Psychology Faculty Members at the RMPA 2018 Photo Booth
Brian Burke, PhD
Personnel Action File
Department of Psychology
Fort Lewis College
2013-2018
AUTHOR’S NOTES:
This PAF highlights my
professional achievements since being promoted to Full Professor at FLC only, which was
awarded based on my PAF submitted in 2013.
PAF CONTENTS
(1)
Current Curriculum Vitae (left side folder)
(2) Brian’s self-evaluation of:
(a) Teaching
(i) What were Brian’s major accomplishments during
the review period, including changes in teaching philosophy?
(ii)
What does Brian plan to achieve during the next review period?
(iii) Supporting documentation,
including:
·
Course syllabi
·
A list of courses
taught since the most recent review
·
One example of
how student performance is evaluated for each course
·
Summary of
student evaluations of teaching (written and/or numerical) for each course
taught.
(b) Scholarship
(i) What were Brian’s major accomplishments during
the last review period?
(ii)
What does Brian plan to achieve during the next review period?
(iii) Supporting documentation
of work not reflected on the
curriculum vitae
(c) Service
(i) What were Brian’s major accomplishments during
the last review period?
(ii)
What does Brian plan to achieve during the next review period?
(iii) Supporting documentation
for service activities, if available
3) Written evaluations from all
previous years and all levels of review in
current rank (N/A)
Brian’s Teaching Self-Evaluation (2013-2018)
I have worked hard to avoid a post-promotion lag and maintain my “dog energy”
throughout my 5+ years after being promoted to Full Professor at FLC
(definition: the hyperactive, never-ending power supply often characteristic of
a canine creature). In terms of teaching, I have prepared and taught 9 different courses, planned a regional teaching conference,
and continued my fervent mission to offer opportunities for many of our undergraduate
students to use psychology on campus, in the community, and in state hospitals
and prisons, as well as to present their research at professional conferences. My
unwavering dedication to teaching is further exemplified
by my scholarship in that realm, my annual attendance at teaching-related
conferences, and my consistently strong teaching evaluations.
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
As I learn from my colleagues and
mature as an educator, I have refined my pedagogical philosophy as VOICE to
include greater emphasis on teaching students how to think critically as well
as how they come across to other people. In addition, pedagogical research
shows that students are motivated to engage in
learning when they view information, activities, and assignments as relevant,
feel emotionally connected to the course content, and experience positive
interactions with their professor (Lukowiak
& Hunzicker, 2013). Accordingly, here is my current
teaching philosophy:
V.O.I.C.E.
V=Valuable to the student’s life – I encourage
students to apply course concepts to their own life situations, such as in my Positive
Psychology class when they complete a “Life Application Project” or the
personal journaling and therapy they do throughout Counseling Skills.
O=Organized – I am explicit with students on classroom expectations,
assignments, and grading via clear syllabi and instructions as well as use of
canvas; in addition, I structure class time productively.
I=Interpersonal learning – In accordance with an article I wrote in the APS Observer called “Beyond the Grade,”
I give students feedback on how they come across to others in class, and foster
a healthy interpersonal space in the classroom. I want students to learn more about
themselves in my classes.
C=Critical thinking – In classes like Abnormal or Forensic Psychology, I
want my students to evaluate claims and make decisions such as which therapy is
most effective for specific disorders or which lineup policy yields the most
accurate eyewitness identifications in court.
E=Engagement – I create regular opportunities for students to connect not
just with me but with each other, such as by doing
jigsaw or collaborative case study assignments. As an example, students
participate in a mock classroom trial in Forensic Psychology in which they play
roles ranging from jurors to lawyers and expert witnesses.
COURSE EVALUATIONS
Now
that I have received well over a thousand course evaluations in my career at
FLC, the evidence suggests that I am engaging in what the FLC Faculty Handbook
terms “successful teaching.” My evaluations from this review period are similar
to those from my previous review periods at FLC, averaging around 4.8/5. I can also
delineate clear patterns in my evaluations in which the majority of students
express appreciation for the elements of my VOICE teaching philosophy: my
organization, use of various media, engagement/passion, critical thinking
activities, and the value of the course material to the students’ own lives
outside of the classroom. Here are some recent student comments supporting each
element of VOICE:
V
= “The field school is an excellent opportunity that not many undergrads get,
and having this real world experience is invaluable.”
O = “Always on time and has his PowerPoints and videos set up before class. I
usually come to class 15 mins early and Dr. Burke is
already there or comes on right after me.”
I = “I know everyone in class and some of their most treasured memories as well
as some of their darkest secrets. I cannot think of a more positive and safe
environment.”
C = “I really like all of the class engagement and real-world examples. Really
helps to think about a topic in several different ways.”
E = “This has been the most engaging class I’ve had at the Fort.”
As my teaching philosophy
changes and my goal of interpersonal learning strengthens, I do notice that not
all students are happy with me in the short-term. For instance, I no longer
give in to the “angry 2%” (a small percentage of our students who are overly
demanding and entitled), but instead hold them accountable for their actions in
order to maintain a more balanced and equitable classroom environment for the
other 98% of students. Research shows that students’ sense of entitlement is
increasing (Greenberger et al., 2008), yet I have a duty to protect the rest of
the class from the small percentage who think that it is their right to come to
class at whatever time they deem appropriate. Landrum, Hettich,
& Wilner (2010) delineated college-level
activities that best help prepare our students for the workforce; among those
were “being on time for class” and “limiting absenteeism,” thus indicating the
sound value of having a firm lateness and participation policy that encourages
students to come to class consistently and punctually.
HIGH IMPACT PRACTICES
In line with increasing the
impact of my teaching and as mentioned by President Stritikus
at the 2018 Faculty Retreat, I have emphasized High-Impact Educational
Practices (HIPs; Kuh, 2008) throughout this review
period. HIPs are teaching and learning practices that have been widely tested
and shown to be beneficial for college students from diverse backgrounds, and
include (1) mentored research, (2) internships, and (3) community service.
(1) In the last few years, the Psychology Department has revised our curriculum
and developed a new course called Senior Research Experience, a capstone class
that features mentored research and has become one of our signature offerings.
In teaching this class, I have been able to take 3-7 students each year to
present their work at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association (RMPA)
annual convention.
(2) In 2015, I had the
opportunity to take over Dr. Tom Skurky’s Field
School in Psychology course, which I moved from California to the Front Range
of Colorado. With Provost Peters’ assistance, I was able to expand this class
from 5 to 10 students, with sites currently at the
Colorado Mental Health Institute (CMHIP) in Pueblo and the Denver County Jail;
students get to be part of the treatment team at both sites and assist with
intakes, group therapy, and case review meetings for a multicultural client
population.
(3) Regarding the third HIP
above—community service—our new curriculum now gives us the ability to teach service learning courses (Psyc
311), which I have done each Fall in my motivational interviewing (MI)
practicum. In this class, students learn and then apply this evidence-based
treatment on campus (e.g., Housing) and in the Durango community. In addition, Dr.
Wrona’s Health Psychology students experience MI by
having a personal session around their health goals with one of my MI service learning students. As an example of the high impact
of our practical offerings (HIPs), we have many Native American students who
have taken MI and related skills back to their communities and contributed to
substance abuse programs and family counseling.
In addition, I have been able
to take 12 FLC students to study abroad in Chile (2014), with a course in
Brazil planned for Summer 2019. In Summer
2018, I was the first faculty member to join a Peak Experiences pre-orientation
backpacking trip with 11 FLC students, spending 5 days bonding in the Weminuche Wilderness.
Due to FLC’s
increasing emphasis on e-learning and our mission to enhance the quality and
variety of our offerings in that realm, I plan to become certified as an online
course designer and develop an online version of abnormal psychology, a popular
class that is of interest to students in many health-related fields in and beyond
the psychology department, including Public Health and Exercise Science.