Explicit Writing Instruction in Synthesis: Combining In-Class Discussion and an Online Tutorial

Identifying effective and time-efficient approaches to teaching students how to write from scholarly sources benefits students and instructors. Students in a general psychology course learned a concrete method to improve this type of synthesis writing. The intervention was brief, consisting of viewing an online tutorial outside of class and spending a single class period on instructor-guided practice with writing samples. Students used this method to write literature reviews for a poster assignment debunking psychological myths. Compared to a previous semester that did not learn this concrete technique, students’ writing scored significantly higher on most measures of synthesis. This suggests that a short tutorial teaching a concrete application, paired with limited in-class instruction, can help improve this important aspect of writing.

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J&L Railroad: The Board Meeting

Darden Business Publishing Cases ◽

10.1108/case.darden.2016.000172 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Kenneth M. Eades ◽

Jeannine Lehman ◽

Rick Green

Keyword(s):

Risk Management ◽

Option Pricing ◽

Implied Volatility ◽

Careful Analysis ◽

Class Discussion ◽

Board Meeting ◽

Single Class ◽

Technical Issues ◽

Class Period ◽

Hedging Problem

This short case could be handed out at the end of class discussion on “J&L Railroad” [UVA-F-1053] in preparation for the following class, or if students are more experienced with hedging and option pricing, the instructor may choose to cover both cases in a single class period. It is the companion case to “J&L Railroad” [UVA-F-1053], and presents more technical issues regarding the hedging problem by requiring students to understand option-pricing principles. The board likes the CFO's hedging recommendations, but it wants a more careful analysis of the bank's prices for its risk-management products: the caps and floors. Besides demanding an understanding of option pricing, this case puts particular emphasis on the calculation and use of implied volatility.

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Enhancing Student Achievement, Engagement, and Satisfaction Using Animated Instructional Videos

International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education ◽

10.4018/ijicte.2020070108 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 113-125

Author(s):

April Cookson ◽

Daesang Kim ◽

Taralynn Hartsell

Keyword(s):

Student Achievement ◽

General Psychology ◽

Online Behavior ◽

Post Intervention ◽

Activity Tracking ◽

Instructional Videos ◽

Increase Student Achievement ◽

Post Test ◽

Course Material ◽

Psychology Course

The purpose of this project was to increase student achievement, engagement, and satisfaction using animated instructional videos in an online general psychology course at a community college. This project not only considered the data collected from student activity tracking, but also examined students' perception of how the videos engaged and helped them remember course material. Collection of data was conducted using a pre-intervention and post-intervention survey, a pre-test, a post-test (mid-term exam), and an online behavior evaluation rubric. A statistically significant increase in scores from pre-test to post-test occurred. Students reported that they preferred the animated instructional videos over the textbook and believed videos helped them remember the material. Overall, the project showed that students enjoyed the videos and many recommended that additional ones be created for the rest of the course. Although time-consuming, instructional videos were worth the effort to keep students engaged and learn course material.

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A Comparison of Active Student Responding Modalities in a General Psychology Course

Teaching of Psychology ◽

10.1177/0098628315620879 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 43-47 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Ryan M. Zayac ◽

Thom Ratkos ◽

Jessica E. Frieder ◽

Amber Paulk

Keyword(s):

General Psychology ◽

Active Student Responding ◽

Psychology Course

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Thinking Like a Psychologist Introductory Psychology Writing Assignments

Teaching of Psychology ◽

10.1177/0098628317727909 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 44 (4) ◽

pp. 335-341

Author(s):

Diane Keyser Wentworth ◽

Lona Whitmarsh

Keyword(s):

Critical Thinking ◽

Psychology Students ◽

Thinking Skills ◽

Critical Thinking Skills ◽

General Psychology ◽

Mental Processes ◽

Writing Assignments ◽

Two Samples ◽

Student Reactions ◽

Psychology Course

Teaching the general psychology course provides instructors with the opportunity to invite students to explore the dynamics of behavior and mental processes through the lens of theory and research. Three innovative writing assignments were developed to teach students to think like a psychologist, operationalized as enhancing critical thinking, applying research concepts, and resisting plagiarism. The assignments were evaluated with two samples of general psychology students. In Sample 1, student reactions to the assignments were uniformly positive. In Sample 2, students were assessed directly on their critical thinking skills using a set of three scenarios. An increase in students’ ability to think critically was found. Therefore, these assignments were successful in helping develop our students’ ability to think like a psychologist.

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Objectives of the general psychology course.

American Psychologist ◽

10.1037/h0057736 ◽

1954 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 140-142 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

W. J. McKeachie ◽

R. L. Devalois ◽

D. E., Jr. Dulany ◽

D. C. Beardslee ◽

Marian Winterbottom

Keyword(s):

General Psychology ◽

Psychology Course

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Can Playing Games Help Students Master Concepts from General Psychology Classes?

International Journal of Game-Based Learning ◽

10.4018/ijgbl.2019040104 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 55-72 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dianne Zielinski

Keyword(s):

Mental Disorders ◽

Human Development ◽

Psychological Disorders ◽

Learning Motivation ◽

General Psychology ◽

Game Play ◽

Final Project ◽

Poor Students ◽

Psychology Course ◽

The Brain

As part of a final project for a general psychology course, students were required to play a game, either digital/video or on a board. Students selected their own games, and were asked to identify psychological principles in their game play. Topics included the brain, sensation and perception, human development, learning, motivation, intelligence, personality, and mental disorders. Students successfully applied all topics to game play, but to varying degrees. Student discussions on the brain and intelligence were well covered. Discussions on personality and psychological disorders issues were relatively poor. Students were able to make connections between concepts and their game-play experiences.

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The Influence of Class Attendance on Test Grades in a General Psychology Course

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e416902005-761 ◽

2003 ◽

Author(s):

Michael A. Clump ◽

Alex L. Whiteleather ◽

Heather M. Bauer

Keyword(s):

General Psychology ◽

Class Attendance ◽

Psychology Course

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Roger Wolcott Sperry. 20 August 1913—17 April 1994

Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society ◽

10.1098/rsbm.1997.0025 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

pp. 463-470 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

T. J. Voneida

Keyword(s):

Neural Activity ◽

Brain Activity ◽

General Psychology ◽

Movement Coordination ◽

Action Current ◽

Oberlin College ◽

Psychology Course

‘Where does behaviour come from? What is the purpose of consciousness?’ Questions such as these, which appeared on the first page of Sperry's class notes in a freshman psychology course at Oberlin College, represent an accurate preview of a career that included major contributions to fundamental issues in neurobiology, psychology and philosophy. Indeed, his first paper, published in the Journal of General Psychology in 1939, entitled ‘Action current study in movement coordination’ (1)*, begins: ‘The objective psychologist, hoping to get at the physiological side of behavior, is apt to plunge immediately into neurology trying to correlate brain activity with modes of experience’, and continues, setting the stage for much that was to follow: ‘The result in many cases only accentuates the gap between the total experience as studied by the psychologist and neural activity as analyzed by the neurologist.’

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The Perils and Promises of Teaching Integration in Introductory Psychology

Journal of Psychology and Theology ◽

10.1177/009164719502300410 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 296-302

Author(s):

Christopher R. Grace ◽

Kathryn Ecklund

Keyword(s):

General Education ◽

Introductory Psychology ◽

Christian College ◽

General Psychology ◽

Different Types ◽

Psychology Courses ◽

Introductory Class ◽

Psychology Course ◽

College Or University

Teaching effectively at a Christian college or university demands excellent skills and particularly so in introductory psychology courses. With an expansive area and a large portion of students taking the class to fulfill a general education requirement, general psychology professors are challenged uniquely. Adding integration issues can overwhelm even the most diligent instructor. Yet, few pedagogical and theoretical resources on the effectiveness of different types of integrative components are available. The purposes of this article are to explore the perils and promises associated with teaching an introductory psychology course and to provide some resources and illustrations that have been found to be effective. The article also serves as an introduction to an integration curriculum incorporated into several general psychology courses at two different universities. An introduction to the curriculum reader is provided in this text, as well as an overview of other materials and topics that lend themselves to integrative discussions. Finally, the efficacy of a laboratory type experience for instilling an integrative component to an introductory class is discussed.

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On Changing the Framework of Psychology: Comparative Psychology is What General Psychology Should Be

Teaching of Psychology ◽

10.1207/s15328023top1403_4 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 147-151 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Jack Demarest

Keyword(s):

Comparative Psychology ◽

General Psychology ◽

Left Behind ◽

American Psychology ◽

Psychology Course

When behaviorism became the dominant force in American psychology, many of the concerns of functionalism, including evolution, adaptation, and ontogenesis, were left behind. Contemporary psychology textbooks and curricula continue to perpetuate this behaviorist framework despite its atheoretical, nonbiological orientation. Even as these concepts begin to work their way back into textbooks and classrooms, they are treated unsystematically as appendages to the traditional behaviorist framework. Comparative psychology, the last bastion of the functionalist viewpoint, can solve this problem, but misconceptions about the field abound. Some of these misconceptions are discussed in this article, and I demonstrate how a comparative psychology course can provide the framework for reorganizing the focus of general psychology and integrating it into a neofunctionalist perspective.

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