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Teaching |
| Cognitive Psychology (345) | |
| Thinking (245) | |
| History of Psychology (428) | |
| Office Hours and schedule | |
| Research Interests | |
| My Dog | |
| Class Projects | |
| Educational History | |
| Keith Millis, Associate Professor | |
| Hobbies | |
| Phone: 815-753-7087 | Discourse and Technology |
| e-mail: kmillis@niu.edu | |
| office: 320 Psychology building |
I have learned that active learning and collaborative
projects bring out the best in students. We all want to know why the
information in our text books is important. I have found that it is
my role as an instructor to allow the students to discover the importance
of the materials for themselves. Consequently, in addition to lecturing,
I give students opportunities to learn in an active and unique ways.
For example, students in my cognitive class constructed a museum
which allowed visitors to discover principles of cognition in an engaging
way. Students in my history class also made the History of the
Mind and Body Museum and also the History
of Psychology Web. In addition, my students have written magazines that showcase their learning as well as
their creativity. Students have also collaborated with another class
to write an edited book on cognition.
We all learn by doing and I want my students to learn in a fun yet effective
manner.
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 to 12:00; 2:00 - 2:30; call 815-753-0372 to make an appt.
My office is room 320 of the Psychology building.
| Class | Meeting times |
| Cognitive Psychology | Mondays 6:00 - 8:40 |
I am interested in language comprehension, memory,
technology, and experimental aesthetics. I have examined the impact
of text devices (e.g., conjunctions), individual differences, prior knowledge,
and working memory span on comprehension. I am particularly interested
in how comprehenders build situation models from the discourse. We are also
building and testing a measure of comprehension that is based on think aloud
protocols. This new tool is part of our Discourse and Technology
Group. We are working on a large-scale project tutoring project
that will "understand" what thoughts readers type in as they are understanding
a text, and give informative feedback. Lastly, I am interested
in aesthetic responses to visual art, and using models developed for comprehending
discourse to account for these processes.
I like to try out different approaches to learning
that are active and which allow students to be creative. Visit our
Museum
of the Mind that was constructed by my Cognitive Psychology class.
Check out the cover of a magazine that was written
by a student, Lauren DeLong. Read some sample pages of an edited book created by students
in Cognitive Psychology as well as students in Anne Britt's class.
I've had students create games, web pages, web-based storyboards, presentations,
and posters in the classes that I've taught.
| California State University, Fullerton | B.A., Psychology | 1985 |
| Memphis State University | M.A. Cognitive Science | 1987 |
| Memphis State University | Ph.D., Cognitive Psychology | 1989 |
| Carnegie Mellon University | Post-doc | 1990 |
Learning Cognition
was an edited book created by members of cognitive psychology classes taught
by myself and Anne Britt. Here are some sample pages.
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Students have written creative and interesting magazines. They research, condense, and write up the material intended for a general audience.
| Hobbies
My favorite hobby is playing the banjo. Here I am playing with Katja Wiemer-Hastings at Art Graesser's house. If my students misbehave, I will bring the banjo to class. Bluegrass forever! |
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| My Dog Pufford |
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