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Carolina Trustees Professorship for System Campuses Award winner: Cindy J. Lahar

A photo of Lahar with a student.

Like many research psychologists, Cindy Lahar didn’t have any formal training in teaching. But being the daughter of an elementary school principal, the prospect of teaching always excited her.

“I was always just fascinated by the puzzle of how to help students learn,” says Lahar, who was awarded the Carolina Trustees Professorship for System Campuses award. She is a professor of psychology and the program coordinator for psychology at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. “One of the things I learned early on was that active learning was essential in the classroom.”

Over the course of her 31-year career, her teaching philosophy has shifted from simply teaching students the required material to helping them learn how to learn and become lifelong learners. “Some people might simplify that as developing their critical thinking or literacy skills by using media and other sources. But for me, it's helping them to develop personal learning strategies and curiosity,” she says.

One of the ways Lahar has been able to facilitate an environment that engages students’ curiosity is by building a community in her classroom. In the past, she would focus on ensuring students are taught the required curriculum, she says, but now she sees the importance of giving students the opportunity to get to know each other and her.

“That change was critical for me over the years,” she says. “Letting go of having to get every bit of content in there (and instead) caring more about the classroom environment as a place where we can learn together and having fun doing it has made a difference.”

Mentoring students has been important because it helped me in my own trajectory when I was an undergraduate. I stepped into the office of one of my teachers that I thought was really cool and started doing some research with her. I had no idea what that meant at the time, but it set up some steps that helped me get into a graduate program, and later my field of study.

Cindy J. Lahar

In many of her courses, she has given students the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the material in ways that go beyond exams and essays with things like the "unessay" assignment, which gives students the freedom to express their ideas and knowledge in a way that best fit their personal learning style. Students can choose any medium or format to complete the project, including podcasts, written stories or plays, and making crafts such as blankets.

“I felt like research papers weren’t everyone's strength, so when I learned about these unessays, I decided to try that with my students,” she says. “Instead of having them pick something we’ve learned and write about the topic, they're able to knit something if they wish. There's still some discussion and writing about topics that they've learned, and a project statement is required, but they're able to express the content within whatever format is best for them. I think allowing people to show their strengths and do something creative brings equity to the classroom.”

In addition to being a professor, Lahar is also the program coordinator for psychology, and in the last three years has been able to grow the program through hiring and improved academic advising which has helped to increase retention rates and grow the psychology major.

“Faculty have either retired or left, and I’ve been able to hire some of the best people to be instructors and mentors in our program,” she says. “We’ve also joined the Palmetto College program, so we have quite a strong increase in online completers in our program. Each and every one of us maintains a proactive advising strategy where we get to know our students. And not only do we have more majors, but they’re staying with us as well.”

Beyond the classroom, she spends a significant amount of her time mentoring students. Under her guidance, students have gone on to graduate school and medical school.

“Mentoring students has been important because it helped me in my own trajectory when I was an undergraduate,” she says. “I stepped into the office of one of my teachers that I thought was really cool and started doing some research with her. I had no idea what that meant at the time, but it set up some steps that helped me get into a graduate program, and later my field of study.”

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