During the past decades, little research has investigated the effects of immersion scheduling on the psychology classroom. Therefore, we sought to compare academic performance of students in 2-week immersion psychology courses to that of students in traditional 16-week courses. In Study 1, students who received instruction in a 2-week immersion…

We examined how writing cover letters to the instructor influenced final papers in research methods courses. After receiving instructor feedback on drafts of each section of an American Psychological Association style research paper throughout the semester, students in two classes wrote cover letters to the instructor explaining how the instructor…

Using a surplus of older laboratory instruments, 48 students in a learning and behavior course completed an assignment designed to provide an introduction to the history and use of some instruments in psychology. Students worked in pairs, were assigned one instrument, and created labels in which they identified several keys characteristics of an…

This study aimed to determine whether taking a chronological approach (CA) or topical approach (TA) to teaching developmental psychology resulted in different learning outcomes. Across two semesters, in four classes, 354 students participated (M[subscript age] = 19.76, SD[subscript age] = 2.93 years), 66% identifying as female. One instructor…

The use of student management teams (SMTs) is a relatively new teaching technique designed to increase the quality of college courses and student performance and engagement within those courses. However, to date, little systematic, empirical research has validated the effectiveness of using SMTs. To test the effectiveness of this technique, the…

In two studies, we assessed the effectiveness of a classroom activity designed to increase students' ability to think critically. This activity involved watching and discussing an infomercial that contained pseudoscientific claims, thus incorporating course material on good research design and critical thinking. In Study 1, we used a…

A growing trend in teaching practices is to combine instructional techniques to optimize learning. If two instructional techniques can independently facilitate comprehension, it may be reasonable to assume that their combination would contribute to even greater learning. Here we examine the effects of using corrective feedback (present or absent)…

We describe an Introduction to Psychology (IP) demonstration of water dowsing and ideomotor action designed to enhance students' critical thinking. An instructor demonstrated that metal rods crossed over an uncovered cup containing water but not one containing sugar. Student volunteers using the rods also saw them cross over the cup…

We investigated whether students in psychology-based learning communities (LCs; i.e., cohorts who took introductory psychology and English together) performed better on psychology tests than those in standard classes. There were two types of LC; in one (connected LC), we created links between English and psychology by using English class readings…

For this simple active learning technique for teaching, students are assigned "roles" and act out the process of the action potential (AP), including the firing threshold, ion-specific channels for ions to enter and leave the cell, diffusion, and the refractory period. Pre-post test results indicated that students demonstrated increased…

Although a number of studies suggest that interteaching is an effective alternative to traditional teaching methods, no studies have systematically examined whether interteaching improves long-term memory. In this study, we assigned students to different teaching conditions--interteaching, lecture, or control--and then gave them a multiple-choice…

Two versions of a senior-level capstone course with differing note-taking strategies were compared. In one semester, a traditional student note-taking format was used; in another semester, student note-taking was rendered unnecessary by providing students with complete instructor notes. Student performance in the course as well as student opinions…

This study evaluated brief, in-class write-to-learn assignments as a tool for promoting learning and retention in large, introductory psychology courses. A within-subjects (student) design was used with assignment of concepts to write-to-learn and copy (control) conditions counterbalanced across sections for each instructor. Students performed…

Herein, we describe the implementation of, and responses to, a structured writing workshop in the form of an academic boot camp. Participants were 42 undergraduate psychology students from a medium-sized Australian university who were completing their major assignment for the semester. A majority of the students expressed satisfaction with the…

To teach the importance of deception in everyday social life, an in-class activity called the "Speed Lying Task" was given in an introductory social psychology class. In class, two major research findings were replicated: Individuals detected deception at levels no better than expected by chance and lie detection confidence was unrelated…