Adjunct Professor
Developed and taught 11 courses in developmental psychology, research methods, psychometrics, and psychological assessment. Undergraduate and graduate cohorts, 1 FTE per year, 2018–2021.
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Teaching and mentoring
Teaching as guided practice. Students learn to ask better questions — and to test claims against evidence.
I am a developmental psychologist. My teaching reflects both sides of that identity: developmental content and quantitative methods. I have taught 19 courses across three institutions and two countries, and my approach is shaped by a simple conviction — students learn methods by using them, and they learn development by testing claims against evidence. I teach this way because students who understand how evidence is built are better equipped to use it, question it, and build on it themselves.
Teaching experience
Appointments and courses.
19 courses across undergraduate and graduate levels, in the United States and France.
Lecturer
Developed and taught 7 courses in human development, adolescent developmental psychology, introduction to psychology, quantitative methods and statistics, and research methodology. Undergraduate and graduate, 0.5 FTE per year, 2014–2018.
Instructor — HDFS 346
Research Design and Program Evaluation, a core HDFS requirement. Undergraduate course covering study design, measurement, and evaluation logic for family and community programs.
What my courses are built around.
Students can participate in multiple ways.
I learn their names, establish clear interaction guidelines, and provide written reflections and small-group discussion for students who are less comfortable speaking in large lectures. I use anonymized grading to reduce bias in assessment. These choices are not add-ons; they are the structure of the course.
Objectives are explicit and measurable.
Before a lecture begins I give students the scope of the topic, the learning objectives for the session, and why the question matters outside the classroom. I write objectives that can be assessed, and I give students the rubric before the assignment, not after. Explicit objectives let students track their own progress.
Quantitative methods are taught concretely.
My students work with real data from the first week, and they learn to ask questions of that data. In my research methods course at Purdue, some students used the portfolio we developed to conduct independent projects and present at undergraduate research conferences. When students work with real data and real questions, they produce real scholarship.
Materials reflect the populations students will work with.
I supplement textbooks with research articles and integrate data from my own projects — including AMISTADES — into the curriculum, showing how developmental science is conducted from question to finding to implication. When textbooks underrepresent racial and ethnic diversity in development, I replace the gap with primary research on disparities and cultural variation.
Support is structured, not improvised.
I offer optional one-to-one meetings, tutoring, and workshops. I also run anonymous mid-semester surveys and adjust the course in response.
Reproducibility in practice
Methods courses should teach students to produce work others can check. Assignments require shared code, documented decisions, and open data where possible.
Courses I designed
Developed from scratch.
Eight of the courses I have taught were developed from scratch — across developmental psychology, methods, and assessment.
Developmental content
Courses covering development across infancy, childhood, and adolescence, plus developmental theory.
Developmental Psychology (HPS4U03)
Aix-Marseille University · Undergraduate
Adolescence Developmental Psychology (AL4P307M)
University of Bordeaux · Undergraduate
Educational and Developmental Psychology (31TV71AM)
Aix-Marseille University · Graduate
Methods and statistics
Courses teaching the design, measurement, and analysis skills needed to study development over time.
HDFS 346 — Research Design and Program Evaluation
Purdue University · Undergraduate · Core HDFS requirement
Research Methods in Clinical Psychology (AM1PM04)
Aix-Marseille University · Graduate
Research in Psychology — Assessment Methodology (AM1PM03M)
University of Bordeaux · Graduate
Assessment and psychometrics
Courses on measuring individual differences, evaluating instruments, and interpreting assessment in developmental and family contexts.
Psychological Assessment (HPSBU07)
Aix-Marseille University · Graduate
Intellectual and Personality Assessments (HPSBU08)
Aix-Marseille University · Graduate
Clinical Assessment (HPSC02C)
Aix-Marseille University · Graduate
Courses I can teach
Developmental psychology
Adolescent development
Research methods and design
Psychometrics and measurement
Longitudinal data analysis
Family processes
Prosocial and moral development
Program evaluation
Applied and extension teaching
Beyond the classroom.
Through Healthy Relationships Utah (USU Extension), I contribute to research-based relationship and marriage education programming for Utah communities. This work connects developmental science to family life in applied settings and informs how I teach about relationships, parenting, and family systems.
I also designed and delivered community workshops on digital citizenship and cybersecurity through the AMISTADES project in Cochabamba, Bolivia (May 2025), reaching over 400 secondary students, 40 teachers, and 100 parents at Colegio Tiquipaya.
Mentoring
Students I have worked with.
Mentoring is an extension of my teaching. I bring the same principles to my work with research students: clear goals, structured support, and high expectations. Across my career, I have supervised 50 research assistants and mentored 15 students.
Puentes Project
Supervised 40 research assistants in data collection, coordination, and curation, and mentored four undergraduate and three graduate students through research proposals presented at national conferences. Undergraduates presented at conferences, and graduate students co-authored published manuscripts.
Master's supervision
Supervised 10 research assistants and mentored six master's students in research internship projects within the Developmental Psychology program.
Ongoing graduate mentoring
Mentoring a graduate student at the University of Warsaw on parenting styles and socio-emotional development — resulting in a published paper. Mentoring a graduate student at the University of Washington on AMISTADES data — resulting in a manuscript under review, showing that mentored students can produce independent scholarly work.
In practice, mentoring means individualized goal-setting, regular check-ins, and hands-on training with syntax and statistical software. I use a "living document" model for mentored projects so that students can see their own analytic decisions accumulate over time and reflect on them.
Interested in teaching collaborations or student mentoring?
alexia.carrizales@usu.edu
Email Alexia ↗