Discusses development and use of an instrument for assessing introductory psychology students' perceptions of success in the course. Reports that perceptions were ranked and analyzed for motivational orientation. Reveals the discovery of primarily intrinsic orientation for highest ranked perceptions and extrinsic orientation for lowest rated ones.…

Describes a classroom demonstration that simulates a verbal encounter with a person experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia. Suggests that the instructor deliver an unannounced monologue that illustrates the disordered thought and speech of a person with schizophrenia. Discusses student evaluation of the demonstration. Concludes that students in…

Surveys psychology majors who graduated between 1967 and 1986 to investigate gender and cohort differences in current perceptions of undergraduate course usefulness, postbaccalaureate education, and occupational achievements. Results provide evidence for the male flight from, and the resulting feminization of, the undergraduate psychology major.…

Presents a course that integrates psychology and drama in order to study drama therapy and psychodrama. Explains that the instructors utilized both a lecture method and an active learning approach to increase student motivation. Describes the course, addresses the benefits for the students, and discusses the students' reactions to the course. (CMK)

Reviews the course, Psychology of Ethnic Groups in the United States (University of San Francisco). Explains that the goals of the course are to educate, sensitize, and stimulate critical thinking about the role of culture and ethnicity in human social behavior. Addresses course content and issues, the class project, and student evaluation of the…

Investigates compliance with required reading assignments from 1981 to 1997 (excluding 1984 and 1985) in psychology classes. Finds that compliance declined dramatically since 1981 and compliance improved as a function of increasing class level. Suggests a renewed emphasis on compliance with required reading assignments and an incorporation of…

Describes an 11-week course given at a nursing home to nursing home aides that focused on abnormal psychology and behavior intervention skills. Discusses the course goals, class composition, and course description. Addresses the problems and issues encountered with teaching this course to a nontraditional population in an unconventional setting.…

Reveals the inadequacies of current methodological texts in relation to their treatment of science. Provides background information on three methodological eras in science and describes a current, more accepted, concept of science. Offers suggestions on how to improve methodological instruction and includes references. (CMK)

I describe and evaluate SuperLab LT (Chase & Abboud, 1990), a software package that enables students to replicate classic experiments in cognitive psychology. I also discuss the package with respect to its uses in teaching an undergraduate course in Experimental Psychology. Although the package has minor flaws, SuperLab LT provides numerous…

How classroom debates can be used in a developmental psychology course to teach students about controversial issues and to help them improve their thinking and oral communications skills is described. Evaluations indicate that students consider debates to be a positive learning experience. (Author/RM)

Described is an introductory social psychology course which incorporates motivation arousing elements. Findings indicate that the motivation oriented course was perceived by students as equal or superior to large introductory information oriented courses. (Author/DB)

An analysis of research methods textbooks in psychology showed that little coverage is given to control issues in research, such as experimenter expectancies and subject bias. However, space and attention given to research ethics has increased considerably. This is probably due to imposition of controls from the government and the profession. (CS)

Presents a description of an undergraduate abnormal psychology course developed from a theory of instruction and active student participation, the theoretical basis for the course, student course evaluation, and an interpretation of the students' performances. (Author/CK)

Describes a course consisting of undergraduate and/or graduate students who participate in field trips to model community programs. Discusses how the program sites are chosen, types of students involved, a description of the course, and the course evaluation outcomes. (CMK)

Examines a class project for the study of development across the life span that requires students to interview individuals from different phases of the life cycle and write a paper discussing their subjects' lives in terms of major developmental psychology concepts. Describes student preparation and project evaluation, discussing some potential…