High-impact experiences, such as service-learning opportunities or hands-on laboratories, have been shown to enhance student learning, course satisfaction, and attitudes and behaviors. Thus, it is essential to incorporate these experiences into psychology curriculums when possible. However, it is also critical to analyze the impact of these…

A classroom exercise is described in which college students take part in creating and supporting an evolutionary hypothesis that explains effort grunting. The exercise holds their interest throughout and readies them to understand hypotheses of animal and plant evolution. It informs them about the dependence of cultural evolution upon biological…

We examined the preference of undergraduate students for a live or a virtual rat when learning about concepts of operant conditioning. Students were provided with the opportunity to directly compare a virtual and a live rat in a supplemental exercise for Learning courses. We argue that the design of teaching exercises should involve a systematic…

The most popular activities from APA's successful "Activities Handbooks for the Teaching of Psychology" are gathered together and updated in this book of teachers' favorites. The lesson plans, which encourage active learning and involve the whole class, have stood the test of time and proven themselves to be entertaining, effective, and easy to…

Many instructors have expressed a recent interest in incorporating service-learning activities into their courses. Several authors have maintained that service-learning opportunities help students to better understand class concepts and also lead to desirable outcomes in students, such as enhanced self esteem and an increased interest in social…