Teaching and Mentorship

Last update: February 2021

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

2021 Psychology Department, Graduate Teaching Award
(Also nominated for the All-University Graduate Teaching Award)
2020 UVA Psychology Dept., Rebecca Boone Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching [$750]
2020 UVA Honor Committee, Honorable Mention (Recognizing people who exemplify honorable behavior)
- "As her research assistant, Meltem invests in my future and my learning experience. She sets an excellent example of commitment to honor, and provides me with countless opportunities to grow as a researcher. Through every phase of a study, she preaches transparency. This semester, I was fortunately awarded two research grants. Meltem stressed the importance of being honest with the different organizations and guided me through the process of informing each of the other grants. This honorable behavior was well-received by the organizations and well-respected by me. Meltem’s strong character makes me thankful to have her as a mentor.” - Madeline Brence (Arts & Sciences Undergraduate)

STUDENTS ADVISED

Current students:

Madeline Brence
- 2020 - 2021 Harrison Undergraduate Research Grant Recipient, $4,000, &
- 2020 Semester Scholars Award Recipient, $995
Stephanie Chang
Emily Otis

Former students:

Jenna Marzougui (current position: Master's Student at the College of William and Mary)
- 2020 Psychological Society Award,
- 2020 Research Excellence in Psychology Laboratory,
- 2020 Elected Member of the Raven Society (UVA's oldest and most prestigious honor society),
- 2019 - 2020 Distinguished Majors Thesis student, &
- 2019 Minerva Award Recipient, $3,000
Madeleine F. Mitchell (current position: Medical Assistant at Virginia Women's Center)
- 2017 - 2019 Double Hoo Student, $10,000
Angelica Bosko (U of Minnesota Twin Cities, 2019 Summer Intern) (current position: Master's Student at University of Chicago)
Amy Gersten
Nancy Hernandez (2019 Leadership Alliance Program Summer Intern, McNair Scholar)
Kimberly Cancel-Vargas (2019 Leadership Alliance Program Summer Intern)
Daniela Alvarez-Vargas (2018 Summer Intern) (current position: Graduate Student at University of California, Irvine)
Marie Grace Martinez (current position: Graduate Student at University of California, Santa Cruz)
- 2016 Research Excellence in Psychology Laboratory
Maura Austin (current position: Graduate Student at University of Virginia)

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

GUEST LECTURES

[04/2021] Moral Development, Introduction to Child Psychology at UVA (Dr. Amrisha Vaish)
[03/2021] Giving Effective Presentations, Seminar for Distinguished Majors at UVA (Dr. Chad Dodson)
[03/2021] Investigating Children's Moral Development, College Science Scholars at UVA (Dr. Karen Schmidt)
11/2020 Moral Development, Introduction to Child Psychology at UVA (Dr. Jessica Stern)
10/2020 Moral Development, Introduction to Human Development at Cornell University (Dr. Tamar Kushnir)
10/2020 Moral Norm Enforcement, Moral Development class at St. Joseph's University (Dr. Clare Conry-Murray)
04/2020, Panel: Research in Developmental Psychology, Childhood and Adolescence class at Hanover College (Dr. Kate Snyder)
04/2020, Article Discussion: Social and Emotional Development in Infancy, Infant Development at UVA (Dr. Tobias Grossmann)
03/2020, Article Discussion: Perception and Cognition in Infancy, Infant Development at UVA (Dr. Tobias Grossmann)
02/2020, Investigating Children's Moral Development, College Science Scholars at UVA (Dr. Karen Schmidt)
09/2019, Eye-tracking and Pupillometry Methods, Research Methods: Child Development at UVA (Jessica Taggart, M.A.)
04/2019, Moral Development, Introduction to Child Psychology at UVA (Dr. Amrisha Vaish)
11/2018, Moral Development, Introduction to Child Psychology at UVA (Dr. Angeline Lillard)
08/2017, Eye-tracking and Pupillometry Methods, Designing and Conducting Research with Children at UVA (Jessica Taggart, M.A.)

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

HEAD TEACHING ASSISTANT
- Spring 2019, Introduction to Social Psychology (Dr. Timothy Wilson)
  - Responsible for revamped the syllabus
  - Scheduled and led TA meetings with the professor and three other TAs
DISCUSSION TEACHING ASSISTANT
- Spring 2019, Introduction to Social Psychology (Dr. Timothy Wilson)
  - Led weekly seminars and provided feedback on weekly writing assignments
  - Graded two papers for the main course (120 papers total)
- Fall 2018, Introduction to Child Psychology (Dr. Angeline Lillard)
  - Led weekly seminars and provided feedback on weekly writing assignments.
  - Gave a guest lecture to the entire class on Moral Development
  - Participated in Child Fest where we demonstrated developmental concepts covered in class on children
- Spring 2018, Introduction to Social Psychology (Dr. Timothy Wilson)
  - Led weekly seminars and provided feedback on weekly writing assignments
  - Graded two papers for the main course (154 papers total)
LAB TEACHING ASSISTANT
- Fall 2017, Research Methods and Data Analysis I (Dr. Fred Smyth)
  - Taught statistics and research methods using SPSS.
- Spring 2017, Research Methods and Data Analysis II (Dr. Karen Schmidt)
  - Taught statistics and research methods using R statistical programming.
- Fall 2016, Research Methods and Data Analysis I (Dr. Fred Smyth & Dr. Jamie Morris)
  - Taught statistics and research methods using SPSS.
REVIEW TEACHING ASSISTANT
- Spring 2021, Introduction to Child Psychology (Dr. Amrisha Vaish)
- Fall 2020, Introduction to Cognition (Dr. Mariana Teles Santos Golino)
  - Wrote weekly quizzes
  - Led weekly online review sessions
- Spring 2020, Infant Development (Dr. Tobias Grossmann)
  - Wrote and graded exams
  - Led review sessions in advance of those exams
  - Led two article discussion sessions with all students
- Spring 2016, Research Methods and Data Analysis II (Dr. Karen Schmidt)
  - Led weekly review sessions
  - Graded approximately 350 midterms
- Fall 2015, Introduction to Child Psychology (Dr. Angeline Lillard)
  - Led exam review sessions
  - Wrote 60+ multiple choice exam questions per exam (for 4 exams)

OZYEGIN UNIVERSITY

UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANT
- Fall 2013, Introduction to Psychology (Dr. Deniz Tahiroğlu)

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

2018 - 2021, Tomorrow's Professor Today, Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Virginia

Completed a five-week course development program where I designed a curriculum with an emphasis on student motivation and inclusion.
Completed 18.5 hours of workshops on teaching (excluding the curriculum design workshop)

08/2020, Graduate Instructor Seminar on the Teaching of Writing, Writing and Rhetoric Program, University of Virginia

Twenty graduate students were chosen to participate
This four-day seminar, offered online during the week of August 10-14, was led by Professors Tamika Carey, Heidi Nobles, and Patricia Sullivan of UVA’s Writing and Rhetoric Program, who shared research on the teaching of writing and models of assignments and other practical resources; responded to participant-generated teaching materials; provided practical pedagogical suggestions; and facilitated discussion among participants.

2018 - 2019, Writing & Presenting Research, Psychology Department, University of Virginia

Fall 2019, Oral Presentations of Research, Dr. Daniel Willingham
Spring 2018, Writing in the Psychological Sciences, Dr. Daniel Willingham

2015 - 2017, Graduate Teaching Training Program, Psychology Department, University of Virginia

Fall 2017, Teaching Psychology Courses, Dr. Daniel Willingham
Fall 2016, Teaching Psychology Discussion Sections, Dr. Daniel Willingham
Fall 2015, Teaching Psychology Review Sections, Dr. Daniel Willingham

WORKSHOPS ATTENDED

Teaching & Mentorship