Encouraging students to 'believe that they can achieve' is a central element to teaching. The belief that it is one's efforts and techniques, rather than one's innate abilities which lead to success has a positive impact on learning behaviours. As such, Yvonne Skipper strives to promote this malleable view of intelligence (or growth mindset) in…

This paper presents a model of the challenges facing undergraduates transitioning to taught postgraduate studies developed from a grounded theory analysis of interviews with current and prospective taught postgraduates from a range of psychology programmes. The model reveals the importance of the visibility of current and recently taught…

The transition from primary to secondary school has long been recognised as one of the most challenging in a child's education. Whilst most children ultimately make this transition successfully, it can nevertheless be an anxious time for the majority of children. For a minority, this may lead to high levels of anxiety that can have long-term…

Statistics anxiety is experienced by a large number of psychology students, and previous research has examined a range of potential correlates, including academic performance, mathematical ability and psychological predictors. These varying predictors are often considered separately, although there may be shared variance between them. In the…

Resilience, when coping with stress, can protect against serious negative life outcomes and lead to greater lifetime satisfaction. The current literature suggests that there are internal factors that may moderate the development of resilience. These factors could be used to inform targeted interventions for young people experiencing stress within…

This paper overviewed some of the research that had already been conducted in schools to support student wellbeing and reported back on research that the author had conducted in her own school, evaluating an intervention that aimed to help Year 12 students cope better with stress. The results showed a small but significant improvement in students'…

Adverse life experiences have been linked with a wide range of negative outcomes. However, despite being exposed to adversity, individuals who exhibit high levels of resilience appear to be less impacted by adversity, and continue to function normally. Using self-report measures and a sample of 161 participants aged between 16 and 21, the present…

Student response systems (SRS) are hand-held devices or mobile phone polling systems which collate real-time, individual responses to on-screen questions. Previous research examining their role in higher education has highlighted both advantages and disadvantages of their use. This paper explores how different SRS influence the learning experience…

Due to the empirical nature of the discipline, psychology students, during the course of their degree, are required to become proficient with a range of quantitative methods. Unfortunately many of these students experience high levels of maths anxiety, which can have a damaging effect on this aspect of their educational development. The first…

The shortage of social science graduates with competent quantitative skills jeopardises the competitive UK economy, public policy making effectiveness and the status the UK has as a world leader in higher education and research (British Academy for Humanities and Social Sciences, 2012). There is a growing demand for quantitative skills across all…

Psychology is a popular UK A-level, despite many pupils having no previous taught experience of it. Prior introduction to psychology teaching could help pupils make more informed choices to study it. This study evaluates a six-session introduction to psychology programme for 20 Year 9 pupils called "Myth-Busting the Brain." A…

Some people hold an entity theory of intelligence: they think of intelligence as innate. In contrast, others hold an incremental theory, believing that intelligence can be changed. Previous research has shown that an incremental theory is associated with positive outcomes. The aim of this paper was to evaluate an intervention which promoted an…

There is growing concern among many regarding plagiarism within student writing. This has promoted investigation into both the factors that predict plagiarism and potential methods of reducing plagiarism. Consequently, we developed and evaluated an intervention to enhance good practice within academic writing through the use of the plagiarism…

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…

Differentiation of teaching is encouraged to accommodate student diversity. This study investigated whether using learning styles as a basis for differentiation improved A-level student performance, compared to differentiation on the basis of academic ability. Matched classes of A-level psychology students participated. In one class, learning…