Harold Stanislaw
Department
Psychology
Biography
I was born in Canada and, like many Canadians, entertained vague notions of someday finding work north of the Artic Circle, particularly after reading Farley Mowat's Never Cry Wolf. These thoroughly impractical ideas initially led me to study psychobiology. However, once I realized that I enjoyed sunning myself more than slogging through snow and ice, I switched to cognition, where I could indulge my interests in quantitative and applied aspects of psychology. I've never looked back. After graduate school I took an academic position in Australia for 8 years, where I helped found a graduate program in applied psychology and - perhaps more importantly - developed a deep appreciation of wombats. I joined the faculty at CSU Stanislaus in 1996, survived a stint as department chair, and now spend my "ample free time" teaching, coordinating the undergraduate Psychology program, and evaluating the outcomes of various publicly funded programs for county and state agencies.
Academic Credentials
I received a B.A. in the Psychobiology track from Yale University in 1978, then went on to receive two master's degrees. One, in Comparative Psychology, was awarded by UC Riverside in 1981. The other, in Cognitive Psychology, was awarded by UCLA in 1983. My Ph.D. was also awarded by UCLA, in 1987. My area of specialization was Cognitive Psychology, with minors in Measurement and Comparative Psychology. Along the way I've published over three dozen articles in peer-reviewed journals, made a similar number of presentations at local, national, and international conferences, and received a U.S. patent.
Area of expertise
My reputation on campus is primarily as a data analyst and research methodologist, and I'm happy to work in just about any quantitative area of psychology my students or colleagues ask me to dabble in. However, when I can decide for myself where to dabble, I prefer to study the so-called "early" stages of cognition (especially attention and perception), and the implications of these stages for engineering applications and for product design. I also enjoy investigating issues in traffic safety, particularly the effects of legislation designed to reduce the frequency and severity of motor vehicle accidents. Additionally, a colleague and I have spent a great many years developing highly accurate methods for predicting the birth weight of babies. We're now exploring ways to use our prediction algorithms to improve pregnancy management and fetal outcomes.
What have you learned from your students?
My students have taught me any number of things; teaching is by no means a one-way transfer of information from the instructor to the student. Perhaps the most valuable lesson (at least in terms of my professional development) is that the optimal classroom setting is one in which the instructor matches his or her delivery style and the course content itself to the interests and skills of the students. I suppose I should also attempt to match the music I sometimes play in class to the tastes of my students, but it's hard to give up on those tunes that now get air time only on "classic rock" stations.
I've also learned that Psychology is not the best major for every student in the university. That may seem like an odd observation, but faculty are generally enamored with their chosen discipline and feel their students should be similarly inclined. As I get to know my students, it sometimes becomes clear that a few of them would be happier in another major. When I counsel these students to discuss their interests and career goals, I know I can refer them to any other major on campus, and have confidence that they will be well served should they decide to make the change.
Why do students choose CSU Stanislaus?
CSU Stanislaus has, in my view, the most attractive campus in the CSU system. Registration fees are far lower than for private universities, and the low cost of living compared with other regions in California makes our university one of the outstanding bargains in tertiary education. However, none of these factors would matter if it were not for the faculty, staff, and administrators who are committed to providing students with a warm, caring environment that fosters a quality education and academic success.
At some universities, cramped lecture halls that hold upwards of 1,000 students guarantee an anonymous and ultimately unrewarding learning experience. By contrast, the largest classroom at CSU Stanislaus holds fewer than 200 students, and the average class is a fraction that size. By the 4th week of classes, most professors know the names of all of their students. They care about their students, and the students know it. That makes a tremendous difference.
How do students succeed in your class?
My students succeed by working - a lot!- but I try to facilitate the process by encouraging questions, by presenting information in a timely, interesting, and organized manner, and by asking students to complete a series of smaller assignments that build upon each other, rather than just one or two assignments that are much larger in scope.
Some of the material I teach deals with topics that students hoped to avoid by majoring in psychology, so it's not unusual for students to feel stressed at times. I do my best to reduce these feelings in various ways. Humor helps. Also, like many of my colleagues, I subscribe to the mastery model of education. That means students have frequent opportunities to receive feedback on their work and make revisions as needed to meet my expectations.
What brought you to CSU Stanislaus?
My first academic appointment was at a large university that taught students in a highly impersonal environment. My biggest class there (a team-taught introductory course) had 1,200 students, and even the upper-division classes typically had 200-300 students. After several years in that setting I wanted to teach smaller classes that allowed a greater degree of personal interaction. CSU Stanislaus has fought hard to maintain classes of this size. I also was impressed by the collegial nature of the faculty here, which was evident from the moment I first set foot on campus.
If you were not teaching, what other career do you see yourself in?
It's difficult to picture myself in any sort of non-academic environment. However, I enjoy writing and I love trying to connect people with science. So, perhaps I would be a science correspondent for a media outlet of some sort. Either that or a professional chocolate taster.
Describe a former student who has attained professional success.
There are as many definitions of "success" as there are students. One of the more obvious indicators of success is completing our program and going on to receive a doctorate - possibly followed by a faculty position at a respected university. Several former students have met this definition, but others have achieved different forms of success that are no less laudable. Over the years I've been especially proud of the scores of students who have chosen to work in occupations that are not particularly rewarding in a financial sense, but that have a tremendous positive impact upon the community. Other students have impressed me simply by completing their studies in the face of incredible personal challenges, including physical disabilities, economic hardship, and emotional losses. I'd like to take some of the credit for their successes, but I really can't: The students did the work themselves. I was just there to help push them along a bit.
E-mail Address
HStanislaw@csustan.edu
