ERIC Number: EJ1077467
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Sep
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1475-7257
EISSN: N/A
Bottleneck Concepts in Psychology: Exploratory First Steps
Gurung, Regan A. R.; Landrum, R. Eric
Psychology Learning and Teaching, v12 n3 p236-245 Sep 2013
The authors take an initial step in identifying potential bottleneck concepts in psychology, that is, concepts that are deceptively difficult, perhaps due to student overconfidence. In order to first identify bottleneck concepts, faculty (n = 65) rated the difficulty of 91 psychological concepts from across the discipline. Students (n = 35) rated both the difficulty of terms and their confidence in their own knowledge of 107 terms typically found in introductory psychology research methods and learning chapters. Additional research into psychology's bottleneck concepts may help instructors to focus more on the content that students struggle with, especially the content in which students overconfidence.
Descriptors: Psychology, Concept Teaching, Difficulty Level, Introductory Courses, Research Methodology, Units of Study, Self Esteem, Likert Scales, Online Surveys, Student Surveys, Student Attitudes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
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