Psychology Graduate Program Teacher Training
Overview
The Department of Psychology is committed to the teaching of psychology at all levels and seeks to provide doctoral students with opportunities for professional development through the teaching of psychology. These programs are for graduate students to prepare for full-time academic careers, to complement practice with teaching, and to develop leadership, organizational, and public speaking skills.
The department provides a sequence of programs that can begin as early as a doctoral student's first year and could continue until the student earns his or her PhD. These programs are important vehicles for students' professional development, and they embody the highest values of the department and University: academic excellence, care of the person, and service to others.
As in all areas of psychology, the department places emphasis on ethics and integrity; therefore, ethics related to teaching is featured at various training points in collaboration with the Center for Ethics Education.
Underlying Philosophy
To ensure that our students find success in the full range of academic settings, we prepare all of our doctoral students to teach undergraduate courses in Introductory Psychology (now titled “Foundations of Psychology”), Statistics, and Research Methods. Doctoral students should also be prepared to teach within their area of expertise based on their respective doctoral program.
It is also anticipated that, through Teacher Training, students will be capable of preparing and teaching courses that fall outside their primary area of expertise. This is in order to prepare students for the real expectations frequently placed on newly hired professors at many institutions of higher learning.
Psychology Department Teacher Training for Current Graduate Students Offers:
- Teaching of Psychology Seminar every year, open to all students;
- Teaching Fellowships (competitively awarded, requiring the Teaching of Psychology Seminar) for which all third-year students may apply;
- Senior Teaching Fellowships (competitively awarded) for fourth-year students;
- Mentorship by full-time faculty, and;
- Teaching associate positions for ABD students.