Teaching & Advising Experiences & Approach
I am passionate about and committed to teaching and delivering quality programs. I have taught both substantive and methodological courses. At the undergraduate level, I have taught courses in statistics, health psychology, behaviour change, sports psychology, and personality psychology. At the graduate level, I have taught research methods, introductory statistics, and positive education. My classes have ranged in size from small-sized five to ten-week courses (12-40 students) to large 10-week lecture courses (150-300+ students). I have taught both in person and online, and both locally and abroad.
In my classes, I strive to bring relevant material, including theory, methods, and research findings, to life. I strive to connect with my students, create meaningful, practical learning experiences, and encourage them to take ownership for their own learning. I’ve successfully engaged students in both very practical subjects such as positive psychology, as well as statistics and research methods – topics that are often perceived as boring and inaccessible. I structure activities and assessments to be applicable to the students’ life experiences and future careers. I incorporate my own stories into lectures, take advantage of in-class discussions, and assign hands-on projects, and incorporate innovative approaches to engage my students in their learning, both within the classroom and well beyond. I challenge my students to become critical consumers of information that they read and hear, both in the classroom and in their daily lives. I also continually learn from my students, pushing my own knowledge and understanding of the research to deeper levels.
At the University of Melbourne, I primarily coordinate the Capstone subject as part of our Masters in Positive Psychology Program and coordinate our Professional Certificate in Positive Education Program. I have designed these subjects and programs in ways that lend themselves to applying positive psychology in the real world, especially within schools and workplaces. My subjects takes a system-based approach, focused on lasting methods of change, rather than simple feel-good exercises. Students have gone on to implement these projects in their role, bridging the research and practice nexus. For instance, building from the Capstone subject, several students presented posters on their projects at the 2015 and 2017 International Positive Psychology Association conferences. Several alumni were selected to present on their work at the 5th Australian Positive Psychology and Wellbeing Conference (September 2016, Adelaide). One student proposed “the benefit mindset”. I helped him publish a paper on the theory (Buchanan & Kern, 2017, International Journal of Wellbeing), and he is building a business on top of this idea (see http://www.benefitmindset.com/). One student built a training program to create sustainable change in performance and wellbeing (http://mindfuledge.com.au/). Another has developed an organisation that is creating collective change across community (www.projectthrive.com.au, see this clip for the impact of this project). Projects have resulted in several articles being published, multiple businesses started, and multiple successful PhD applications, amongst other outputs.
I am committed to nurturing the intellectual and professional growth of my students. In assessments, I provide extensive feedback. I believe that effective feedback goes well beyond a summative grade or indicating whether an assessment meets criteria set by a specified rubric – it is clear, meaningful, authentic, provides logical connections between what is known and where to go, dialogic in nature, and supports deep levels of learning. I expect a high standard of work and integrity from each of my students, but also contribute considerable time and energy into providing detailed feedback. Students have repeatedly indicated that they value the feedback that I provide.
I have supervised undergraduate, honours, Masters, and PhD level students. As a supervisor, I am supportive but also a constructive critic. For my first few years at UoM, I was limited in my ability to be a primary supervisor, due to needing to supervise a PhD student to completion (I have now successfully supervised several students to completion). Students that I am advising have published multiple peer reviewed journal articles.
Since coming to UoM, I have incorporated the expertise of my colleagues within MGSE to improve my pedagogy, further refining my skills as an educator. I developed a capstone subject that is consistently well regarded by students. I hold my students to a very high standard, and they respond by performing at exceptional levels. I have built a Professional Certificate program that is increasingly popular across Australia and internationally. I trial innovative approaches to teaching and learning, continually updating my material and pedagogy to provide a world class learning experience for students. Students clearly value and learn from my subjects, with excellence sustained over time.
I strongly value high quality teaching. I offer my skills, knowledge, encouragement, and guidance. I cater to different styles of learning and strive to help the students engage with the material, but the learning is ultimately up to them. I believe that the classroom should be more than a theater; students should work hard and then receive the grade they earn. I strive to connect with students and instill a love of learning that will help them to be successful both in their education and beyond. I look forward to continued opportunities to teach and guide the next generation of scholars.
In my classes, I strive to bring relevant material, including theory, methods, and research findings, to life. I strive to connect with my students, create meaningful, practical learning experiences, and encourage them to take ownership for their own learning. I’ve successfully engaged students in both very practical subjects such as positive psychology, as well as statistics and research methods – topics that are often perceived as boring and inaccessible. I structure activities and assessments to be applicable to the students’ life experiences and future careers. I incorporate my own stories into lectures, take advantage of in-class discussions, and assign hands-on projects, and incorporate innovative approaches to engage my students in their learning, both within the classroom and well beyond. I challenge my students to become critical consumers of information that they read and hear, both in the classroom and in their daily lives. I also continually learn from my students, pushing my own knowledge and understanding of the research to deeper levels.
At the University of Melbourne, I primarily coordinate the Capstone subject as part of our Masters in Positive Psychology Program and coordinate our Professional Certificate in Positive Education Program. I have designed these subjects and programs in ways that lend themselves to applying positive psychology in the real world, especially within schools and workplaces. My subjects takes a system-based approach, focused on lasting methods of change, rather than simple feel-good exercises. Students have gone on to implement these projects in their role, bridging the research and practice nexus. For instance, building from the Capstone subject, several students presented posters on their projects at the 2015 and 2017 International Positive Psychology Association conferences. Several alumni were selected to present on their work at the 5th Australian Positive Psychology and Wellbeing Conference (September 2016, Adelaide). One student proposed “the benefit mindset”. I helped him publish a paper on the theory (Buchanan & Kern, 2017, International Journal of Wellbeing), and he is building a business on top of this idea (see http://www.benefitmindset.com/). One student built a training program to create sustainable change in performance and wellbeing (http://mindfuledge.com.au/). Another has developed an organisation that is creating collective change across community (www.projectthrive.com.au, see this clip for the impact of this project). Projects have resulted in several articles being published, multiple businesses started, and multiple successful PhD applications, amongst other outputs.
I am committed to nurturing the intellectual and professional growth of my students. In assessments, I provide extensive feedback. I believe that effective feedback goes well beyond a summative grade or indicating whether an assessment meets criteria set by a specified rubric – it is clear, meaningful, authentic, provides logical connections between what is known and where to go, dialogic in nature, and supports deep levels of learning. I expect a high standard of work and integrity from each of my students, but also contribute considerable time and energy into providing detailed feedback. Students have repeatedly indicated that they value the feedback that I provide.
I have supervised undergraduate, honours, Masters, and PhD level students. As a supervisor, I am supportive but also a constructive critic. For my first few years at UoM, I was limited in my ability to be a primary supervisor, due to needing to supervise a PhD student to completion (I have now successfully supervised several students to completion). Students that I am advising have published multiple peer reviewed journal articles.
Since coming to UoM, I have incorporated the expertise of my colleagues within MGSE to improve my pedagogy, further refining my skills as an educator. I developed a capstone subject that is consistently well regarded by students. I hold my students to a very high standard, and they respond by performing at exceptional levels. I have built a Professional Certificate program that is increasingly popular across Australia and internationally. I trial innovative approaches to teaching and learning, continually updating my material and pedagogy to provide a world class learning experience for students. Students clearly value and learn from my subjects, with excellence sustained over time.
I strongly value high quality teaching. I offer my skills, knowledge, encouragement, and guidance. I cater to different styles of learning and strive to help the students engage with the material, but the learning is ultimately up to them. I believe that the classroom should be more than a theater; students should work hard and then receive the grade they earn. I strive to connect with students and instill a love of learning that will help them to be successful both in their education and beyond. I look forward to continued opportunities to teach and guide the next generation of scholars.