Qualitative Student Testimonials
This is a collection of student testimonials – some kind things my students have said over the years. I provide them as an illustrative qualitative complement to the quantitative ratings above.
Hello Professor!
I just wanted to reach out now that our class has concluded and let you know how much I enjoyed your class! Your lectures were interesting and engaging, I never zoned out watching them versus watching online lectures for my other classes. Even though this was already an online course, it felt livelier than my other courses and online lectures this semester and I wanted to let you know how amazing it was to take your class in the midst of everything going on with education right now.
After taking PSYCH 1000 I have found that it is an area of study that I find really interesting. I had so many conversations with family, friends, and my significant other about the things we learned, and found it very rewarding to work my way through your class. I feel like I came out of this semester as a student who has grown in my education, even though the pandemic has given me a lot of challenges to face with school being online, and your class was one of my absolute favorites to take so far at UCCS.
Frankly, this letter [of recommendation] ended up being relatively easy to write, and for the right reasons. During my previous career, I had the good fortune—if not dumb luck—to have been mentored by and worked with some influential global business leaders. I can unequivocally submit that you would have a seat at the table whether in academia, business, or otherwise. A great mind is a great mind no matter the context.
I genuinely hope that this opens yet another new door for you and that the CU system can utilize your talents to further its academic strategy in the coming years.
Thank you for an awesome semester and for keeping this summer so interesting! I loved this class and your video lectures. I learned so much and I know my kiddos did too as they loved coming to sit and watch them with me. Ha!
Hi Dr. Al-Shawaf,
I wanted to let you know that you are an amazing professor. I really enjoyed taking your course this semester and I learned so much. I wish all of my courses were taught this way. Thank you so much and it was a pleasure to be a part of your course this semester.
“Thank you so much for this semester. I am so grateful I had the chance to take your class. I think you have a real gift of touching people's lives and encouraging them to be their best. I really appreciated the environment of curiosity you fostered, and how passionate you were about the subject. I am just so grateful to have had the chance to take this class and have you as a professor. Thank you so much!
- Jessica Baines, UCCS Alumna
Greetings Dr. Al-Shawaf,
My name is Jill and I just completed your PSY 3300 condensed course. I wanted to write to you because you have made a huge impact on my academic journey, even though we haven't spoken in person (I've taken all online courses).
I transferred to UCCS in the spring of '21 with not an awesome track record with school. My first semester here, I took your intro to psych course, and something about you and the course re-ignited my passion for learning. Although I transferred to UCCS with the intentions of being a business major, I ended up deciding to be a psych minor very quickly into the intro course, mainly because I wanted to take more courses that you teach. Fast forward to today, and I just completed my 3rd psychology course offered by you.
I thoroughly enjoyed this course; I thought the material was beyond interesting and have shared as much of it as I can with friends and family because I think it's so important to know. I purposely took 3300 after completing your personality differences course, where you had referenced this specific course if we wanted to learn more. Both courses were fascinating to me, but I also think that you help make the topics and concepts easier to learn because of your passion. Your passion leaks through your lectures into the listeners, and I haven't experienced this with any other course or professor.
Today, I am in my last course before I complete my journey at UCCS. I walked in May, with Summa Cum Laude honors, and even though I worked my butt off to get here, I can't take all the credit because of professors like you. Aside from being passionate about psychology, you inspired passion in learning, a passion that I thought I had lost forever.
In closure, I wanted to extend a giant thank you. You have made a huge impact on my learning journey without even knowing it. I don't know if I would have been as successful as I have been without encountering intro to psych my first semester here. I am deeply grateful and appreciative and couldn't end my career here at UCCS without thanking the people that had the biggest impact on me. Thank you!
Best of luck in your future, please don't ever stop sharing your knowledge and passion!!
Regards,
Jill Blackburn (UCCS Alumna)
Hi Dr. Al-Shawaf,
I hope you are doing well. I recently finished your evolutionary psychology summer course and wanted to thank you. It sounds cheesy, but your class changed my life. I have been going back and forth trying to decide what sub-field of psychology to pursue for my career, and I don't have to do that anymore. The field of psychology makes so much more sense to me; I even proposed a new theory of crime in my criminology class this week on the basis of findings from evolutionary psychology. I feel like I have a direction in my life and have found my passion. I am so inspired by your research and the findings discussed in class. Thank you so much for making me excited about learning and hopeful about my future again.
On another note, I was wondering if you knew of any opportunities to work in labs studying topics related to evolutionary psychology. I was also hoping we could discuss possible career paths relevant to these studies. Thank you so much for your time and help. I greatly appreciate it.
Best,
Amelia Sarton
[email protected]
Dr. Al-Shawaf, My name is Chris Herz and I am a student in your online PSY 1000 class and I just wanted to say thank you for a great semester! This was an awesome course that really allowed me to expand my critical thinking skills and appreciation for the many focus areas within psychology. The lectures always left me with a new perspective / understanding of concepts that are so prevalent and applicable in real life... I hope to take more courses with you in the future! Thanks again!
“On an unrelated note, your classes are always awesome and your general psych course is what pushed me to get a psych degree! You have this passion behind what you profess and it makes the material easy to digest.”
- Dominique LaRock, UCCS student
“I truly enjoyed Intro to Psychology. Laith is a wonderful professor and extremely passionate and thorough with his teaching. Out of all the courses I have taken at UCCS, this course was by far my favorite. I highly recommend both the course as well as the professor.”
“I have had about 54 teachers in my life and Laith Al-Shawaf was by far the best that I have ever had. He is very passionate about the material and his teaching… Above all, he is a fantastic person. If we had a more personal relationship I’m sure I would consider him to be a role model. He went beyond the job of a teacher.”
“I have never been one to invest much interest in my instructors, and while traveling across the disciplines of English, psychology, computational biochemistry and statistics, I have only encountered a handful of truly inspirational individuals… I can say with the utmost confidence that Laith is at the top of that short list. He emits such warmth towards students inside and outside of the classroom, all the while demonstrating a most impressive intelligence and insight for myriad topics… It is because of him that I discovered more about myself as a scholar, as a young adult and as a friend. As I write this, I feel as though I am being redundant. These talents of his are so apparent that this letter is probably only reinforcing the obvious. Laith is truly a singularity; there is nobody quite like him.”
“Hello Laith, I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your class. You have great reviews and I see why. Your style of instructing and unique insight on topics is wonderful and inspiring. Thank you for a wonderful class!”
“As a retired 77-year-old Ph.D., I still take courses for fun. A most memorable recent course [Evolutionary Biology & the Human Mind] was taught by Laith… I was surprised by his broad knowledge of other fields and his ability to show far-reaching implications for that research… His genuine interest in his students was evidenced not only in his manner of presenting but in his questions to his audience and in his answers to our many questions.”
“I took your evolutionary psychology course in the fall semester last year and it was one of the most influential courses in my education thus far. Your course was by far the most fascinating class I have ever taken, and it showed me my true passion for psychology. You, and the knowledge I gained from your course, have inspired me to continue my education into graduate school.”
“Laith, I enjoyed your class so much I now am a psych major. You are such an amazing professor and learned so much from you this semester. I definitely will take more classes from you in the future.”
“Dr. Al-Shawaf is an amazing professor. I took PSY 1000 with him and found the course to be intellectually challenging as well as fun and exciting. He is available what seems like 24/7 and always responds to emails quite promptly. If a question arises that does not pertain directly to the lecture, he stays after or invites you to office hours to give a full, detailed explanation to the question. Above all else, Dr. Al-Shawaf is an incredibly caring, understanding human being. I would HIGHLY recommend taking this course or any course with him, and I promise you won’t regret it!”
I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your classes and how much I respect you as a professor. You are incredible at explaining the material and I really feel as though you want all of your students to learn and succeed. Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge. I have learned so much from this class and it has fueled my passion for psychology even more than before.
I also was wondering what other classes you teach so that I can sign up for another one.
Thank you so much
Hello Professor,
I am absolutely loving this course, thank you so much for continuing on with such a great course and teaching skills , I am enjoying it all so much.
“It’s clear to me he has deep understanding of the course’s [Evolutionary psychology’s] subject matter. I was 55 years old at the time I enrolled in the course… Because of my career experience, it's not difficult for me to recognize someone with extensive knowledge, skills and abilities… it is obvious to me that Laith is a future star in his field of study. I have also gotten to know Laith better outside of the class environment and can attest that he is of strong character and integrity.”
“I was immediately impressed by Mr. Al-Shawaf’s knowledge of the material, clarity of explanation, and professionalism. He was approachable, kind, but also had a certain ease in commanding a room. But most of all, I was impressed by his eager desire to help his students... He always scheduled office hour appointments outside the given hours to accommodate his students… He would stop at nothing to help his students better understand and better enjoy the material at hand.”
- Krista Wallace, UCCS student
“Your class was amazing Laith and really changed the way I thought about the world, other people, and myself. I wanted to say thank you for being an awesome teacher.”
“Hey Laith, I just wanted to say thank you for an awesome semester. It’s pretty rare that I come across a professor who so easily connects with their students and seems to really enjoy what they teach. And in doing those things, I genuinely enjoyed your class, which isn’t something that usually happens. I hope I can take another one of your classes at some point, as I learned a lot in this one and will, I think, retain a lot of the information you provided. Anyways, I just thought you definitely made an impact on many of the students in your class so I wanted to let you know and express my gratitude. Thank you for a wonderful semester :)”
“I happened to be working on my senior honors thesis on belief formation in the philosophy department. I discussed my research regularly with Laith, and he provided me with insight and constructive criticism throughout the process. Laith is a very knowledgeable and articulate individual in both the worlds of psychology and philosophy.”
“During the final semester of my bachelor’s degree, I was fortunate enough to take Dr. Al-Shawaf’s class on personality for my senior seminar. Dr. Al-Shawaf’s teaching style was engaging and enjoyable. His use of class discussion and related anecdotes ensured every lecture was interesting and memorable. I enjoyed the class so much that a few weeks into the semester I began an independent study course with Dr. Al-Shawaf to discuss evolutionary psychology. These two courses became the most interesting, insightful, and informative classes I’ve ever taken. Dr. Al-Shawaf’s wealth of knowledge along with his approachable and charismatic personality combine to create a wonderful educator that I would recommend to anyone.“
“His guidance, encouragement, and enthusiasm for the research process strengthened my ambitions to explore behavioral research… I was thoroughly impressed by how well Laith could convey his ideas… Through my dealings with him, I felt as though I had already become a doctoral student being trained by an individual who was both very knowledgeable in his field and kind in his character. The experiences I was afforded while working for Laith were invaluable.”
- Nicholas James Ortiz, B.A. in Psychology, UT-Austin
“Laith is definitely the best teacher I've had, and most likely ever will have. He kept the class engaged with frequent discussions and videos… Not only was it fun, but we also retained the information that we learned. To be able to ace a post-test that I found impossible before the class started, well, I never thought I would be able to do that! All in all, I can't possibly imagine having a better professor than Laith Al-Shawaf.”
"Laith is one of the most personable and intelligent people I have ever met in an academic setting. As chair of our Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, I arranged and attended an evolutionary psychology seminar that Mr. Al-Shawaf delivered about a year ago. He was passionate about his subject, lucidly explained the concepts of evolutionary psychology at a deep level, and is one of the most mature young PhD candidates I've ever known. Dr. David Buss… was quick to unequivocally recommend Laith as his preferred lecturer. I think that says a great deal about the high regard in which Laith is held by his faculty here at the University of Texas.”
“After spending some time in Laith’s class, I soon began to realize that I was being taught science and actually liking it. This in itself was an amazing feat ― but there’s more... His class was the first place where I actually wondered “why” out loud, and was able to either get an answer, or get closer to finding a solution myself… I think I speak for everyone when I say that talking to him was effortless, and he really created an amazing classroom environment. Laith is the kind of instructor that you want every single year, and keep in touch with―even once you’re out into the real world. No other instructor will ever meet what standards Laith has now set, and I don’t think I want them to.”
“Thank you for one of the best, most enlightening classes I've ever had, and thank you for being a f***ing awesome teacher!!”
“Laith is remarkably talented… Through his amiability, patience and dependability, he quickly won the respect of his students… Laith worked very well with all his research assistants, as well as with his fellow Ph.D. students. Laith has the talent and the competence to be an excellent teacher and I am confident that he will continue to be extremely successful in the future.”
“Laith was the instructor for the Cognitive Psychology class at CTY. I loved every second of the class, from philosophical discussion about consciousness to acting out the functions of a neuron. Laith is the most enthusiastic and genuinely inspiring teacher I’ve ever had. I walked away from that class with a solid base of knowledge in cognitive psychology and an altered perspective on life. Laith taught with extreme enthusiasm and insight. Every class I walked away with my mind blown. Every day I walked out of class with new avenues of thought, new depths of the world to explore, new academic enthusiasm, new knowledge, and a new appreciation of life. When Laith got on a roll the things he would say were so beautifully insightful and intellectually intriguing that I remember thinking, “this is how teaching should be, this is how learning should work”.”
“I don't think I've ever had a teacher as good at interacting with students as Laith was. I felt like he trusted us and respected us, and he engaged with every student, making discussion in our class free-flowing and interesting. Even though we learned the curriculum in the textbook, it was never dry, because Laith used plenty of group activities and visual aids to accompany what we were learning. Laith was also an outstandingly eloquent speaker who explained concepts clearly and made me constantly interested in pursuing cognitive psych further. At the end of the session, he made personalized book recommendations for each of us. He's one of the only teachers I've had who I plan on staying in contact with for a long time.”
“Thank you for such an amazing class in Personality Psychology. I enjoyed this class so much because of the way you set it up for us to learn and have fun. I learned so many things that will further my Psychology career. I really appreciate all the hard work you put into making this online class as interactive as possible. This was my first time taking an online class and you made it much better than I expected. I look forward to taking other classes with you as well!”
- Julia Ralston, UCCS student
“Dr. Al-Shawaf’s way of transmitting concepts and ideas is fascinating. Our professor is enthusiastic and uses original and clever techniques which contrast with old “mainstream” teaching methods that have become quite ineffective. Dr. Al-Shawaf was open to new hypotheses that his students would come up with throughout discussions; he continuously encouraged critical thinking. I can genuinely say that Dr. Al-Shawaf’s teaching proficiency should be modeled by other teachers no matter the field of study. Such devotion and energy exhibited by any teacher would definitely spread positively to students, and display positive results.”
“In a nutshell, Dr. Laith, you are one of the best teachers I have had in my years throughout school and college. I consider the material I learned from Evolutionary Psychology extremely valuable in the way I could relate to it on a personal level and the way it opened my mind to view the science of psychology from a unified perspective. Thank you so much for everything. I can never express my appreciation and gratitude in getting the chance to meet an amazing professor like you.”
“Hi Laith, this is Sydney Johnson from your Intro. to Psych. class! I enjoyed this class so much, and I enjoyed you as a professor even more! I understand if you aren't looking for anyone currently, but I just wanted to let you know that I would be interested in being a research assistant for next semester!”
“Even more notable than his ability to inspire his students with his own passion and intellectual curiosity was his insistence to direct and focus our attention not on brute facts, theories, and examples but rather on their underlying logical structure… Professor Al-Shawaf’s greatest quality might be his ability to help students overcome the influence of academic dogmatism and a sometimes grade-driven approach to academia. Instead, students in his class are encouraged to link the course material to that learned in other classes as well as knowledge obtained through everyday experience… Finally, Professor Al-Shawaf is best portrayed by his knack to inspire confidence in his students and their potential. The clarity and flowing logic with which he explains complex and advanced concepts allows students to derive pertinent and novel ideas from the course material, and gives them the resources to develop them.”
“Evolutionary psychology was definitely one of the most valuable courses that I've taken in my last three years of AUB. The knowledge that I've gained from this course has added perspective to my life.”
- Ali VanAcker, UCCS Alumna
“Laith was the best teacher I’ve ever had. Even only having him for three weeks, he was able to teach us more than we would learn in a full year class, while leaving room for exploration of topics that personally interested our class. Laith had a respect for his students and their learning that is unmatched in any class that I’ve taken. His dedication and passion for teaching, his skill at planning that allowed for thorough coverage of all the material while maintaining flexibility, and his devotion to all his students’ learning, happiness, and preparedness for life made him an outstanding teacher. I came away from his class not only with an excellent education in psychology, but an excellent education in skills (presentation, critical thinking, asking questions) necessary for success in life, academic and as a whole.”
“During my last semester at UCCS I studied under Dr. Laith Al-Shawaf and had one of the most enjoyable experiences of my college career.
To me, Dr. Al-Shawaf exemplified what a professor should be. During lecture, he was enthusiastic and engaging, always keeping the class captivated, incorporating practical, real-world-scenarios into the material to help us understand the concepts.
One of the things I appreciated most about Laith was that he would answer every single question and follow up any of us had. He relayed information in such a way that even though we knew what he was trying to tell us, we wanted to understand it on a deeper level, and Laith just had all the answers! Occasionally we would go a few minutes past the end of class, Laith would dismiss us, and half of us would stay behind just so that we could learn as much as we could from him.
In short, Laith was an incredible professor. He seemed to know so much that it almost seemed like a challenge to stump him with a question, something that rarely happened, but kept us all involved and intrigued. It was a shame that Dr. Al-Shawaf came to UCCS during my last year, I truly wish that I could have learned more from him.”
“Psychology 1000 was my favorite class of my first year of college. I learned a great deal from this class. From a teaching perspective, Professor Al-Shawaf truly structured the class in a manner beneficial to the student, breaking the class into portions of related topics; continually synthesizing elements from past chapters into current material. Lectures were engaging every class period. Outside of the classroom, Professor Al-Shawaf consistently made time for students in office hours and one on one meetings. Though I feel that Professor Al-Shawaf’s tests were more difficult than the majority of the tests I took at UCCS my first year, the exams provided a fair and honest gauge of one’s knowledge of the material. Additionally, receiving good grades in the class was truly a gratifying experience considering the fact I had to work for my grade in the class.
This course truly opened my eyes to a field of interest I did not even realize existed within myself. I learned a great deal from Professor Al-Shawaf, and thus plan to take any possible future courses with him going forward!”
“Laith, thank you for an incredibly enlightening semester! You are an enthusiastic and knowledgeable teacher and very easy to learn from.”
“Dr. Laith is full of passion and excitement for the material he teaches. His sense of humor makes him approachable and easy to relate to. It made class discussion easier because people were not afraid to be wrong or express their own ideas. He would provide numerous articles or book recommendations to students wanting to explore a particular topic. His final assignment had students create a study for a new, novel idea in personality psychology. It was challenging but great at making students think about the material rather than simply memorizing it for a test.”
“I can honestly say that Dr. Al-Shawaf’s class was by far the best, most interesting, and intellectually stimulating class that I have ever taken. Not only was the material compelling of itself, but the language used to communicate each idea, as well as the teaching methods that were employed during the class were utterly astonishing. I often found myself taking notes on the vocabulary Dr. Al-Shawaf used during lectures, which in turn illuminated the subjects so profoundly that I won’t soon forget their message. Dr. Al-Shawaf’s teaching style also gave the entire class the confidence and ability to freely explore subjects that interested them as they came up in lecture. His discussions often sparked wells of interest and curiosity that were accompanied by the offering of supplemental material for anyone interested in learning more. There was a depth to his knowledge and teaching that I was sad to leave behind when the semester ended, but I cherish the insights I gained and the understanding I now hold over personality psychology and psychology in general thanks to his teaching.”
“Dr. Al-Shawaf is one of the greatest professors I have had during my 3 years here at UCCS. His enthusiasm for Psychology is terribly contagious and drew me in every single class. He made the material much more interesting with real life examples that put the ideas into context. This also made the content much easier to remember and I am thankful to him because Psychology is my highest scoring subject on the MCAT exam, without studying more than what he taught. The knowledge he shared was very practical and I think about it in my daily life. After taking his class, I wanted to take on a minor in Psych! His teaching style was what made the difference. He was supportive, straight-forward, and interesting; exactly what a professor should be. My major is Biomedical Sciences, and I wish that some of my professors had more of Dr. Al-Shawaf's enthusiasm, preparedness, and availability and willingness to help. I would definitely recommend this professor and give him a 10/10 rating to whoever it may concern. I would like to thank Dr. Al-Shawaf for a wonderful semester, and giving me a great interest in an area where I did not have any. I would also like to thank him for properly preparing and educating me to the fullest extent.”
“In the Spring of 2018, I took Psychology 1000 with Dr. Laith Al-Shawaf. This course is by far one of the most interesting courses I have taken so far as a sophomore studying Biomedical Sciences at UCCS. Learning how the brain, mind and, behavior interact was intriguing and also practical. For example, I was observing at a hospital, when a nurse informed me of some basic symptoms of a patient was struggling with. From a previous psychology lecture covering attention, I understood that the patient had developed left spatial hemineglect disorder that was caused by a stroke. Thanks to Dr. Laith, my understanding of this attention disorder allowed the nurse and I to have a deeper conversation.
I believe he was able to successfully educate his students by first teaching a topic definitively, then expanding the topic by showing videos of studies and interviews, providing real-life examples, and in-class demonstrations. As a kinesthetic and visual learner, his teaching style easily facilitated my success in PSY 1000. This style also allowed him to engage a lecture hall of about 200 people, which is no easy feat.
Dr. Al-Shawaf was exceptionally willing to devote time and effort to help students succeed. If a student could not come to his office hours they could email and make an appointment with him. He also reserved time to communicate with students before and after class. I can personally attest to his approachability, because he was never impatient or short when I came to ask him questions, and he always took the time to listen to each question. His ability to thoroughly answer each and every one of his students’ questions demonstrated his impressive knowledge and expertise. I was incredibly lucky to have been taught by a respectful professor that instructed his students in a kind and constructive manner.”
“When I first enrolled in a senior seminar centered around biopsychology, I cannot say I was thrilled by the prospect. But from the first day I sat down in Professor Al-Shawaf’s class my concerns were instantly set aside. This would not be a class where we memorized brain structures and did little else. Professor Al-Shawaf’s class on personality psychology became one of the few I truly looked forward to each day. As time has gone on I find myself applying the lessons and concepts learned in this class in my everyday and professional life. Professor Al-Shawaf himself is by far one of my favorite lecturers I have taken, keeping the class engaged with Socratic discussion methods but also knowing when to move on, and when to stay on a topic to ensure everyone in his class fully understands. He was friendly, approachable, and easy to reach. The class was intellectually stimulating and provided a challenge, but never felt unfair or particularly frustrating. An additional highlight – aside from Professor Al-Shawaf’s friendly and familiar teaching method – stood out to me: the exams. This feels particularly odd for a college graduate to say, but short answer responses allowed students flexibility in explaining their own thought process, and encouraged a much more analytical and thoughtful learning process than the memorization so common in multiple choice exams. I am very grateful for the opportunity to have taken a class with Professor Al-Shawaf, and I have and will continue to recommend him and his classes at every given opportunity.”
“Laith, I really wanted to thank you for everything you taught me and for all the great times. It was by far the most exciting and thought-provoking class I've ever taken. You were also the best teacher I've ever had the pleasure of learning from. Not only did you teach the basic material, but you inspired me not only to pursue psychology but also in life in general. The extra time we took in class to talk about philosophical points of view and other interesting material that was not in the curriculum was extremely stimulating and inspiring. Your enthusiasm for learning was unwavering and made it easy to be involved in class. I also love everything about your style of teaching and how you connect with us!
I'm reading "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" along with a book on logotherapy by Viktor Frankl and Moby Dick. I also plan on reading a bunch of the books you recommended.
I'll be starting the data collection process of my research in Science Research this year and the title of my experiment thus far is "The effect of digit ratio and facial ratio, as markers for prenatal testosterone levels, on career interests and cognitive tendencies". I'm super excited to do some real research!
I would love to know how you are and what you've been up to!”
“Hey Dr. Al-Shawaf!
I hope this message finds you well! I just wanted to reach out and let you know that I had an absolute blast in your Evolutionary Psychology class! The material was fascinating, and it was so interesting to see how concepts like grandparents' investment aligned with my own life experiences to a 'T'.
I genuinely cannot recommend your classes enough! Thank you for making the subject so engaging and insightful.”
Hi Dr. Al-Shawaf,
I kind of wanted to introduce myself and tell you a couple of things. So my name is Sara. I am 32 years old (33 in November) and have a 7 year old son. I have been a medical assistant for almost 12 years now. I am taking my pre requisite classes for my BSN currently. I have been enrolled in the school 3 years now. My first class with UCCS was psychology online. I got a C- and was extremely discouraged after. All the class was material and tests. There were no lectures or any sort of guidance. Just chapters to read and tests. That was it. I just finished your first lecture and it is night and day from what I had previously. I was planning on retaking it and using grade forgiveness and I am so glad that I ended up taking it under you. I also work at the Lane center at the outpatient primary care clinic currently. I was looking forward to getting home today to listen to more of your lecture.
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that.
Looking forward to the rest of the semester.
This is a collection of student testimonials – some kind things my students have said over the years. I provide them as an illustrative qualitative complement to the quantitative ratings above.
Hello Professor!
I just wanted to reach out now that our class has concluded and let you know how much I enjoyed your class! Your lectures were interesting and engaging, I never zoned out watching them versus watching online lectures for my other classes. Even though this was already an online course, it felt livelier than my other courses and online lectures this semester and I wanted to let you know how amazing it was to take your class in the midst of everything going on with education right now.
- Gerilyn Martinez, UCCS student
After taking PSYCH 1000 I have found that it is an area of study that I find really interesting. I had so many conversations with family, friends, and my significant other about the things we learned, and found it very rewarding to work my way through your class. I feel like I came out of this semester as a student who has grown in my education, even though the pandemic has given me a lot of challenges to face with school being online, and your class was one of my absolute favorites to take so far at UCCS.
- Kenar Houghton, UCCS student
Frankly, this letter [of recommendation] ended up being relatively easy to write, and for the right reasons. During my previous career, I had the good fortune—if not dumb luck—to have been mentored by and worked with some influential global business leaders. I can unequivocally submit that you would have a seat at the table whether in academia, business, or otherwise. A great mind is a great mind no matter the context.
I genuinely hope that this opens yet another new door for you and that the CU system can utilize your talents to further its academic strategy in the coming years.
- Eric Wood, UCCS student
Thank you for an awesome semester and for keeping this summer so interesting! I loved this class and your video lectures. I learned so much and I know my kiddos did too as they loved coming to sit and watch them with me. Ha!
- Leslie Shirkey, UCCS student
Hi Dr. Al-Shawaf,
I wanted to let you know that you are an amazing professor. I really enjoyed taking your course this semester and I learned so much. I wish all of my courses were taught this way. Thank you so much and it was a pleasure to be a part of your course this semester.
- Eboni Davis, UCCS student
“Thank you so much for this semester. I am so grateful I had the chance to take your class. I think you have a real gift of touching people's lives and encouraging them to be their best. I really appreciated the environment of curiosity you fostered, and how passionate you were about the subject. I am just so grateful to have had the chance to take this class and have you as a professor. Thank you so much!
- Jessica Baines, UCCS Alumna
Greetings Dr. Al-Shawaf,
My name is Jill and I just completed your PSY 3300 condensed course. I wanted to write to you because you have made a huge impact on my academic journey, even though we haven't spoken in person (I've taken all online courses).
I transferred to UCCS in the spring of '21 with not an awesome track record with school. My first semester here, I took your intro to psych course, and something about you and the course re-ignited my passion for learning. Although I transferred to UCCS with the intentions of being a business major, I ended up deciding to be a psych minor very quickly into the intro course, mainly because I wanted to take more courses that you teach. Fast forward to today, and I just completed my 3rd psychology course offered by you.
I thoroughly enjoyed this course; I thought the material was beyond interesting and have shared as much of it as I can with friends and family because I think it's so important to know. I purposely took 3300 after completing your personality differences course, where you had referenced this specific course if we wanted to learn more. Both courses were fascinating to me, but I also think that you help make the topics and concepts easier to learn because of your passion. Your passion leaks through your lectures into the listeners, and I haven't experienced this with any other course or professor.
Today, I am in my last course before I complete my journey at UCCS. I walked in May, with Summa Cum Laude honors, and even though I worked my butt off to get here, I can't take all the credit because of professors like you. Aside from being passionate about psychology, you inspired passion in learning, a passion that I thought I had lost forever.
In closure, I wanted to extend a giant thank you. You have made a huge impact on my learning journey without even knowing it. I don't know if I would have been as successful as I have been without encountering intro to psych my first semester here. I am deeply grateful and appreciative and couldn't end my career here at UCCS without thanking the people that had the biggest impact on me. Thank you!
Best of luck in your future, please don't ever stop sharing your knowledge and passion!!
Regards,
Jill Blackburn (UCCS Alumna)
Hi Dr. Al-Shawaf,
I hope you are doing well. I recently finished your evolutionary psychology summer course and wanted to thank you. It sounds cheesy, but your class changed my life. I have been going back and forth trying to decide what sub-field of psychology to pursue for my career, and I don't have to do that anymore. The field of psychology makes so much more sense to me; I even proposed a new theory of crime in my criminology class this week on the basis of findings from evolutionary psychology. I feel like I have a direction in my life and have found my passion. I am so inspired by your research and the findings discussed in class. Thank you so much for making me excited about learning and hopeful about my future again.
On another note, I was wondering if you knew of any opportunities to work in labs studying topics related to evolutionary psychology. I was also hoping we could discuss possible career paths relevant to these studies. Thank you so much for your time and help. I greatly appreciate it.
Best,
Amelia Sarton
[email protected]
Dr. Al-Shawaf, My name is Chris Herz and I am a student in your online PSY 1000 class and I just wanted to say thank you for a great semester! This was an awesome course that really allowed me to expand my critical thinking skills and appreciation for the many focus areas within psychology. The lectures always left me with a new perspective / understanding of concepts that are so prevalent and applicable in real life... I hope to take more courses with you in the future! Thanks again!
- Chris Herz, UCCS Student
“On an unrelated note, your classes are always awesome and your general psych course is what pushed me to get a psych degree! You have this passion behind what you profess and it makes the material easy to digest.”
- Dominique LaRock, UCCS student
“I truly enjoyed Intro to Psychology. Laith is a wonderful professor and extremely passionate and thorough with his teaching. Out of all the courses I have taken at UCCS, this course was by far my favorite. I highly recommend both the course as well as the professor.”
- Amber Williams, UCCS student
“I have had about 54 teachers in my life and Laith Al-Shawaf was by far the best that I have ever had. He is very passionate about the material and his teaching… Above all, he is a fantastic person. If we had a more personal relationship I’m sure I would consider him to be a role model. He went beyond the job of a teacher.”
- Maximilian (Max) Terenzi, student, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
“I have never been one to invest much interest in my instructors, and while traveling across the disciplines of English, psychology, computational biochemistry and statistics, I have only encountered a handful of truly inspirational individuals… I can say with the utmost confidence that Laith is at the top of that short list. He emits such warmth towards students inside and outside of the classroom, all the while demonstrating a most impressive intelligence and insight for myriad topics… It is because of him that I discovered more about myself as a scholar, as a young adult and as a friend. As I write this, I feel as though I am being redundant. These talents of his are so apparent that this letter is probably only reinforcing the obvious. Laith is truly a singularity; there is nobody quite like him.”
- Sterling Whittemore, Biochemistry/Pre-Med/Honors Human Relations, UT-Austin
“Hello Laith, I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your class. You have great reviews and I see why. Your style of instructing and unique insight on topics is wonderful and inspiring. Thank you for a wonderful class!”
- Sabrina Tunou, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (UCCS) student
“As a retired 77-year-old Ph.D., I still take courses for fun. A most memorable recent course [Evolutionary Biology & the Human Mind] was taught by Laith… I was surprised by his broad knowledge of other fields and his ability to show far-reaching implications for that research… His genuine interest in his students was evidenced not only in his manner of presenting but in his questions to his audience and in his answers to our many questions.”
- Paula Wiesner, student, SAGE Division of Innovative and Continuing Education, UT-Austin
“I took your evolutionary psychology course in the fall semester last year and it was one of the most influential courses in my education thus far. Your course was by far the most fascinating class I have ever taken, and it showed me my true passion for psychology. You, and the knowledge I gained from your course, have inspired me to continue my education into graduate school.”
- Skylar Jackson, UCCS student
“Laith, I enjoyed your class so much I now am a psych major. You are such an amazing professor and learned so much from you this semester. I definitely will take more classes from you in the future.”
- Elizabeth Dombowsky, UCCS student
“Dr. Al-Shawaf is an amazing professor. I took PSY 1000 with him and found the course to be intellectually challenging as well as fun and exciting. He is available what seems like 24/7 and always responds to emails quite promptly. If a question arises that does not pertain directly to the lecture, he stays after or invites you to office hours to give a full, detailed explanation to the question. Above all else, Dr. Al-Shawaf is an incredibly caring, understanding human being. I would HIGHLY recommend taking this course or any course with him, and I promise you won’t regret it!”
- Christina Saitz, UCCS student
I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your classes and how much I respect you as a professor. You are incredible at explaining the material and I really feel as though you want all of your students to learn and succeed. Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge. I have learned so much from this class and it has fueled my passion for psychology even more than before.
I also was wondering what other classes you teach so that I can sign up for another one.
Thank you so much
- Sarah Tindal, UCCS student
Hello Professor,
I am absolutely loving this course, thank you so much for continuing on with such a great course and teaching skills , I am enjoying it all so much.
- Andre Hosseini, UCCS student
“It’s clear to me he has deep understanding of the course’s [Evolutionary psychology’s] subject matter. I was 55 years old at the time I enrolled in the course… Because of my career experience, it's not difficult for me to recognize someone with extensive knowledge, skills and abilities… it is obvious to me that Laith is a future star in his field of study. I have also gotten to know Laith better outside of the class environment and can attest that he is of strong character and integrity.”
- Drew Scherz, B.A. in Psychology, UT-Austin
“I was immediately impressed by Mr. Al-Shawaf’s knowledge of the material, clarity of explanation, and professionalism. He was approachable, kind, but also had a certain ease in commanding a room. But most of all, I was impressed by his eager desire to help his students... He always scheduled office hour appointments outside the given hours to accommodate his students… He would stop at nothing to help his students better understand and better enjoy the material at hand.”
- Sara Paul, Research Assistant, B.A. Honors in Psychology and Sociology, UT-Austin
- Krista Wallace, UCCS student
“Your class was amazing Laith and really changed the way I thought about the world, other people, and myself. I wanted to say thank you for being an awesome teacher.”
- Abraham (Avi) Madsen, student, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
“Hey Laith, I just wanted to say thank you for an awesome semester. It’s pretty rare that I come across a professor who so easily connects with their students and seems to really enjoy what they teach. And in doing those things, I genuinely enjoyed your class, which isn’t something that usually happens. I hope I can take another one of your classes at some point, as I learned a lot in this one and will, I think, retain a lot of the information you provided. Anyways, I just thought you definitely made an impact on many of the students in your class so I wanted to let you know and express my gratitude. Thank you for a wonderful semester :)”
- Simone MacPhee, UCCS student
“I happened to be working on my senior honors thesis on belief formation in the philosophy department. I discussed my research regularly with Laith, and he provided me with insight and constructive criticism throughout the process. Laith is a very knowledgeable and articulate individual in both the worlds of psychology and philosophy.”
- Mohammad (Mo) Nabulsi, B.A. in Philosophy, UT-Austin
“During the final semester of my bachelor’s degree, I was fortunate enough to take Dr. Al-Shawaf’s class on personality for my senior seminar. Dr. Al-Shawaf’s teaching style was engaging and enjoyable. His use of class discussion and related anecdotes ensured every lecture was interesting and memorable. I enjoyed the class so much that a few weeks into the semester I began an independent study course with Dr. Al-Shawaf to discuss evolutionary psychology. These two courses became the most interesting, insightful, and informative classes I’ve ever taken. Dr. Al-Shawaf’s wealth of knowledge along with his approachable and charismatic personality combine to create a wonderful educator that I would recommend to anyone.“
- Kaitlyn White, UCCS Alumna
“His guidance, encouragement, and enthusiasm for the research process strengthened my ambitions to explore behavioral research… I was thoroughly impressed by how well Laith could convey his ideas… Through my dealings with him, I felt as though I had already become a doctoral student being trained by an individual who was both very knowledgeable in his field and kind in his character. The experiences I was afforded while working for Laith were invaluable.”
- Nicholas James Ortiz, B.A. in Psychology, UT-Austin
“Laith is definitely the best teacher I've had, and most likely ever will have. He kept the class engaged with frequent discussions and videos… Not only was it fun, but we also retained the information that we learned. To be able to ace a post-test that I found impossible before the class started, well, I never thought I would be able to do that! All in all, I can't possibly imagine having a better professor than Laith Al-Shawaf.”
- Gianna Ciccotto, student, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
"Laith is one of the most personable and intelligent people I have ever met in an academic setting. As chair of our Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, I arranged and attended an evolutionary psychology seminar that Mr. Al-Shawaf delivered about a year ago. He was passionate about his subject, lucidly explained the concepts of evolutionary psychology at a deep level, and is one of the most mature young PhD candidates I've ever known. Dr. David Buss… was quick to unequivocally recommend Laith as his preferred lecturer. I think that says a great deal about the high regard in which Laith is held by his faculty here at the University of Texas.”
- Darrell Hanshaw, Chair, UT SAGE Curriculum Committee
“After spending some time in Laith’s class, I soon began to realize that I was being taught science and actually liking it. This in itself was an amazing feat ― but there’s more... His class was the first place where I actually wondered “why” out loud, and was able to either get an answer, or get closer to finding a solution myself… I think I speak for everyone when I say that talking to him was effortless, and he really created an amazing classroom environment. Laith is the kind of instructor that you want every single year, and keep in touch with―even once you’re out into the real world. No other instructor will ever meet what standards Laith has now set, and I don’t think I want them to.”
- Skye Chang, student, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
“Thank you for one of the best, most enlightening classes I've ever had, and thank you for being a f***ing awesome teacher!!”
- Bethany Lundy, UCCS Alumna
“Laith is remarkably talented… Through his amiability, patience and dependability, he quickly won the respect of his students… Laith worked very well with all his research assistants, as well as with his fellow Ph.D. students. Laith has the talent and the competence to be an excellent teacher and I am confident that he will continue to be extremely successful in the future.”
- Natalie Aharon, B.A. Honors in Psychology and Sociology, UT-Austin
“Laith was the instructor for the Cognitive Psychology class at CTY. I loved every second of the class, from philosophical discussion about consciousness to acting out the functions of a neuron. Laith is the most enthusiastic and genuinely inspiring teacher I’ve ever had. I walked away from that class with a solid base of knowledge in cognitive psychology and an altered perspective on life. Laith taught with extreme enthusiasm and insight. Every class I walked away with my mind blown. Every day I walked out of class with new avenues of thought, new depths of the world to explore, new academic enthusiasm, new knowledge, and a new appreciation of life. When Laith got on a roll the things he would say were so beautifully insightful and intellectually intriguing that I remember thinking, “this is how teaching should be, this is how learning should work”.”
- Thomas (Tom) Possidente, student, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
“I don't think I've ever had a teacher as good at interacting with students as Laith was. I felt like he trusted us and respected us, and he engaged with every student, making discussion in our class free-flowing and interesting. Even though we learned the curriculum in the textbook, it was never dry, because Laith used plenty of group activities and visual aids to accompany what we were learning. Laith was also an outstandingly eloquent speaker who explained concepts clearly and made me constantly interested in pursuing cognitive psych further. At the end of the session, he made personalized book recommendations for each of us. He's one of the only teachers I've had who I plan on staying in contact with for a long time.”
- Tyler Jager, student, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
“Thank you for such an amazing class in Personality Psychology. I enjoyed this class so much because of the way you set it up for us to learn and have fun. I learned so many things that will further my Psychology career. I really appreciate all the hard work you put into making this online class as interactive as possible. This was my first time taking an online class and you made it much better than I expected. I look forward to taking other classes with you as well!”
- Julia Ralston, UCCS student
“Dr. Al-Shawaf’s way of transmitting concepts and ideas is fascinating. Our professor is enthusiastic and uses original and clever techniques which contrast with old “mainstream” teaching methods that have become quite ineffective. Dr. Al-Shawaf was open to new hypotheses that his students would come up with throughout discussions; he continuously encouraged critical thinking. I can genuinely say that Dr. Al-Shawaf’s teaching proficiency should be modeled by other teachers no matter the field of study. Such devotion and energy exhibited by any teacher would definitely spread positively to students, and display positive results.”
- Leen Nicole Masri, American University of Beirut (AUB) Psychology alumna
“In a nutshell, Dr. Laith, you are one of the best teachers I have had in my years throughout school and college. I consider the material I learned from Evolutionary Psychology extremely valuable in the way I could relate to it on a personal level and the way it opened my mind to view the science of psychology from a unified perspective. Thank you so much for everything. I can never express my appreciation and gratitude in getting the chance to meet an amazing professor like you.”
- Zain Mallouk, AUB Psychology alumna
“Hi Laith, this is Sydney Johnson from your Intro. to Psych. class! I enjoyed this class so much, and I enjoyed you as a professor even more! I understand if you aren't looking for anyone currently, but I just wanted to let you know that I would be interested in being a research assistant for next semester!”
- Sydney Johnson, UCCS student
“Even more notable than his ability to inspire his students with his own passion and intellectual curiosity was his insistence to direct and focus our attention not on brute facts, theories, and examples but rather on their underlying logical structure… Professor Al-Shawaf’s greatest quality might be his ability to help students overcome the influence of academic dogmatism and a sometimes grade-driven approach to academia. Instead, students in his class are encouraged to link the course material to that learned in other classes as well as knowledge obtained through everyday experience… Finally, Professor Al-Shawaf is best portrayed by his knack to inspire confidence in his students and their potential. The clarity and flowing logic with which he explains complex and advanced concepts allows students to derive pertinent and novel ideas from the course material, and gives them the resources to develop them.”
- Paul Bejjani, AUB Psychology alumnus
“Evolutionary psychology was definitely one of the most valuable courses that I've taken in my last three years of AUB. The knowledge that I've gained from this course has added perspective to my life.”
- Selma Zaki, AUB Psychology alumna
- Ali VanAcker, UCCS Alumna
“Laith was the best teacher I’ve ever had. Even only having him for three weeks, he was able to teach us more than we would learn in a full year class, while leaving room for exploration of topics that personally interested our class. Laith had a respect for his students and their learning that is unmatched in any class that I’ve taken. His dedication and passion for teaching, his skill at planning that allowed for thorough coverage of all the material while maintaining flexibility, and his devotion to all his students’ learning, happiness, and preparedness for life made him an outstanding teacher. I came away from his class not only with an excellent education in psychology, but an excellent education in skills (presentation, critical thinking, asking questions) necessary for success in life, academic and as a whole.”
- Tess Herdman, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
“During my last semester at UCCS I studied under Dr. Laith Al-Shawaf and had one of the most enjoyable experiences of my college career.
To me, Dr. Al-Shawaf exemplified what a professor should be. During lecture, he was enthusiastic and engaging, always keeping the class captivated, incorporating practical, real-world-scenarios into the material to help us understand the concepts.
One of the things I appreciated most about Laith was that he would answer every single question and follow up any of us had. He relayed information in such a way that even though we knew what he was trying to tell us, we wanted to understand it on a deeper level, and Laith just had all the answers! Occasionally we would go a few minutes past the end of class, Laith would dismiss us, and half of us would stay behind just so that we could learn as much as we could from him.
In short, Laith was an incredible professor. He seemed to know so much that it almost seemed like a challenge to stump him with a question, something that rarely happened, but kept us all involved and intrigued. It was a shame that Dr. Al-Shawaf came to UCCS during my last year, I truly wish that I could have learned more from him.”
- Elijah Thomas, UCCS Alumnus
“Psychology 1000 was my favorite class of my first year of college. I learned a great deal from this class. From a teaching perspective, Professor Al-Shawaf truly structured the class in a manner beneficial to the student, breaking the class into portions of related topics; continually synthesizing elements from past chapters into current material. Lectures were engaging every class period. Outside of the classroom, Professor Al-Shawaf consistently made time for students in office hours and one on one meetings. Though I feel that Professor Al-Shawaf’s tests were more difficult than the majority of the tests I took at UCCS my first year, the exams provided a fair and honest gauge of one’s knowledge of the material. Additionally, receiving good grades in the class was truly a gratifying experience considering the fact I had to work for my grade in the class.
This course truly opened my eyes to a field of interest I did not even realize existed within myself. I learned a great deal from Professor Al-Shawaf, and thus plan to take any possible future courses with him going forward!”
- Diego Montoya, UCCS student
“Laith, thank you for an incredibly enlightening semester! You are an enthusiastic and knowledgeable teacher and very easy to learn from.”
- Christa Radka, UCCS Alumna
“Dr. Laith is full of passion and excitement for the material he teaches. His sense of humor makes him approachable and easy to relate to. It made class discussion easier because people were not afraid to be wrong or express their own ideas. He would provide numerous articles or book recommendations to students wanting to explore a particular topic. His final assignment had students create a study for a new, novel idea in personality psychology. It was challenging but great at making students think about the material rather than simply memorizing it for a test.”
- Jacquie Baker, UCCS Alumna
“I can honestly say that Dr. Al-Shawaf’s class was by far the best, most interesting, and intellectually stimulating class that I have ever taken. Not only was the material compelling of itself, but the language used to communicate each idea, as well as the teaching methods that were employed during the class were utterly astonishing. I often found myself taking notes on the vocabulary Dr. Al-Shawaf used during lectures, which in turn illuminated the subjects so profoundly that I won’t soon forget their message. Dr. Al-Shawaf’s teaching style also gave the entire class the confidence and ability to freely explore subjects that interested them as they came up in lecture. His discussions often sparked wells of interest and curiosity that were accompanied by the offering of supplemental material for anyone interested in learning more. There was a depth to his knowledge and teaching that I was sad to leave behind when the semester ended, but I cherish the insights I gained and the understanding I now hold over personality psychology and psychology in general thanks to his teaching.”
- Bethany Lundy, UCCS Alumna
“Dr. Al-Shawaf is one of the greatest professors I have had during my 3 years here at UCCS. His enthusiasm for Psychology is terribly contagious and drew me in every single class. He made the material much more interesting with real life examples that put the ideas into context. This also made the content much easier to remember and I am thankful to him because Psychology is my highest scoring subject on the MCAT exam, without studying more than what he taught. The knowledge he shared was very practical and I think about it in my daily life. After taking his class, I wanted to take on a minor in Psych! His teaching style was what made the difference. He was supportive, straight-forward, and interesting; exactly what a professor should be. My major is Biomedical Sciences, and I wish that some of my professors had more of Dr. Al-Shawaf's enthusiasm, preparedness, and availability and willingness to help. I would definitely recommend this professor and give him a 10/10 rating to whoever it may concern. I would like to thank Dr. Al-Shawaf for a wonderful semester, and giving me a great interest in an area where I did not have any. I would also like to thank him for properly preparing and educating me to the fullest extent.”
- Andrea Poliakon, UCCS student
“In the Spring of 2018, I took Psychology 1000 with Dr. Laith Al-Shawaf. This course is by far one of the most interesting courses I have taken so far as a sophomore studying Biomedical Sciences at UCCS. Learning how the brain, mind and, behavior interact was intriguing and also practical. For example, I was observing at a hospital, when a nurse informed me of some basic symptoms of a patient was struggling with. From a previous psychology lecture covering attention, I understood that the patient had developed left spatial hemineglect disorder that was caused by a stroke. Thanks to Dr. Laith, my understanding of this attention disorder allowed the nurse and I to have a deeper conversation.
I believe he was able to successfully educate his students by first teaching a topic definitively, then expanding the topic by showing videos of studies and interviews, providing real-life examples, and in-class demonstrations. As a kinesthetic and visual learner, his teaching style easily facilitated my success in PSY 1000. This style also allowed him to engage a lecture hall of about 200 people, which is no easy feat.
Dr. Al-Shawaf was exceptionally willing to devote time and effort to help students succeed. If a student could not come to his office hours they could email and make an appointment with him. He also reserved time to communicate with students before and after class. I can personally attest to his approachability, because he was never impatient or short when I came to ask him questions, and he always took the time to listen to each question. His ability to thoroughly answer each and every one of his students’ questions demonstrated his impressive knowledge and expertise. I was incredibly lucky to have been taught by a respectful professor that instructed his students in a kind and constructive manner.”
- Jessica Asuquo, UCCS student
“When I first enrolled in a senior seminar centered around biopsychology, I cannot say I was thrilled by the prospect. But from the first day I sat down in Professor Al-Shawaf’s class my concerns were instantly set aside. This would not be a class where we memorized brain structures and did little else. Professor Al-Shawaf’s class on personality psychology became one of the few I truly looked forward to each day. As time has gone on I find myself applying the lessons and concepts learned in this class in my everyday and professional life. Professor Al-Shawaf himself is by far one of my favorite lecturers I have taken, keeping the class engaged with Socratic discussion methods but also knowing when to move on, and when to stay on a topic to ensure everyone in his class fully understands. He was friendly, approachable, and easy to reach. The class was intellectually stimulating and provided a challenge, but never felt unfair or particularly frustrating. An additional highlight – aside from Professor Al-Shawaf’s friendly and familiar teaching method – stood out to me: the exams. This feels particularly odd for a college graduate to say, but short answer responses allowed students flexibility in explaining their own thought process, and encouraged a much more analytical and thoughtful learning process than the memorization so common in multiple choice exams. I am very grateful for the opportunity to have taken a class with Professor Al-Shawaf, and I have and will continue to recommend him and his classes at every given opportunity.”
- Ruairidh Weir, UCCS Alumnus
“Laith, I really wanted to thank you for everything you taught me and for all the great times. It was by far the most exciting and thought-provoking class I've ever taken. You were also the best teacher I've ever had the pleasure of learning from. Not only did you teach the basic material, but you inspired me not only to pursue psychology but also in life in general. The extra time we took in class to talk about philosophical points of view and other interesting material that was not in the curriculum was extremely stimulating and inspiring. Your enthusiasm for learning was unwavering and made it easy to be involved in class. I also love everything about your style of teaching and how you connect with us!
I'm reading "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" along with a book on logotherapy by Viktor Frankl and Moby Dick. I also plan on reading a bunch of the books you recommended.
I'll be starting the data collection process of my research in Science Research this year and the title of my experiment thus far is "The effect of digit ratio and facial ratio, as markers for prenatal testosterone levels, on career interests and cognitive tendencies". I'm super excited to do some real research!
I would love to know how you are and what you've been up to!”
- Tom Possidente, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
“Hey Dr. Al-Shawaf!
I hope this message finds you well! I just wanted to reach out and let you know that I had an absolute blast in your Evolutionary Psychology class! The material was fascinating, and it was so interesting to see how concepts like grandparents' investment aligned with my own life experiences to a 'T'.
I genuinely cannot recommend your classes enough! Thank you for making the subject so engaging and insightful.”
- Andrew Bates, UCCS Student
Hi Dr. Al-Shawaf,
I kind of wanted to introduce myself and tell you a couple of things. So my name is Sara. I am 32 years old (33 in November) and have a 7 year old son. I have been a medical assistant for almost 12 years now. I am taking my pre requisite classes for my BSN currently. I have been enrolled in the school 3 years now. My first class with UCCS was psychology online. I got a C- and was extremely discouraged after. All the class was material and tests. There were no lectures or any sort of guidance. Just chapters to read and tests. That was it. I just finished your first lecture and it is night and day from what I had previously. I was planning on retaking it and using grade forgiveness and I am so glad that I ended up taking it under you. I also work at the Lane center at the outpatient primary care clinic currently. I was looking forward to getting home today to listen to more of your lecture.
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that.
Looking forward to the rest of the semester.
- Sara Thurman, UCCS Student