Teaching psychology at ARU
Psychology lecturer Sharon Morein-Zamir describes her job at ARU, which involves teaching and research, and the University's approach to supporting its students and staff.
I teach on a few different modules and am also the Course Leader for MSc Research Methods in Psychology. I supervise research projects for MSc students and for undergraduates in their third year, and provide pastoral care for my personal tutees.
There are also a lot of administrative activities that take place behind the scenes to make sure everything ticks along as smoothly as possible. And of course there is research, which I am very passionate about. I am most interested in questions that are at the nexus between cognitive neuroscience, mental health and classic experimental psychology.
I came to work at ARU for several reasons, including mundane considerations like the location. But also because when I first learned of the position, I came to speak to the head of psychology at the time and got a sense of a nice, welcoming collegiate place.
There's great variety here. No two days are really quite the same and more often than not, they are completely different.
I am always trying to instil useful skills and attitudes that should serve students not only in short term, with their course, but also in the longer term – as a degree might last a year or three, but students’ professional life will last much much longer than that.
Students who work with me know I expect a lot from them (I tell them this quite plainly!), but even more from myself. In a way it is a partnership where we will work together to achieve whatever the goals are. By the end students know they will have gained a lot of knowledge and skills, but even more importantly they'll have gained confidence and an attitude that allows them to deal effectively with whatever the future may hold.
From a professional standpoint, I'm always having to push the boundaries of what I know and feel comfortable with, so in a way I am always learning, always a student of some sort.
ARU encourages everyone to ‘make the most’ of what they can, be it student or staff.
At ARU you see people from every sort of background and every sort of culture possible from within the UK, as well as people arriving from different countries across the planet. ARU will try to help you make the most your time here on an academic, but also personal, level.
Importantly, it is what you make of yourself that counts.