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TEACHING PRACTICE AND EXPERIENCE Teaching Philosophy The mission statement of my current department guides my teaching philosophy "This department’s mission is to advance the scientific discipline of psychology at an international level: through the publication of basic and applied research findings which further understanding of psychological processes; through the provision of undergraduate and postgraduate training which enables and encourages our graduates to participate actively in the production and dissemination of new psychological knowledge; and through the promotion within the community of the important benefits of psychological research". The approach to teaching that I adopt is premised on my belief that there are few facts in Industrial/Organisational psychology that can be relied on to stand the test of time without revision. Knowledge that is current today will be superseded by knowledge that is generated at some point in the future by ever increasingly sophisticated methodologies. In order to prepare students for the future, therefore, they need to be well versed in emerging methodologies but importantly they need to have a critical framework from which to assess and contribute to the development of in new knowledge. My specialist area is industrial/organisational psychology which is, relatively speaking, a very applied domain within a discipline that has a strong record in generic research. I believe, however, that there is nothing a practical as a good theory and I strive to teach students the importance of theory development and testing as means by which applied problems can be solved and the solutions to which general contributions to knowledge can be made. In pursuing my philosophy, I believe it is essential that an active research program is pursued by me and my research program reflects the diversity of my teaching. I believe that it is important to maintain an active research program for two reasons. First, by actively engaging in new knowledge production and dissemination ones approach and ideas are critically evaluated by peers. This ensures that current methodologies and thinking are applied to the subject matter of interest and these can then be passed on to students. This is especially important at the advanced undergraduate and postgraduate levels where I currently make my major teaching contribution to the department. The type of research that is undertaken is also important. Many problems in organisations cannot be solved by focusing at a single organisational level. For example workplace re-design may mean the development of machines that are cognitive ergonomic while at the same time necessitating re-organisation of work practices, management roles, recruitment and selection as well as organisational structure. The multi-dimensional nature of the problems organisational psychologists face is reflected in the breadth of research topics that I pursue.
A concrete example of the multi-dimensional nature of organisational problems can be illustrated by decision of an organisation to introduce new technology. At the individual level there are issues concerned with the design of the equipment and the tasks that must be required of the equipment operators. The cognitive ergonomics of equipment interface design has an important part to play in operator efficiency and effectiveness especially for tasks such as fault diagnosis (see for example Morrison et al.., 1984; Morrison and Duncan 1988). The design of the actual job itself, however, is a decision that is often made by management and can reflect a management philosophy or view of the work force. Jobs can be very narrow in scope and highly specialised or they can be designed in such a way as to build in variety and personal control (see Morrison, Upton and Cordery 1998; Morrison, Cordery and Giradi, 1998). If the technology is altered and jobs are enlarged, or contracted, a further issue that must be considered by the organisation is who will do the new jobs? Does the current workforce have the skills or the aptitude to do the new tasks? If not the decision must be made to identify how personnel will be selected and on what criteria (see Morrison and Duncan, 1988, Morrison, Lewis and LeMap, 1997) or, alternatively, how will personnel be trained (see Morrison and Duncan 1985, Morrison and Upton 1994; Morrison and Huitson, 1998)? Finally, how the organisational change process is managed must also be considered. Will it be wholesale change or will it be undertaken incrementally and what impact will this have on all employees in terms of satisfaction, commitment or even mental well being (see Morrison and Savery, 1996; Morrison et al, 1992)?
Subjects Taught and Research Supervision In my career I have taught a wide variety of courses and have been the director of different programs at the postgraduate level. When first embarking on my academic career I was responsible for the Master of Applied Psychology (Organisational) program at Murdoch University. Since 1993, at the University of Western Australia I have been responsible for the PhD program, M.Psych (Organisational) program and the MSc (Applied Psychology) (current) programs. Summary List of Courses Taught and/or Coordinated or made a substantial contribution to at UWA Since Appointment (Jan 1993). Masters Units
Undergraduate Units
Post graduate and Honours Supervision Since being at UWA I have been fortunate to have had a number of students who wished to be supervised by me in my areas of expertise despite the fact that our undergraduate curriculum does not prepare students for work in organisational settings.
Three MSc students are currently being supervised:
Completed Theses since being at UWA
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