Farmington Faculty
Steven Quackenbush, Ph.D.
Associate Professor - Psychology
Ph.D., Kansas State UniversityM.S., Kansas State University
B.A., California State University
In the Classroom: Engaging Students — Setting High Academic Expectations
Steve Quackenbush's ultimate goal is to get students to think like psychologists. He refers to the discipline of psychology as a battlefield and encourages his students to feel that struggle.
In the classroom, Steve explores the possibilities implicit in technology-based teaching and is presently participating in a pilot project to test an automated Student Response System (i.e., clicker technology) that students can use to provide anonymous answers to his questions. This technology allows for the instant tabulation of responses submitted by the students (via their clickers). In addition to simple in-class quizzes, the clickers have allowed Steve to quickly assess the positions that students are willing to take on a specific issue. The results of the poll are quickly displayed in the form of pie charts or graphs without publicly linking any specific student to his or her actual response.
Outside the Classroom: Innovation and Excitement — Putting Theory into Practice
Steve advises a student research group which is currently studying societies' attitudes toward disaster victims. The group creates fictional scenarios of natural disasters and asks questions such as, "Are we more sympathetic to people who have suffered loss due to a tornado or a hurricane?" The students discuss the different variables involved with sympathetic behavior and predict the attitudes and reactions that are expected to occur.
A True Academic — Areas of Special Interest
Steve Quackenbush's scholarly interests include the history of psychology and narrative approaches to the study of life span personality development.
His recent publications have explored issues relevant to the narrative structure of personal identity as well as the general problem of theoretical unification in the social sciences.
Respected in the Field — Noteworthy Accomplishments
Of his various accomplishments, Steve Quackenbush is especially proud of his long track record of involving undergraduate students in original research. In the last five years, ten such projects have resulted in regional or national conference presentations with undergraduate students serving as presenters or co-presenters.
Outside of Academia — Personal Interests and Activities
Outside of the classroom, Steve can be found reading anything and everything and listening to music of all kinds.
Faculty Profiles
- Arts Administration - Theater
Andrea Southard - Biology
Mary Schwanke - Business
Frank Engert - Community Health Education
Lea Bryant - Community Health Education
Dennis Kamholtz - Computer Science
Gail Lange - Creative Writing
Patricia O'Donnell
Gretchen Legler - Early Childhood Education
Betsey Squibb - Early Childhood Special Education
Dolores Appl - Elementary Education
Andrea Freed
Cathryn Wimett - Environmental Planning & Policy
Matthew McCourt - Environmental Science
Drew Barton - Geology
David Gibson - Geology / Chemistry
David Heroux
Terry Morocco - Geology / Geography
David Gibson - Geography
Matthew McCourt - History
Ken Orosz - International Studies
Ken Orosz - Mathematics
Gail Lange - Music
Steven Pane - Philosophy / Religion
Jennifer Reid - Political Science / Social Science
Jim Melcher - Psychology
• Steve Quackenbush - Rehabilitation Services
Jewel Jones - Secondary / Middle Education
Mike Muir - Sociology / Anthropology
Julianna Acheson - Special Education
Sue Thorson - Ski Industries
Leigh Breidenbach - Theater
Andrea Southard - Women's & Gender Studies
Alice Adams