Understanding student motivation is key to unlocking higher student satisfaction and allowing teachers to meet the expectations of their students. Psychology students have their own unique motivations. Using autoethnographic methods, a recent graduate and a professor of psychology come together to recall our own experiences from the classroom.…

Statistics courses are challenging for many psychology students. We designed a 'Painting and Puzzles Exercise Book for Statistics' for first year psychology undergraduates, to repeat and deepen the course content and get prepared for the exam. We describe the development and characteristics of the book and report a longitudinal evaluation study.…

Research demonstrates the pedagogical value in stressing the 'real world' applicability of subject-specific content in a psychology programme. The move to online teaching prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic has given way to more creative uses of technology to enhance the student experience. In this paper, we demonstrate the value in applied…

It is challenging to teach about racism well. One of the reasons for this difficulty is that the topic of racism is sometimes met with resistance from students. Therefore, it is important for psychology instructors to continue to identify and practice effective ways to teach about racism. I contend that the study abroad experience is a valuable…

Public health emergencies such as the outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) are stressful times. Everybody is strained in some way during this testing time thus no-one would deny students of their right to worry over their academic ambitions. University students need to be resilient, but can their research efforts withstand this strain? What will it…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, students, and teachers of the developing countries had to shift from the face-to-face traditional classroom to an e-learning environment, which elicited various reactions to teaching and learning. I conducted this research to understand how students perceived online learning and to share my reflexive experiences about…

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to shape and disrupt teaching provision in Higher Education, educators have responded with a swift pivot to online teaching for the 2020-2021 academic year. The debate surrounding the pedagogic utility of pre-recorded 'asynchronous' versus live 'synchronous' lecture modality continues to grow among teachers of…

In the UK, psychology degrees are designed to equip students with skills such as critical thinking, research methods, and analytical debate. Many of the key skills and subject-specific content that is taught in the first year of a psychology programme is also introduced in A-level and AS-level study of psychology. Therefore, one would expect…

Psychological literacy is a concept in psychology learning and teaching in Higher Education (HE) that considers how psychology students can intentionally apply psychological knowledge to personal, professional and societal goals. However, despite its prevalence among psychology Higher Education scholars and developers, it is unclear whether…

Research methods and statistics are cornerstones of undergraduate psychology degrees. However, many students find the subject uninteresting and anxiety provoking, while educators find it challenging to teach. This multi-method action research project explored how e-learning activities within a blended learning context affected students' experience…

This paper describes the implementation of a new and innovative learning activity created to enhance the learning experience of psychology undergraduate dissertation students. The writing retreat is a student-based learning activity which aims to address students' needs over the final stages of the dissertation module. Involving active-learning,…

Drawing on our own experience, we reflect on the documented challenges of undergraduate supervision faced by qualitative researchers, and extend this discussion by further considering the issues raised by supervising projects that engage with critical perspectives. Concerns are identified regarding the dominance of traditional psychological…

Embedding employability in higher education is a key Teaching Excellence Framework requirement, and psychology departments across the UK recognise that this is indeed important for students' employability prospects. The Final Year Research Project is the most important independent piece of work that psychology undergraduate students undertake,…

With continuing priority given to the development of Higher Education students' employability skills, this paper reflects on the employability framework as well as recommended principles for promoting and embedding employability within and outwith the curriculum. Given existing traditional and innovative approaches for promoting employability…

The dissertation is a highly valued form of teaching and learning in higher education, yet the practice of undergraduate supervision is understudied and under-theorised. Effective supervision is regarded as essential to student success -- by students and supervisors alike, although training, resources and support for supervisors is limited.…