Lesa Rae Vartanian, Ph.D.

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Expanding Classroom Walls The Power of Active
Learning

• Lesa Rae Vartanian, Ph.D.
• Department of Psychology
• IPFW

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Words of Wisdom (?)
universities are as congenial to teaching as
the Mojave Desert is to a clutch of Druid
priests. If you want to restore a Druid
priesthood you cannot do it by offering prizes
for Druid-Of-The-Year. If you want Druids, you
must grow forests. -- William Ayers
Arrowsmith
A gardener gardens because she loves tobut I
have never known one to resent compliments on the
fruits of her efforts. -- Lesa Rae Vartanian
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THANK YOU FRIENDS!!
Recognition for dedication to and achievement in
teaching is a key part of what makes the forest
grow...
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Overview

• Who I am as a teacher
• Examples of how I have tried to expand the walls
  of my classrooms
• Technology
• Observation Collaboration
• Service Learning

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My Teaching Philosophy
The mediocre teachers tells. The good teacher
explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The
great teacher inspires. -- William Arthur Ward
The secret of education is respecting the
pupil. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.
-- John Cotton Dana
Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember.
Involve me and I understand. -- Chinese
Proverb
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Active Learning Through Technology

• I maintain web pages for each of my courses
• WebCT
• Students in PSY 235 engage in on-line discussions
  about controversial issues like
• effectiveness of government-funded programs
• impact of mass media
• daycare, divorce/remarriage, corporal punishment

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Active Learning Through Observation / Experience

• PSY 235-Child Psychology
• Observation Journal
• Bingo Project
• PSY 371-Death Dying
• Field Trips

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Active Learning Through Collaboration

• RESEARCHPublications with IPFW Students
• Dickerhoof, R. M., Vartanian L. R. The
  contributions of positive versus negative
  varieties of imaginary audience and personal
  fable ideations to facets of adolescent
  well-being.
• Giant, C. L., Vartanian, L. R. (in press).
  Experiences with parental aggression during
  childhood and self-concept in adulthood The
  importance of subjective perceptions. Journal of
  Family Violence.
• May, D. A., Vartanian, L. R., Virgo, K. (2002).
  The impact of parental attachment and supervision
  on fear of crime among adolescent males.
  Adolescence, 37, 267-288.
• Giant, C. L., Passino, R. M., Vartanian, L. R.
  (2001). Sex differences in the contributions of
  appearance-related messages to body esteem and
  perceptions of thinness. Psi Chi Journal for
  Undergraduate Research, 6, 91-100.
• Vartanian, L. R., Giant, C. L., Passino, R. M.
  (2001). Ally McBeal vs. Arnold Schwarzeneggar
  The importance of sociocultural factors for
  understanding mens and womens body satisfaction
  and body shape concerns. Social Behavior and
  Personality, 29, 711-724.

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Active Learning Through Collaboration

• RESEARCHPresentations with IPFW Students
• Vartanian, L. R., Conner, D. M., Arrington, P.
  (2002, May). Was it good for you? Late
  adolescents satisfaction with school-based sex
  ed. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the
  Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago,
  IL.
• Dickerhoof, R. M., Vartanian, L. R. (2002,
  April). Positive versus negative imaginary
  audience and personal fable ideations,
  separation-individuation, and depressive affect.
  Poster presented at the 9th Biennial Meeting of
  the Society for Research on Adolescence, April
  2002, New Orleans, LA.
• Giant, C. L., Vartanian, L. R. (2001, May). "I
  was spanked..but not 'abused'" The importance of
  subjective perceptions for understanding the
  impact of parental aggression on later
  psychological functioning. Poster presented at
  the Annual Meeting of the Midwestern
  Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
• Giant, C. L., Passino, R. M., Dickerhoof, R. M.,
  Virgo, K., Junk, D., Vartanian, L. R. (2001,
  May). Hercules and Xena or Ken and Barbie
  Males' and females' descriptions of the "perfect
  male" and the "perfect female" bodies. Poster
  presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwestern
  Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
• May, D. C., Vartanian, L. R., Virgo, K. (2001,
  April). The impact of parental attachment and
  supervision on fear of crime among adolescent
  males. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of
  the North Central Sociological Association,
  Louisville, KY.
• Vartanian, L. R., Conner, D., Goodman, M.,
  Herron. C., Leszinske, N., Teusch, J. (2001,
  April) College students satisfaction and
  experiences with school-based sex education.
  Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the
  Indiana Council on Adolescent Pregnancy,
  Indianapolis, IN.

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Active Learning Through Collaboration

• TEACHING
• Undergraduate Teaching Assistants
• Attend all classes, guide/grade on-line
  discussions, organize structured review sessions
  for exams keep a self-reflective journal of
  experiences/encounters
• Design and conduct a research project present it
  in our campus symposium
• Effects of email messages on student confidence
  prior to exam
• Effectiveness of UTA-led review sessions for
  reducing test anxiety
• Working with UTAs a win-win situation!

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Active Learning Through Service Learning

• What is service learning?
• Volunteers at Regional Science Fair
• 13 volunteers from Adolescent Development class
  in 2001
• Nearly 70 from Child Psychology for this years
  Fair!
• Service Learning in PSY 371

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Service Learning in PSY 371

• Optional Project
• 18 of 23 students chose service learning!
• 2 sites in community
• Erins House for Grieving Children
• Visiting Nurse Service and Hospice
• Students completed 32 hours of volunteer training
  / volunteer work

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The Power of Active Learning in PSY 371

• Pre and Post Measures of Death Anxiety,
  Knowledge
• 4-point scale
• 1 disagree almost totally
• 2 disagree somewhat
• 3 agree somewhat
• 4 agree almost totally

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The Power of Active Learning in PSY 371

• I have a positive attitude to the process of
  dying as a part of my life.
• Pre 2.80
• Post 3.14
• If one of my loved ones were to die, I would
  know exactly how to proceed with the arrangements
  for his/her funeral / burial / cremation.
• Pre 2.05
• Post 3.09

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The Power of Active Learning in PSY 371

• I have engaged in some advance planning for my
  own funeral / burial / cremation.
• Pre 1.59
• Post 2.45
• Those closest to me know exactly how I feel
  about organ donation.
• Pre 2.68
• Post 3.00

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The Power of Active Learning in PSY 371

• I have discussed my last wishes with those
  closest to me.
• Pre 2.14
• Post 2.73
• I feel knowledgeable about the resources in my
  community that pertain to death, dying, grief,
  and loss.
• Pre 2.00
• Post 3.32

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The Power of Active Learning in PSY 371

• What impact did the field trips and the service
  learning experience have? Created a composite
  of those 6 questions
• Number of Field Trips Attended
• 4 or Less Pre 2.48 vs. Post 2.79
• 5 or More Pre 2.08 vs. Post 3.03
• Service Learning vs Traditional Research Paper
• Service Learning Pre 2.16 vs. Post 3.02
• Research Paper Pre 2.37 vs. Post 2.73

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Active Learning Works!

• Learning starts in the classroom
• Need to transform the classroom so that
  students begin to view anywhere they are or hope
  to be a classroom within which they will learn
  and grow through participation, NOT passivity
• Devising active learning experiences requires
  significant effort

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THANK YOU AGAIN FOR NOTICING MY WORK!
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