Teaching

Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy revolves around three central themes: 1) the classroom should be a safe environment for students to learn, 2) learning needs to be real, relevant, and relatable, and 3) learning needs to be active and engaging.

Teaching Experience

Graduate Instructor – New Mexico State University

  • Sexual Behaviors — SP 2021, FA 2021
  • Introduction to Psychology — FA 2020

Graduate Teaching Assistant – New Mexico State University

  • Sexual Behaviors — FA 2021, SP 2019
  • Abnormal Psychology — SU 2021                    
  • Introduction to Psychology — SP 2021, FA 2018, SP 2018, FA 2017                      
  • Psychology and the Brain — SU 2020, SP 2020                     
  • Experimental Methods — SP 2020
  • Developmental Psychology: Conception through Childhood — SP 2019                        
  • Emotion — FA 2018                        
  • Evolutionary Psychology — SP 2018                        
  • Psychology of Personality — FA 2017                            

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant – University of Hawai’i at Mānoa

  • Marriage and Relationships in Pop Culture (Online) — FA 2015                            

Summary of Teaching Evaluations

PSYC 201G: Introduction to Psychology – Fall 2020 (Online Asynchronous)

* Numeric teaching evaluations were not used for this course. *

To the questions of “How did your learning benefit from your feeling welcomed, respected, and treated fairly? students replied:

  • “I felt my idea were always encouraged to be shared and I feel like the quality of my work was better cause of it.”
  • “In this class, I felt welcomed and respected. The way the professor communicated was positive and effective. Assignments were good. “

To the questions of “How did your learning benefit from feeling the instructor wanted you to succeed in the course?” students replied:

  • “I felt as though the instructor’s support made it more helpful for me to succeed in the course. It made me more interested in the topics we were learning and look more into them so I would have a better understanding.”
  • “I felt that my instructor always gave me back positive constructive criticism in a timely manner and always helped clarify if I had any confusion with assignments.”

To the questions of “How did your learning benefit from feeling communication from the instructor was positive, timely, and meaningful (e.g. in class, office hours, discussion, etc.)?” students replied:

  • “While I was having personal issues, my professor was extremely helpful and flexible with allowing me a longer deadline to submit my assignments.”
  • “I was able to answer questions freely and talk to her in a very constructive way.”

PSYC 324: Sexual Behaviors –  Spring 2021 (Online Synchronous)

How would you grade this course on the following? Instructor response averages (out of 5).
Organization4.86
Content4.79
Clarity of course objectives4.81
Usefulness of course syllabus4.78
Overall Grade4.71
How would you grade the instructor on the following characteristics? Instructor response averages (out of 5).
Enthusiasm4.62
Attitudes toward students4.82
Ability to covey knowledge of subject4.74
Availability during office hours4.92
Fair grading4.72
Impartial grading4.71
Overall Grade4.75

To the questions of “What I liked most about this course was:” students replied:

  • “I think the subjects were very interesting and I liked that we were given a presentation on a research study on one of the topics we were learning about. It made it relatable to real life and real people.”
  • “I liked how comfortable I was talking about a sensitive subject because Ashley made me comfortable.”
  • “I liked that I felt as if I could say my opinion or share my thoughts without being judged.”
  • “All the extra sources of information the professor used helped me understand the material much better. I also enjoyed the polls on Thursday’s class also aided in learning.”
  • “The course overall reached many topics, some of which I haven’t learned and deals with sensitive topics in a meaningful and responsible way.”

To the questions of “What I liked most about this instructor was:” students replied:

  • “The teacher was always readily available to the students of the class. Even staying after class times and still holding office hours for the students to ask questions. Overall, I feel there was no better instructor for this course.”
  • “I liked how friendly she was. She was super nice and made me feel comfortable in the class. The class was never just serious and was fun, interesting, and “teen”/ early adult friendly.”
  • “She is very sweet, mature, and makes everyone feel safe. The topics can be uncomfortable for some, and it was very nice knowing she wasn’t there to judge but to teach us.”
  • “I loved that she took time to tell if a certain topic was going to be uncomfortable and gave the option to step out for a bit.”
  • “She is very willing to do more research on other subjects that still pertain to the course brought up by students.”