Aubrey Immelman
Associate Professor of Psychology
Student research is a concept that continues to grow at CSB/SJU.
As part of the coordinate strategic plan – to increase
faculty-student collaboration in scholarly and artistic works –
students often encounter research opportunities throughout their
coursework. Aubrey Immelman, associate professor of psychology,
consistently devotes his time to doing research and other scholarly
or creative projects and believes “student research has both
instrumental and intrinsic value in undergraduate education.”
In the area of psychology, student research is instrumental in
the sense that it is often a prerequisite for admission to Ph.D.
programs. “It [student research] is also useful for students who
enter the labor market directly upon graduation, because it
documents a prospective employee’s ability to work independently,
think analytically, collect and analyze data and communicate
results,” said Immelman.
A more profound impact, noted by Immelman, is the intrinsic value
of student research in a liberal education, as it nourishes some of
the most fundamental human needs relevant to learning and personal
development — namely curiosity and achievement motives, which
energize disciplined inquiry and the strive for excellence. “I teach
my students to be distrustful of simple explanations for human
behavior, that behavior has multiple causes.”
Immelman introduces these ideas of questioning, curiosity and
challenging theories early on in his students’ coursework. In
reference to Introduction to Psychology, which Immelman notes is his
favorite course to teach, he says, “By the time students finish my
class, I hope they’re fascinated by the complexity of human behavior
and mental processes, able to ask good questions, more ready to
solve complex problems and better equipped to become self-motivated
lifelong learners.”
In his dedication to student research, Immelman has assisted
countless students in publishing journal articles, presenting papers
at professional meetings, presenting posters at student research
conferences, publishing newspaper articles and writing research
papers. In 1999, Immelman established the Unit for the Study of Personality
in Politics (USPP), a faculty-student collaborative project with
the mission of conducting psychological assessments of candidates
for political office and disseminating the findings to
professionals, the national media and the public.
His work in the USPP has been recognized both in academic circles
(invited chapter in the “Personality and Social Psychology” volume
of Wiley’s forthcoming 12-volume Handbook of Psychology) and by
media professionals (two Society of Professional Journalists awards
for empirically based political analysis conducted in collaboration
with students.)
View Aubrey Immelman’s Web
page. |
