Teaching Philosophy Shaan Shahabuddin

I clearly remember I was listening to the song entitled Its goin down by hip-hop artist Yung Joc as I
pulled into the parking lot of my community college. This may have just been another rap song to most
people, but to me it was a flashbulb memory of my first day of college. I hopped out of my car and
trotted to my class as my jeans sagged below my waist and my extra-large sized Mark Ecko shirt
reached my mid-thighs. This was the effect of normative social influence that led to my choice of
clothing style. Little did I realize at the time, but taking my first psychology class would allow me to see
how most of my decisions (e.g., clothing style, music, brands) and my behaviors were affected by a
force outside of myself.
My teaching style consists of applying psychology concepts to everyday situations by using an
assortment of supplemental resources. My learning objective is for students to understand and appreciate
the field of psychology and to be able to use their skills and knowledge after completing my course in
their everyday lives.
Classroom Climate. On the first day of class, I play a few songs that are popular amongst 18-year olds
in order to break the silent awkwardness of students sitting next to an individual who they do not know
in a quiet classroom. When we get to the chapter on memory, I use retroactive and proactive interference
to explain why they may or may not have remembered the songs that I played on the first day of class. I
also create a Facebook page where students can request songs that they would like to be played before
the beginning of class. Class interaction, questions, and comments are mostly fostered by the climate of
the classroom. When my students are able to see that I am an enthusiastic individual who has similar
musical interest as them and truly cares about their opinions, they are more likely to disclose
information about their experiences.
Critical Thinking. Students generally take an introductory psychology class to fulfill their social science
credit in order to transfer to the college of their choice. With this in mind, I design my course so that
students can develop skills that they will be able to take with them to any major that they decide to
pursue, including applied degrees. I try to accomplish this goal by moving beyond examinations and
creating a classroom environment that is filled with a multitude of different assignments to foster active
learning, experiential learning, and critical thinking. First, my lectures tend to be interactive and filled
with open discussions where students have the opportunity to express their thoughts and opinions. I
begin my lecture on the chapter on the Science of Psychology by asking them a question: If a student
approached you outside of class and informed you that they have conducted research and found that
marijuana has shown to lead to higher exam grades, what questions would you ask this individual?
After a few chuckles, students raise their hands and answer How did he conduct this research?, How
many participants did he have in his sample?, Was this the participants first time using marijuana?,
etc. I then explain to my students that these are the same questions that they should ask themselves
whenever they read a journal article. By combining references from popular culture in my lecture
presentations, I believe students have greater interest in discussing their thoughts to the rest of the class.
Connecting Relevance of Course Material to Everyday Life. I am in support of applying course
material to everyday life to show students that psychology is experienced in all types of environments as
well as other fields of study. During my lecture on Sensation and Perception, I explain how material
from this chapter is taken from physics, biology, and marketing (I present studies on how certain scents
and tastes affect consumer behavior decisions). On the chapter on Cognition, I show Kahneman and
Tverskys (1979) model of prospect theory to explain framing effects and explain how this relates to the
field of economics. I make every effort to create a classroom environments that deviates beyond the
traditional format and motivates students interests in topics by using material from popular culture (e.g.,
film, current news, music, television shows), books that I have read during the past years (authors such
as Dan Ariely, Malcolm Gladwell, Elizabeth Dunn, Bary Schwartz, Stephen Dubner, Robert Cialdini,
and Ken Robinson), as well personal stories of instances where I have experienced certain concepts. To
further ingrain this concept into my students, I assign an applied topics paper assignment where students
need to pick a concept from class and write a short paper where they explain 1) how this concept has
made its way to a media source and 2) how they have personally experienced the concept in their own
life. It is through this assignment that students are able to see beyond the textbook and are able to
understand how psychology is applied to all situations.

Understanding the Science of Psychology. One of the common misconceptions that students have about
an introductory psychology course is that they believe they will learn how to analyze and counsel
individuals. It is my responsibility to break common myths, properly differentiate between the duties
and qualifications of psychologists and psychiatrists, and to teach students that psychology is a science.
To achieve this goal, I assign a psych experiment project where students work with a partner to conduct
their own research. After a set of survey questions has been created by them and approved by me, the
students hand out the surveys to their friends and peers to collect data. Students learn that they need to
first collect informed consent forms before any surveys are completed and they must then hand out
debriefing slips after data has been collected. At the end of the semester, all of the students present their
data accompanied by a brief literature review and limitations section, similar to how a researcher would
present their data at a conference. When students are able to conduct a scientific study by themselves on
topics that they find interesting is the point when they truly think critically and appreciate psychology as
a science.

Learning is often a two-way road, one in which the students learn about course material from the
instructor, and where the instructor learns about their own teaching style from the feedback of students.
As I teach students about social psychology, I myself learn about the new fads and trends that are
overpowering this generation. As I inform students about my memory of the music and fashion of my
early college years, I learn about the skinny jeans and slang terms such as turnt, lit, and savage. It
is with my enthusiasm for the subject matter, true care about the education of my students, and natural
curiosity about humans that makes me love my job and what I do. I hope a decade from now my
previous students can email me with a reference from a hip-hop song and use it as an explanation of how
a certain topic of psychology can be used to explain that song.

A model depicting my teaching philosophy is presented below: