This short paper describes the author's experiences of publishing with undergraduates for more than 40 years: it discusses the advantages and disadvantages for staff and students.

The first cohort of a new MSc programme is due to complete the course in August 2014. During the three-year online course students conduct several pieces of action research in their classrooms. There is little research specifically related to classroom practice in the pre-tertiary psychology classroom. The following describes the rationale and…

Psychology is a popular choice for UK students in their secondary school curriculum. Policy makers and elite universities, however, express concern about the subject. The British Psychological Society (2013) commissioned a detailed study of the provision of school curricula in psychology and as part of this work a survey of students was conducted.…

Research methods teaching in psychology is pivotal in preparing students for the transition from student as learner to independent practitioner. We took an action research approach to re-design, implement and evaluate a module guiding students through a programmatic and pragmatic research cycle. These revisions allow students to experience how…

Research methods and statistical analysis is typically the least liked and most anxiety provoking aspect of a psychology undergraduate degree, in large part due to the mathematical component of the content. In this first cycle of a piece of action research, students' mathematical ability is examined in relation to their performance across…

In this short Opinion piece, I outline how iPad apps can facilitate theory development, data collection, data representation and dissemination of postgraduate psychology research. I reflect on how apps supported my own postgraduate research practice and how one particular app--Our Story--enriched the individual stages of my research enquiry. I…

This paper advocates the teaching of photo elicitation in higher education as a valuable data collection technique and draws on our experience of teaching this visual method across two consecutive postgraduate cohorts. Building on previous work (Watt & Wakefield, 2014) and based on a former concern regarding student duty of care, a…

Student response systems (SRSs) have been used in a number of disciplines in higher education and, generally, the literature reports this technology leading to very positive outcomes for student engagement and learning. Learning outcomes are particularly enhanced if the technology is used to promote higher order cognitive skills. Here, we discuss…

Two challenges identified for psychology higher education are supporting entry students' transition, and supporting graduates' transition into employment. The evaluation of the first phase of a cross-age mentoring action research project targeting these issues is presented; eight psychology undergraduates mentored 20 A-level psychology pupils in…

Employers often claim that graduates are not ready for the world of work as they lack employability skills (Archer & Davison, 2008). One policy response to this claim has been to encourage students to undertake a work placement to enhance success in the competitive job market (The Dearing Report, 1997). The present research investigated…

Students often perceive cognitive psychology as an abstract and difficult subject with little intrinsic interest. When student feedback identified problems with the traditional essay assessment in a cognitive psychology module, action research led to the development of a forensic scenario-based assessment which successfully increased student…

Although conventional psychology is often characterised as the science of the individual mind, it is also important to introduce students to the potential interdisciplinary and multi-dimensional nature of psychology. In this paper we outline the design, development, and delivery of an innovative course that employed an ecological framework to…

In this article, the author discusses how difficult it is for psychology college students to learn to write multiple disciplines of references. It is hard for students to understand why all details have to be written in the right order and the right type-style--depending upon which reference system is used. In this article, the author proposes…

Action research is an invaluable resource, which can be utilised by those involved in teaching and learning as a reflective tool enabling a person to make informed decisions about their working practices. Developing and improving teaching skills is an essential part of the teacher's role so this method was used to explore concerns that were…

The Major Field Test in Psychology (MFT) is a standardised test designed to assess subject mastery at the conclusion of an undergraduate career. Eighty-one graduating majors completed the MFT and 56 of them also took a multiple-choice exam of questions drawn randomly from an introductory psychology test bank. Like the MFT, the constructed exam was…