Oregon State University
Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director for the Center for Teaching and Learning and Professor of Psychological Science, 
Wisconsin Teaching Fellow (UW-Green Bay), 2001-02
Making the transition from a research one university which downplayed and to some extent ignored the role of teaching to the University of Wisconsin Green Bay (UWGB) where teaching is valued, took some adjusting to. When I first started my academic position at UWGB, teaching six to seven classes a year was a significant challenge. I loved to teach– that was not the problem. The issue is that I loved to do research as well. What was I to do? Enter the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).
Two factors directly influenced my foray into SoTL. First, was my research training. I earned a PHD in social and personality psychology. This area of psychology focuses on how a situation can influence behavior as well as the role of our personality traits and characteristics. Studying behavior with a focus on the role of situations and traits was something I had been doing for seven or more years at that point, but I studied relationships, coping with HIV and AIDS, the stress of pregnancy. In Green Bay it was very difficult, and I knew I had to change my focus. Looking at my teaching load, I realized that I had the perfect topic right there in front of me. I loved to teach. I cared about getting students to learn. Why not focus on learning and examine the role of the classroom, a situation with norms and roles, together with the personality of the teacher and the students. My interests, training, and new position all dovetailed together.
I was fortunate to have a department chair who saw the value of research but also cared a lot about teaching. Fergus Hughes was a key early mentor who clearly saw what I needed and connected me with the then relatively new Teaching Scholars and Fellows program, something (I believe) created in part by another faculty member from psychology at UWGB, Chuck Matter. Fergus himself signed on to the program and I joined as well. Being part of the program was a pivotal part of my education career as it introduced me to the entire world of SoTL. I remember hearing presentations from Carnegie Scholars at the Scholars and Fellows meeting in Madison and I was hooked. I had a natural affinity for research on learning and my experimental research background provided me with all the key tools I needed.
My SoTL research took off and soon I was publishing articles in numerous SoTL outlets. I simultaneously gave presentations on the same and slowly by surely built a reputation on the work I was doing. Because of the WTS program I also got connected with faculty from other disciplines both at UWGB and across the system and soon started doing interdisciplinary SoTL work. I tend to try and look at the big picture and this gave rise to book projects. I used my own explorations into SoTL to help others also do SoTL and my first few publications and books were guides to doing research on teaching. I then started collaborations that led to interdisciplinary work and books with other Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars (e.g., Nancy Chick, Aeron Haynie, & David Voelker). The more work I did, the more questions I found myself facing and wanting to answer.
Soon, doing research on SoTL was not enough and I had opportunities to lead workshops on SoTL and hold various mentoring and leadership positions. I served on the OPID Council for a few years and then starting helming SoTL positions in psychology. One thing led to another, and I served as President of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, for which I created new grants on SoTL and a national workshop on SoTL that continues to this day. Perhaps the biggest recognition for my SoTL work came when I served as founding co-editor of a new American Psychological Association journal on SoTL in psychology. I shaped the course of this journal, created new article types, and played a direct role in building the team of reviewers and consulting editors. After the completion of my term, I continued to be a reviewer and will soon start as consulting editor again. My research is SoTL continues to ensure I am reviewing multiple SoTL article submissions weekly.
Over my career so far, I have done SoTL on many different topics and continue to search out new challenges. When I left UWGB to move to Oregon, I was going to focus on SoTL in large classes but immediately got tapped to be the executive director of the Center for Teaching and Learning where I could help other faculty do SoTL and shape programming using SoTL as a guide. In addition to the various leadership roles where SoTL helped me connect with faculty, doing research on learning also helped me connect with students. In every class I teach, I work to provide students with the best ways to learn and I never fail to let them know that what I am sharing is built on a rich body of SoTL. Students appreciate me sharing research on teaching and learning and it energizes me to do more of the same work.
I have seen SoTL grow and while it is called by different names (e.g., DBER) it is gaining a foothold in higher education. During COVID my training in SoTL helped my better study how students were coping and learning in COVID which led to my most recent publications in SoTL. I have also kept abreast with different challenges and now I am conducting numerous studies on the role of large language learning models on AI and the role in learning.
All this really started when I was a part of the WTFS program back in 2001. The structure of having two faculty from each campus meet with other faculty from around the system and then work on a single project for a year provided the momentum for me to launch into a brand-new area. Having this support was priceless for a young faculty member and perfect for finding satisfaction at a teaching intensive institution. If it were not for the community of scholars and the system network of fellows, I may not have accomplished what I have accomplished to this point.
Biography:
Regan A. R. Gurung is a social psychologist by training with over 130 articles published in peer-reviewed journals and has co-authored/co-edited 15 books. He is founding co-editor of APA’s journal Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology and is past president of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. He is the recipient of the American Psychological Foundation’s Charles L. Brewer Award for Distinguished Teaching in Psychology. At Oregon State University, he is Professor of Psychological Science and is the 2024 Margaret and Thomas Meehan Honors College Eminent Mentor. He is also the recipient of Oregon State University’s highest teaching award, the Elizabeth P. Ritchie Distinguished Professor Award (2024).
Selected Publications:
Books:
Gurung, R. A. R., & Hammer, E. Y. (under contract). Teach like a champ: Psychology-based tips to effective teaching. American Psychological Association.
Gurung, R. A. R., & Dunlosky, J. (2023). Study like a champ: Psychology-based tips to Grade A study skills. American Psychological Association.
Ansburg, P., Basham, M., & Gurung, R. A. R. (2022). Thriving in academia: The complete guide to a teaching focused career. American Psychological Association.
Gurung, R. A. R., & Plaza, D. (Eds.) (2024). Higher education beyond COVID: New teaching and learning paradigms and promises. Routledge.
Gurung, R. A. R., & Neufeld, G. (Eds.). (2022). Transforming introductory psychology: Expert advice on teaching, training, and assessing the course. American Psychological Association.
Richmond, A. S., Boysen, G. A., & Gurung, R. A. R. (2022). An evidence-based guide to college and university teaching: Model teaching competencies, 2e. Routledge.
Schwartz, E., & Gurung, R. A. R. (2012). Evidence-based teaching in higher education. American Psychological Association.
Gurung, R. A. R., & Schwartz, E. (2009/2013). Optimizing teaching and learning: Pedagogical research in practice. Blackwell.
Gurung, R. A. R., & Voelker, D. J. (Eds.). (2017). Big picture pedagogy: Finding interdisciplinary solutions to common learning problems. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Gurung, R. A. R., & Wilson, J. H. (Eds.). (2013). Doing the scholarship of teaching and learning: Measuring systematic changes to teaching and improvements in learning. Jossey-Bass.
Chick, N., Haynie, A., & Gurung, R. A. R. (Eds.). (2012). Exploring more signature pedagogies. Stylus.
Gurung, R. A. R., Chick, N., & Haynie, A. (Eds.). (2009). Exploring signature pedagogies: Approaches to teaching disciplinary habits of mind. Stylus.
Gurung, R. A. R., & Prieto, L. (Eds.). (2009). Getting culture: Incorporating diversity across the curriculum. Stylus.
Selected Articles Since 2021:
Gurung, R. A. R., & Herrboldt, P. (in press). Picture this: Studying the effectiveness of illustrated instructions. Teaching of Psychology.
Mathieu-Fraser, L., & Gurung, R. A. R. (in press). Do student perceptions of teaching vary by faculty rank? College Teaching.
Slade, J., Byers, S., & Gurung, R. A. R. (in press). Introductory psychology textbooks:(Still) more different than alike. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology.
Slade, J., Byers, S., Becker-Blease, K., & Gurung, R. A. R. (in press). Navigating the new frontier: Recommendations to address the crisis and potential of AI in the classroom. Teaching of Psychology.
Slade, J., Hyk, A., Hyk, A., & Gurung, R. A. R. (2024). Transforming learning: Assessing the efficacy of a retrieval-augmented generation system as a tutor for introductory psychology. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting.
Gurung, R. A. R. (2023). The scholarship of teaching and learning: Scaling new heights, but it may not mean what you think it means. In C. E. Overson, C. M. Hakala, L. L. Kordonowy, & V. A. Benassi (Eds.), In their own words: What scholars and teachers want you to know about why and how to apply the science of learning in your academic setting (pp. 61-74). Society for the Teaching of Psychology. https://teachpsych.org/ebooks/itow
Gurung, R. A. R., Byers, S., Stone, A., & Grapentine, J. (2023). I believe I can try: Self efficacy and learning during a pandemic.
Richmond, A. S., Boysen, G. A., Gurung, R. A. R., & Naufel, K. Z. (2023). A national study of student and instructor perceptions of introductory psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000345
Slade, J., & Gurung, R. A. R. (2023). Getting on the same page: A comparison of introductory psychology textbooks. Teaching of Psychology.
Yozamp, E. J., Seeto, D., & Gurung, R. A. R. (2023). Recommendations for improving university students’ learning from reading. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000354
Gurung, R. A. R. & †Galardi, N. (2021). Syllabus tone, more than mental health statements, influence intentions to seek help. Teaching of Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/0098628321994632
Richmond, A. S., Boysen, G. A., Hudson, D., Gurung, R. A. R., Naufel, K. Z., Neufeld, G., Landrum, R. E., Dunn, D., & Beers, M. (2021). The introductory psychology census: A national study. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology. Advance online publication.