Teaching

I began my teaching career as a high school chemistry teacher in New York City. After completing my doctorate at the University of Connecticut, I taught psychology at the State University of New York at Potsdam, Trenton State College (now the College of New Jersey), and Utah State University. I left Utah State University to become a development team director in the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development (Berkeley, CA). Upon leaving the laboratory I joined the School of Education at the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1971 and have been here ever since.

Prior to my tenure at the University of Colorado, I taught undergraduate and graduate courses in social and developmental psychology, along with a course in general psychology. Since coming to the University of Colorado, I have taught in the Psychology and History Departments. As a faculty member in the School of Education, my major teaching load has been in educational and adolescent psychology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition I have taught courses in experimental design and special education at the graduate level. The latter is an outgrowth of my parenting a handicapped child. Besides my university work, I have served on a number of boards for the developmentally disabled, including a sheltered workshop, and the Boulder County Developmental Disabilities Center (now IMAGINE!).

Courses frequently taught:

EDUC 4112: Educational Psychology and Adolescent Development
This course covers a number of areas of psychology relevant to instruction, including learning, motivation, development, intelligence, individual differences, diversity, personality disorders, and measurement. Specific topics relevant to adolescents include theoretical mores, physical distinction, sexuality, family problems, alienation, drugs, and ethnicity.

EDUC 6318: Psychological Foundations of Education
The course surveys results of psychological inquiry and emphasizes application to educational practices. Major topics include learning, cognitive processes, motivation, development, individual differences, exceptionality, and adolescent behavior and problems.

EDUC 5485: Teaching Exceptional Children in the Regular Classroom
This course explicates the physiological and psychological correlates of various types of disabilities, including mental retardation, learning disabled, attention deficit disorders, brain trauma, emotional and behavioral problems, hearing and visual impairment, and physical disabilities. The educational strategies relevant to these disorders are also presented.