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Bruce
Goldstein, Psychology, says his enthusiasm about his field
motivates him “in ways that inspire my teaching.”
Students comment that he seems genuinely excited about
the course material (even after more than 30 years of teaching
at Pitt) and continuously seeks ways to make this material
exciting for them as well.
 According
to Goldstein, there is no mystery to effective teaching.
“Serious preparation is the key.
I spend a lot of time being sure that, before I’m
standing in front of the class, I’m very clear about how I’m
going to present the material.”
The importance of preparation was conveyed to him years
ago when he was working on a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard
and sat in on a class taught by his sponsor, the renowned
biologist Dr. George Wald, who, in addition to being a Nobel
prize winner, was well-known for teaching a course called
Biology for Non-Biologists.
Goldstein recalls that Wald, who had been named by Time
magazine as one of the top 10 teachers in America, “appeared
to be talking extemporaneously in a way that made the subject
come alive. But one
day I was in his office and saw his lecture notes neatly laid
out on the table. I
peeked at them and, much to my surprise, saw all of that
‘extemporaneous’ material right there in his notes.
So that’s what Wald was doing when he sequestered
himself in his office before class.
He was going over his notes, even though he had been
teaching the course for 10 years!
I always remember how wonderful Wald’s lectures were
and how, by putting so much effort into preparing for them, he
made lecturing look easy. I
have never forgotten that, before you can present material in a
spontaneous, relaxed manner, you have to be highly organized and
prepared.”
Student
Perspectives
Chancellor Nordenbert cited Goldstein for being a
“spokesperson for undergraduates,” Goldstein is director of
the Undergraduate Program in Psychology.
This program has more than 600 majors (the most of any
program at Pitt), and also serves many non-major undergraduates.
Goldstein
says he seeks ways to make certain that courses are in place to
meet the needs of students.
He works closely with the department advising office,
which has expanded its programs to include an effort to give
students a sense of community: “It’s hard to develop a
sense of community in a large program, but it’s important.
We’re always looking for ways to serve students.
Sometimes we get groups of students together and
encourage them to talk about the things they feel they need.
In fact, that’s how we learned that students need to
feel that they’re more a part of a community.”
This “supportive environment” that is cited
by the Chancellor extends beyond the classroom—he constantly
strives to learn more about how he can better serve students.
For example, last year he sat in on a colleague’s class
to prepare for his first term of teaching a particular course in
cognitive psychology. “I
did this mainly to get some good notes and observe how he
presented concepts and did demonstrations, but the main payoff
turned out to be something I never expected.
As the term progressed, I became transformed from a
professor into a student. I
viewed the lecture as a student, noting what was effective and
what wasn’t. The
ultimate transformation came when I decided to take the mid-term
exam. As I started
studying, I found myself becoming very concerned, not with how
interesting the material was or how it applied to my life
(things that as a professor I’m always hoping students will be
thinking about), but with what I needed to study to get a good
grade on the exam. The
experience of sitting in on this course, and especially what I
experienced around exam time, has greatly increased my
appreciation for the student point of view and has had a
positive effect on my teaching.”
Reaction
Papers
Goldstein has various
ways of trying to get students not only to learn the material,
but also to change their preconceptions as they reflect on how
the material relates to their own lives.
In smaller classes he uses “reaction papers” in which
students are asked to give specific examples that explain how a
topic relates to their lives.
“Instead of just walking away from the experience, it
makes them go deeper into what the experience actually meant to
them. Another
benefit is that it gives me feedback about what they are
thinking and where to go next with the course.”
In large courses such as Introduction to Psychology with
500 students, Goldstein’s philosophy is “What happens in the
first two classes sets the tone for the whole semester.
So during the first classes I set up situations where
students feel comfortable giving me feedback.
This gives them the idea that it’s perfectly o.k. to
raise their hands and talk.
It seems to work. This
year I’m teaching a class in Benedum Auditorium (School of
Engineering), and I have a student who sits in the
last row of the balcony but still raises his hand to
respond to questions.” He
also uses student “feedback cards” which he shares
anonymously in order to encourage students to share thoughts
without a sense of risk. (More
of his active learning strategies were shared in a Teaching
Times article in March
2000)
Goldstein holds regular office hours in the Commons Room
of the Cathedral of learning, finding that the atmosphere there
is more “relaxing” than his office and encourages students
to stop in with questions.
He also gets some “walk-in trade” as students from
previous semesters stop by to say “Hello.”
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