William James addressed the last 3 lectures in "Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals" (1899/1958) specifically to students. The first of these lectures, "The Gospel of Relaxation," encouraged students to be both relaxed and active. The second, "On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings," promoted awareness of and…

The amount and kind of information included in the notes taken by undergraduate psychology students were found to be related to test performance. Most students included in their notes less than 25 percent of the propositions judged worthy of inclusion and only 50 percent of the targeted main ideas. (Author/RM)

Reports on the comparative effectiveness of demonstration and lecture formats for presenting physiological measures. Although demonstrations may improve retention of information concerning simple procedures, the lecture format is more effective for complex information. (CFR)

Salient features of an ideal system of instruction are discussed. There have been recent attempts to write formulas for instruction and to individualize teaching in ways suggested by the science of behavior. DNA technologies may some day enable us to trace correlates of intelligence. We could then design individual educational strategies. (RM)

Describes a college-level course in health psychology. Recommends a course divided between lectures and a class-designed research project. Reports that course evaluations by the students indicated that the students enjoyed the course design and assignments. (CFR)

Contrasts immediate and delayed effects of focused freewriting and focused thought on lecture comprehension. Finds the immediate effect was increased comprehension. However, on a one-week delayed test, the performance of the focused freewriting group was below that of the focused-thought group. (Author/NL)

Describes an undergraduate Psychology of Social Problems course. The course focuses on the psychological aspects of legal abortion for adolescents and women, the consequences of denied abortions on unwanted children, and psychological ramifications of alternatives to abortion. Summarizes student evaluations of the course. (CFR)

Discusses methods of personalizing the large introductory college psychology class. Contrasts active learning by students with lecturing by professors. Suggests that separating the large class into smaller units can facilitate active learning. Argues that active learning also can be promoted in the large class setting. (SG)

Examines how reading ability relates to course performance in an introductory developmental psychology course. Compares personalized system of instruction (PSI) to contingency managed lecture (CML) sections. Shows previous academic performance best predicted final examination scores for CML students while reading comprehension best predicted PSI…

Describes a method for promoting student interest and involvement in an undergraduate marriage and family course. Supplements lectures with problem-solving sessions for small groups. Uses session outcomes to encourage critical evaluation by the class. Combines the traditional scholarly approach with an interactive personal involvement. (NL)

Reports on a study that contrasted learning outcomes of students in a class that incorporated computer assisted instruction (CAI) exercises with those of a lecture-only class. Students in the lecture-plus CAI class scored higher than those in the lecture-only class, specifically regarding material covered in the class. (MJP)

Asserts that case studies and discussion method pedagogy are replacing lecture and small-group discussion as the primary higher-level teaching method. Describes and discusses the case study approach as a technique for teaching critical thinking skills. Presents 11 arguments for using these pedagogies. (CFR)