Get to Know the Teaching Committee

Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Nova Southeastern University

Dr. Aya Shigeto is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Nova Southeastern University. Her primary research area revolves around sexuality among college students and sex education on college campuses. Her secondary research area is various aspects of family relationships and functioning, including parenting and family relationship dynamics. Dr. Shigeto regularly teaches introduction to psychology, life-span human development, and multicultural issues in psychology. Her pedagogical approach emphasizes the power of personal narratives and experiential learning, fostering an engaging classroom environment where students are encouraged to share their own stories, forging connections, and cultivating empathy, compassion, and respect for one another. Furthermore, she utilizes active learning methods in her classes, providing students with opportunities for collaborative exploration and learning. Through activities such as idea brainstorming, open dialogue, and peer-assisted comprehension checks, she nurtures a dynamic and interactive learning environment where students actively participate in the acquisition of course content. Dr. Shigeto’s commitment to education goes beyond the classroom. She provides learning opportunities for undergraduate research assistants by leveraging her research and lab as a transformative platform to help them grow as a person as well as achieve their career goals.

Associate Professor of Psychology at Pace University

Dr. Brenna Hassinger-Das, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Pace University. She teaches students at undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students in developmental psychology courses, such as Lifespan Development and Child Psychology, as well as Research Design and Statistics. She is particularly interested in using problem-based learning methods in both face-to-face and online learning environments. She is committed to creating equitable and welcoming communities of students in all of her courses. Her research currently investigates the effects of both play and digital media on caregiver-child interactions and child learning.

Professor of Applied Psychology at New York University

Dr. Gigliana Melzi is a Professor of Applied Psychology and affiliated faculty of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University. Using mixed methods and emic approaches, her research aims to uncover how Latine/x immigrant parents nurture their children, the role of language in that process, and how classroom instruction can leverage these culturally and linguistically grounded practices to support children’s school-based learning. Dr. Melzi has taught various subjects to diverse audiences, including Spanish to high school students, and literacy to adult learners.  In her university teaching, Dr. Melzi aims to create an engaging learning environment that builds from students’ prior knowledge and lived experiences by integrating information from multiple sources and fostering student self-awareness and autonomy. As a Latina scholar and educator, Dr. Melzi also brings awareness to language and cultural issues in her interactions with students, both inside and outside of the classroom. For 18 years, Dr. Melzi was the Director of NYU’s Undergraduate Program in Applied Psychology, which gave her the unique opportunity to establish and grow a 4-year undergraduate psychology program of study that centered human development, cultural diversity, and the connections between theory, research, and the practice of psychology. In 2015, Dr. Melzi received NYU’s University Distinguished Teaching Award.

Associate Professor of Child, Youth, and Family Studies, College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Dr. Soo-Young Hong is an associate professor in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and her research focuses on early childhood science teaching and learning and inclusive early childhood education practices. Dr. Hong has taught various undergraduate and graduate courses related to human development and early care and education over the last 14 years including Human Development and the Family, Theories of Human Development and Family Relations, College Teaching Seminar and Practicum, and Cognitive Processes in Children. She has extensive experience in teaching online, in-person, and hybrid courses and always seeks opportunities to learn about research-based inclusive teaching strategies and their impact on student learning. For the last several years, Dr. Hong has invested significant amount of time and effort to learn about, implement, and reflect on equity-minded approaches to assessments, Universal Design for Learning, inclusive teaching strategies, and Learning Paradigm College to provide students with meaningful learning experiences that enable all students to meet their learning goals and outcomes.

Clinical Assistant Professor in the College of Education at University of South Florida

Dr. Helena Mawdsley is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the College of Education at University of Florida. She earned a Ph.D. in Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology from Boston College in 2010. Currently, Dr. Mawdsley teaches, coordinates, and/or supervises the human development and adolescent development courses within the COE. Additionally, she coordinates the Bachelors of Education Sciences (BAES) – Educational Psychology and Research specialization within the College of Education. Her research focuses on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) by integrating research with duties as the course supervisor of Human Growth and Development. Specifically, she is interested in a) impact of service learning on student motivation and b) student motivational changes during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. She has been a member of SRCD for over 15 years, is a regular presenter at the biennial meeting, and a Teaching Institute attendee in 2017-2023. As part of the Teaching Committee, Dr. Mawdsley hopes to support new instructors as they navigate the pedagogical world of developmental science.