For further questions, please contact Dr. Joanne Zinger, the Director of the Post-Baccalaureate Program in Psychological Science.
Email: joanne.zinger@uci.edu
Phone: (951) 662-3735
About the Academic Advisors/Program Directors:
Dr. Zinger (Program Director)
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Dr. Zinger is an Associate Professor of Teaching in the Department of Psychological Science. She completed her PhD in Social/Personality Psychology at the University of California, Riverside in 2005 and her post-doctoral studies at at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, CA in 2007. Since arriving at UCI in 2007, she has won several awards for her teaching, including the Campus Village Professor of the Month (2009), the Social Ecology Student Association Professor of the Quarter (2010), the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Fostering Undergraduate Research in the School of Social Ecology (2012), the UCI Lecturer of the Year Award (2012), the Social Ecology Professor of the Year (2012, 2017, and 2018), the UCI Yearbook/Senior Class Outstanding Professor in the School of Social Ecology (2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014), and the UCI Black Leadership Advancement Coalition's Bridgebuilder Award (2017). In addition to her teaching activities, Dr. Zinger is currently the Coordinator of the Social Ecology Excellence in Research Program, and she has previously served as the Director of Graduate Recruitment for the Department of Psychological Science (2009-2013) and the Director of the Social Ecology Honors Program (2010-2013). She actively collaborates with undergraduates on research projects (mentoring 1-2 honors and/or post-bacc students and several research assistants each year), and students in her lab have gone on to enter graduate programs in developmental psychology, social work, school psychology, international business, dentistry, and career counseling. |
Dr. Dent (Associate Director)
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Dr. Dent is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Psychological Science, joining UCI from Harvard University where she spent two years as a College Fellow in the Department of Psychology. Dr. Dent earned her Master’s and doctorate degrees in developmental psychology from Duke University after graduating summa cum laude and ranked first in class from her hometown college. Dr. Dent’s research explores how students learn and succeed. She does so primarily through meta-analysis, a type of research that brings together a large number of studies (sometimes even hundreds!) to understand why their results differ. Dr. Dent’s research has been supported by her role in the Campbell Collaboration, an international network of meta-analysts committed to the same mission as our School: Science Driving Solutions. Dr. Dent’s teaching reflects this tenet of translational science, where she combines emerging and established best practices to create a unique culture for students focused on cognitive and motivational principles at the heart of her research. Students’ responses to this teaching philosophy has resulted in nearly a dozen teaching recognitions over the past five years, including being named a “Favorite Professor” by Harvard’s 2017 Graduating Class. Dr. Dent is deeply invested in creating an inclusive, equitable, engaging, and inspiring learning environment for the students she teaches in the Department of Psychological Science. |