Maintaining contact with alumni can result in a number of benefits for psychology departments. For example, alumni may give feedback useful for curriculum assessment and departmental planning, assist with recruiting, and provide current students with information about jobs and graduate school. The authors describe a Facebook group they created for…

The purpose of this guide is to help lower barriers for instructors who are interested in using student response systems, or "clickers," but are intimidated by the technology or the time investment. This guide is a step-by-step overview of the process of adopting clickers based on the author's experiences as a professor who recently took the…

Discusses the reasons why teaching about the process of dying is relevant content for psychology courses. Offers suggestions for teaching about end-of-life issues in various courses on: (1) ethical, legal, and professional issues courses; (2) adult and life span development; (3) counseling diverse populations; and (4) assessment and diagnosis.…

Describes an experiment used with undergraduate students to educate students about plagiarism and paraphrasing techniques. Discusses the procedure used for the experiment as well as results from the experiment and a postexperiement questionnaire. (CMK)

Focuses on an undergraduate student project which asked students to write a paper based on their examination of age preferences indicated by writers of personal advertisements appearing in newspapers. Reports on the student responses to this project using a questionnaire. Examines the student scores on the final examination for the course. (CMK)

Discusses a game in which students must guess the flavor of LifeSaver candy without the aid of sight and smell. Explains that this demonstration assists students to understand the phenomenon of random occurrences. Describes how the presentation is conducted as well as the outcomes of the demonstration. (CMK)

Discusses the use of case studies to teach students in introductory psychology courses. Explains the process of using this active learning strategy. Includes how the teacher should create the case study to meet the types of questions that should accompany the case study. (CMK)

Presents activities to help students gain understanding about auditory perception. Describes demonstrations that cover topics, such as sound localization, wave cancellation, frequency/pitch variation, and the influence of media on sound propagation. (CMK)

Focuses on the use of student publications in journals as a teaching tool. Explores the use of this technique in three contexts: (1) enabling students to understand experimental methodology; (2) teaching students about statistics; and (3) helping students learn more about the American Psychological Association (APA) writing style. (CMK)

Offers a description of a learning module called "Reading the Research" that teaches students about empirical research. Presents the results of a formative evaluation with students in an experimental psychology course as well as an evaluation with students in an introductory psychology course. (CMK)

Describes five in-class exercises for use in consumer behavior classes that encourage student involvement in group and class discussions, promote student interest in course material, and stimulate critical thinking. Explains that the exercises can be adapted for other related courses and are equally successful with students of varying abilities.…

Discusses possible advantages of focusing more extensively on the history of selected areas or fields of psychology in a history and systems course. Argues that this topical approach may allow students to see different insights more clearly and the advantages provided by a historical approach. Includes a bibliography of source materials. (DSK)

Describes format and content for a seminar class about racism and psychological theories developed to explain its occurrence. Discusses the importance of having students evaluate theories and their supporting research, and the value of using multiple teaching methods to avert problems related to the sensitive nature of the subject. (DSK)

Presents a method for quantifying the costs and benefits of research to teach undergraduate psychology students research ethics and the statistical concepts of central tendency and variability. Outlines how students rate the costs and benefits of well-known psychology experiments, and learn how to analyze and interpret their findings. (DSK)

Suggests that instructors teaching psychological assessment can use a demonstration to illustrate potential biases when subjectively interpreting response to projective stimuli. Outlines the classroom procedure, notes styles of learning involved, and presents a summary of student evaluations. (DSK)