Alison Heinhold Melley

Associate Professor

Accessible Classrooms, Teaching of Psychology, Andragogy, Open Educational Resources

Alison Melley serves as the Director of Teaching Development in the Psychology Department, working closely with TAs and doctoral students who are preparing to teach independently. She also provides opportunities for undergraduate Learning Assistants to support other students in the Introductory Psychology classes.

Prior to coming to GMU in August 2019, Alison taught psychology at Montgomery College in Germantown Maryland, where she was a Smithsonian Faculty Fellow and a fellow with the UN Sustainable Development Goals Open Pedagogy program. Alison's background includes research in Infant Mental Health, Preschool STEM education, parent-child interaction, personality disorders, eating disorders, attachment and emotional expression. She is currently focused on pedagogy and further developing the Teaching Practicum. Her current interests are in developing inclusive, accessible, and resilient classrooms (both online and in person).

Dr. Melley was awarded the 2023 University Teaching Excellence Award, with special recognition for teaching in Mason Core, The 2022 Outstanding Undergraduate Faculty in the Psychology Department, and the 2018 Montgomery College Faculty Engagement Award.

Make an appointment with Dr. Melley here - please choose the category that most closely describes you before scheduling.

Grants and Fellowships

VIVA Open Course - Content Creation Grant, 2023

Smithsonian Faculty Fellowship, Montgomery College, 2019

UN Open Pedagogy Fellowship, Montgomery College, 2018

Courses Taught

PSYC 850 Teaching Practicum

PSYC 100 Basic Concepts in Psychology

PSYC 211 Developmental Psychology

PSYC 312 Educational Psychology

Education

PhD., 2003, Clinical Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

M.A., 1997, Clinical Psychology, West Chester University, West Chester, PA

B.A., 1994, Psychology, Loyola University, Baltimore, MD

Recent Presentations

Melley, A.H. & Caruso, A.S. (2024). Sneak-a-Peek: An Open Resource for Introductory Psychology, Presented at the National Institute for the Teaching of Psychology, January 2024, Bonita Springs, FL.

Melley, A.H. (2023). From Barriers to Bridges: Your Digital Accessibility Toolbox, Workshop presented at the Annual Conference on Teaching, On-site Oct 2023, Portland, OR and Virtual, Feb 2024. On demand video.

Melley, A.H. (2023), Inclusive Learning Experiences: Empowering Facilitators and Learners, Invited presentation at the Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, May 2023, Washington, DC.

Melley, A.H. (2023), Flexible Policies and Alternative Grading – What should I do? Presented at the Psychology One Conference, June 2023, Duke University, Durham, NC.

Melley, A.H. (2023), Real-time Captioning in the Classroom: The Student Experience. Presented at TIP Coast to Coast Conference, January 2023, Remote.

Melley, A.H. (2022), Teaching the Future Teachers: Mentoring Graduate Student Instructors and TAs. Presented at the Annual Conference on Teaching, October 2022, Pittsburgh, PA,

Melley, A. H.(2022) Incorporating Evidence-based Teaching Practices into the Classroom with Ease. Innovations in Teaching and Learning Annual Conference, George Mason University, Sept 2022, on-site. Resource Folder

Melley, A.H. (2022) Course Design with Integrative Themes. Invited Presentation, American Psychological Association’s Introductory Psychology Course Design Institute, July 2022

Melley, A. (2021) Perusall Pedagogy for Inclusivity and Active Learning. Presented at Perusall Exchange 2021, Virtual. On demand video

Melley, A. (2020). Fostering Student Engagement with Reading Materials: Using a Social Annotation Platform. Innovations in Teaching and Learning Annual Conference, George Mason University (Virtual). https://doi.org/10.13021/itlcp.2020.2785

Melley, A. (2020). Synthesis and Application in Introductory Psychology Using Big Problems. Symposium: Integration of the Five Pillars Using Big Problems Activities in Introductory Psychology Courses. APA Convention 2020, Virtual. APA Convention 2020, Virtual

In the Media

Interview and Conversation about VIVA Open project.

Interview on PsychSessions Podcast: E168: Alison Melley: Teacher of Teachers, Insightful, Generous, Industrious, Forward-Thinking