Teaching

Courses

I teach a variety of unique courses using different delivery methods (traditional lectures, project-based, online). Some of my courses include:

Human Factors in Transportation (PSY 448)
- This course focuses on human performance and human-machine design issues in flying and driving. In our highly mobile environment, the economic and emotional costs associated with transportation accidents and delays are staggering. We will consider how psychological principles can be applied to interface & system design, training & simulation and testing to improve these serious problems. Topics explored include (i) the effect of new technologies (e.g. cell phones and night vision goggles), stress and automation on human performance and (ii) analysis of specific cases of human error and possible.
  
  Sample Lecture - Driver Warnings
  (narrated powerpoint, 14.8MB)
  *to view, extract files and open "index.htm"

Human Factors in Sport (PSY 449)
- What allows a professional baseball player to tell a pitch is a fastball instead of a curveball? How does a golfer know which line to hit putt on a sloping green? Why do highly skilled and well-trained athletes often fail on relatively simple tasks such as shooting free throws or sinking a three-foot put? What is going on ‘between the ears’ when a players chokes? What is the best way to practice sports skills? This course examines how psychological principles can be applied to understand the behavior and enhance the performance of athletes and coaches. Particular topics that considered include (i) perceptual-motor skills research, (ii) training and motor learning, (iii) motivation and goal setting, (iv) attention, (v) imagery, and (vi) aggression.

Sample Lecture - Choking Under Pressure
(narrated powerpoint, 12MB)
*to view, extract files and open "index.htm"

This course explores how we pick-up and utilize information from our environment. In particular we will focus on how we use perceptual information to perform goal-directed actions such as hitting a baseball, driving a car, finding a friend in a crowd and rock climbing. We will also briefly explore actions performed by non-human animals (e.g. bat echolocation). In order to understand these complex tasks we first need to understand the information that is available and the receptors we have for receiving this information. Therefore, we will spend some time examining the physiology of the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin and the areas in the brain associated with these structures. We will then consider how we use information from our different senses to guide our behavior and how our behavior alters our perception of the environment.

I have had the great fortunate to work with an excellent group of graduate students including:

Brooke Castaneda (MS Applied Psychology) - Currently working for General Dynamics.
Christine Covas (MS Applied Psychology) - Currently a Research Scientist at Boeing and pursuing a Ph.D in Psychology.
Randy Gibb (PhD Industrial Engineering)- Currently a flight instructor at the Air Force Academy.
Rayka Mohebbi (MS Applied Psychology)- Currently working for the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Lisa Park ((MS Applied Psychology)- Currently working for the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Cassie Schroeder (MS Applied Psychology) - Currently working at Go Daddy