A Professor’s Perspective on Virtual Science Education: An Interview with Dr. Vicki Chanon
By Deep Upadhyay
Vicki W. Chanon, PhD is the Director of Undergraduate Psychology Research and Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. She received her PhD in Cognitive Psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill and teaches courses on various topics in the fields of cognitive psychology and neuroscience.
Q: Could you give some background on your work and why you decided to go into psychology and neuroscience?
A: In my senior year of high school, I had my first psychology class and thought it was really great, in part because of the excellent teacher. I then had a cognitive psychology class with another great instructor in undergrad and got involved in research through his lab. The first class I taught on my own in graduate school was Sensation and Perception (NSCI 225) which really gave me a passion for teaching and it remains my favorite class to teach. I did both graduate school and my postdoc at UNC, doing cognitive neuroscience research related to attention and then addiction. From there, I worked in industry doing user experience research before becoming a faculty member at UNC. I think having the cognitive and user experience background set me up well to think about how students learn and remember things. Over the past year, I have taught NSCI 222 (Learning), NSCI 225 (Sensation and Perception), PSYC 230 (Cognitive Psychology), and PSYC 330 (Intro to Cognitive Science). All of these have been asynchronous besides PSYC 330, which is synchronous.
Q: Many students are struggling with deciding their major or career path as a result of online learning. How can students explore your field and gain exposure given the current challenges posed by the pandemic?
A: I think there are still a lot of opportunities to get involved in research in psychology and neuroscience, which is a great way to learn about what is actually going on in the field and develop scientific critical thinking skills . In the fall, many fewer labs were taking research-for-credit students, but this spring we’re almost back to our normal numbers. While some of that is in-person, there’s a lot of remote work that can be done such as data analysis. But more importantly, students gain a lot from attending lab meetings and hearing graduate students talk about their work, even remotely. I think getting involved in independent study in any department or even just reaching out to volunteer is a great way to gain exposure since UNC has such strong research programs across the sciences.
Q: Are there any general challenges you’ve faced as an instructor due to online learning, and do you think there’s anything students can do from their end to help alleviate those challenges?
A: I have been volunteering at the UNC vaccine clinic and one person gave me their ID and asked if I was Dr. Chanon, and told me that they had been in my class last semester. I knew I recognized the name and could tell what caliber their work was, but I couldn’t recognize their face. My favorite part of my job was interacting with and getting to know my students and, particularly because I have to do asynchronous due to my own schedule, I have had much less interaction with my students. I’ve emphasized that I think it’s really important for students to introduce themselves (in office hours) and I had a lot of people take me up on it, and I think even just getting that first visit out of the way will make them more comfortable in coming back and establishing that interaction. I would also hope students give feedback to their professors, which I know can be hard with professors that may seem less approachable, but is very useful in improving online learning.
Q: Are there any specific strategies you’ve adopted over the past year to try and maintain student engagement?
A:I think breakout rooms do help a lot especially with explicit instructions so there’s a focused goal in the rooms. When you put students in breakout rooms, they’re a lot more inclined to turn on their videos and speak to their small groups, which I think is good. Using the Zoom reactions as quick check-ins has also been helpful, as well as having “chat buddies” where students are given partners. (This last idea was stolen from Dr. Kurt Gilliland on the “Remote Teaching Field Notes” website, which was compiled by the Center for Faculty Excellence and has a ton of great tips!) These are both translations of common in-person learning strategies I use, like having students give a quick thumbs-up or down based on a question and pair-sharing with the person sitting next to them. I’ve also done optional group office hours in my asynchronous classes, where we’ll answer questions, do some Kahoot or Poll Everywhere questions, and have discussions trying to provide more interaction because I know that’s what a lot of students are missing right now.
Q: What lessons do you think can be learned from the pandemic and applied to classes when instruction returns to the in-person format?
A: I definitely do feel that in the long run this experience of teaching online will improve pedagogy long-term because some weaknesses of course design are amplified online. One of them is organization, and I think having very clear guidelines and a clear organizational structure is immensely important. I’ve found myself strategically thinking about how I can make my course design as obvious and straightforward as possible for the student when designing my online classes, but these strategies can certainly translate to in-person design also. I’ve also found that with online recordings, you can see as an instructor exactly how much you are talking which has helped me think even more about how to break up any long stretches with a question or activity to improve engagement. I think those are the two biggest things that will be helpful for me when we return to in-person instruction.