Embedding Career Issues in Advanced Psychology Major Courses

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane S. Halonen ◽  
Dana S. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Career Preparation ◽  
American Psychological ◽  
Development Goal ◽  
Capstone Courses ◽  
Psychology Majors ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Psychology Major ◽  
New Strategies

Despite the popularity of the psychology major, complaints regularly arise about the value of majoring in psychology. This article reviews the workforce advantages that accrue to successful psychology students and encourages new strategies for emphasizing the professional development goal in the American Psychological Association’s Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major (2013). Recommendations include infusing career preparation in advanced classes, designing career-focused capstone courses, and conducting a climate check on department support for fostering realistic and appropriate career aspirations in undergraduate psychology majors.

scholarly journals Factors That Motivate and Challenge Psychology Majors’ Pursuit of Academic Good Work

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-46
Author(s):  
Mary Katherine Duncan ◽  
Jennifer Adrienne Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Academic Work ◽  
Peer Influences ◽  
Good Work ◽  
Short Term ◽  
American Psychological ◽  
Psychology Majors ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Psychology Major

Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi, and Damon defined good work as excellent, ethical, and engaged. In two studies, we explored factors that motivate and challenge undergraduate psychology majors’ pursuit of academic good work ( N = 100; Mage = 21.7; mostly female, Caucasian, and seniors). We found that excellent academic work was motivated by short- and long-term goals but challenged by personal habits, demanding/uninteresting coursework, and competing obligations. Ethical academic work was motivated by short-term goals and internal principles but challenged by not knowing the rules, willingness to cut corners, and negative peer influences. Engaged academic work was motivated by short-term goals, dedicated faculty, and thought-provoking courses but challenged by demanding/uninteresting coursework. We discuss how our findings align with American Psychological Association’s guidelines for the undergraduate psychology major and suggest high-impact practices and discipline-specific resources aimed at cultivating good workers.

What Psychology Students Want From Service-Learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 009862832110210
Author(s):  
Christine E. Valdez ◽  
Jennifer L. Lovell
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Psychology Major

Background: Limited research has examined how service-learning (SL) outcomes align with learning goals proposed for the undergraduate psychology major by the APA Board of Educational Affairs Task Force on Psychology Major Competences. Objective: To obtain student perspectives of SL, and to evaluate learning and inform curriculum development of SL specific to psychology learning goals. Method: Undergraduate psychology students ( N = 400) participated in a concurrent mixed-methods survey examining empathy, civic engagement, and professional identity between students who had and had not taken an upper-division SL course. Results: SL students reported increased engagement with APA learning goals of Ethical and Social Responsibility and Professional Development compared to students who did not take SL. SL students scored higher on civic engagement behaviors and professional identity. Students reported wanting more exposure to a range of psychology subdisciplines, various service opportunities, and multicultural diversity to support professional development. Conclusion: SL is a high-impact teaching practice that aligns with psychology learning goals. Teaching Implications: Findings informed the development of a generalist psychology SL course that introduced students to different domains of psychology. We discuss how to integrate learning activities to increase multicultural and other awareness, motivate social justice action, enhance career clarification, and increase professional self-efficacy.

Preparing Undergraduate Psychology Students for Careers in Business

1987 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernardo J. Carducci ◽  
William C. Deeds ◽  
John W. Jones ◽  
Donald M. Moretti ◽  
Jeffrey G. Reed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Resources ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Training And Development ◽  
Educational Programs ◽  
Career Opportunities ◽  
Psychology Majors ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
And Training

As a means of increasing their career opportunities, psychology majors can prepare themselves for business careers in areas such as marketing, human resources administration, and training and development. This article identifies some important skills for psychologists working in the business field and describes educational programs and curricular strategies for acquiring those skills.

Preparing Psychology Majors to Enter the Workforce

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drew C. Appleby
Keyword(s):  
American Psychological Association ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
American Psychological ◽  
Psychology Programs ◽  
Job Seeking ◽  
Psychology Faculty ◽  
Psychology Majors ◽  
Psychology Curriculum ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology

Undergraduate psychology programs have not always provided the same level of support for their job-seeking students than they have for those preparing to become psychologists. This is a particularly unfortunate situation because, according to the American Psychological Association's Center for Workforce Studies (American Psychological Association, 2017), only 13% of the 3.4 million people in the United States who have earned a bachelor's degree in psychology have gone on to earn a higher psychology degree. The first part of this article uses quotations from seven national reports on the psychology curriculum to identify the genesis and gradual amelioration of this unfortunate situation. The remainder of this article focuses on strategies that psychology faculty can use to help their job-seeking students successfully accomplish Goal 5: Professional Development of the APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major. These strategies include referring advisees to professionally trained advisors and becoming aware of careers in which baccalaureate-level psychology majors have entered or can prepare to enter and the sets of knowledge, skills, and characteristics important for success in these careers.

scholarly journals Professor–Student Rapport and Perceived Autonomy Support as Predictors of Course and Student Outcomes

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melikşah Demir ◽  
Shelby Burton ◽  
Nora Dunbar
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Success ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Autonomy Support ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Final Grade ◽  
Unique Variance ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Perceived Autonomy Support

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 ( R2 = .72), perception of the course ( R2 = .49), and perceived amount learned ( R2 = .27). However, rapport accounted for more unique variance than autonomy support. To a lesser degree, these predictors explained variability in expected ( R2 = .07) and actual ( R2 = .04) final grade, and absences ( R2 = .04). Autonomy support was the only significant predictor of grades. Providing professional development opportunities to professors to enhance rapport and autonomy support may improve student success.

Curriculum Needs: Life Preparation for Undergraduate Psychology Majors

1982 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. W. Buckalew ◽  
H. H. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Training ◽  
Community Resource ◽  
American Psychological ◽  
Academic Curriculum ◽  
Career Opportunities ◽  
Psychology Majors ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Printed Materials ◽  
Development And Management

The desirability of informing and developing psychology majors beyond the traditional academic curriculum was noted, with a perspective on life preparation. The content and conduct of a senior level psychology seminar for undergraduate majors was introduced. Suggested topics included career opportunities in psychology, alternative careers, graduate training, personal and fiscal development and management, resumes and correspondence, ethics, and problems and selected topics in psychology. Appreciable use of community resource persons and American Psychological Association's printed materials was stressed.

Measuring What Students Know: SNAP’s Guidelines and Suggestions for Assessing Goal 1 Content in Psychology

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 262-273
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. W. Thompson ◽  
Aaron S. Richmond ◽  
Barika Barboza ◽  
Jennifer Bradley ◽  
J. Noland White ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Working Group ◽  
American Psychological Association ◽  
National Assessment ◽  
American Psychological ◽  
Inappropriate Use ◽  
Version 2.0 ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Psychology Major

Although many psychology departments and instructors are aware of the American Psychological Association Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major Version 2.0, they are often less aware of the means by which to assess student mastery of the recommended goals. Our purpose is to discuss general principles for assessment, offer a psychology learner taxonomy that aligns with Goal 1 of the Guidelines 2.0, and present a rubric for reviewing assessments. Goal 1 of the Guidelines 2.0 is based on content knowledge in psychology. Whereas most assessments allow for the measure of the mastery of content to different extents, the results of those assessments can be invalid due to the design or inappropriate use of the rubric. The working group at the Summit on National Assessment of Psychology addressed these issues and curated evidence-informed assessment exemplars designed to measure content knowledge in psychology.

Some Roads Lead to Psychology, Some Lead Away: College Student Characteristics and Psychology Major Choice

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 761-777
Author(s):  
Martin C. Yu ◽  
Nathan R. Kuncel ◽  
Paul R. Sackett
Keyword(s):  
College Major ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Major Choice ◽  
Academic Preparedness ◽  
Performance Variables ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Psychology Majors ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Psychology Major ◽  
And Performance

Understanding which students enter and leave psychology majors in college is critical to understanding the pipeline into the field. In this study, we compared psychology majors with nonpsychology majors on the basis of demographic, degree planning, academic preparedness, and academic performance variables using a unique longitudinal sample of nearly a million college students at 249 colleges and universities. Guided by prior research, we examined which students would persist in psychology, enter psychology from another major, or leave psychology for another major between three points in time: intended major before entering college, second-year college major, and fourth-year college major. Critically, most students who majored in psychology did not initially express interest in the field, but entering and persisting in the field was strongly associated with high school exposure and performance in psychology. Students with poorer performance in college often transfer into psychology from majors that may be perceived as difficult (e.g., science, technology, engineering, and math), whereas higher-performing students appear to leave psychology for these same majors, which may also be perceived as more lucrative. These results are concerning for the field of psychology if individuals with high potential who are originally interested in the field eventually leave.

scholarly journals A Place for Comparative Psychology in Undergraduate Curricula

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Krause
Keyword(s):  
Human Behavior ◽  
Comparative Psychology ◽  
American Psychological ◽  
Psychology Programs ◽  
Undergraduate Major ◽  
Core Set ◽  
Psychology Majors ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Undergraduate Programs ◽  
The U.S

Establishing a place for comparative psychology within the curricula of undergraduate psychology programs in the U.S. can be challenging. Psychology majors typically take a core set of required classes and select the remainder from a menu of options or from purely elective courses offered by faculty that are primarily focused on human behavior. It is within this context that many of us who teach comparative psychology find ourselves competing for space in our undergraduate programs. In this paper I describe a way to make comparative psychology more visible in undergraduate psychology programs. Specifically, I outline a strategy for mapping undergraduate courses in comparative psychology onto the American Psychological Association’s (2013) guidelines for the undergraduate major. The aim is to bring our unique contributions into focus, offer clarity on common course objectives, and hopefully offer something useful for assessing undergraduate student learning.

Use of social networking by undergraduate psychology majors

First Monday ◽  
2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caleb Wayne Lack ◽  
Lisa Beck ◽  
Danielle Hoover
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Online Social Networking ◽  
Psychology Majors ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Psychology Major

As online social networking grows in popularity, the number of users placing personal information online does as well. Previous studies have shown that undergraduates and medical students put high levels of personal information online, including inappropriate or unprofessional information, which can be easily accessed by anyone. This study focused on an undergraduate psychology major population and assessed how many of them were using Facebook, how much personal information was made publicly available, and how much of that information was questionable in nature. Major findings include the majority of students 1) use Facebook, 2) have a publicly accessible account, and 3) a sizable minority have content of a questionable nature on their publicly viewable accounts.

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