Psychology on the Go

David B. Miller, professor of psychology and lover of technology, has written himself into the archives as the first faculty member at UConn to regularly podcast lessons that students can download to their portable iPod or MP3 players.

The technology enables students to listen and re-listen to the lessons on their own schedule, and the portable format means that they may do so as they walk around campus.

"We're not the first to have podcasts in universities nationally, or internationally for that matter, but I haven't seen it anywhere else as a weekly thing," Miller said.

As the recipient of the 2005 UConn Alumni Association award of Faculty Excellence in Teaching at the Undergraduate Level, it's hardly a surprise Miller has made an effort to find new ways to reach his students.

Now his students are privy to the use of technology that didn't even make it into the dictionary until recently. The New Oxford American Dictionary has made "podcast" its 2005 Word of the Year, defining it as a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player.

"I was driving to work and listening to my iPod the Thursday I did the special podcast . it just clicked," Miller said.

That day he used his laptop computer to pioneer his first podcast of a lecture, after getting his students' agreement. The recording turned out so well that Miller decided he would keep trying this new method of learning.

"Most [podcasts] have very short theme music," Miller said. "So I decided I needed to write something." Miller, who is a member of a UConn faculty rock band, Off Yer Rockers, wrote a hip-hop theme song, "Psycho-babble," which opens each of his student podcasts.

"Student feedback has been very positive," Miller said.

Miller also posts question and answer sessions online through weekly podcasts. Students can e-mail Miller their questions about the lectures of the week, and they are discussed in the podcast.

"I'm hoping that the kinds of questions being asked here are representative of the questions that most kids in class have," Miller said.

Students without MP3 players or iPods can also enjoy this study tool. The lessons can be listened to on any computer with the audio software, such as QuickTime Pro. Miller has also made his podcasts available through the iTunes Music Store, the official music site of Apple, the creator of the iPod. Students can subscribe free to the podcasts and get weekly updates.

To access any of the psychology podcasts, go to the Psychology Department web site, http://web.uconn.edu/psychology/ , and click on Faculty/David B. Miller. Miller also has recorded podcasts for the department, accessible from the home page, including an interview with Dr. Theodore Millon, '54 Ph.D., psychology, who earned the eighth doctorate at UConn and is still active in his field.