Karenna Malavanti, Ph.D.

Education

Ph.D., Experimental Psychology, 2014

M.A., Psychology, Baylor University, 2012

B.S., Neuroscience, Baylor University, 2010

Biography

Dr. Karenna Malavanti joined the Psychology & Neuroscience department in 2017. Prior to coming to Baylor, she was as an assistant professor at a small liberal arts university, Carson-Newman University. Dr. Malavanti is the past co-chair of the Early Career Psychologists Committee for the Society of the Teaching of Psychology (APA Div. 2), where she continues to hold membership. At Baylor, she has been recognized for excellence in teaching by the Office of the Provost and the Academy of Teaching and Learning. She was recognized as a Baylor Teaching Fellow in 2018-2019. Dr. Malavanti is passionate about evidence-based teaching, mentoring students (especially first-generation and minoritized students), and utilizing innovative pedagogical techniques in the classroom.

Academic Interests and Research

Dr. Malavanti’s primary research interest is in applied cognition and human memory. She has two broad areas of research, legal psychology (i.e., efficacy of juror instructions and expert testimony, eyewitness memory in bilinguals, optimal line-up procedures) and applying cognitive psychology to education (i.e., increasing retention of course material, optimal study strategies). She regularly presents scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), innovative teaching practices, and professional development workshops at national teaching conferences in Psychology and in Neuroscience. Dr. Malavanti greatly enjoys sharing knowledge through evidence-based teaching and student-centered course design and hopes her students love learning about the mind and the brain as much as she does. She regularly teaches introductory psychology and neuroscience courses, and advanced courses in Cognition. She is honored to serve as faculty-in-residence for Hallie Earle Hall and the Science & Health Living-Learning Center.

To hear more from Dr. Malavanti, please check out the Professors Talk Pedagogy podcast (link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/karenna-malavanti-teaching-while-introverted/id1552461388?i=1000549327747)

Representative Publications

Trent, J. T., Baggett, A. R., Dasse, M. N., & Malavanti, K. F. (2017). A hybridization of simultaneous and sequential lineups: Opportunity for comparison enhances performance. Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice, 13, 96-108.

Malavanti, K. F., Terrell, J. T., Dasse, M. N. & Weaver, C. A., III. (2014). The “Curse of Knowledge” in estimating jurors’ understanding of memory: Attorneys know more about memory than the general population.  Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice, 10, 99-105. 

Malavanti, K. F., Johnson, M. K., Rowatt, W. C., & Weaver, C. A., III. (2012). Subtle contextual influences on racial bias in the courtroom.  The Jury Expert, 24, 1-7.

Awards

• Affordable Course Materials Fellow, Summer 2022
• Summer Ethics Seminar Fellow, Summer 2022
• Learning Design Fellow, Summer 2021
• Active Learning Lab Fellow, Spring 2020
• Baylor Teaching Fellow, 2018-2019
• Summer Faculty Institute Fellow, Summer 2018
• University Teaching Development Grant, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
• Society for the Teaching of Psychology, Early Career Travel Grant, 2017, 2018, 2019
• Carson-Newman University Student Advocate of the Year, Spring 2017
• Psi Chi Faculty Advisor Regional Travel Grant, Spring 2016
• Carson-Newman University Excellence in Student Advising, Spring 2016
• Carson-Newman University Research Award, Spring 2015

Baylor Courses Taught

• PSY 1305 Psychological Science
• NSC 1306 Introductory Neuroscience
• NSC / PSY 3311 Cognition
• NSC 3381 Neuroscience and the Law
• NSC /PSY 5311 Memory and Cognition