Erin Sparks
Instructor and Undergraduate Program Coordinator

Email: Erin.Sparks@dal.ca
Fax: 902-494-6585
Mailing Address:
Education
BA Honours, Psychology (Queen's University)
MSc, Experimental Psychology (最新杏吧原创)
PhD, Experimental Psychology (最新杏吧原创)
Roles and Responsibilities
As an instructor, my primary job is teaching undergraduate students. See below for a list of my recent courses.
As undergraduate program coordinator, I oversee the Psychology and Neuroscience curricula and do administrative work to keep the programs running. I provide student advising (including听 and drop-in advising hours) and help students navigate challenges that affect their progress in Psychology and Neuroscience (email听pnugpc@dal.ca). Come to advising with questions about our program, your degree requirements, and your academic plans. I connect students with resources and university supports.
My role does not involve research. If you鈥檙e curious about my research background, feel free to ask (though I鈥檇 much rather discuss your experience in, and goals for, our undergraduate program)!
Student Supervision
My role doesn't include the capacity or infrastructure to support student research projects. This means I can鈥檛 supervise graduate or undergraduate research students, and I do not have volunteer research opportunities.
Occasionally, I supervise directed reading projects (PSYO/NESC 4000) on topics related to courses I teach (see below for a list) or undergraduate education. Interested honours students can email me to discuss options.
Teaching
最新杏吧原创 My Teaching Philosophy
In your lives beyond university, you鈥檒l solve problems by (a) applying what you know, (b) recognizing what you don鈥檛 know, (c) finding & evaluating new information, and (d) drawing informed conclusions, even when some details are uncertain. These are skills I emphasize in my classes. I ask questions that put what you鈥檝e learned in new contexts and have you explain your predictions. Sometimes these are hypotheticals, and you practice reasoning through a problem when we don鈥檛 know the answer with certainty. In the process, I hope you鈥檒l gain confidence that you can tackle new challenges. The information you鈥檒l encounter in your lives and careers is complex and always evolving. My goal is to give you tools to navigate that complexity so you can make decisions about the things that matter to you.
2024/25 courses:
- PSYO 1012: Introduction to Psychology and Neuroscience II (Unit 1: Language, Cognition, and Development)
- PSYO/NESC 2000: Research Methods in Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience
- PSYO/NESC 3190: Psycholinguistics
- PSYO 7100: Teaching Effectiveness
Other recent courses:
- PSYO 2090: Developmental Psychology
- PSYO 3082: Experimental Social Psychology
- PSYO 3093: Language and Literacy Development
- PSYO 2220: Adult Psychopathology
- PSYO 2080: Social Psychology
听
听