By Tianyu (Iris) Xu, Class of 2025*
Dr. Chia-Chien (Eric) Chen is an assistant professor of neuroscience at Duke Kunshan University (DKU). He received his Ph.D. in psychology from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York. Prof. Chen teaches PSYCH 203: Developmental Psychology, BEHAVSC 205: Circuits and Systems, and PSYCH 205: Abnormal Psychology at DKU. As a Behavioral Science major student, I took PSYCH 203 in the spring of 2023, where I honed disciplinary and generally transferable skills that could apply to my future career. In this course, I was trained not only to link psychological theories with real-life cases but also to practice critical thinking skills and integrative capabilities through various in-class activities and assignments.
This teaching story recognizes Prof. Chen’s endeavor to help students master and fortify their disciplinary and broadly transferable skills in his courses, exerting a far-reaching influence on their competence in the future workplace.
Increasing Student Cognitive Engagement in Class
Prof. Chen always aspires for his students to apply developmental psychology theories to their daily life issues. As exemplified in one class, he elaborated on how to relate the attachment theory to real-world cases. Attachment theory stipulates that children who lack emotional fulfillment from their caregivers at a young age tend to develop psychological deficiencies in their future lives (Bowlby, 1969). For example, these children, who grew up in an emotionally neglected environment, are prone to excessively seeking or devotedly expressing love in intimate relationships. Armed with this theory from Prof. Chen’s courses, students can now recognize these patterns in the experiences of their friends and offer targeted suggestions to help navigate such dilemmas.
Notably, in both PSYCH 203 and PSYCH 205, Prof. Chen follows a structured in-class discussion format where he initiates the discourse with theory explanations, extends the topic to the association between theoretical frameworks and social environments, and conducts group discussions centered around relevant individual experiences. According to Windschitl (1999), designing constructivist learning activities such as structured discussions can reinforce students’ ability to connect the theories with their previous experiences and cultural backgrounds and further solidify their knowledge. Students who have taken Prof. Chen’s courses echo that discussions contextualized or related to students’ experiences are fertile ground for them to better comprehend the concepts.
In addition, Prof. Chen designed in-class debates to intellectually engage students in the comprehension of disciplinary content. Through debates, he intended to cultivate students’ critical thinking and empathy skills (Kennedy, 2007) that could be easily transferred to the workplace.
For example, in his developmental psychology course, the debate activity requires students to identify scholarly evidence to support their arguments. Moreover, students are expected to enhance their on-the-spot performance and seek ways to challenge their opponents in a friendly manner, thereby creating a respectful and inclusive classroom environment.
Using Assessment for Skill Transfer
Research shows that students who are reflective practitioners are more outstanding in career development (Clegg et al., 2002). In Prof. Chen’s course, he purposefully designed the term paper assignment as a follow-up to the in-class debate and asked students to reflect on their positions and arguments. Taking this assignment as an opportunity, students could reconsider their positions after listening to the opposing side and logically integrate the arguments from both sides. Sometimes, students acquire fresh perspectives from opposing or different angles, which enables them to perceive the subject of discussion from a more comprehensive standpoint.
One student who has taken developmental psychology appreciates that “this assignment boosts my ability to grasp the argument and supporting evidence from the opposite side. Additionally, I have the opportunity to reconsider my position and offer convincing evidence based on what I have experienced during the in-class debate.”
According to Prof. Chen, students are encouraged to identify and resolve the conflicting perspectives in the term paper assignment. Ideally, students can come up with a more unifying theory that encompasses both sides.
Another assessment component that cultivates students to be independent learners is quizzes on the weekly asynchronous materials. For one thing, this approach offers students great flexibility to engage in learning with various resources (Amiti, 2020). This approach suits the diverse learning needs of students. For instance, those with prior knowledge of developmental psychology can tailor their learning experience by referring to the video nodes set by Prof. Chen in recorded videos. Other students who have not been exposed to developmental psychology before can bolster their knowledge by using features such as pausing the video, adjusting the playback speed, or opening the subtitles. Additionally, this self-learning is assessed by low-stakes quizzes. With immediate feedback, students can examine their learning progress and consolidate their knowledge.
“I want to equip my students with self-learning skills in the hope that they can transition to their future workplace faster,” explained Prof. Chen. Hence, he offered the opportunity for his students to practice this self-learning skill.
References
Amiti, F. (2020). Synchronous and asynchronous E-learning. European Journal of Open Education and E-Learning Studies, 5(2).
Bowlby J (1969). Attachment and Loss, Vol. 1: Attachment. London: Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis.
Clegg, S., Tan, J., & Saeidi, S. (2002). Reflecting or acting? Reflective practice and continuing professional development in higher education. Reflective Practice, 3(1), 131-146.
Kennedy, R. (2007). In-class debates: Fertile ground for active learning and the cultivation of critical thinking and oral communication skills. International Journal of Teaching & Learning in Higher Education, 19(2).
Windschitl, M. (1999). The challenges of sustaining a constructivist classroom culture. Phi Delta Kappan, 80, 751-757.
*About the author:
Tianyu (Iris) Xu, Class of 2025, an Undergraduate Student Partner for Teaching and Learning, at Duke Kunshan University, majoring in Behavioral Science/ Psychology. She is interested in the field of education. Before joining CTL to learn more about teaching and learning, she explored several branches related to this field, including internships at an international school and a Chinese NGO. She is also the founder of DKU Youngsters (Charity Group). Her current research interests revolve around innovative schools in China.