Catherine Rawn

I’m teaching Intro Psych again in the fall, but my class size is increasing by 40%… from 260 to 425 students! And I have a big goal… I want to reach out to them even MORE than I was able to connect with our class this year. Having a TA is great — Liz has been an awesome TA for us – but there’s still only one of her and her time needs to focus on grading and meetings about grading-related issues.

So here’s what I’m thinking… I want you to help me reach out to the incoming students!

I’m looking for a few enthusiastic students to volunteer to be Peer Tutors. We can figure out the details together, but here’s what I have in mind so far…

• Answer questions from new students (e.g., about our course, about transitioning to university… wouldn’t you have loved to have someone around to ask questions??)
• Come to class at least once per week to be available, to model your interest in learning, and to provide me with feedback on how class can be improved
• Come to invitational office hour once or twice a month to meet your students, face-to-face. Hopefully we can assign each Peer Tutor to connect with a specific sub-group of students, to break the class down into smaller groups.

Here’s what I think are some of the unique experiences and opportunities you can gain from this position:

• Mentor and perhaps to make friends with members of the incoming class
• Develop your leadership and teamwork skills
• Consider a university-level course from a new, broader, perspective
• Deepen your understanding of psychology (there’s nothing like revisiting course material to learn it more deeply!)
• Potentially a reference from me

I’m looking for people who…

• Have achieved at least a B+ in my Intro Psych, Section 6 2010/2011
• Are enthusiastic about learning and about intro psych!
• Are willing to learn, take risks to grow, and meet new people
• Have solid verbal and written communication skills
• Are majoring in any major (either Arts or Science)
• Are willing and able to commit to coming to class once per week, invitational office hours a couple of times per month, answering email and Vista posts, meetings with me and fellow Peer Tutors to discuss the course.
• Are able to meet with me in person (or, if needed, online) a couple of times during the summer months and through the school year.

If you meet most or all of these criteria and are interested in this position, please email me 4 things by May 31

1. A statement (maximum 500 words) explaining why you are interested in this position, what skills you hope to develop, and what you think you can contribute to making next year’s intro psych class even better than this one!
2. A copy of your transcript, downloaded/copied from SSC
3. A brief resume
4. Your contact information and intended major/minor (if known or suspected)

I *finally* was able to see UBC’s contribution to LipDub and I must say it brought a few tears to my eyes! I continue to be impressed by the energy, enthusiasm, and engagement of so many of our students here at UBC, and it was so fun to see some of my students taking part! Congratulations to all involved on a fantastic celebration of UBC-V!

Check it out here. Ok… break’s over… must get back to creating exams…

And what a term it’s been! It’s certainly been busy and challenging, but I feel like I have learned a lot and I have had a ton of fun! This term I taught learners in two courses: the continuation of Intro Psyc (go section 6!) and Psyc 208 (a course I designed called How Social Psych Can Help You Succeed).

This year the students in my Intro Psych class were so wonderfully curious and engaged! I felt such great energy from them every day (some days more than others, but that’s normal!), and they truly inspired me to bring my “A game” every day (which I tried my best to do!). Here are some photos from our last day together. I had asked them to write their most important take-away message from this course. Take a look… 

Last week in Psyc 208 we held the Creative Advertisement Showcase, which was a fantastic celebration of what they had discovered throughout the term! Previously, teams of students had identified a learning challenge they face, investigated primary sources for insight into understanding and addressing the challenge, and summarized those sources in annotated bibliographies and team abstracts. The purpose of the Creative Advertisment was to get the word out to fellow students about research-based techniques and strategies for addressing the learning challenges they face. They truly were creative! Projects ranged from video and live games to posters to live skits and demonstrations to videos and pamphlets… an impressive variety! Check out some of their videos and websites (ordered by team #)…

Team 7′s Learning about Distractions:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lts-wX9L8q4

Team 9′s Learning Environments: http://psyc208.wordpress.com/

Team 12′s Sleep & Learning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaqQkImzagU

Team 15′s Stress Happens, Even for a Jedi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnmYyz61Mys with website: http://ipixels.net/stress/

Team 18′s Technology Crackdown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zBCkhIoS74  

Team 22′s Cultural Differences and Learning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jPW6tRA20w

And here’s a shot of Team 13′s interactive ”Choose Your Own Adventure” study strategies station in action!

Thanks to everyone for a fantastic year! Study smartly for your finals… and remember that no matter how you do on them, that’s not a reflection of your worth as a person.

What a fabulous example of what can happen when people – kids! — have the opportunity to use the scientific method to make discoveries about life. This paper about bees was actually published in a scientific journal. Bravo to the journal editors and reviewers for publishing such a fine example of science fueled by curiosity. A worthwhile read! Thanks to friend and colleague Lesley Duncan for the recommendation!

Ah the dawn of a new term! Living in an academic world means every four months is an opportunity for renewal. January can be an especially tough transition because of the remaining fatigue from Term 1. Thankfully, we also get Spring Break to catch our breaths. I’m very much looking forward to Term 2. I have had a fabulous time with my Intro Psyc (Section 006) students so far and I look forward to teaching and learning with them as we venture into the more “social” side of scientific psychology.

Psyc 208, Section 002, will begin anew on Tuesday. Here is a copy of the syllabus for those of you interested in checking it out early. This is a refreshed version of the course that was featured in UBC Reports last August. Based on feedback from students and my TA Jelena, I have revised the course to focus more on making teamwork work well, alongside personal development of skills such as self-control, goal-setting, and stress management. An open mind and a willingness to actively engage in learning will be assets to any student joining us in this course. Looking forward to meeting you on Tuesday!