Discusses the use of a questionnaire at the beginning of a history of psychology course to assess student knowledge of historical findings, major concepts, and assumptions about the nature of psychology. Responses indicate areas for future course emphases and reveal shortcomings in other psychology courses. (GEA)

Describes an assignment that requires students to organize, prepare, and revise a case study in abnormal behavior. Explains that students employ a single theoretical perspective in preparing a report on a figure from history, literature, the arts, or current events. Discusses the value of the assignment for students. (SG)

Describes a university course in developmental psychology in which students participated as volunteers in community services for children and families. Explains that the course requirements offered 2 options: 50 hours of volunteer work or a series of 3 papers. Suggests that the volunteer experiences helped students maintain motivation and aided in…

Examines coverage of critical thinking in 37 full-length introductory psychology textbooks published from 1955 to 1997. Checks for coverage of scientific thinking, cognitive biases in thinking, and difficulties in statistical reasoning. Suggests that findings should facilitate the review and decision process for instructors interested in…

Compares university, community college, and high school students' evaluations of 15 common textbook learning aids along three dimensions: (1) familiarity, (2) probability of use, and (3) educational value. Finds striking agreement about which aids are most useful, including boldface technical terms, running or chapter glossaries, chapter…

Describes a test used to assess the critical thinking ability of psychology majors. Asserts that the ability to engage in psychological critical thinking separates psychology majors from other students and provides evidence demonstrating that senior psychology majors scored higher on the test than students of other majors and introductory…

Stresses the importance of teaching students to be good consumers of research problems and questions. Contends that students must be able not only to appreciate the questions that others ask, but also to produce research and research questions on their own. Provides activities that help promote both good consumers and producers. (CMK)

Examines the treatment of day care and maternal employment in introductory psychology textbooks between 1970 and 1997. Finds that the coverage of day care and maternal employment increased over the 28 year span, while 95% of the later textbooks presented views ranging from positive to balanced in the mid-1990s. (CMK)

Examines the manner in which introductory psychology textbooks present issues about child sexual assault. Finds that four texts made no mention of any child sexual assault issues and of the remaining textbooks, the majority of the information concerning child sexual assault dealt with memory issues. Identifies five overgeneralizations in relation…

Provides feature and content analyses of 14 social and 17 abnormal psychology full-length textbooks from 1995-98 that are available for undergraduate psychology courses. Provides instructors of these courses a means for more informed text selection. (CMK)

Highlights an interviewing techniques course that facilitates professional skills likely to contribute to success in fieldwork. Provides a description of the course including the role of the instructor, course activities, and evaluating skill development. Describes the course assessment and discusses the survey results. (CMK)

Examines the content of introductory psychology books by performing a content analysis on texts from the 1970s and 1990s to determine whether the books incorporated recent historical scholarship in discussions of Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener. Finds that some texts still misrepresent the relation between Wundt and Titchener. (CMK)

Discusses a letter exchange exercise for teaching statistics and research methods. Each student writes a letter to a peer in another course section on a topic in statistics or research methods, writes a response letter, and writes another letter clarifying their ideas. (CMK)

Investigates student and community satisfaction with programs designed and implemented by students for groups of pediatric clients who were identified as at risk or in need of psychological services. Reports that students and the community expressed high levels of satisfaction and that confidence in student ability increased by the end of the…

Examines university student motivation and goals related to preferences for course requirements and evaluation methods in introductory psychology courses. Reports that student expectations of preferences were sometimes contradictory, were different across subgroups (goal, age, and gender), and did not match faculty goals. Includes references. (CMK)