Jonathan S. Gore, PhD

Despite having specific objectives in each course, all of my classes have common goals. My primary goal when teaching is to make the material personally relevant to my students’ lives and interests. I consider the class a success when my students can find their own real-world examples of concepts and identify current events that demonstrate a concept they learned in the classroom. Another common goal for students in my courses is to become better consumers of psychological research. I encourage a healthy amount of skepticism in the classroom after I teach them about the common pitfalls of both professional and pop psychological research. In every course, I assign at least one APA journal article for them to read so that they can see the type of work done by professional psychologists and appreciate the amount of effort it takes to get one’s work published.

 

All of my classes also involve a large degree of writing, including the revisions of drafts. This is the primary reason why most of my undergraduate courses are designated as writing intensive. I believe that this is a very important component to students’ education, but it does not receive the proper attention. I believe that writing well requires an eye for detail and a willingness to improve upon one’s paper, which is why I require all students in all classes to provide at least one paper that has undergone a write-and-revise process. I have taught, and hope to continue to teach, students from multiple backgrounds and with various experiences. I welcome ideas from any of my students and appreciate each of the distinct characteristics they bring to the class. I always do my best to continue to challenge the students who find the coursework easy, and to nurture the students who find the material difficult. I always try to be one of the best teachers the students have had in their college experience, but I am continually looking for ways to improve.