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ERIC EJ1146571: Psychology Educators of Tennessee (PET): A Regional Learning Community for Psychology Teachers PDF

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Psychology Educators of Tennessee (PET): A regional learning community for psychology teachers Kiesa Kelly, Linda Jones, Thomas M. Brinthaupt & Wendy Hart This paper describes the development of a regional psychology teaching organisation, Psychology Educators of Tennessee (PET). PET is designed to enhance collaboration among teachers from local colleges, universities, and high schools. We discuss the history of PET, the themes and pragmatics associated with our annual conference, plans for expanding the organisation, and challenges we have experienced with developing and maintaining PET. We also provide evaluation data from recent participants and suggestions for institutions of higher education interested in creating a similar kind of organisation. Keywords: Regional teaching organisation; faculty support; institutional collaboration; high school teachers; teaching conference. THERE IS A WIDE RANGE of national (e.g. Dastur et al., 2014; Davis & Smith, 1992; and international opportunities for Wylie & Fuller, 1985). These options include networking, learning, and research for a variety of international, national, and psychology teachers. For example, the annual regional conferences such as the Vancouver meetings of the American Psychological International Conference on the Teaching of Association (APA), the British Psychological Psychology; the International Conference on Society (BPS), the Association for Psychological Psychology Education; the National Institute Science (APS), and the European Congress on the Teaching of Psychology; the Euro- of Psychology frequently include track pres- pean Psychology Learning and Teaching entations, workshops, and studies devoted to Conference; and the Society for Teaching the teaching of psychology. Some organisa- of Psychology’s (STP) Annual Conference tions also provide extensive resources devoted on Teaching. to high school teaching, such as the APA’s Whereas these psychology teaching Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools conferences provide excellent and high- group (http://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/ quality learning experiences and resources topss/index.aspx) and APS’s Online Resources for teachers, budgetary constraints and for the Classroom site (http://www.psycho- conflicts with disciplinary or research- logicalscience.org/index.php/members/ oriented meetings sometimes make attend- teaching). In the UK, support for high school ance at large teaching meetings a challenge. teachers is also provided through the BPS, The meetings are also yearly events and with the Division of Academics, Researchers often large in scope, which makes the devel- and Teachers in Psychology, and through the opment of collaborations or events outside Association for the Teaching of Psychology of the conference timeline a challenge (http://theatp.org/). for participants. Furthermore, the online In addition to the activities and resources resources offered by the major psychology of the major psychology organisations, the organisations are not particularly amenable discipline offers several conferences devoted to the development of local teaching and exclusively to the teaching of psychology research collaborations. 74 Psychology Teaching Review Vol. 22 No. 2, Winter 2016 Psychology Educators of Tennessee (PET): A regional learning community for psychology teachers An alternative approach to supporting teaching organisation. Since its inception, psychology teachers is to foster events, meet- the goals of this organisation have included ings, and resources that are more local providing an annual venue for coverage of and specific to the interests of local institu- teaching topics; generating collaboration tions. Examples of and recommendations opportunities among local institutions of for smaller local or regional psychology higher education; including high school teaching conferences have appeared in the teachers and developing partnerships with literature for many years (e.g. Appleby & them; and providing resources and connec- Harmon, 2015; Lucas, 1981; McPherson & tion opportunities to members on a year- Wylie, 1983). However, there are several round basis. challenges to the creation and maintenance of these local opportunities. First, the lack of History of PET an organisational structure and committed The Nashville/Middle Tennessee area is leaders may make local events more difficult home to over 27 colleges and universities, to plan than regional or national events. including three historically Black colleges/ Second, local meetings will find it difficult universities (HBCUs) and six community to offer the range of topics and presenters colleges. These institutions reflect a range that larger meetings can offer, potentially of size and scope in their psychology depart- limiting the appeal for psychology teachers. ments: Volunteer State Community College Third, there are unlikely to be reliable mech- is an institution with over 20 full-time and anisms of financial support to enable the adjunct teachers; Belmont University is a meetings to thrive. Fourth, for most teachers, small, private religiously-affiliated school giving a presentation at a local event may be with five faculty members; Tennessee State less appealing (e.g. may carry less promo- University (TSU), is an HBCU that is Nash- tion and tenure weight) than presenting at a ville’s only public university, with Masters regional or national conference. and Doctoral programmes and 18 faculty Despite these challenges, creating a local members; Middle Tennessee State Univer- psychology teaching organisation has its own sity (MTSU) is a regional comprehensive set of unique advantages. First, attendees university with the largest undergraduate may be more likely to know others at the student body in the state and a faculty of annual meetings. Second, the opportuni- over 50 teachers; Vanderbilt University is ties for longer-term collaborations may be research-intensive university with over 65 greater than from larger meetings. Third, faculty members. In addition, many public schedule and financial constraints are typi- and private high schools in the area offer cally significantly smaller than those associ- Advanced Placement (AP) and regular ated with national or international meetings. psychology courses. Fourth, local organisations can take advan- Clearly, there are a large number of tage of the diversity of university, community psychology teachers within the mid-state college, and high school psychology teachers region. Despite the close physical proximity and capitalise on that diversity outside of of these diverse institutions of learning, annual meetings that tend to be narrower collaborations and partnerships were in scope, focusing either at the high school infrequent. PET was initiated to create a or higher education level. In particular, a network among psychology teachers in the regional meeting increases the chances of middle Tennessee region to share resources, attendance among high school and commu- exchange ideas, and increase research and nity college teachers who frequently have teaching collaborations. limited or no travel budgets. In 2010, a group from TSU, Belmont In this paper, we describe the develop- University, and a Nashville-area high school ment and maturation of a local psychology received a grant from the APS Fund for Psychology Teaching Review Vol. 22 No. 2, Winter 2016 75 Kiesa Kelly, Linda Jones, Thomas M. Brinthaupt & Wendy Hart Teaching and Public Understanding of Psycho- schools, community colleges, and colleges/ logical Science, which served to kick-start PET. universities, career advising for psychology At the first meeting, we accomplished three majors, and creating engaging learning activ- major objectives. First, we organised the annual ities and environments. In addition to the Teaching of Psychology Conference. Second, invited keynote speaker(s), there are concur- we compiled and distributed a directory of rent breakout sessions, poster presentations, regional psychology programmes. Third, we and vendor exhibits. Breakout and concur- created the PET website (http://psychedtn. rent sessions tend to focus on teaching tips wix.com/psychedoftn). and methods, often of interest or targeted to The PET Steering Committee consists of high school or community college teachers. the authors of this paper, along with addi- In the poster sessions, institutions provide tional community college and high school information about their programmes and members. Since 2010, PET has benefitted individuals present on teaching-related from the support of the participating insti- topics. We encourage these sessions to also tutions, as well as from the generosity of provide information that is relevant to high textbook publishers and instructional tech- school and community college teachers. nology vendors. The 2012 PET meeting The annual meeting provides a venue received an STP Small Grant to support for the development of collaborations and its conference theme of ‘Building Bridges’ partnerships in both teaching and research. between high schools and colleges. To encourage this development, we finish For the first three years of PET, the confer- each meeting with an open forum. In this ence was free to all attendees. Beginning in final session, we discuss possible topics and 2013, we charged a nominal registration fee speakers for future meetings and ideas for ($10) in order to generate funds to support expanding the organisation and making it keynote speakers and other conference more effective. expenses. Our typical conference budget Each year, the annual meeting location ranges between $2000 and $3000 (USD). We rotates among Belmont University, TSU, and use these funds to provide a modest stipend MTSU. All of these institutions are within 40 (and travel expenses, if necessary) to the miles of each other. The yearly conference keynote speaker, refreshments and lunch chair is the Steering Committee member to conference attendees, and PET-related from the hosting institution and is respon- supplies and promotional materials. sible for the conference planning and prag- Over the past five years, we have matics on his or her campus. Each year, brought in outside keynote speakers as well the host institution typically helps to cover as recruited both keynote and breakout the costs of the meeting. PET has enjoyed speakers from our own ranks. The first PET good attendance with each conference, aver- meeting featured two speakers who discussed aging between 30 to 40 attendees. Although racial identity development and diversity attendance varies from year to year, the issues in psychology teaching and high typical breakdown shows around 40 per cent engagement teaching techniques. Speakers university, 40 per cent community college, for subsequent meetings discussed the use of and 10 per cent high school teachers. instructional technologies in the classroom, We have found the Steering Committee teaching online, and teaching controversial structure and the rotating of annual meeting topics in the classroom. locations to be good for the organisation. Whereas the major time, effort, and stressors Conference themes and pragmatics associated with planning the meeting During the first five years of PET, conference fall onto the host institution’s committee themes have included using technology in member, the other committee members the classroom, building bridges between high provide extensive support as well. The rota- 76 Psychology Teaching Review Vol. 22 No. 2, Winter 2016 Psychology Educators of Tennessee (PET): A regional learning community for psychology teachers Table 1: Evaluation data from two recent PET annual meetings Measure Mean SD 1. The publicity (announcements, updates, information) for this meeting 4.00 0.86 was adequate. 2. This was a good location for the meeting. 4.78 0.53 3. The breakfast and break refreshments were good. 4.18 1.03 4. The lunch meal was good. 4.50 0.64 5. I enjoyed the opportunities to network with teaching colleagues. 4.58 0.55 6. The breakout sessions were beneficial for me. 4.18 0.81 7. As a whole, the meeting did a good job of covering the conference 4.45 0.60 theme. 8. The keynote address was useful. 4.54 0.64 9. I would consider attending this event again in the future. 4.82 0.45 Note: N=40. All items are significantly different from the scale midpoint (3), p<.001. tion of the host university also creates less they would like to learn more about at next of a yearly financial burden on the partici- year’s meeting. We use these responses to pating institutions. The Steering Committee gauge better what works and what does not meets two to three times a year to plan the and to further encourage PET ‘buy-in’ and meetings and to ensure that all required feedback from participants. components are in place. There are other ways that we can eval- uate the impact of PET in the future. These Evaluation results include examining access and usage data Attendees complete a conference evaluation from the organisation’s website. We can form each year. Although it varies some- also measure the impact of the network on what from year to year, this form typically teaching throughout the year, by surveying includes items about quality or adequacy of annual meeting participants about their use the publicity, meeting location, food, and so of PET resources. on. Other items address the opportunities to network, the breakout sessions, and the Plans for expansion conference theme. We also use the evalua- Our current long-range goals include several tion form to assess attendee interest in new ways to continue expanding the resources ideas for PET. Respondents rate the items and services offered by PET beyond the using a five-point Likert scale (one=strongly annual meeting. First, we intend to improve disagree, five=strongly agree). Table 1 the PET website by providing psychology presents the typical evaluation survey items teaching materials and resources (e.g. recom- and attendee responses from two previous mended books and videos, online materials, a years. As the table indicates, participants member discussion board). Second, we plan in the PET meetings have reported very to create a researcher database to facilitate favorable attitudes and experiences. communication and collaboration among As part of the conference evaluation the member colleges and high schools. This form, respondents also answer a series of database will include faculty research inter- open-ended questions pertaining to what ests, expertise with specific equipment and they most liked and disliked about the software, and data collection opportunities meeting, suggestions for upcoming confer- for research samples with greater ethnic and ence themes and keynote speakers, and what age diversity. Psychology Teaching Review Vol. 22 No. 2, Winter 2016 77 Kiesa Kelly, Linda Jones, Thomas M. Brinthaupt & Wendy Hart In discussions at our annual meeting, with MTSU faculty members on a variety of we have learned that there are many events research projects. They also present their hosted by individual universities and high research at local and regional conferences schools that are not announced to other that are held in the spring. MTSU faculty institutions. A third way that we intend to members visit the high school, speak to expand PET is through the development of psychology classes, and serve as mentors an opt-in member list-serve or social media for student projects. This partnership is a page through which we will post announce- win-win situation for both institutions. The ments of speakers, activities, and other university researchers have the chance to psychology-related events that occur on recruit high school students to their institu- the member campuses. Finally, we plan to tion and to their psychology research topics, create more opportunities for collaborative while the high school provides high-level research grants among our member insti- research opportunities to its students and tutions. In addition to the broad range of information and experiences that should faculty interests and expertise across the PET help students in their transition to college membership, each of our institutions has its (Cohen et al., 2008). own unique strengths and funding options. We are excited by these plans and antici- Challenges with developing and pate that they will help us to further meet maintaining PET our major goals of creating more collabora- We hope that we have made it clear that PET tions among our the universities, community is on a positive trajectory and has a great colleges, and high schools. deal of potential for further development. Beginning in 2015, we implemented Despite this status, we have encountered a change to the structure of the annual several challenges and barriers with moving meeting programme. In particular, we PET forward. First, funding for the organisa- removed concurrent sessions so that all tion and annual meeting is very limited. Our participants are together for the duration funding often forces us to recruit local rather of the meeting. We made this change so than regional or national keynote speakers. that no one has to choose between multiple It also limits the quality of support we can sessions that might be equally appealing and provide to attendees, such as refreshments, to increase the cohesion of the attendees meals, handouts, and PET-related para- during the meeting and afterwards. This phernalia. Alternatively, a benefit of limited change originated from feedback on the funding is that we are forced to keep things post-meeting evaluation forms. simple. In particular, we do not try to do too Writers have focused attention for much or grow too large – we keep the annual some time on creating psychology research meeting short (typically three to four hours), opportunities for high school students increasing the chances that teachers new to (e.g. Mattimore, 2004; Wojcik, 2012). PET PET might attend and that past participants has discussed the creation of an ‘adopt-a- will return. school’ programme in which each univer- Another challenge is our lack of adminis- sity partners with a nearby high school for trative support. Because of the nature of the teaching and research purposes. As an illus- organisation, we are unable to support full- tration of this kind of collaboration, MTSU time staff or even provide compensation to is developing a research partnership with a part-time staffers. All of the work falls to the local magnet high school. The high school Steering Committee and its members’ ability requires students to complete a senior to plan and accomplish tasks themselves thesis, which includes an external research or with help from their home institutions. mentor. Students receive institutional review This situation requires a cohesive and dedi- board (IRB) ethics training and collaborate cated Steering Committee that is willing to 78 Psychology Teaching Review Vol. 22 No. 2, Winter 2016 Psychology Educators of Tennessee (PET): A regional learning community for psychology teachers provide support when necessary. We recom- Conclusion mend a minimum of four members for such In its brief existence, PET has proven to a committee. We have found that rotating be very effective at meeting its major goal the campus location among the Steering of developing and maintaining teaching Committee members has worked very well collaborations among a wide range of local for planning and implementation of the institutions. The core group of regular annual meeting. This rotation balances attendees has developed into a network of the workload and decreases the chances of local peers and additional institutions have burnout among committee members. participated as word about the organisation A third challenge for PET involves has spread. It is crucial to identify a Steering finding themes for the yearly conference Committee of teachers and faculty members that will appeal to all levels of psychology who are willing and able to devote the neces- educators. Our conference evaluation form sary time and energy to such a venture. We is essential for addressing this challenge, schedule our annual meetings in the fall, since we encourage attendees to suggest which is a time when there is somewhat meeting themes and other topics that they less competition with other teaching and would like to see covered in the future. To research conferences. We encourage other date, we have chosen themes that are attrac- institutions, particularly those that can draw tive to PET members, reflect their stated on a large pool of local colleges, universities, interests, and encourage their return to the and secondary schools, to consider ‘taking yearly meetings. the plunge’ to meet the psychology teaching Other challenges involve mainly prag- needs of their nearby colleagues and peers. matic issues. For example, when planning the annual meeting, we must take into account The authors the schedules of the colleges and universities Kiesa Kelly, Tennessee State University and the high schools. Breaks often do not fall Linda Jones, Belmont University at the same time for different institutions. We Thomas M. Brinthaupt, Middle Tennessee have always held the annual meeting on a State University Saturday, which sometimes limits high school Wendy Hart, Brentwood TN High School teacher attendance because the weekends are frequently their only time off. Scheduling Correspondence the meeting for a weekday might increase Thomas M. Brinthaupt, high school attendance but at the same PO Box X034, Middle Tennessee State time reduce college teacher participation. If University, Murfreesboro, TN, US 37132 one’s country or region does not provide Email: [email protected] the resources and support for high schools that professional organisations in UK and US Kiesa Kelly do, this can limit efforts to build bridges and Email: [email protected] create partnerships with high school teachers. Our managing and maintaining the PET Linda Jones website has also been challenging, because Email: [email protected] different individuals (college staff or Steering Committee members) have taken responsi- Wendy Hart bility for the site at different times. Recruiting Email: [email protected] or assigning a single individual to manage this aspect of the organisation is a good idea. Psychology Teaching Review Vol. 22 No. 2, Winter 2016 79 Kiesa Kelly, Linda Jones, Thomas M. Brinthaupt & Wendy Hart References Appleby, D.C. & Harmon, A. (2015). The Indiana Mattimore, P. (2004). High school low: Once High School Psychology Teachers Association thriving high school psychology programmes conference. Psychology Teacher Network, 25(2), 4–7. need more support. APS Observer, 17(7). Avail- Cohen, L., Chang, P., Ooley, J.A. & Pike, L. (2008). able at https://www.psychologicalscience.org/ A holistic approach to establishing an effective index.php/uncategorized/high-school-low-once- learning environment for psychology, Psychology thriving-high-school-psychology-programs-need- Learning & Teaching, 7(1), 12–18. more-support.html doi: 10.2304/plat.2008.7.1.12 McPherson, K.S. & Wylie, N. (1983). Teaching Dastur, F., Jhangiani, R. & Assanand, S. (2014). Intro- psychology at the small liberal arts college: duction to the special issue: Vancouver Interna- A two-day conference. Teaching Of Psychology, 10(3), tional Conference on the Teaching of Psychology 144–1446. doi: 10.1207/s15328023top1003_5 (2013). Psychology Learning & Teaching, 13(2), Wojcik, E. (2012). Innovative psychology at the 81–82. doi:10.2304/plat.2014.13.2.81 high school level. APA Monitor, 43(4), 64. Avail- Davis, S.F. & Smith, R.A. (1992). Regional confer- able at http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/04/ ences for teachers and students of psychology. In psychology.aspx A.E. Puente, J.R. Matthews & C.L. Brewer (Eds.), Wylie, N.R. & Fuller, J.W. (1985). Enhancing faculty Teaching psychology in America: A history (pp.311– vitality through collaboration among colleagues. 328). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological New Directions for Higher Education, 51, 99–108. Association. doi: 10.1037/10120-013 Lucas, F.H. (1981). A small conference on teaching undergraduate psychology. American Psychologist, 36(8), 908-910. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.36.8.908 80 Psychology Teaching Review Vol. 22 No. 2, Winter 2016

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