A large proportion of students in higher education report feeling bored during lectures, for example, Mann and Robinson (2009) put this figure at 60 per cent. This short article reviews our experiences of using a simple, free Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) service, Skype, to enhance the interest and engagement of students by holding a…

The challenges facing UK higher education are both well documented and controversial; however, pitted against this context is the requirement for psychology departments to provide an increasingly rich and diverse university experience for students, whilst ensuring progression and retention remain central to undergraduate provision. Despite the…

It is well established that the number of males studying psychology in the UK, both at A-level and on degree courses, is disproportionately low compared to females. There is a paucity of research, however, which discusses how psychology is viewed by this group. The present study employed focus groups with 35 pre-tertiary males (some of whom were…

In responding to Hartley (2011), this paper considers his concluding remarks as recommendations for the future of teaching undergraduate psychology and challenges the position that the teaching of psychology hasn't altered vastly during the last 50 years. In doing so, it is acknowledged that the content and delivery of higher education psychology…

Recent Higher Education Funding Council research echoes previous findings that student satisfaction scores differ between subject areas (HEFCE, 2011). However, there remains a paucity of research attempting to account for this, and these differences have only been reported for final-year student satisfaction. It is unclear at what stage during a…

The aim was to explore the predictive ability of sources of stress and a range of dispositional and coping behaviours on student satisfaction and motivation. Most research exploring sources of stress and coping in students construes stress as psychological distress, with little attempt to consider positive experiences of stress. A questionnaire…

Teaching and assessing large classes can be reframed from focusing on overcoming difficulties with large classes, to seeking the unique educational opportunities provided by such learning environments. We discuss data and examples illustrating how active learning and formative assessment can be successfully embedded into the teaching of large…

Two preliminary studies are presented investigating the self-beliefs that may affect goal achievement in a student population. In Study 1, goal achievement on an abstract task, where goals are externally set by others, is considered in relation to students' levels of optimism. In Study 2, goal achievement on academic performance, where goals are…

The European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (ERASMUS) supports students to pursue temporary periods of study in other European universities. During the academic year 2007/08 the UK received 15, 975 ERASMUS students. Although much research exists about the experiences of international students less attention has…

Within the UK, traditional subject-specific areas are increasingly being complemented by the provision of opportunities to foster students' personal development planning as an aide to support their future employment and lifelong learning. This paper describes an action research project which examined employability skills within a psychology…

Forty-seven psychology undergraduates volunteered to complete diaries outlining their daily academic and non-academic routine, covering semester one of their first year at a post-1992 university. The aim of the research was to investigate whether diaries were an appropriate method for exploring student engagement; also we wanted to measure whether…

Roots in Spanish Psychology dated back to Huarte de San Juan (1575). From this period to nowadays, Psychology has notably developed, branching in different areas such as psychology and sports and physical exercise, clinical and health psychology, educational psychology, psychology of social intervention, legal psychology, work and organisational…

Without understanding career options, and pre-requisites around Europe, it is not clear what the implications are of the Bologna Process for the creation of a "European Higher Education Area" for psychology, and more specifically the basis for the Psychology Diploma for practitioner qualification (Lunt, 2005). However, any research into…

Conventional lecture approaches view the process as a teacher-led method of imparting knowledge ("presentation" lecture), whereas modern theories suggest that the teaching methods employed should aim to inspire the student to learn rather than simply provide them with knowledge ("performance" lecture). The aim of the current research project was…

Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) have become ubiquitous in colleges and universities but have failed to consistently improve learning (Machin, 2007). An alternative interface can be provided in the form of a mashed-up personal learning environment (MUPPLE). The aim of this study was to investigate student perceptions of its desirability and…