetic, passionate, and kind. She knew the material and engaged well with students.”
“Jen really cared about this course + her students and it definitely showed.”
“The use of multi-media tools (videos, powerpoints, textbook, articles, group activities) made the material fun + enjoyable.” “[Jen]’s lectures where fantastic while she was presenting the material - humorous but informative and very clear.”
Activities and assignments
“Jen encouraged independent learning + facilitated good class discussion.”
"Jen is great - she took a balanced and rational approach to some controversial material, and we had some great class
discussions”
“By encouraging group work and participation, the environment for learning was much nicer than just being lectured at.”
“I thought the writing assignments were very helpful to my learning, and I was able to expand on topics I normally would not without the writing.”
“I deeply appreciate the thought you have put into this class. It is refreshing to find an instructor who cares this much about us learning. You made learning structured and virtually impossible to not do without being overbearing. Thank you.”
“I love Jen + her approach to this material - very empirical, no political agenda.”
“Jen had a serious passion for this course. She is an amazing instructor.”
“Jen was amazing! She was the best teacher I've had so far. I learned the most from her than any other teacher in my college career.”
“She made class a lot of fun. I liked her spunky personality, she always seemed happy and was always well prepared for class.”
Teaching style
“I like your style of teaching - class doesn't get boring at all - very informative."
“Jen was energetic, passionate, and kind. She knew the material and engaged well with students.”
“Jen really cared about this course + her students and it definitely showed.”
“The use of multi-media tools (videos, powerpoints, textbook, articles, group activities) made the material fun + enjoyable.” “[Jen]’s lectures where fantastic while she was presenting the material - humorous but informative and very clear.”
Activities and assignments
“Jen encouraged independent learning + facilitated good class discussion.”
"Jen is great - she took a balanced and rational approach to some controversial material, and we had some great class
discussions”
“By encouraging group work and participation, the environment for learning was much nicer than just being lectured at.”
“I thought the writing assignments were very helpful to my learning, and I was able to expand on topics I normally would not without the writing.”
Mentoring
I am particularly passionate about teaching and mentoring students in research settings. I have overseen more than 30 research assistants cross various projects. I have given them the opportunity to gain experience with every aspect of the research process beginning with a project's infancy stages helping to shape protocols through helping to prepare manuscripts for publication. I also supervised 8 students at the University of Minnesota as they completed their Major Project, an independent research project and capstone course, in conjunction with their work in my mentors' labs and on my dissertation research.This mentoring has continued in my postdoctoral fellowship. I have spent a considerable amount of time teaching and mentoring graduate students while working on ongoing research projects, conducting data analyses, writing manuscripts, and peer reviewing papers.