Dr. Maas visits 'Psych 101' students

Following his lecture on sleep, Dr. Maas tells
students about his adventures 'dune bashing'
while in Qatar."

James B. Maas, Ph.D., Weiss Presidential Fellow and professor of psychology at Cornell University in Ithaca, visited WCMC-Q early October to meet and get to know in person students who are taking the Introductory Psychology course.

The largest and most popular lecture class at any university in the U.S, ‘Psych 101’ is taught by Dr. Maas at Cornell’s Ithaca campus and delivered to second-year pre-med students in Qatar through distance learning.

Lectures are recorded in Ithaca and transferred to WCMC-Q via a high-speed connection to the Education City campus. Taking in the seven-hour time differences, the video streamed lectures are shown to students in Doha, at a time suitable for the class.

Dr. Maas said live question and answer sessions were held on a weekly basis with either himself or the teaching assistant resident in Doha, giving students a chance to discuss points of interest and raise questions. They also communicate by email.

Dr. Maas and pre-medical student Nihan Mirajkar
compare sleep habits and discuss the importance of
having a quiet, dark, uncluttered, comfortable room to
rest in.

Dr. Maas also makes a point of visiting Qatar every Fall to interact with the students in person.

Speaking in a film about the Psychology 101 course, first year medical student Aalia Al Barwani, who took the course as part of pre-med last year, said: "The fact that Dr. Maas came here, it was really nice."

"We got to see him one-on-one and talk to him and tell him any concerns we had. That really helped and it sort of added to the personal touch of the course."

During his latest visit Dr. Maas gave lectures on sleep and extra sensory perception, part of Psychology 101. He spoke about the importance of adequate sleep and how to achieve quality sleep by improving your surroundings. He used personal examples, and he showed a photo of a student sleeping in a messy room, as an example of what not to do.

In a new development this semester, five students from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar and Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCU Qatar) are taking the course, following the introduction of cross-registration on the Education City campus. The arrangement opens up opportunities for students at WCMC-Q’s sister-institutions to broaden their education and meet their degree requirements.

So successful is the delivery of the Psychology 101 course that Dr. Maas has made a film about teaching, and learning, across the oceans. During his visit, the award-winning filmmaker premiered a 10-minute film, made earlier this year with the assistance of Cornell University seniors Ali Gorski and Lauren Jacobs.

In the film, professor of chemistry, Terrance Murphy, Ph.D, explains the critical elements needed to make the distance program work – interesting content, support materials, live video links, a dynamic professor, an on-site teaching assistant, and face-to-face contact. Several of WCMC-Q’s students were interviewed for the film, and they attended the premiere to get an exclusive viewing of the finished product.

A short animation film on the journey of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers, produced by Daniel Maas, son of Dr. Maas, was also shown on this occasion. Daniel was given the opportunity to work on the project while studying at Cornell University. Earlier this year he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his computer graphics work on the animation film, titled Mars Dead or Alive.

While in Qatar, Daniel visited VCU Qatar to discuss the techniques used to make the film and to give an overview of the digital animation industry to motion science students.

An animated Dr. Maas doing what he does best -
speaking to students about the subject of sleep and
passing on a tip: always carry clothes pegs when
travelling to fasten the curtains in hotel rooms.

An animated Dr. Maas doing what he does best -
Students and faculty of WCMC-Q pack lecture hall
three to hear Dr. Maas give his lecture on sleep.