Outlines and discusses four unique and major challenges facing the undergraduate statistics instructor. These are motivating students to study material they think is uninteresting, handling mathematics anxiety, dealing with performance extremes, and making the learning memorable. Offers solutions for each challenge. (MJP)

Discusses a class project where students use content analysis techniques to examine societal trends of stereotyping in the media. Outlines the steps involved in this research methodology and indicates criteria that instructors could use for evaluation. Includes a table identifying tasks and research skills associated with each stage of the…

Suggests that students' preconceptions about hunger and eating are inconsistent with contemporary theories. These theories assert that among adequately nourished individuals, hunger occurs because of pleasurable expectations of eating rather than energy deficits. Maintains that instructors should discuss the incompatibility of these preconceptions…

Maintains that the standard Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) does not include many common events that act as stressors for college students and includes many events that have little or no meaning for them. Introduces an instrument intended for classroom demonstrations: the College Undergraduate Stress Scale (CUSS). (MJP)

Outlines a simple classroom demonstration that illustrates Piagetian conservation. Piagetian conservation refers to the illusion of an increase in mass by changing an object's form. This demonstration, done by forming an ellipse with an extension cord, shows that college students are as susceptible to this effect as are young children. (MJP)

Describes a course on social and personality development in which students wrote term papers about 10 aspects of child and adolescent development depicted in an animated film of their choice. Students had to provide two examples of each aspect from the films. Student response to the assignment was generally favorable. (MJP)

Explores implementation of electronic term papers (ETP), objectives of these assignments, educational benefits of the ETP, an exemplar ETP, grading of ETPs, copyright issues, and student evaluations of the approach. Includes a schematic diagram of a sample electronic term paper and a list of Web resources for developing ETPs. (MJP)

Examines the Digital Oscilloscope program that allows most Macintosh computers to dynamically display the waveform of any sound recorded by a microphone. Describes how the program can be used to illustrate the concept of timbre as well as reinforcing concepts of frequency, amplitude, and wavelength. (MJP)

Argues that psycholinguistics relies on a number of methodologies that bear little relation to actual language comprehension. Maintains that computer software illustrating classic experiments in psycholinguistics can introduce students to these techniques. The software examines experiments concerning reaction time, reading time, and recognition.…

Presents an interview with Susan Lederman that contains a fascinating and informative overview of the recent developments in neuropsychological research concerning the sense of touch. Discusses the physiological processes that support this sensory experience and reveals them to be much more flexible, intricate, and adaptive than previously…

Presents dialectical thinking as a useful tool in teaching psychology. Argues that the basic notion of dialectical thinking is that ideas evolve in cycles. Provides examples of dialectical thinking in psychology and methods of using it in teaching. Contrasts the dialectical model for teaching with the more traditional model. (DSK)

Argues that increased student self-assessment accuracy might result in better academic performance by allowing students to modify their exam preparation more realistically. Uses an experiment with practice examinations to demonstrate the causal link between more accurate self-assessment and performance. Notes implications for the construction of…

Outlines the need for and role of undergraduate human factors education, including evidence that students are unfamiliar with, but interested in, human factors issues. Describes several activities found to be successful in teaching human factors and identifies benefits students associated with a course on the topic. (DSK)

Describes the essay test feedback technique of selecting a very good, or full-credit, essay answer from a student in class and distributing an anonymous copy of it to all class members. Reports that the results of a student assessment of the technique indicated that this form of feedback is helpful. (DSK)

Describes a hands-on demonstration of the concept of the sampling distribution of the mean using M&M's candy. Compares the effectiveness of the candy demonstration with that of a comparable demonstration using a textbook example. Reports that students exposed to the candy example performed better on a subsequent examination. (DSK)