As a discipline, educational psychology is somewhat idiosyncratic in terms of content and methodologies. Such idiosyncrasies are likely rooted in the philosophical history of the discipline which involves both the empirical tradition of Thorndike and the contextualized pragmatics of James and Dewey. Despite this, there is little teaching about…

The use of fictional literature as "case studies" in psychology education has a potential to support students' learning in various ways. To further the understanding of such applications of fiction, we investigated how clinical psychology students perceived reading fiction as a learning activity. The participants saw benefits for their…

High-impact experiences, such as service-learning opportunities or hands-on laboratories, have been shown to enhance student learning, course satisfaction, and attitudes and behaviors. Thus, it is essential to incorporate these experiences into psychology curriculums when possible. However, it is also critical to analyze the impact of these…

A multi-method approach was used in a pilot assessment of student learning outcomes for 38 students enrolled in an undergraduate psychology practicum/internship program. The results from a pretest-posttest survey revealed that students improved their multicultural skills from the beginning to the end of the program. The results also indicate that…

Faculty perceptions of textbook quality, anecdotal posts to listservs, and published ratings frequently determine textbook choice. Although faculty members intend to have students use the textbooks, few published empirical studies assess student opinions. In two studies, students rated widely adopted introductory psychology textbooks on eight…

As diversity in higher education increases, the one-size-fits-all, teacher-centered, traditional model of lecture-style teaching sets students up for failure. In addition, the strategic rhetoric of blaming students for academic failures keeps the systemic power in place, justifying the current system. In contrast, differentiated instruction, a…

Many Canadian Educational Psychology classes currently emphasize and model constructivist teaching practices in addition to integrating the notion of connectivity and Web 2.0 into educational theory. This study examines "Moodle" as a technological tool to further enhance participation and performance in addition to the regularly used…

The development of critical thinking skills forms an important part of many higher education courses and has become increasingly visible in syllabi and assessment criteria. Yet, in spite of this, students often struggle to understand what it is and to demonstrate it in their work. This paper aims to explore how students understand the term…

Retention in higher education has become an important area of focus in recent years; however, much of the research has been conducted on large, research-intensive universities, leading to questions of whether these findings apply to institutions with different characteristics. In the current study, forty four students at a small, teaching-focused…

In this study we assessed the effects of paragraph length on the reading speed and comprehension of students. Students were randomly assigned to one of three groups: short paragraph length (SPL), medium paragraph length (MPL), or long paragraph length (LPL). Students read a 1423 word text on a computer screen formatted to align with their group…

Negative "push-back" from a group of first-year undergraduate sociology students during a class discussion of gender and feminism included rejecting personal use of the title Ms. Teaching team members asked themselves: how general is this response among other student groups in the same one-semester subject? A short in-class survey…

This study aimed to investigate Chinese students' perceptions of effective teaching. Four hundred and thirty college students participated in this investigation. They were asked to identify 3 to 6 characteristics of effective college instructors and explain why. Themes were extracted from these qualitative data via constant comparison analysis,…

This paper explores the intersection of reflection, journal writing and creativity. Undergraduate students who participated in a residential field camp were required to keep a creative reflective journal to demonstrate their theoretical and practical understandings of their experience. This study reports on the content analysis of 42 student…

Educators in a variety of disciplines have used clicker technology to engage college students in the learning process. This study investigated the influence of clicker technology on student recall and student involvement in higher education. Student Involvement Theory was used to inform and guide this research. Student recall was evaluated using…

Google Docs, an online word processing application, is a promising tool for collaborative learning. However, many college instructors and students lack knowledge to effectively use Google Docs to enhance teaching and learning. Goals of this study include (1) assessing the effectiveness of using Google Docs in an out-of-class collaborative writing…