This conference took place on Feb. 22, 2019
Keynote: Thinking Smart in a Post Truth Age
David Myers will give examples of popular and potent false beliefs, and will explain how such come to be. He will also examine possible biases—and successful remedies for such.
Social psychologist David Myers is a communicator of psychological science to college students and the general public. His scientific writings, supported by National Science Foundation grants and fellowships, have appeared in three dozen academic periodicals, including Science, the American Scientist, the American Psychologist, and Psychological Science. David has digested psychological research for the public through articles in four dozen magazines, from Scientific American to Christian Century, and through seventeen books, including general interest books and textbooks. His research and writings have been recognized by the Gordon Allport Prize, by an "honored scientist" award from the Federation of Associations in the Brain and Behavioral Sciences, by the Award for Distinguished Service on Behalf of Personality-Social Psychology, and by three honorary doctorates.
“Why don’t they learn?!” Overcoming misinformation and resistance to change in education
Many common beliefs about teaching and learning are not actually supported by scientific evidence. Moreover, these beliefs are stubbornly resistant to change. In my talk, this session, participants will be encouraged to reflect on and re-examine some of their own beliefs about effective instructional practices. We will discuss some of the most prevalent myths in education and explore the underlying reasons for their persistence, including natural cognitive limitations and biases that make it difficult for people to change their beliefs. Finally, we will discuss strategies for overcoming these limitations, both as educators and learners.
Tesia Marshik is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse where she teaches educational psychology, motivation, and developmental psychology courses. Her research primarily focuses on understanding contextual and social-cognitive influence on students’ and teachers’ motivation and performance. Most recently, she has been actively involved in AAACU’s “Re-Imagining the First Year” initiative, where she co-developed and implemented mindset and belonging interventions aimed at improving success rates of first-year students, particularly those who have historically been underserved by higher education. She also uses her teaching and research expertise to debunk pseudoscience, explore how cognitive limitations and biases make people resistant to change, and examine strategies to promote open-mindedness, critical self-reflection, and information literacy. She is actively engaged in the scholarship of teaching and learning and served as a University of Wisconsin System Teaching Fellow in 2014. She has been recruited for a number of local, national, and international speaking engagements, both inside and outside of higher education, and enjoys making psychological research accessible and relevant to different populations. She resides in La Crosse, WI with her husband, two kids, and giant doofus dog.
Concurrent Sessions
- To Online or Not to Online: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Online Psychology
Programs
Jeffrey Stowell and William Addison - Purposeful Pausing: Utilizing Intermittent “Thinking Breaks” to Foster Learning
Kathryn J. O’Toole and Elizabeth K. Gray, North Park University - Games People Play: Using Games as a Teaching Tool for Learning and Reviewing Psychological
Concepts
Rich Beans, Greenville University - Best Practices for Teaching Applied Psychology
Eva Mika, Loyola University of Chicago - The Benefits of Team-Teaching Introduction to Psychological Science
Tony Barnhart, Leslie Cameron, Kateryna Sylaska, Dennis Munk and Arryn Robbins, Carthage College - What Should I Be Doing Now to Get Into Graduate School?
COD Faculty Members and Local Graduate Students - One Size Does Not Fit All: Supporting Diverse Student Needs with High-Impact Teaching
Practices
Sarah Grison, Parkland College - Gamification v2.0, What Have We Learned?
Patrick O’Connor, College of DuPage - TWOFERS! Interdisciplinary Co-teaching with Psychology
Christine Grela, McHenry County College
- Social Justice in the Classroom
Mary Kite, Scott Barrera, Kailah Glock, Steven Scally and Paulina Wojtach, Ball State University
Friday Night Live
Compelling Demonstrations for the Psychology Course
Sarah Butler, College of DuPage