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M y experiences with teaching psychology, the TOPSS organization, AP Readers and #psychat community on Twitter have shown me that psychology teach-
ers are among the most generous in sharing their expertise and activities with others. Teaching can be really difficult if you’re the only psychology teacher in your building or district. Reaching out to local teachers in your area and forming a local networking group can seem like a difficult and daunting task, but can be quite easily done with a little footwork.
HOW TO PLAN A LOCAL NETWORKYou can start off by compiling a list of psychology teachers in your area. Make a geographic radius that you’d like to stay in and start an Internet search of psychology and social studies teachers in that area at local high schools. You can also go to http://my.apa.org and search the APA membership database
for TOPSS members in your state (you’ll want to search for “affiliate” members), or you may want to contact the state pub-lic instruction office or someone in social studies or science education at the state level to get contacts.
Next, plan your event; possibilities include a Saturday morning event at a coffee shop, an evening social with appetizers or a day-long conference. Contact the restaurant or place where the meeting will be held and get more information. With a bigger group or a day-long conference, lunch may need to be provided. Call around to get pricing and information on catering. The American Psychological Foundation offers grants (see http://www.apa.org/apf/funding/psychology-teacher-net-work.aspx) to help provide funds for these types of expenses. Charging a registration fee (even a small one, or a refundable one) commits people to the conference.
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ARE YOU INTERESTED IN CONNECTING WITH OTHER LOCAL PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS?
AMY RAMPONI Kimberly High School, Kimberly, WI
MAY 2014 VOL. 24, NO. 1
2
CONTENTSAre you interested in connecting with other local psychology teachers? .... 1
APA/Skype in the classroom ................................................................. 4
Teaching of psychology in Europe: ......................................................... 5 On the Move… Interview With Udo Kittler
The nonobvious advantages of open digital textbooks ............................. 8
New APA public education campaign demonstrates ............................. 11 psychological science in action
NEWS FROM TOPSS AND PT@CC
2014 TOPSS call for nominations ........................................................ 13
2014 APA TOPSS Excellence in Teaching Award winners .................... 13
TOPSS publishes a new problem-focused lesson plan ........................... 14
Update on the revised APA Guidelines for the ...................................... 14 Undergraduate Psychology Major
Kudos to Cynthia D. Belar, PhD ......................................................... 14
OTHER NEWS
2013 Raymond D. Fowler Award ......................................................... 12
News from the APA Public Interest Directorate ................................... 19
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
Skits to liven up your Intro Psychology class ......................................... 15
Fun and Quick Openers ...................................................................... 18
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
2014 APA Convention ........................................................................ 10
National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference ................ 10
Pre-convention workshop for psychology teachers ................................ 12
Eastern Conference on the Teaching of Psychology (EToP) .................. 12
G. Stanley Hall/Harry Kirke Wolfe Lectures ........................................ 18 at the 2014 APA Convention
Other special events for psychology teachers at the APA Convention .... 18
TOPSS and PT@CC Programming at the APA Convention ................ 19
PTN MAY 2014 VOL. 24, NO. 1
PSYCHOLOGY TEACHER NETWORK is published quarterly by the Education Directorate of the American Psychological Association (APA). Subscriptions are free to high school and community college teacher affiliates of APA and APA members.
ADDRESS EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE
TO:
Psychology Teacher Network
APA Education Directorate
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
(202) 572-3013
Address inquiries regarding
membership or affiliation to the
APA Membership Office at the
same address.
PTN design by
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Graphic Designer
APA Editorial and Design Services
COEDITORSMartha Boenau [email protected]
Emily Leary Chesnes [email protected]
Robin Hailstorks, PhD [email protected]
Maha Khalid
CONTRIBUTING EDITORSPT@CC Kathryn Clancy [email protected]
TOPSS Maria [email protected]
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You can ask others to share their ideas as you plan your event; do you have a well-connected or well-respected psychology teacher or professor in the area? Do you have a local university or community college that has a great psychology department? You can check the TOPSS Speakers Bureau (see http://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/topss/speakers.aspx) for people willing to speak in your area. Local counseling professionals or other psychologists in high-interest areas may be a great draw as well.
Another great option is to have a peer-sharing session of new and original classroom ideas. These sharing sessions tend to be very successful, engaging and helpful to teachers. You can create a Dropbox or Google folder that everyone can access to share information.
Then, you will want to promote, promote, promote. Get as many people to promote the event as possible. Share details of the conference via your growing email list, on Facebook and Twitter, with your local department of public instruction, on your school’s website and with TOPSS, which can help you promote it as well. If there are state organizations for the social studies (Wisconsin has the Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies, for example), they may be willing to promote an event. Another avenue is student teachers in psychology or social studies who may be interested in the field or networking.
Finally, a big draw for teachers is free stuff. Contact publishers, TOPSS and, perhaps, local businesses which might be inter-ested in donating an item to your conference. Textbook pub-lishers have been more than generous in sending DVDs, texts, supplemental materials, notepads, pens and bags to regional psychology teacher groups. It never hurts to ask.
Following is a listing of several local networks of psychology teachers. We will feature more in future PTN issues. A TOPSS webpage will be added soon listing these groups and more! CHITOPSSNancy [email protected] CHITOPSS serves Illinois, but most of the participants will be from Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. In addition, some teachers may be attending from southern Wisconsin.
CHITOPSS meets annually at one of several area high schools, and the meetings to date have all been held in per-son. We reach teachers through a list accumulated through prior conferences and by reaching out via Listservs. Be-cause the conference rotates from year to year to different high schools, the contact information for the coordinator also changes annually. The conference consists of a keynote speaker and teachers sharing resources and ideas. Over 80 teachers attended the last conference in January 2014.
FOXTOPSSAmy [email protected] Fox Valley Teachers of Psychology (FOXTOPSS) is a group centered in and around the Fox Valley region of Wis-consin. FOXTOPSS was reorganized in 2013 and holds a fall meeting and a spring social for Wisconsin Psychology teach-ers. The fall meetings will be held on a Saturday in October at an Appleton-area coffee shop, and the spring meetings will be held at a local brew pub. Interested teachers or members can join by contacting Amy Ramponi at [email protected] or via Twitter at @amyramponi.
MATOPKent [email protected] Milwaukee Area Teachers of Psychology (MATOP), founded in 1993, brings psychology teachers from Wisconsin and Northern Illinois together to share ideas on how to en-hance their teaching, learn about the latest news and resources in the teaching of psychology and develop professional friend-ships.
Biannual evening meetings, usually held during fall (Oct./Nov.) and again in spring (April/May), are free and open to anyone interested in the teaching of psychology. While MATOP’s primary emphasis is high school psychology, psy-chology teachers from all levels, secondary (regular, AP and IB) and postsecondary, are welcome to attend.
A typical 2-hour MATOP meeting features reports on current news of interest, showcases the latest textbooks and resources in the field and provides the opportunity to share the best and most productive classroom lesson plans and activities.
For detailed agendas of upcoming meetings and previous meetings dating back to 2005, check our website listed be-low. For those not within driving distance of Milwaukee, we strongly suggest you inspect our agendas for items you might find useful. Wherever possible, we try to include Web links and emails for further information. For more information on MATOP or to join our mailing list, go to http://www.germantownschools.org/faculty/kkorek/MATOP_Home_Page.cfm or contact Kent Korek, Germantown High School (email above).
MNTOPSSMike Berndt [email protected] MNTOPSS Conference consists of psychology teachers throughout the state of Minnesota getting together in person at Saint Cloud Apollo High School to share lesson plans, resources and teaching techniques within the field of psy-
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chology. All of the presenters at the MNTOPSS Conference are high school psychology teachers who volunteer to demon-strate a psychology activity, a lesson plan or a resource with the group. The MNTOPSS Conference takes place annually in May after the Advanced Placement Psychology Exam, and MNTOPSS welcomes any teacher of psychology to attend the conference. This year’s conference will take place on May 8, 2014, and the cost is $25. The primary communication method for MNTOPSS is email.
VATOPSSSteven [email protected] is a new local organization of psychology teachers in Virginia. Winter weather disrupted our original plans for a first conference in 2014, but we still managed a good turnout on March 24. Our conference featured two keynote speakers, Drs. James Freeman and Fred Smyth, from the University of Vir-ginia. Various high school teachers also shared resources and lesson ideas.
This conference was a good kickstart for connecting teachers in Virginia who up to now have worked in isolation from one another. About 30 teachers expressed an interest in participat-ing in this group, and we hope it will continue to grow and our
conference will become an annual event.
The 2014 conference was funded through an APF grant, so there was no cost for participants. We’re currently working on plans for our next conference — which we will plan in the fall — far away from the possibility of winter snow.
Information and updates on the activity of VATOPSS can be
found online at www.vatopss.blogspot.com. PTN
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Amy Ramponi is a psychology teacher at Kimberly High School in Kimberly, Wis. Ms. Ramponi is a member of the APA Committee on Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS).
AMY RAMPONI
APA/SKYPE IN THE CLASSROOM PROJECT: LET’S TALK ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH
In response to last year’s White House National Con-ference on Mental Health and in partnership with Mi-crosoft and Skype in the classroom, APA has created
a series of Skype lessons that will bring psychologists to classrooms nationwide to talk about mental health issues. The 50-minute presentations via the Skype platform are designed to increase students’ comfort with and informa-tion about mental health issues and help reduce the stig-ma sometimes associated with seeking mental health care. The psychologist presenters will use a PowerPoint slideshow to frame their presentation and will leave time for questions from the students. The presentations will focus on one of three topics: anxiety and depression, anger, or resilience, and will be tailored for either elementary or secondary students. Teachers will be able to select the most appropriate subject for their class and schedule the presentation at a time that works for their class schedule and the presenter.
To date, more than 70,000 teachers worldwide have used the Skype in the classroom platform to bring experts on a range of topics into their classrooms. For details and to sign up to participate, visit https://education.skype.com/projects/7343-american-psychological-associa-tion-lets-talk-about-mental-health. PTN
A slide from APA’s Skype in the classroom anxiety and depression presentation
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PREFACE
Udo Kittler is not unknown in the teaching of psychol-ogy. Moreover, the European Federation of Psychol-ogy Teachers’ Associations (EFPTA) website, created
and updated by Morag Williamson, a psychology teacher from Scotland, identifies Kittler as the Secretary of this organization — voluntarily because he has retired from the Technical University of Dortmund after more than 37 years of training for the teaching of psychology at various types of schools (i.e., comprehensive schools, gymnasiums, public and secondary schools). After completing his doctorate at Dortmund University in 1978, he joined the staff there. In 1992, after the Berlin wall came down, he was invited to teach “Didactics and Methods of Psychology” at the Russian State University of Rostov-on-Don as a visiting professor. These experiences have been ongoing for more than 20 years — and they led directly to EFPTA, which is the topic of article.
Maria Vita: Would you explain when and why the EFPTA was founded?Udo Kittler: The idea was born in spring 2004 on a ferry crossing the Baltic Sea between Finland and Tallin. Joseph Cocker and Dorothy Coombs from the United Kingdom, Morag Williamson from Scotland (all still active in our organization) and Jari Honkala from Finland, who later become the first president of EFPTA, discussed possibilities to gather national representatives of psychology, and they
had the vision that most of the European psychology teach-ers in schools and colleges might have the same interests and the same problems and be interested in finding like-mind-ed teachers. And they were right. With deepest gratitude to these founders, we can say that without their energy and optimism, the EFPTA wouldn’t have been founded. EFPTA was founded the 28th of March 2004. The purpose of the Federation is to improve cooperation of Psychology Teachers’ Associations between European countries.
Maria Vita: What kind of organization did you establish?Udo Kittler: Some national associations and individual rep-resentatives from schools and from universities were invited to come to Cambridge (UK) in the beginning of November 2004.
EFPTA was created as a federation and became an affiliate member to the EFPA (European Federation of Psychology Associations). Jari Honkala, from Finland, was the founding president of EFPTA. The first board was elected with vice presidents (Hans Reynierse, Netherlands; Dorothy Coombs, England and Wales), secretary (Aldis Gudmundsdottir, Ice-land), treasurer (Wolfgang Augustin, Germany) and advisers ( Joe Cocker, Udo Kittler). In those days we were convinced that more than the six attending nations (Finland, Germany, England and Wales, Scotland, Iceland and the Netherlands) would join EFPTA Board in the coming future. The common ideas resulted in a gestalt by organizing the developmental
TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY IN EUROPE: ON THE MOVE…INTERVIEW WITH EFPTA SECRETARY UDO KITTLER (GERMANY)
MARIA VITA Penn Manor High School, Millersville, PA
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work: An elected formal board led to a corpus of one delegate from each national association plus individual mem-bers who wanted to work for this organization (e.g., advisers and special tasks, like establishing a website (done by Morag Williamson) or producing a newsletter (done by Harpa Haf-steinsdóttir and Jackie Moody)).
Developing a constitution was the next important step, which was completed in London in 2010 and which gave us the democratic legitimacy to act and interact inside and outside EFPTA. The constitution describes the structure of our or-ganization; Constitution Article 8 (EFPTA structure — The Board) states that the Board is the decision-making body of the Federation and operates on a 4-year cycle of membership and will hold an annual general meeting. Board membership is made up as follows:• The President• The Vice President• The Secretary• The Treasurer• The Delegate of each national association or his/her nom-
inated substitute• Advisers elected by the Board on an annual basis
The board meets two times per year, and the tasks of the board members are fixed in the constitution.
Maria Vita: TOPSS represents teachers of all 50 states plus DC as well as several international countries. How many countries are represented in your organization?Udo Kittler: We have 12 national associations represented by delegates: Iceland, Scotland, England and Wales, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Russia, Slovakia, Switzer-land, Spain, and Luxembourg. We also have individual con-tacts in France, Poland, Italy, Romania, Greece and Sweden.
Maria Vita: What are the needs or concerns of the 3,000 members you currently support?Udo Kittler: Let me please mention that the number of members approximately could be doubled, if we took into
account that Russia has a mass of psychology teachers. For example, there are more than 80,000 psychologists organized in the Russian Society of Psychology, and most of them are teaching psychology not only at universities, but also at schools.
The needs and concerns of our member associations are expressed in the EFPTA aims (per Article 2 of the EFPTA constitution):• To promote psychology teaching at pre-university levels• To share knowledge and experience of psychology
teaching • To promote exchanges and joint projects for staff
and students• To consider curriculum and assessment issues• To consider issues of staff training and development • To share information on teaching methods and materials • To develop a possible and needed common European
curriculum
Maria Vita: How do you support so many members from so many diverse countries? What are the challenges you face as an organization?Udo Kittler: Every 2 years we carry out an international conference on the teaching of psychology with keynotes from experts and we share our experiences in workshops. Sharing good lessons and ideas in all types of schools is our moti-vation to enhance and foster the teachers in the classroom. School twin projects (where classes from different countries collaborate), research projects and international summer schools are on the agenda (for example, visiting classrooms in international schools during board meetings and conferences). Language is not a big challenge because most of us are learn-ers of foreign languages, so we have our “language benefit.” However, finances and a lack of a big budget are challenges. The EFPTA treasury balance is based on 100€ from each na-tional association with more than 50 members (like Germany, England, Finland, Denmark); smaller national associations with fewer than 50 members pay a lower rate each year. Indi-vidual members pay 60€. The financial situation is the only
LEFT: Conducting the meeting: Joe Cocker
RIGHT: Intensive work atmosphere in Cambridge
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one real challenge! The Secretary, for example, pays a member fee of 60€, but is working to fulfill his tasks voluntarily. Oth-er challenges are answered with a very high engagement by all members of our Board.
Maria Vita: One of the challenges for TOPSS in the United States is maintaining an active membership across the U.S. How do your member countries assist with recruitment and membership? What is your best strategy for attracting and maintaining members in such a wide area?Udo Kittler: First, our strategy is to become visible and to get influence in the “Bologna area,” which means Europe and some neighbors in the east and in the south. You are prob-ably aware that Europe is working hard for better learning conditions in a multicultural area with more than 600 million inhabitants. The president, vice president and the secretary were invited to the EU-Parliament on the 9th of November 2011 in Brussels to point out the necessity of the teaching of psychology in each European country. And these consulta-tions will be repeated in the next years.
Second, our presidents (former: Renate Schrempf, Germa-ny, and Dorothy Coombs) are members of the Educational Board of the European Federation of Psychology Associa-tions (EFPA) in Brussels, where they are developing a com-mon curriculum for teaching psychology in Europe.
Third, all these activities are reported in our newsletter and on our website. We use email to work in our national or regional assemblies, to foster the spirit and the efforts, and to become a European movement. Recognizing the terrible violence, aggression and suffering of children in local and regional wars, both on the battlefields and in families and on different social levels, our generation is obliged to help educate and develop others. And who could be better ambas-sadors for a better and peaceful future than psychologists and those who learn psychology. Our world is in danger, and a united common sense, including human rights and diversity is important. This has been my message to my psychology students at the university, and it still is in any circle where questions of education are discussed.
A fourth strategy is to convince more school headmasters and school politicians how important our common efforts in teaching psychology would be, not to win the brain race, but to overcome the dichotomy between excellent and disabled learners.
Maria Vita: According to your website, the EFPTA has a desire to formulate its own curriculum for pre-university psychology. How much progress has the EFPTA made to-ward this goal? What challenges/concerns does the EFPTA face?Udo Kittler: As far as I remember, from the very beginning we discussed the challenges of a common pre-university curriculum in Europe. That depends on the different national academic schools of psychology and the scientific positions of school administrators and last, but not least, some influence of universities on curriculum-development processes. Discus-sions have to be promoted that a basic curriculum on the level of the high standards you have developed in APA, and the British in BPA, will be guidelines for other national curricula, like in Germany.
Maria Vita: Do you envision a way our organizations TOPSS/APA and EFPTA could work together?Udo Kittler: Absolutely YES, at once, but with one obstacle: The small budget we have in EFPTA covers only the expens-es for meeting rooms and lunches during our meetings plus a few travel expenses for the president to join the EFPA meet-ings in Brussels twice a year.
Finally, let me express my gratitude for this interview and your possible promotion of our work in Europe. You or your colleagues will be welcome every time in our meetings to look for common steps, common strategies and sharing knowl-edge; we also welcome ideas about other funding sources. For more information, please visit the EFPTA website at http://www.efpta.org/home/. Thank you very much and best wishes from the EFPTA Board, elected in April 2013 (see pictures above). PTN
LEFT: Renate Schrempf (Germany, former EFPTA President) hands over the agenda to Dorothy Coombs (En-gland & Wales, new EFPTA President). Photo: Morag Williamson.
RIGHT: The newly elected EFPTA Board (for the period 2013-2015), from right to left: Hannele Puolakka, vice president (Finland); Udo Kittler, secretary (Germa-ny); Dorothy Coombs, president (England & Wales); Wolfgang Augustin, treasurer (Germany). Photo: Morag Williamson.
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“The single most pervasive influence, other than that of the instructor himself, is exercised by the textbook used in the course.”— Quereshiand Zulli (1975, p. 60)
Recently, there has been a rapid shift in education. Many of the changes are the result of advances in technology and the availability of these technologies
to both instructors and students. Overhead projectors, for instance, are widely being replaced by “smart classrooms,” where instructors can show video clips from TED talks and moderate live “chats” in digital classrooms outside of regular school hours. Among the changes seen lately by psychology instructors is a move toward more digital format textbooks.
Proponents of such textbooks, myself included, argue that a digital format confers several advantages over traditional printed paper texts. Digital books are easily searchable, are highly portable and are—arguably—more “environmentally friendly.” It was with these advantages in mind that a collec-tion of psychologists headed by Ed Diener (full disclosure, my father) created Noba (www.nobaproject.com). Noba is a platform that provides a wide range of expert-written chapters to instructors free of charge. Our catalog currently includes chapters on more than 75 topics from all areas of psychology and grows each semester. The digital format, as it turns out, allows for some important and nonobvious bene-fits to instructors and students.
PRICEThe current textbook market for psychology is enormous. More than 2 million students take psychology courses, and
some estimates place annual textbook sales at $160 to $200 million. Even so, textbooks, like prescription medication, do not follow traditional economic patterns in that the persons assigning the book (instructors) are not the same as the peo-ple paying for or using the book (students). This has given rise to a class of smaller, more concise and less expensive textbooks that Jackson and Griggs (2013) refer to as “Psych-Lite.” According to figures obtained by Jackson and Griggs, the average overall price for the PsychLite books studied was more than $66. These prices, arguably, are difficult for students; especially those from nonindustrialized economies.
Unlike PsychLite approaches, the Noba textbook and sim-ilar open digital texts can be offered completely free of charge. The lack of physical materials, costly color printing and shipping helps to dramatically reduce the cost of text-book publication, and this savings can be passed directly to students. In fact, modern digital business models mean that books can, for the first time in history, cost nothing or almost nothing for the end consumer. By abandoning an intellectual property model, we no longer feel it necessary to guard our proprietary information from outside use but
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The lack of physical materials, costly color printing and shipping helps to dramatically reduce the cost of textbook publication, and this savings can be passed directly to students.
THE NONOBVIOUS ADVANTAGES OF OPEN DIGITAL TEXTBOOKS
ROBERT BISWAS-DIENER, PhD Portland State University
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have actually created the infrastructure to facilitate this. Our chapters are easily shareable by Facebook, e-mail and oth-er social media. In doing so we believe we offer interested students the ability to learn about areas of psychology that could potentially ignite a passion for the field.
CUSTOMIZABILITYIn a survey of introductory psychology courses, Miller and Gentile (1998) sampled 761 faculty members from 490 colleges and universities. Of these, 98% used a textbook in introductory courses, although none covered all the material in the text. In fact, some topics, such as cross- cultural psychology, the psychology of women and indus-trial organizational psychology, were assigned by 30 percent or fewer of the instructors. What’s more, the respondents reported assigning some topics (e.g., personality) at higher rates than they endorsed as the fundamental importance of these same topics. Miller and Gentile conclude that this discrepancy could be the result of the ease of including or the difficulty in excluding textbook material in the teaching of psychology.
Open digital textbooks by their very nature offer a platform by which textbook material is easily customizable. The most straightforward example of this is the fact that, in the case of Noba, instructors can choose as many or as few chapters as they wish, place them in any order they wish and then collate and share them as a textbook. Beyond this example, open digital textbooks that allow for derivative works, such as those published by OpenStax, allow individual instructors to customize specific learning units by actually modifying the text. In doing so, derivative works allow instructors to interact more personally with the text, addressing points of controversy, adding updated references and discussions or including personal research examples not covered by the original author.
This type of customizability is especially important because of the diverse opinions with regard to what constitutes “core content” in psychology. In a review of textbook content by Nairn and colleagues (2003), the researchers found that of 6,240 candidate psychological concepts, only 197 were included in all six of the textbooks studied. Nairn and col-leagues raise the possibility that the lack of agreement on core material is, at least possibly, due to a push by authors to connect core concepts with ideas and experiences with which students are already passingly familiar, such as the case of hypnosis and schizophrenia. Rather than attempting to create a single canon of psychology topics, open digital textbooks can provide a catalog approach by which individu-al instructors may choose.
Of particular note is the fact that the digital format of open textbooks allows for an unprecedented ability to ad-dress a specific problem of “core content”: the relation of
topics to one another. It is difficult, for instance, for a tra-ditional textbook author to know where to place a chapter on culture and emotion. Should such a topic be housed in a specific section on culture? Should it be placed in a section on motivation and emotion? Is it most suitable for a section on research methodology? Traditional print formats force authors — and therefore instructors — to take an either/or approach to such topics. Open digital textbooks, by contrast, allow instructors to place topics in multiple sections simul-taneously, to rename sections and chapters or link between chapters and sections.
ACCURACY One important but often overlooked aspect of textbook creation is the use of references to substantiate main points. Steuer and Ham (2008) describe this common process by dividing it into deductive and inductive citation strategies. In the former case, authors familiarize themselves with a body of literature by reviewing references and create a text-book-based synthesis of the field. Steuer and Ham argue the possibility that deductive strategies are typical of the ini-tial creation of a textbook. By contrast, inductive strategies are likely to be employed when a textbook author needs to update his or her work. In this latter instance, authors can be tempted to find a citation that appears to substantiate a point they want to make. One advantage of the so-called open technologies, such as Wikipedia, is the natural leaning toward deductive rather than inductive reference strategies. Crowd-sourcing, multiple authorship and frequent digital updates provide an intellec-tual approach, a checks-and-balances system and a speed-to-market that differs from the approach used by traditional print book publishers. What’s more, each is written by a respected authority on that specific topic. In fact, our 120 authors include multiple winners of APA’s Award for Dis-tinguished Scientific Contribution and multiple winners of APS’s William James and James Cattell fellowships. This level of expertise means there is a stronger propensity toward deductive approaches to writing and a lower incidence of er-rors. Of course, open sources are not free from error, but one study (Giles, 2005) found that not only did Wikipedia have few factual errors, but the error rate was the same as that of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
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Open digital textbooks, by contrast, allow instructors to place topics in multiple sections simultaneously, to rename sections and chapters or link between chapters and sections.
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CONCLUSION The current changes in higher education in general, and in psychology specifically, need not be intimidating to educa-tors. We view these changes as a social movement composed of psychologists rather than an outside force influencing our profession. Noba is an example of a professional collective addressing educational problems from the inside. We would invite you not only to try Noba but to join us by contributing material: www.nobaproject.com.
REFERENCESGiles, J. (2005). Internet encyclopedias go head to head. Nature, 438,
900-901. Jackson, S., & Griggs, R. (2013). PsychLite: Great price, less filling.
Teaching of Psychology, 40, 217- 221.Marek, P., & Christopher, A. (2011). What happened to the first “R”?
Students’ perceptions of the role of textbooks in psychology courses. Teaching of Psychology, 38, 237- 242.
Miller, B., & Gentile, B. (1998). Introductory course content and goals. Teaching of Psychology, 25, 89-96.
Nairn, S., Ellard, J., Scialfa, C., & Miller, C. (2003). At the core of in-troductory psychology: A content analysis. Canadian Psychology, 44, 93-99.
Quereshi, M., & Zulli, M. (1975). A content analysis of introductory psychology textbooks. Teaching of Psychology, 2, 60-65.
Steuer, F. B., & Ham, K. W. (2008). Psychology textbooks: Examining
their accuracy. Teaching of Psychology, 35, 160-168. PTN
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Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener is a part-time instructor at Portland State University and is the senior editor of the Noba Project, an education-al nonprofit serving those interested in the science of psychology. He has published widely on subjective well-being, strengths, courage and experiential teaching methods.
DR. ROBERT BISWAS-DIENER
Noba is an example of a professional collective addressing educational problems from the inside.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
2014 APA CONVENTION
The APA Annual Convention will be held in Washington, DC, August 7-10, 2014. For details and to register, please visit http://www.apa.org/convention. We hope to see you there!
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES (NCSS) CONFERENCE
The 94th National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Annual Conference will be held in Boston, MA, November 21-23, 2014. A number of sessions for psychology teachers will be offered.
For registration and program information, visit the NCSS website at http://www.socialstudies.org.
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NEW APA PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN DEMONSTRATES PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE IN ACTION
A PA has launched a new component of its ongoing pub-lic education program designed to increase people’s understanding of psychology as a science and the work
of psychologists in research and other diverse work settings.
Launched in March with the theme “Psychology: Science in Action,” the campaign addresses APA’s Strategic Plan objective to increase the public’s recognition of psychology as a science and a STEM discipline. Its strategies and content are based on the results of public opinion polling and focus groups APA conducted to better understand the public’s thinking about the discipline. This public awareness research helped determine the messaging and campaign tactics that would be most effective to increase the public’s understanding of psychology as a science.
Through a series of psychologist profiles, the campaign demon-strates how psychologists use empirical research to ask and answer important questions. These profiles demonstrate how psychology contributes to a wide array of daily life activities, from learning to health care; from workplace productivity to criminal justice.
The initial phase of the campaign is focused on reaching stu-dents at the high school and early college levels, as well as their teachers and counselors. A campaign website, publications and social media activities share the underpinnings of psychology as a science, the value of the psychology major and the many
career paths within the discipline. Students and other visitors to the website will learn about the critical role psychological research plays in improving lives and advancing our under-standing of human and animal behavior.
“The Psychology: Science in Action campaign is an exciting next phase of APA’s ongoing public education program,” said Rhea K. Farberman, APA’s executive director for Public and Member Communications, who oversees the campaign. “I’m particularly excited about the great stories we tell in the cam-paign’s video profiles of psychologists doing important re-search. The campaign is also an opportunity for APA to bring the breadth and depth of psychology to students in media they use — the Web and social media. Our goal is to educate the next generation of professionals about career opportunities in psychology and the many ways the discipline makes important contributions to society.”
The campaign website is www.PsychScienceAction.org. There, teachers will also find suggestions for classroom activities and curriculum materials. Students and others interested in psy-chology can also follow the campaign on Facebook (www.face-book.com/PsychScienceAction) and Twitter (@apa, #PsySci).
Initial campaign materials include posters featuring Eduardo Salas, PhD; Deborah Tate, PhD; and David Strayer, PhD. Salas studies team communication and how to decrease errors in
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“How can we safely interact with technology while driving? That’s what psychology can tell us.” — Dr. David Strayer, cognitive neuroscientist, University of Utah
PsycHologisTs: Keeping the Roads safe
Psychologist David Strayer studies how the brain processes information to better understand what causes driver distraction and how to keep people safe on the roads. Simple, right? Actually, it’s psychological science.
APA’s Psychology: Science in Action campaign showcases the impact psychology has in every aspect of our lives. The campaign provides students, teachers and counselors with information about the application of psychological science in settings as diverse as forensics, climate protection, sports and health.
could psychology be a career for your students? Find out at www.PSychScienceAction.org
PSychology: Science in Action
David Strayer, PhD, is one of many psychologists whose work is featured in the Psychology: Science in Action campaign. Dr. Strayer’s research on distracted driving has led to laws against texting while driving in numerous states.
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high-risk work settings. Tate studies how new technologies can help people lose weight. Strayer studies distracted driving. Cop-ies of all three posters can be ordered on the Science in Action website.
Later this year, additional campaign activities will include opportunities for students to enter their psychological science research projects in judged contests and share their work with other campaign followers via social media, including Tumblr and YouTube. PTN
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“I’m particularly excited about the great stories we tell in the campaign’s video profiles of psychologists doing important research." — Rhea K. Farberman
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
PRE-CONVENTION WORKSHOP FOR PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERSThe APA Education Directorate is pleased to announce a one-day workshop on Wednesday, August 6, 2014, for psy-chology teachers, to be held in the APA headquarters build-ing in Washington, DC. The workshop sessions will focus on hard-to-learn topics (e.g., how to keep positive/negative reinforcement and punishment straight, how neurons work, epigenetics and theories of color vision), technology for teaching introductory psychology, and the DSM-5 and ICD.
The registration fee for TOPSS and PT@CC members is $40 and includes breakfast and lunch. For speakers and additional details, please visit http://www.apa.org/news/events/2014/introductory-psychology-teachers.aspx. The workshop is open to any teacher of Introductory Psychology, especially those who teach at the high school or community college level. The registration deadline is June 1, 2014. An American Psychological Foundation grant will support the workshop.
EASTERN CONFERENCE ON THE TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY (ETOP)The Department of Psychology at James Madison University will host the next Eastern Conference on the Teaching of Psychology (ETOP) on Friday, June 20 and Saturday, June 21, 2014. The conference will be held at the historic Stone-wall Jackson Hotel and Conference Center in Staunton,
Virginia. The conference will offer concurrent symposia and workshops, a poster session, a participant idea exchange and two keynote addresses on issues related to the teaching of psychology. Our target audience includes teachers from high school, 2-year, 4-year college/university and graduate school settings.
If you have any questions about the conference, please email Natalie Lawrence at [email protected] or visit http://psyc.jmu.edu/etop/index.html.
OTHER NEWS
2013 RAYMOND D. FOWLER AWARD
Ms. Emily Leary Chesnes, MBA, assistant director, Precol-lege and Undergraduate Education, was honored by her col-leagues at APA as recipient of the 2013 Raymond D. Fowler
Award. This annual award recognizes APA employees who provide exemplary service to the association and others and who are excellent representatives of all of APA’s values.
EMILY LEARY CHESNES
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APA TOPSS EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARD WINNERSThe APA TOPSS Committee and the APA Education Directorate congratulate Lara Bruner, MA, of Desert Vis-ta High School in Phoenix, AZ; William Elmhorst, MS, of Marshfield High School in Marshfield, WI; and Joseph Swope, PhD, of Northwest High School in Germantown, MD, recipients of the 2014 APA TOPSS Excellence in Teaching Award. The annual Excellence in Teaching Award recognizes outstanding psychology teachers.
The award recipients each received a framed certificate, an en-graved award, a cash prize of $500 and a free TOPSS member-ship renewal for the 2015 membership year. Award recipients also received the Interactive (PowerPoint) Presentation Slides for Introductory Psychology, Volumes 1 and 2, as well as the Worth Video Anthology Flash Drive for Introductory Psychol-ogy, both generously donated to the 2014 award winners by Worth Publishers.
An interview with the three winners will be published in PTN this fall, and an APA press release on the 2014 win-ners is available online at www.apa.org/news/press/releas-es/2014/04/topss-award.aspx. The call for nominations for the 2015 APA TOPSS Excellence in Teaching Award will be released later this year.
Congratulations, Lara Bruner, Will Elmhorst and Joseph Swope!
NEWS FROM TOPSS & PT@CC
LARA BRUNER WILL ELMHORST JOSEPH SWOPE
2014 TOPSS ELECTIONS CALL FOR NOMINATIONSIf you would like to become more involved in TOPSS and are interested in gaining leadership experience and positively im-pacting the teaching of high school psychology, we encourage you to consider serving on the TOPSS Committee. TOPSS is especially interested in encouraging individuals from diverse backgrounds (including diversity in race/ethnicity, gender, ability/disability, sexual orientation, age and religion) to con-sider running for a TOPSS office. In 2014, TOPSS will elect a chair-elect and two members-at-large.
The chair-elect position is a 3-year position and the others are 2-year positions. The TOPSS Committee meets twice a year, in spring and fall, in Washington, DC. The APA covers travel and accommodation expenses. Please consider nom-inating a colleague you feel would make a positive impact. Self-nominations are also welcomed. Nominations are due by July 1, 2014. For details, please visit the TOPSS website at http://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/topss/call-for-nomina-tions.aspx.
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NEWS FROM TOPSS & PT@CC
APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Majorversion 2.0 August 2013
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PREPARED BY Jeanne A. Blakeslee St. Paul’s School for Girls Brooklandville, MD
Developed and Produced by the Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) of the American Psychological Association, January 2014
CHILDHOOD OBESITY A TOPSS Problem-Focused Unit
KUDOS TO CYNTHIA D. BELAR, PHDAfter 14 years of service as the executive director of APA’s Education Directorate, Cynthia D. Belar, PhD, will be re-tiring in June 2014. Dr. Belar has provided steadfast support and guidance to the TOPSS and PT@CC committees and to
the APA Office of Precollege and Undergraduate Educa-tion (PCUE). Her leader-ship has been invaluable, and she will be sorely missed. TOPSS, PT@CC and the PCUE office wish Dr. Belar many thanks and a happy retirement!
TOPSS PUBLISHES A NEW PROBLEM-FOCUSED UNIT LESSON PLANThe Education Directorate and TOPSS published a new type of unit lesson plan, a problem-focused unit, on “Childhood Obesity,” developed by 2011 TOPSS Chair Jeanne Blakeslee. A “problem-focused” unit is one that takes a common prob-lem society faces and uses the problem as a way to teach psychological content. The unit lesson plan uses the following template: establishing that there is a problem, exploring the problem, looking for possible causes, deciding what content
in psychological science is related to the problem and proposing solutions to the problem. The lesson plan is available online at http://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/topss/lessons/index.aspx.
UPDATE ON THE REVISED APA GUIDELINES FOR THE UNDER-GRADUATE PSYCHOLOGY MAJORThe APA Council of Representatives approved the revised Guidelines for the Undergraduate Major in Psychology: Version 2.0 (2013). Members of the BEA Task Force on Psychology Major Competencies are giving presentations on the guidelines at the APA Convention in August. In addi-tion, Task Force Chair Jane Halonen, PhD, of the University of West Florida, recently presented on the guidelines in an APA webinar on the “Evolving Guidelines for Undergradu-ate Psychology: Where Are We Now?” As noted on page 18,
Jane Halonen and other task force members will present at the 2014 APA Conven-tion on “APA Undergraduate Psychology Guidelines 2.0: Making Meaningful Assess-ment Happen.”
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ACTIVITY
SKITS TO LIVEN UP YOUR INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY CLASS
SUSAN KRAUSS WHITBOURNE, PHD University of Massachusetts Amherst
As we all know, there are many classic psychology experiments that illustrate principles now basic to the field. Scenes from some of these are available
on video, such as the Milgram, Zimbardo and Asch exper-iments. However, there are also many classic studies for which there is no available footage. Because of this, in-structors may share their own renditions of the experiments for the class, either by reading excerpts from the published articles or providing their own dramatic retelling of the main conditions.
It’s not necessary to resort to passive retelling of the great psychology experiments, however. If you have budding direc-torial instincts or just like to mix things up in your classes, you can use improvisation with the students in your class to reenact your favorites from psychology lore. Over the years, I have developed several skits that provide a dramatic rendering of the basic plots of my favorite studies. I did take creative license with the details of the studies themselves. So if you’re a purist, you might find some details to be different from the published work, which made the production more feasible.
Originally, I called these “Intro Psych Improvisations,” but later decided they would work more effectively if I actually gave students a basic script to follow. I share the scripts with the students who volunteer to serve as my dramatic troupe, run them through a few rehearsals and then let them take center stage. At the end of the skit, if you have a PowerPoint presentation, you can run credits with the names of your “actors.”
Feel free to use this activity as is or adapt it for your own creative purposes!
GREAT MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY #1: THE SCHACHTER-SINGER EXPERIMENT
BackgroundAll participants were told they were being used to test the effectiveness of a (fictitious) vitamin supplement called “Su-proxin” that supposedly improves eyesight. Participants were
then going to be given a test as soon as the Suproxin had taken effect (in about 20 minutes). This was a cover story to disguise the real purpose of the experiment. All participants received extra credit on their final exam for participating.Drug injection had two conditions:• Adrenaline — Participants were given an injection of
adrenaline, which produces autonomic arousal.• Saline — Participants were given an injection of saline,
which produces no arousal.
Participants given adrenaline then could be in one of three conditions:• Informed about the effects of the drug (told to expect
effects of adrenaline but weren’t told the drug was adren-aline)
• Misinformed about the effects of the drug (told to expect numb feet, itching and a headache)
• Not given any information about the drug
Then participants were exposed to either the euphoria or anger condition while waiting the 20 minutes for the drug to “take effect.” During this time, the experimenter’s confederate engaged in either euphoric or angry behavior.
Euphoric conditionThe waiting room had deliberately been put into a state of disarray. When the experimenter left, he told the participant and the confederate they could take any paper, pencils or paper clips they wanted. Then the confederate started playing with the objects in the room, including two hula-hoops. He tried to get the participant to join in.
Anger conditionThe questionnaire is supposed to make the participant have a reason for being angry, as the questions get progressively more personal. The confederate encourages this angry feeling toward the experiment by complaining about the injection. The confederate then keeps pace with the participant as the questionnaire is answered. The confederate adds negative comments about the questions. At the end of the session, the confederate pretends to be angry by ripping up the question-naire. The experimenter then returns.
Behavioral observationsBehavioral observations were then made as well as ratings, including these two key questions:1. How irritated, angry or annoyed would you say you feel
at present? This was answered on a 5-point scale ranging from 0 — I don’t feel at all irritated or angry — to 4 — I feel extremely irritated and angry.
2. How good or happy would you say you feel at present? This also was answered on a 5-point scale, ranging from 0 — I don’t feel at all happy or good — to 4 — I feel ex-tremely happy and good.
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The results showed that the ignorant condition was significant-ly different from the informed condition in the case of both euphoria and anger. But those in the anger ignorant condition did not feel angry (although they behaved in an angrier manner than those in the informed condition).
Roles: Experimenter, Angry Confederate, Participant #1, Happy Confederate, Participant #2
Props needed: Fake syringe, lab coat, paper intended to be questionnaires, pencils, table, chairs
SCRIPT OUTLINE:PART 1 — ANGRY CONDITION
Angry Confederate and Participant #1 are sitting at the table.
The Experimenter walks in and says: “Thank you for agreeing to be in this study. I will be administering this ‘vitamin’ (said with emphasis and air quotes to audience) and then asking you to fill out some questionnaires.”
The Experimenter then pretends to give a shot to the Angry Confederate, who says “OUCH!” Then he/she gives the shot to Participant #1, who winces. The Experimenter leaves.
Both Angry Confederate and Participant #1 start to fill out the questionnaires. The Angry Confederate starts complain-ing about the questions (“Why are they asking me my sex?” “Why do they need to know how old I am?” “These questions are much too personal!” etc.). After a few minutes, the An-gry Confederate slams the questionnaire onto the table and storms off the stage.
The Experimenter comes back in and says “What happened to our other participant? Participant #1 says “He/she left.” The Experimenter says “Now I want to ask you to rate your mood. Please tell me how you feel at this moment.” Partici-pant #1 says, angrily, “I feel angry, but I don’t know why!”
SCRIPT OUTLINE:PART 2 — HAPPY CONDITION
Happy Confederate and Participant #2 are sitting at the table now.
The Experimenter walks in and says: “Thank you for agreeing to be in this study. I will be administering this ‘vitamin’ (said with emphasis and air quotes to audience) and then asking you to fill out some questionnaires.”
The Experimenter then pretends to give a shot to the Happy Confederate, who says “Thank you!” Then he/she gives the shot to Participant #2, who winces but says “Thank you, I guess.” The Experimenter leaves.
Both Happy Confederate and Participant #2 start to fill out the questionnaires. The Happy Confederate starts reading the questions out loud (“They want to know my sex — that seems fair,” “Oh, they want to know my age — I’m glad to say that I just turned 19,” etc.). After a few minutes, the Happy Confed-erate starts humming “Oh what a beautiful morning” and gets up. Continuing to sing, he/she starts to skip around the room, exclaiming “I’m just so happy right now!” He/she then leaves the room.
The Experimenter comes back in and says “What happened to our other participant? Participant #2 says “He/she left.” The Experimenter says “Now I want to ask you to rate your mood. Please tell me how you feel at this moment.” Partic-ipant #2 says, ecstatically, “I feel so happy right now, I don’t know why!”
GREAT MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY #2: TYPE A BEHAVIOR
Background The discovery of Type A behavior happened serendipitously when Meyer Friedman, a cardiologist, noticed that the chairs in his waiting room were wearing off at the edges of the seats and arms. He consulted with his colleague, R. H. Rosenman, and together they invented the term “Type A.” The “A” didn’t mean anything — it was just a gimmick that helped them get funding.
Roles: Dr. Friedman, Dr. Rosenman, Nurse, Type A Patient, Type B Patient, Another Patient
Props needed: Lab coat, two telephones, table with two chairs, waiting room chairs, newspaper
SCRIPT OUTLINE: TYPE A BEHAVIOR
Dr. Friedman is sitting at the table talking to a patient. Type A and Type B patients are sitting in the waiting room. Type A Patient says “I can’t believe they’ve kept us waiting so long! They’re 15 minutes late already!” Type B Patient (reading the paper) says “It’s unfortunate, but, I’m sure there’s a reason.” Nurse comes into waiting room and announces “I’m sorry to say the doctor is running late. It will only be another few minutes.” Type A Patient shouts “What? I’ve already been kept waiting 15 minutes!!” Type B Patient keeps reading.
Dr. Friedman shakes another patient’s hand; the patient then leaves. Nurse announces “The doctor is ready for you now.”
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Type A Patient shouts “IT’S ABOUT TIME!” He/she then sits down, and Dr. Friedman says “Your blood pressure looks very high, and you’re really placing yourself at risk.” Type A Patient angrily replies “I waited half an hour to hear you tell me what I already knew? This was a complete waste of time!” He/she then storms out. Nurse then invites Type B Patient in, who quietly talks to Dr. Friedman.
Meanwhile, Nurse examines the chairs and floor of the waiting room, stroking her chin and seeming puzzled. After Type B Patient leaves Dr. Friedman, Nurse talks to him and says “I’ve just noticed the chairs in the waiting room are all worn down on the arms and seats; so is the rug in front of the chairs. I wonder why that is!”
Dr. Friedman says, “That’s very interesting. I’ll call my col-league Dr. Rosenman and we can discuss it.” He then calls Dr. Rosenman, who says “I wonder if it has something to do with their high blood pressure. Maybe they are so impatient they put stress on their cardiovascular system.” Dr. Friedman says “Very interesting. I’ll call you back in a while.”
Dr. Friedman then has a short soliloquy: “The chairs and carpet are worn down at the front. These patients have high blood pressure and other forms of heart disease. Maybe their impa-tient behavior does have something to do with this. I think I’ll do research on this, but first, I need to call it something. How about ‘Type C’ for cardio? No, that’s not very interesting. Maybe ‘Type H’ for heart? Nope, still pretty silly. ‘Z’ because it sounds good?”
“Wait, I have it! I’ll call it … ‘Type A!’” (throwing hands in the air in a victory gesture) .
WHAT’S MY DEFENSE MECHANISM?
Background This demonstration will consist of a series of skits posing the question to the class of naming the defense mechanism depicted.
Roles: Skit 1 — Professor, Student, Student’s Roommate (Roommate), Cat of Student and Roommate (“the Cat”); Skit 2 — Student #1, Student #2, Student #3
Props needed: Skit 1 — Cat ears and sign that says “The Cat,” book or newspaper, room made to look like a messy student’s dorm room or apartment bedroom, Skit 2 — Mirror
SCRIPT OUTLINE: SKIT 1: DISPLACEMENT
Student acts out going to Professor during office hours and asking why he/she failed the exam. Professor explains that clearly Student hadn’t studied and his/her answers reflected that fact. Professor calmly suggests that Student study harder or come into office hours for help.
Student leaves, angrily muttering “That exam was so unfair. The professor is too hard on us, and I should’ve been given another chance. I’m going to fail that course!”
Then, Student storms into his/her room, where Roommate is sitting and reading with the Cat purring. Student starts screaming “Why don’t you clean this place up? It’s a mess! I can’t believe you are so lazy and stupid!” Then Student storms out of the room. Roommate exclaims “Wow, I can’t believe he/she just spoke to me that way, but if I say something, he/she will make me move out!” Roommate then turns to the Cat, who is just sitting and watching. “You stupid cat, why do you just sit there all day!” He/she kicks (gently!) the Cat, who falls over sideways onto the stage.
SCRIPT OUTLINE: SKIT 2: PROJECTION
Student #1 looks critically in the mirror and says “I can’t be-lieve how bad this hairdresser cut my hair. It looks ridiculous. My friends are going to laugh at me, and it will take weeks for it to grow out. What am I going to do?”
Students #2 and #3 have been quietly chatting in the back-ground. Now, student #1 walks over to them, and they greet him/her in a friendly and pleasant way. Student #1 yells “You hate my hair! I know you think I look ridiculous! How can you be so mean to me? I guess you’re not really my friends after all!”
Student #1 storms out, while Students #2 and 3 look quizzically at each other. PTN
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FUN AND QUICK OPENERS
As psychology teachers, we are always looking for fun quick ideas that can be incorporated into our class-rooms. Please feel free to submit ideas to TOPSS
Membership Coordinator Amy Ramponi at [email protected], and we will add a couple in future issues.
FROM DANA MELONE, KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOL, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA Students struggle with how specific an operational definition needs to be, so we start the lesson on operational definitions by operationally defining “slang.” This year we operationally defined “that awkward moment when.” Each team of four had to develop an operational definition of an awkward moment. We then kept revising until we had something measurable. In five different classes, we got 35 different operational defini-tions of the same idea. This leads to great discussion on rep-lication. Other words or terms we have used include “swag,” “cheesy,” “like a boss,” etc. Prior to the discussion on obedience to authority, I hand envelopes to five students and instruct the students to open
the envelopes. Inside are directions to perform ridiculous tasks (hop like a bunny around the room, stand on one foot and shout I love AP Psych, etc.). I encourage the students to complete the tasks, and then we discuss why they would do that. Would they do it if their friend asked them to, etc.
FROM AMY RAMPONI, KIMBERLY HIGH SCHOOL, KIMBERLY, WIIt can be difficult to get kids to understand and remember the grouping principles of Gestalt Psychology. I have opened up class with “Gestalt Pictionary.” I find 10-15 pictures of gestalts that would be easy for kids to draw. I then cut the pictures out and put them into two separate envelopes. I divide the kids into two teams, and each team must choose different “explainers” and “drawers” for each round. The kids pick a gestalt picture (they’re randomized in the envelopes so each team has differ-ent pictures at different times), and then the explainers have to explain the pictures to the drawers. When the drawer has gotten the picture correct, the team has to explain which gestalt principle it is to get the point. The first team to do so wins that point. This is a fun and easy way to review the gestalt principles of grouping. PTN
ACTIVITY
G. STANLEY HALL /HARRY KIRKE WOLFE LECTURES AT THE 2014 APA CONVENTION
The G. Stanley Hall/Harry Kirke Wolfe Lectures began in 1980 to promote the teaching of introductory psychology by bringing well-known experts to the APA Convention to discuss current research issues. The program is supported by APA’s Education Directorate and the Society for the Teach-ing of Psychology (APA Division Two).
G. Stanley Hall Lectures (Please check the APA website for session dates and times.)
Lori James, PhD, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs: The Story of H. M.: Recent Findings Indicating More than Memory Deficits
Michael J. Dougher, PhD, University of New Mexico: The Conceptual and Empirical Underpinnings of the Modern Behavioral Therapies
E. Scott Geller, PhD, Virginia Tech: The Psychology of Self-Motivation: Cultivating an Active Caring for People Culture
Harry Kirke Wolfe LectureR. Eric Landrum, PhD, Boise State University: Assessing Skills: The Future of Undergraduate Psychology Education
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
OTHER SPECIAL EVENTS FOR PSYCHOLOGY TEACHERS AT THE APA CONVENTION:Board of Educational Affairs Symposium: Rena F. Subot-nik, PhD, APA Center for Psychology in Schools and Ed-ucation: Top 20 Psychological Principles for PreK–12 Edu-cation( Friday, August 8, 2014, 3:00–3:50 PM, Convention Center Room 140A)
Board of Educational Affairs Discussion Session: Jane S. Halonen, PhD, University of West Florida: APA Undergrad-uate Psychology Guidelines 2.0 –Making Meaningful As-sessment Happen (Saturday, August 9, 2014, 2:00–3:50 PM, Convention Center East Salon C)
STP (APA Division 2) Programming: Please visit http://teachpsych.org/conferences/apa/index.php for a list of STP sessions at the APA Convention!
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR
TOPSS AND PT@CC PROGRAMMING AT THE APA CONVENTION The APA TOPSS and PT@CC committees are pleased to announce the following sessions at the APA Convention. All sessions below will be held in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Look for more details in the coming months on the APA website (www.apa.org/convention).
2014 TOPSS Invited AddressesC. Nathan DeWall, PhD, University of Kentucky: Self-Con-trol – Teaching Students About Their Greatest Inner Strength (Friday, August 8, 2:00–2:50 PM, Convention Center Room 149A)
Sue Frantz, MA, Highline Community College, and J. No-land White, PhD, Georgia College: Classroom Technologies You Will Actually Use: Descriptions and applications (Saturday, August 9, 2:00–2:50 PM, Convention Center Room 154B)
Stephen Chew, PhD, Samford University: The Lee Gurel Lecture: The Challenge of Translating Learning Research into Effective Pedagogical Practice (Saturday, August 9, 3:00–3:50 PM, Convention Center Room 143B)
Annie Murphy Paul, Science writer: Becoming Brilliant: The Science of How We Get Smarter (Saturday, August 9, 4:00–4:50 PM, Convention Center Room 143B)
A TOPSS reception is being planned for Friday, August 8; please visit the TOPSS website for details later this spring.
2014 PT@CC Invited AddressesPT@CC Diane Halpern Lecture: Daniel B. Willingham, PhD, University of Virginia: The application of neuroscientific find-ings to the classroom (Friday, August 8, 1:00–1:50 PM, Con-vention Center Room 154A)
PT@CC Invited Address: Morton Ann Gernsbacher, PhD, Uni-versity of Wisconsin-Madison: The Changing Face of Access and Accommodation in Higher Education (Friday, August 8, 2:00–2:50 PM, Convention Center Room 143B)
PT@CC and Psi Beta Symposium: Best Practices, Innova-tions, and Resources for e-Learning:Melanie Arpaio, MA, Sussex County Community College: Cre-ate an Amazing Online Course for Use in Your Face-to-Face Classes; Ladonna Lewis, PhD, Glendale Community College: Navigating the Unique Challenges of Online Teaching (Friday, August 8, 3:00–3:50 PM, Convention Center Room 159)
PT@CC Symposium: Intersections of Education and the “War on Poverty:”Cynthia Hudley, PhD, University of California, Santa Bar-bara: Psychology, Education, and Concentrated Poverty; Roberta Downing, PhD, American Psychological Association: Edu-cational Interventions to Combat Poverty: A Policy Perspective; Ramani S. Durvasula, PhD, California State University, Los Angeles: Education, Economic Diversity and Pressures of Ac-culturation (Saturday, August 9, 3:00–3:50 PM, Convention Center Room 144C)
PT@CC and Psi Beta Awards Ceremony and Reception: Saturday, August 9, 4:00–5:50 PM, Marriott Marquis Wash-ington DC Hotel, Independence Salon H
OTHER NEWS
NEWS FROM THE APA PUBLIC INTEREST DIRECTORATE
The APA Public Interest Directorate would like to introduce “A Student’s Perspective,” a new column for our newsletter In the Public Interest. This column gives students the opportunity to reflect on psychological issues and why psychology needs to address those issues.
Take a moment and check out some great articles from our college students:
• The importance of increasing our compassion for the less fortunate
• “Friendtor”: The importance of building positive relationships with students
• Beyond the Ivory Tower: Taking research from the lab onto the Hill as an APA graduate student public policy intern
Public Interest wants to hear from students! We are seeking to share your valuable insight on psychological issues. If you are interested, please contact G. Tina Wolridge ([email protected]). Feel free to subscribe to In the Public Interest.
