Psychology – JonWestfall.com

Easy Class Participation Tracking, Grading, Rubric Generation, and More with Excel

byJon Westfall January 24, 2020 Psychology Teaching Tips Technology

One of my classes this semester requires me to track how often students speak in class, and evaluate each comment. I also have students leading discussion, and I need to be able to generate completed rubrics easily for them so they get my feedback. I’ve found that I can keep…

Entry and Exit Tickets in Google Forms / Sheets – Flexible and Fun

byJon Westfall October 28, 2019 Psychology Teaching Tips Technology

Last week I attended a workshop on Differential Education, and realized that I’m already doing something very “differential-ly” – starting this semester in my General Psychology class. Students do a five minute entry ticket each day upon coming into class, and a five minute exit ticket on the way out.…

ProfLife – Being Productive Out of the Office

byJon Westfall April 3, 2019 Personal Psychology Teaching Tips Technology

One of the great things about being a professor is that we’re essentially trained to be project managers – people who are specialists in a given topic area but also trained through graduate school to be self-sufficient. It surprises many to learn that when I’m assigned a course to teach,…

The Political Obsession

byJon Westfall May 21, 2017 Psychology

Recently a friend posted an article to Facebook about a colossally stupid thing two individuals did. The story wasn’t important, although it was interesting within it’s context. What I found really interesting was the first comment, which read “I bet they voted for Trump!”. Given our political climate in the…

You Found Me! (Your Weird Professor)

byJon Westfall August 20, 2016 Psychology

Each year I try to write something on my blog right before school starts up again. This past week has been pretty crazy as I juggle multiple roles while making sure everything is set for Monday when I step back into the classroom for the first time since the end…

Spanking is Wrong for These Three Reasons

byJon Westfall May 4, 2016 Psychology

As a psychologist, I often am asked questions related to children, child rearing, and development. One comment I often get from students and parents alike is that they disagree with most experts on spanking. They believe it is an effective form of punishment and (in some cases) have told me that they will not change their mind. I figured today I’d take some time to explain the reasons why spanking is wrong, giving you a chance to think about them and debate.

How Are You Doing?

byJon Westfall April 9, 2016 Psychology

Last week I was in New Orleans with students for a conference, as I mentioned in my last post. However I left out one of my encounters from that night – a conversation I had with a man named Koolio, which started over a simple question: “How are you doing?”

Defying Classification

byJon Westfall March 31, 2016 Psychology

I’m writing this post, the first in over a month (my bad!) from a hotel room in New Orleans. I’m down here for the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) conference, having brought with me 5 of my undergraduate students from Delta State. The conference seems to be having the desired effect…

Why Academics Need Branding

byJon Westfall July 15, 2015 Psychology

Today, many professors share the same responsibilities as our counterparts in other industries. We need to answer emails, attend mandatory HR trainings, and have conversations about recruitment, retention, and image. But one thing we don’t usually have is the staple of many in the working world: An ID badge to…

When Humans Make it LESS Creepy

byJon Westfall June 22, 2015 Psychology

I was born in the forgotten generation – those not quite old enough to be Gen X, but those definitely too young to be a Millenial, an era some have called the Oregon Trail Generation. As such, I share some traits with either generation, and have some unique ones of…