Describes the use of the jigsaw teaching technique (which requires each member of a small group to provide a key piece of information) in undergraduate psychology laboratory and discussion classes. Results indicate that students evaluate the approach favorably and that their academic performance improves with use of the jigsaw technique. (JDH)

Reports how 10 college students in a psychology of personality course increased their awareness of their own implicit theories of personality by completing an 18-item questionnaire dealing with various issues of personality. Instructor-supplied responses representing the perspectives of Freud, Skinner, Rogers, and Glasser were used to foster…

Presents an in-class activity which uses videotaped television shows to teach time sampling, event sampling, and trait rating techniques. Students responded favorably to this activity, and many reported that it increased their understanding of the different observation techniques. (Author/JDH)

Describes an exercise that teaches students about methodological issues concerned with making reliable observations of behavior. Students learned Eckman's (1972) Facial Affect Scoring Technique from a microcomputer program and then applied it in real life. This exercise generated much discussion about research methods, built observational skills,…

Examines professors' resistance to implementing writing as learning. Contends that certain strategies can help inhibited teachers become receptive to writing-intensive courses. Combines strategies with surveys and observations of faculty implementing writing-intensive courses to produce a specific sequence of steps for overcoming professor…

Reports on a study of 96 undergraduate developmental psychology students and their performance on student-developed "pop quizzes." Students who participated in writing test items had significantly higher scores than students who did not. Calls for more research into the effectiveness of other student-developed evaluation methods. (CFR)

Reports on a study of peer teaching through small group instruction in a college level psychology program. Describes how upper level undergraduate students designed, implemented, and evaluated projects to teach psychology to introductory students. Finds that both the introductory and advanced students enjoyed the experience and recommended that…