Background: Incorporating professional development into undergraduate psychology coursework is an ongoing area of improvement for educators. Objective: We present a novel activity encouraging students to explore various professional skills and roles for which their psychology major prepares them through application to real-world issues. Method:…

Background: Research shows distributed practice enhances learning and skill development, but less is known about the effect on perceptions and attitudes toward the material being learned. Objective: This study examined whether distributed practice could improve performance and attitudes in statistics, a subject that students report finding…

Background: Although undergraduate psychology curriculum should cultivate performance-based skills to prepare students for helping professions, little work to date has addressed this standard. Objective: This research replicates the methods used in a previous study by examining pre-post changes in empathic communication skills and perceived…

In two studies, we demonstrate an engaging classroom activity that facilitates student learning about Kohlberg's theory of moral development by using digital resources to foster active, experiential learning. In addition to hearing a standard lecture about moral development, students watched a video of a morally provocative incident, then worked…

The current study empirically tested the effectiveness of a modular approach to integrating professional development across an undergraduate psychology curriculum. Researchers conducted a two-group, between-subjects experiment on 269 undergraduate psychology students assessing perceptions of professional preparedness and learning. Analysis…

Two robust predictors of student success, rapport, and autonomy support were assessed to determine which had a greater impact on course and student outcomes. Survey responses from undergraduate psychology students (n = 412) were collected. Together, rapport and autonomy support explained substantial variance in professor effectiveness…

Psychology prioritizes students' professional or career development by including it as one of the five undergraduate learning goals. Faculty advisors are critical to that development but likely feel less prepared for the role. Departments face challenges assessing associated student learning outcomes. We introduce an instrument programs can use to…

Promoting undergraduate engagement is an important and challenging obstacle at large research-focused universities. Thus, the current study evaluated whether a peer-led program of student-geared events could improve engagement among a diverse group of psychology students early on in their degrees. We randomly assigned interested second-year…

Despite the prominence of study abroad programs, few are offered in the field of psychology. The current study sought to investigate the impact of study abroad programs in psychology through a comparison of study abroad and domestic student cultural competencies. Participants included 104 undergraduate students enrolled in either a psychology…

The authors describe the development of a campus-based radio show about psychological science. The authors' goals in creating the show were to inform the public about the science of psychology and to create a teaching and learning resource for faculty members and students. The show, "Psychological Frontiers," airs twice a week and consists of…

We examined first-year psychology majors' (N = 195) beliefs about the relevance of two types of university assignments (individual essay and group wiki) and their connection to the development of career-related skills. Students reported that assignments were only somewhat relevant to their career goals, and relevance ratings were typically…

This study tested the impact of the skills-building component of a two-semester risk and resilience (R&R) course on the stress, coping skills, and cognitive style of 36 undergraduates compared to 62 students enrolled in a child and adolescent psychopathology course. In the fall, students learned about risk taking and decision-making as well as…

Evidence of student learning has increasingly become the focus of external constituents, yet methods of documenting student learning outcomes are considered expensive, onerous, or both. This article provides a brief review of the limitations associated with traditional student opinions or course evaluations as evidence of teaching effectiveness,…

Psychology departments are increasing their attention to providing career options and guidance for majors. I review the literature on the use of career courses in psychology and describe the development and implementation of an online careers seminar that provides psychology majors and minors with a wide range of information and resources. Student…

To understand the relevance of cognitive psychology, students in a cognitive psychology course were required to complete a detailed plan for a public service announcement focusing on environmental issues. The final exam was a Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentation incorporating at least eight concepts from the course. Students in the course…