Daryl Dugas, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations

Teaching Expertise and Approach

Daryl teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in leadership, educational psychology and foundations. He describes his approach to teaching as follows:

"Effective teaching is about creating a space of connection. The first step of this is building a connection between myself and my students, and through that process helping my students build connections with one another. Through these connections, we all work together to make connections with the course content--connecting the content with our own lives, with their future work, and deeply studying the connections among the different concepts in the course.

My emphasis on connections is not at the expense of rigor, but rather in the service of rigor. Learning is a vulnerable, risky process. To learn something new requires admitting there are things we do not fully understand, and this admission requires both trust and courage.

My focus on connections supports that trust and courage. My students are more willing to ask questions about things that confuse them, offer ideas they aren't sure are correct, and engage in rich discussions both with me and with one another.

The support I offer also allows me to effectively challenge students when needed. I am able to give very direct and thorough feedback, and my students are more likely to see it as the help it is intended because I've done the work of showing I care about them. If students are absent or tardy excessively, I can confront this immediately and students are more likely to see me as trying to help them succeed rather than just 'coming down on them.' By treating both myself and my students as humans first, I have found great success in helping them effectively engage with the ideas in our courses and prepare for their future careers."

Types of Courses Taught

• General Education
• Synchronous Online
• Hybrid
• Undergraduate
• Graduate

Courses Taught