Plenary Session: Dr. Sarah Rose Cavanagh

Energizing Learning in Uncertain Times with the Science of Emotion
Thursday, January 7

Day two of the conference will feature plenary speaker Dr. Sarah Rose Cavanagh, a psychologist, professor, and Associate Director of the D’Amour Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption University. Her research considers whether the strategies people choose to regulate their emotions and the degree to which they successfully accomplish this regulation can predict trajectories of psychological functioning over time. Her most recent research project, funded by the Davis Educational Foundation, focuses on whether giving students tools from emotion regulation at the start of class can improve their same-day and semester-long learning. Sarah’s first book, The Spark of Learning: Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion, was published in 2016 and her second book, HIVEMIND: The New Science of Tribalism in Our Divided World, was published in 2019.

Historically we have constructed our classrooms with the assumption that learning is a dry, staid affair best conducted in quiet tones and ruled by an unemotional consideration of the facts. The pedagogical world, however, is beginning to awaken to the potential power of emotions to fuel learning, informed by contributions from psychology and neuroscience. Moreover, our students were experiencing an alleged epidemic of mental health problems, particularly anxiety, even before 2020’s multiple layers of upheaval. In this interactive presentation, Sarah Rose Cavanagh will argue that if you as an educator want to capture your students’ attention, enhance their motivation, harness their working memory, bolster their long-term retention, and encourage habits related to good mental health, you should consider the emotional impact of your teaching style and course design. To make this argument, she will bring to bear empirical evidence from the study of education, psychology, and neuroscience. The presentation will conclude with practical examples of activities and assignments that capitalize on this research and can be implemented in your very next class.

In addition to the plenary address, the second day of the conference will feature workshops facilitated by Temple University’s Provost’s Teaching Academy faculty and lightning talks led by faculty from Temple as well as other institutions around the region.