As higher education expands, research experience opportunities are increasingly explored for student enhancement. However, obstacles to providing these opportunities and varied student experiences remain a challenge. This study explored the experiences of undergraduate and postgraduate Psychology students who had participated in a volunteer-based research experience scheme using semi-structured interviews and analysed these using reflexive thematic analysis. Three central themes were identified: (1) strategic engagement for personal and professional development; (2) transformative impact on confidence, identity, and career direction; and (3) navigating challenges and workload managements. Findings highlight the benefits of student enhancement through research experience opportunities, with students reporting academic, personal, and employability benefits of participation. Several participants also highlighted improved transferable skills and greater confidence following participation. Findings are discussed in the context of the literature and constraints of working within higher education. Practical recommendations for creating and running similar schemes is provided.
Developing helping skills (i.e. counselling skills that promote exploration, insight, and action from clients; Hill, 2019) is essential for counselling trainees’ confidence and skill application. Availability of online instruction for psychotherapy skills has been steadily increasing since the pandemic, although evidence of its effectiveness is still scarce. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a graduate counselling skills asynchronous online course on students’ counselling self-efficacy. Twenty-eight Master’s students enrolled on an online graduate counselling skills course completed pre- and post-assessments at the beginning (Time 1; T1) and end (Time 2; T2) of the 14-week long course. Pre-post differences were tested using a within-subjects t-test. The analysis revealed significant changes in both counselling and multicultural counselling self-efficacy from time point 1 to time point 2, with large effect sizes (Cohen’s d>1.0). Our findings suggest that fully asynchronous online learning formats can effectively increase counselling students’ confidence as trainees.
Cultural factors strongly shape how students learn. To improve engagement and success, teaching must be culturally aware and inclusive, supporting motivation. However, most existing research focuses on primary and secondary education in the US and Europe, often using qualitative methods, which limits generalisability. This study addresses this gap by testing a Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) survey with higher education lecturers in the UK. A mixed-methods approach was used, combining a quantitative survey (N=49), interviews (N=9), and a focus group (N=6) to explore CRT practices in UK higher education for diverse adult learners. All participants were adult lecturers working in a HE university. Barriers to CRT included language differences, cultural misunderstandings, and differing expectations between students and staff. Key strategies for enhancing CRT were learning about student backgrounds and using culturally relevant materials. The paper concludes that Future lecturer training should focus on addressing these barriers and promoting inclusive practices to improve cultural responsiveness in higher education.
Psychological literacy is promoted by the American Psychological Association (APA) as the integrative outcome of undergraduate psychology programmes. Its purported benefits are impressive, and almost no pitfalls are anticipated. However, the nature of this outcome and its effects are unclear. This participatory qualitative survey describes the positive and negative repercussions of increased psychological literacy in the daily lives of 83 second-year undergraduate psychology students, from their perspective. The reflexive thematic analysis indicates that, according to the participants’ answers, their psychological literacy develops through an integrative and iterative process that goes beyond basic knowledge to include skill development and identity transformation. Students report that this process makes them strong, open, relationally adept and able to help (Theme 1), but comes with significant challenges, such as becoming stuck in analysis (Theme 2) and facing relationship complications (Theme 3). This indicates a need to develop teaching methods that enhance undergraduate students’ natural integrative learning efforts and support them through the associated developmental challenges.
Previous research has demonstrated that students perceive teaching on undergraduate psychology curricula as over-representative of White and Western ideas while under-representing other cultural groups. Given that culture influences mental health causes, experiences and treatments, the current study explored students’ views on cultural representation in the mental health curriculum specifically. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 undergraduate psychology students who identified as coming from a ‘non-majority’ cultural background. Through reflexive thematic analysis, two themes were developed: (1) I don’t see myself in the curriculum; and (2) cultural gaps in the curriculum. The analysis suggests that the psychology curriculum, and psychology as a wider discipline, frames Western understandings of mental health as universal, leading to students doubting their belonging in psychology and the West. However, they challenged the Western standard by outlining how social, political and religious views and experiences, as well as stigmatised attitudes, contextualised understandings of mental health issues. This study contributes uniquely to decolonising the psychology curriculum literature by providing recommendations for improving mental health teaching.
The teaching and learning of research methods forms a large component of accredited psychology degrees. This is a significant opportunity for making the overall curriculum inclusive. We present six case studies in the development of inclusive and reflective practices within research methods and projects teaching. The examples include revealing the hidden curriculum of research methods and analysis education (Case Study 1), qualitative methods assessment as an opportunity for personal development (Case Study 2), reflective practice in low-stakes regular testing (Case Study 3), decolonising the research methods curriculum (Case Study 4), inclusive research methods practice in developmental psychology (Case Study 5), and embedding employability for psychology and non-psychology careers (Case Study 6). These case studies demonstrate that research methods education is a crucial space in which important challenges, including accessibility, decolonising the curriculum, addressing awarding gaps, and employability, can be addressed.
University placements provide valuable hands-on research experience for students, whilst allowing labs to engage in meaningful outreach. However, building and structuring these placements for college students (ages 16-18) may present challenges. Firstly, many hosts lack teaching experience towards this specific group, which differ significantly from university students in their subject knowledge and research skills. Additionally, hosts must balance creating engaging content while ensuring students develop meaningful practical skills and knowledge. Drawing from our collective experience, we provide practical guidelines in structuring placements in the fields of psychology and cognitive neuroscience. We discuss the importance of advance planning, tailoring content to student interests, incorporating practical elements, and promoting interdisciplinary engagement. In doing so, we aim to encourage more labs to host student placements, subsequently widening access for psychology and neuroscience research.
Traditional assessments in undergraduate psychology often prioritise technical accuracy over creativity. In response to growing calls for more inclusive, flexible, and student-centered pedagogy, this article presents two case studies on the use of the ‘unessay’ in mid-level undergraduate psychology courses. The unessay allows students to demonstrate understanding through any format – so long as it is not an essay–such as art, podcasts, or videos. The assignment was required. Some students voluntarily completed pre- and/or post-surveys with open-ended feedback. Sentiment analysis, descriptive statistics, and thematic coding were used. Findings suggest high levels of engagement, relevance, and pride, especially among nontraditional students. The format fostered community and reflection but raised challenges around standardising assessment. Despite growing use in other disciplines, the unessay remains rare in psychology education. These findings highlight its potential to support core competencies in psychology, including creative thinking, communication, and student agency.
This small-scale, pilot study focused on exploring how students’ sense of belonging can differ in relation to the racial representation of the staff team in a postgraduate institution. A survey (N=16) and two interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis was used and a range of themes were created. These included benefits of belonging, representation gaps and institutional efforts, diversity in practice and inclusive representation. Using these themes, six recommendations – such as openness during introductions, decolonising the curriculum and explicitly discussing sense of belonging with academic tutees – were developed to help foster a sense of belonging in Higher Educational environments.
A trigger warning (TW) is a statement designed to caution individuals about upcoming content that could evoke distressing emotions. The majority of students promote the use of TWs and believe them to be helpful and their use is becoming more commonplace amongst instructors (noting that instructors also sometimes avoid teaching or discussing content that students could request a TW for). This article briefly reviews the research evidence on the efficacy and effectiveness of TWs and discusses ethical issues in their provision. There does not appear to be any reliable therapeutic benefit for TWs in terms of trauma-related or mental health outcomes. Based on the current state of the evidence, TWs should not be used as a mental health intervention and are not trauma-informed pedagogy. Their use appears to do more harm than good for the vast majority of individuals.
Academic Delay of Gratification (ADOG) is essential for academic success, but its effectiveness among neurodivergent students compared to neurotypical peers remains underexplored. This study examined 82 first-year psychology students in the UK, comparing 41 individuals who self-identified as neurodivergent, with 41 neurotypical peers, matched by age, gender and general anxiety levels. Participants completed assessments of ADOG and executive functions (EFs): inhibition, emotional regulation, and planning/organisation. Contrary to expectations, self-identifying neurodivergent students demonstrated stronger ADOG abilities than their neurotypical counterparts, although this difference was not statistically significant. Furthermore, group membership was the only significant predictor of ADOG performance, even when EFs were controlled for. These findings suggest that lower academic achievement among self-identifying neurodivergent students cannot be attributed solely to difficulties in delaying immediate gratification for future academic goals.
Statistics for psychology is a challenging aspect of undergraduate psychology courses but poorly understood in experiential terms. Accordingly, we drew on Brookfield’s ‘four lenses for critical reflection’ to acquire insights from first year psychology undergraduate free text survey responses (learner lens), and psychology educator survey free text responses (colleague lens) which were content analysed. Scholarly and autobiographical lenses were also generated via literature reviews and written activities, respectively. Wide-ranging relevant pedagogic processes and dynamics (e.g. peer-to-peer collaborative work, cognitive load; the importance of constructive alignment and verbal articulation) were highlighted from learner and colleague lenses. The scholarly lens underscored tendencies within the evidence base, and our autobiographies suggested how educator learning experiences served to facilitate compassionate and inclusive learning to mitigate impacts of statistics anxiety. Study findings produce a much-needed holistic account of statistics anxiety, prompt future research directions, and suggest priorities for classroom practices.
