Janie Wilson

Background

I earned my undergraduate degree with a major in psychology and a minor in English at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. While a senior there, one of my professors asked me if I planned to go to graduate school. I admit that I was surprised by the question and the idea. Not only had I given it pretty much no thought, I was not aware that a teacher would spend time considering my future! Dr. David Gentry convinced me that I was “graduate student material,” and I was flattered. I applied to one graduate school in experimental psychology: The University of South Carolina. Somehow I failed to realize that applying to only one school was bad idea, but luckily I was accepted (although I suspect I was on a waiting list for a while).

At USC, my entire outlook on education and life changed. I was excited by new ideas and independence as a thinker. I quickly began to do research with a few professors. I enjoyed running experiments, with the most exciting studies using rats. I loved the control offered by testing lower animals; humans were too variable! I conducted research on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome using a rat model and later completed my dissertation on the topic. In addition to becoming a researcher, I strengthened my writing skills and became pretty good at statistics. I also learned how to teach at USC because undergraduate courses were often taught by graduate students (unlike at Georgia Southern). Experience as a teacher led me to teach full time at Columbia College, a women’s college, during my final year in graduate school. In that year, I not only taught full time, but also finished my dissertation, and had a baby! Looking back, I am not sure what I was thinking, but all three endeavors turned out great.

Soon after the baby was born and while still teaching at Columbia College, I interviewed here and came to Georgia Southern University in the fall of 1994. I have never had a doubt that coming to Georgia Southern was the absolute best choice for me. I have never regretting my decision.

Teaching Philosophy
My teaching philosophy covers my general approach to teaching, but as an experimental psychologist, I value getting students involved in research. I want students to get excited about the research they can conduct, analyze, and write up in a professional manuscript. I think students are often surprised when they see what a great job they can do! Nearly every spring, I take students to a conference where they can present their research either in the form of a poster or paper presentation. They always represent Georgia Southern University well, and I am proud to help them get to that stage.

One of the resources students in our Psychology Department have is a strong research faculty and interesting research labs. In my physiological psychology lab, I invite students to get involved in research. In the past, I have been fortunate to have an NSF teaching laboratory funded with co-PI Dr. Dan Webster, also of the Psychology Department. More recently, an NIMH grant provided additional equipment that is available to students who want to conduct research in physiological psychology. Students can sign up for Research Experience, Directed Study, or Directed Research to work closely with a faculty member. Getting involved in research is crucial.

Finally, I publish my own research, and I think it is helpful to students to hear about the process. I regularly ask students for feedback on manuscripts that I am writing and let them know when manuscripts are accepted or rejected. Although my main line of research involves social buffering during stress, my second line of research is teaching. I conduct studies on building rapport with students and the importance of the first day of class. Students often relate well to the teaching research and seem to enjoy talking about it. In two of my Senior Research courses, the topic for the class was teaching; students enjoyed designing studies to examine some aspect of teaching. Many of them became so excited about their projects and results that they expressed surprise that research was fun!

Regardless of which courses are on my schedule each term, I love to teach. My primary goal is to help students learn, but that certainly is not my only goal. The path to learning must be responsible, respectful, and paved with integrity.

As for the pure learning part, sometimes that comes from lecture, and other times it comes from more active learning on the part of students. I tend to lecture a lot; as a result, I’ve worked for many years to present information enthusiastically and seasoned with fun examples and even personal stories. Students seem to respond well to this kind of lecture. For a long time, I felt like a successful teacher because students in the class generally paid attention, smiled, nodded their heads, and seemed engaged in the lecture. But I am reconsidering. Recently, I spent a lot of time in Athens as part of the Governor’s Teaching Fellowship. We discussed ways to be a better teacher, with an emphasis on student learning. We went through exercises in workshops and often played the role of students. During one of these exercises, I finally understood that active learning actually may help students recall more information. Therefore my current goal is to create more opportunities for student involvement.

No matter how I end up teaching in the years to come, I know that the path to learning must be honorable. In the classroom and in my research, I focus on respect and kindness as the best way to create a meaningful and perhaps useful relationship between teacher and students. In other words, if my classroom environment is one of disrespect, then learning has less value. In addition, I ask students to respect themselves by taking responsibility for their own choices. For example, a student who catches the flu and chooses to stay home and recover rather than turn in a homework assignment has made a good choice. But I would argue that it is then dishonorable to expect me (or any teacher) to take away all negative consequences of that choice. In my class, the homework grade is a zero, but the student’s choice was a good one! (I should note here that my syllabi do state that I drop at least one homework grade during the term.)

When students are willing to work hard and take personal responsibility, they learn. And the students at Georgia Southern University are motivated, kind, and helpful. I have enjoyed working with them all these years and look forward to many more.

Contact Information
E-mail: jhwilson@georgiasouthern.edu
Webpage: http://personal.georgiasouthern.edu/~jwilson