Presentations

William S. Altman is a Professor in the Psychology and Human Services Department at SUNY Broome Community College, where he has taught since 2003. Dr. Altman earned Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Educational Psychology and Measurement, and an M.P.S. in Communication Arts (Organizational Communication) from Cornell University, as well as a B.A. degree in History from the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests include effective teaching and learning, and creativity. Before coming to SUNY Broome, he taught for 7 years at Ithaca College, 12 years at SUNY Cortland, and a year at Nazareth College.

Bill is currently serving his second term as the Society for the Teaching of Psychology's Vice President for Resouces. He also served as STP's Liaison to the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, the co-editor of STP’s E-xcellence in Teaching, the consulting editor for two introductory psychology textbooks, and has created numerous learning and teaching materials for several publishers.

In addition to scholarly publications and presentations, Dr. Altman has written for several non-scholarly publications, spent over a decade sharing information about education, technology, and psychological science on local radio, been a professional photographer, and performed in theater and as a standup comic (ostensibly to work on classroom presentation skills, but mostly because it's fun). In addition to presenting many workshops and seminars about effective teaching and learning, he has also contributed over a dozen videos on effective teaching, as part of the Wadsworth Guest Lecture Series.

Dr. Altman also consults on the development of effective teaching materials and techniques for applications in other fields. For example, he assisted the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in developing their training manual for nuisance wildlife control operators (available online at NWCO.net) and in creating and validating their statewide licensing test. He's also collaborated with award-winning science fiction author Jill Shultz to offer workshops that train fiction writers and actors to use psychological science for character development.

Dr. Altman is driven by a wide and unpredictable curiosity, an almost pathological need to solve problems, and a sense that it all ought to be fun. His research cuts across many aspects of evidence-based teaching methods, learning, and testing.

Please contact him for more information about workshops, presentations, and seminars for your conferences, meetings, or other events. Below are some of the topics on which Bill can speak.

For Professionals

Professional Development

Technology Made Simple: Free Tools to Improve Your Teaching, Increase Student Engagement, and Make Your Professional Life Easier

Training Sherlock Holmes: Develop Students’ Critical Thinking Skills Through Hands-On Research in Your Classroom

Give Psychology Away as a Local Media Hero

Textbook Selection: A Simple, Inclusive Process

Teaching Skills

Failure is not an Option. It's a Course Requirement!

Fail Your Way to Fabulous Teaching: How Acting, Standup Comedy, and Jedi Mind-Tricks Will Make You a Better Instructor

Why Won’t They Learn? Simple Teaching Techniques to Encourage Learning, Keep Your Workload Manageable, and Boost Your Student Evaluations

Create Engaging PowerPoint Presentations

Teach Research Methods and Reporting with Scaffolded, Hands-On Student Research

Hands-On Demonstrations and Experiments for Your Class

Students Revising Exams Learn More, Get Better Grades, & Think You're Wonderful

Concept Maps and "V" Maps as Teaching and Learning Tools

Engage Students' Attention and Increase Comprehension with In-Class Writing

Rubrics Make Grading Faster, Easier, and More Transparent (and Boost Your Teaching Evaluations!)

For Students

Secrets of College Success: How to be an A-Student, Have a Social Life, and Get Enough Sleep

Dope-Slap Time: Myths, Bad Advice, and Misconceptions About Teaching and Learning

Create Your Own Cult--An Exercise in Social Psychology

For Community Groups

I am happy to speak on many different psycyhological issues, and how the science of psychology can help make people's lives better. Talks could include topics such as

Mythbusting about psychology and science

Maximizing your intelligence and creativity

Sleep

Personality

I also offer a workshop with award-winning author Jill Shultz on how authors and actors can use the psychological science of personality to develop believable characters, motivations, and story lines.

Contact Information

Telephone: 607-778-5216
Fax: 607-778-5394 (It's a shared fax, so please use a cover sheet.)
E-Mail: altmanws@sunybroome.edu
Office: Titchener Hall 011-A
Mailbox: Titchener Hall 210

U.S. Mail:

William S. Altman
Psychology & Human Services Dept.
Broome Community College
P.O. Box 1017
Binghamton, NY 13902

UPS, FedEx, etc.:

William S. Altman
Psychology & Human Services Dept.
Broome Community College
907 Front Street
Binghamton, NY 13905