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The College of Health Sciences and Human Ecology
Sabbatical Report
July 1, 2016
Richard Hook, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology
During the academic year of 2014-2015 I had the privilege of a year-long sabbatical. As stated in my sabbatical plan
for this year, the time was devoted mostly to course development. Although I have taught Learning and Cognition
(PSY 2227) I saw the need to upgrade this class to better address current teaching standards regarding active
learning, classroom assessment and online delivery. I worked on two versions of this course, one online and one for
in-class instruction. In both versions, I developed new assessments and active learning tasks and assignments. To
make time for the increase of active learning tasks in the class I developed some of my lectures into written
documents with illustrations and video attachments for online delivery out of class. Other lectures were develop or
refined for in class delivery.
Although not originally in my sabbatical plan, the year was also devoted to the development of a new course in our
curriculum, the Psychology of Aging (PSY 3500). This course is needed in our curriculum to address changes in our
society and career options for our students due to the growing demographic of older people in our population. I
developed a new course proposal to address this need, which was approved by the University’s Curriculum
Committee. My sabbatical gave me time to read extensively on this topic and select appropriate resources for the
class from the scientific literature, internet and published texts. As with the learning class, this course was developed
for both online and in class delivery and includes a significant increase in active learning and assessment activities
over courses taught earlier in my career as a University professor.
Finally, during this time, I continued to work with three of our graduate students on thesis and research papers.
These papers include a thesis by Alita Peterson-Renque on Parentification and Adjustment to College.
Parentification occurs when a child grows up in a family where substance abuse, mental illness or other issues
impair a parent’s ability to function and leave an older child with the burden of being the responsible caregiver in
the family. Sadly, this describe the developmental history and continued reality of many of our students. The
question addressed in this paper was how these circumstances impact a student’s ability to perform and continue in
college. A second paper, with Ming Mun Chong, was on the topic of American Indian Engagement in Child Mental
Health Care Services. This paper looked at the history of American Indian experience, current perceptions of health
care services among American Indians, and culturally appropriate solutions to research and address this challenge.
The third paper, with Laurie Vizenor, focused on the problem of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and the
need and challenges of early detection and intervention with adolescents. All three papers were completed during the
year, enabling these students to complete the requirements for their Master’s degrees.
Thanks to the time afforded by this sabbatical I was able to help these students write very strong papers. I was also
able to develop stronger courses that I will continue teaching in the coming years. I am very glad to have had this
opportunity.
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Richard Hook, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychology
RHook@bemidjistate.edu
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(218) 755-2880 /Fax 218 755-2822/Hagg-Sauer Hall, 1500 Birchmont Drive, Bemidji, MN 56601-2699