This study contributes to the service learning (SL) literature by providing new empirical evidence of learning from a problem-based SL research project conducted in a developmental research methods course. Two sections of the course taught in a traditional manner were compared to two sections of the course taught with an integrated SL project…

The undergraduate psychology curriculum often does not address guidelines for acceptable participant behavior. This two-part study tested the efficacy of a recently developed online learning module on ethical perceptions, knowledge, and behavior. In the preliminary quasi-experiment, students who viewed the module did not have higher…

Over 5 semesters and 10 sections, students in a 300-level research methods course used clickers to respond to knowledge-based and opinion/attitude questions about clicker use, the effectiveness of assignments, self-confidence regarding skills and abilities, and more. Changes during the semester and student answers to questions about pedagogy and…

Previous research has examined differences between students and faculty regarding the weight of effort in assigning grades. Here, students and faculty responded to questions regarding the relative weight of performance and effort on final grades and what letter grades faculty should assign across different types of courses. The authors asked these…

Teaching experts assert that the first day of class impacts students, with potential negative effects lasting the entire term. However, no empirical research supports this supposition. We randomly assigned students to view a video of their professor either providing a positive or negative first-day experience. Students with the positive experience…

Study showed that undergraduate psychology students retain a humanistic orientation, but become more abstract in their thinking about psychology as they advance. Students are sensitive to the difference between psychology as a discipline and as a profession. Teaching styles affect student attitudes. Sex differences were found for values and…

A study involving undergraduate college students enrolled in an introductory psychology course showed that test item arrangement by difficulty or by order of content presentation has no effect on total achievement test score. The data also fail to demonstrate any influence of test item order on student perception of test difficulty. (RM)

Students evaluated the educational applications of introductory courses. Social science courses had the highest average rating, followed by introductory psychology, arts/humanities courses, and natural science courses, respectively. Application items rated as most helpful were understanding yourself, understanding others, and coping with problems.…

Relatively little evidence of misconceptions about psychology among introductory psychology students was found in this study. Many of the misconceptions that teachers suspect are widely shared are in fact rejected by the majority of students. (RM)

A review of 33 research studies which examined issues surrounding answer-changing behavior on objective tests indicated that (1) the majority of answer changes are from incorrect to correct, (2) most students who change their answers improve their test scores, and (3) most test-takers change answers. Future research needs are discussed. (RM)

Undergraduate students enrolled in a Principles of Psychology II course were asked to rate selections from introductory psychology texts for reading ease. These student ratings were then compared with the ratings obtained using the Flesch readability formula. Student ratings did not agree very well with the Flesch scores. (RM)

Results of several studies indicated that positive student evaluations of psychology courses that used a personalized system of instruction (PSI) were not due to final grade effect. Students rated the PSI courses highly throughout the courses. (CS)

A study of the effects of time formats on informational and attitudinal changes of students in college-level human sexuality courses indicates that the duration of the course is less important than the method of teaching it. (RM)

One hundred eighty college-level psychology students were asked to rank order 11 activities as to their preference for these activities to be conducted in small discussion groups. All four academic levels preferred discussions over material covered in the text and in lecture, followed by demonstrations of lecture material. (RM)

Study findings indicate that there is correspondence between faculty members' misconceptions related to psychology and students' mistaken beliefs about psychology. Subjects were 303 psychologists teaching in colleges and universities who completed a true-false questionnaire. (AM)