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

2016·0.08 MB·English

by  ERIC

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
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