Teachers of psychology have been called to both educate college students about interpersonal violence (e.g., sexual assault) and use service learning. However, few models exist for how teachers may simultaneously address both of these calls. This article describes a service-learning course in psychology that integrated an evidence-based, bystander…

Background: Undergraduates may not use the most effective learning strategies, particularly those considered "desirable difficulties" such as spacing, elaboration, and testing ("SET"). Objective: This study examined knowledge-based, metacognitive, and behavioral outcomes from interventions designed to teach undergraduates about…

This preliminary randomized controlled experiment evaluated the effects of a single classroom mindfulness educational session, versus an active contact control activity (study skills review), on college students' mindfulness meditation frequency and self-reported stress, anxiety, and self-regulation. Those in the intervention group reported…

Misconceptions of psychological phenomena are widespread and often not easily eliminated--even among students completing college-level psychology courses. As part of a research methods psychology course, students developed public-service-announcement-style posters as part of a psychology myth-debunking campaign and presented these to students…

Multiple studies have demonstrated the efficacy of various psychological critical thinking interventions. The current study tests a novel technique for improving introductory psychology students' ability to identify and evaluate methodological concepts in real-life media by prompting them to analyze secondary source news and blog articles.…

What an instructor does on the first day of a course can impact students' motivation in the course. To build upon these prior research findings, we implemented a first-day intervention to influence students' motivation by increasing their perceptions of course interest, course usefulness, and instructor caring. The participants were undergraduate…

We examined whether using virtual reality (VR) technology to provide students with direct exposure to evidence-based psychological treatment approaches would enhance their understanding of and appreciation for such treatments. Students enrolled in an abnormal psychology course participated in a VR session designed to help clients overcome the fear…

Internal validity is important in assessing teaching demonstrations both for one's knowledge and for quality assessment demanded by outside sources. We describe a method to improve the internal validity of assessments of teaching demonstrations: a 1-group pretest-posttest design with alternative forms. This design is often more practical and…