Background Two challenges that psychology faculty face are encouraging classroom participation and improving writing. Objective This article details the implementation of self-assessment, goal setting, and reflection activities to increase classroom participation and improve writing. Method The sample includes 25 students in a developmental psychology course. At the start of the term, students were asked to write two participation goals and two writing goals, and to reflect on them during the term. Pre- and postsurveys and student reflections were analyzed. Results All students met at least two of their goals. Themes that emerged from the qualitative analysis include: (1) participation and writing can be improved with practice and become easier over time; (2) these skills are interconnected; and (3) writing specific and realistic goals that are revisited frequently benefits students. Conclusion This study shows that psychology students can be taught to become more self-regulated learners through self-assessment, goal setting, and self-reflection activities. Teaching Implications Teaching self-regulation skills related to participation and writing is an effective instructional strategy for increasing classroom participation and improving writing in psychology courses.
This special issue addresses a critical need for anti-ableist pedagogy in psychology education. Despite people with disabilities constituting the largest minority group in the USA (almost 30% of the population), they are significantly underrepresented in higher education, including psychology programs, and content about disability is often limited in psychology curricula. Contents of this issue emphasize understanding various models of disability, which critically inform how disability is conceptualized and taught. Furthermore, the issue promotes Universal Design in Learning, a proactive approach to creating inclusive environments by removing systemic barriers and focusing on collective access. Amidst a challenging climate of backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, this special issue offers a vital resource, providing faculty with practical tools and insights for developing accessible, anti-ableist courses that foster disability justice. Throughout this editorial and issue, we address many topics critical to normalizing disability and create a curriculum that is inclusive for all.
Objective: Media-based activities are increasingly used in psychology courses; however, empirical evidence on their effects on theory learning in forensic psychology remains limited, particularly in India. This study examined whether a structured media analysis assignment was associated with gains in students' theoretical knowledge, application skills, and engagement. Method: Forty-seven undergraduate psychology students in a forensic psychology course completed a one-group pre-assessment/post-assessment measuring knowledge-based items, application-based items, and a vignette task, and provided written reflections. Quantitative data were analyzed using paired samples t-tests and effect sizes; qualitative data were examined using deductive thematic analysis. Results: Students showed significant improvements from pre- to post-assessment across all components, with medium to large effect sizes. Thematic findings indicated that media engagement supported connections between abstract theory and criminal behavior, increased motivation and participation, and enhanced confidence in applied analysis. Conclusion: Participation in the media analysis assignment was associated with gains in conceptual understanding and applied reasoning.
Background Psychological science has relied on samples that do not reflect the breadth of human diversity, creating challenges for instructors teaching this science to diverse students who may not see themselves reflected in the science they are supposed to be learning.Objective The purpose of this study was to use qualitative data to determine psychology students' awareness of research samples, how sample demographics affect them, and how they would like professors to address the lack of diversity.Method Focus groups were conducted with undergraduate psychology students (N = 27), and transcripts were analyzed thematically.Results Students noticed the lack of diversity in psychology research samples, which impacted their sense of belonging, motivation, and perceptions of the field. They emphasized the influential role of instructors in shaping awareness and called for more inclusive teaching practices. At the same time, a subset of students reported that this issue was not salient to their classroom experience.Conclusion Lack of diversity in research shapes students' experiences, including participation, sense of belonging in the classroom, and desire to continue in the field.Teaching Implications Instructors can enhance student engagement by transparently addressing sample diversity and integrating more representative research into their teaching.
Background Gamified learning, specifically escape rooms, may help students improve their knowledge and execution of American Psychological Association (APA) Style.Objective We developed and evaluated an APA-themed escape room to help students learn about in-text citations and reference pages, model APA conventions, and promote the importance of paying attention to details and following directions through an enjoyable, competitive experience.Method Psychology majors and nursing students completed pre- and post-game surveys assessing demographics, perceived APA competence, and APA knowledge, with additional post-game questions evaluating their experience participating in the escape room activity.Results Students significantly improved their APA citation knowledge and confidence after participating, with greater gains observed in psychology students, in reference-formatting questions, and among students with lower initial confidence. Overall, participants rated the experience highly and were more likely to recommend it if they started with lower APA knowledge and confidence.Conclusion Gamified learning, especially through an educational escape room, can improve students' APA citation skills and boost confidence, particularly among those with less confidence and limited prior knowledge. Teaching Implications This proof-of-concept study may encourage instructors to incorporate educational escape rooms as an interactive teaching strategy to enhance student engagement and support learning of complex skills like APA Style.
Background Maximizing the value of introductory courses that both support student wellbeing and develop scientific thinking is increasingly important in the post-COVID-19 context.Objective In an introductory psychology course framed by psychological literacy, the aim was to explicitly support the satisfaction of students' academically related psychological needs (thus supporting well-being) in the context of acquiring foundational research skills.Method Innovative teaching and assessment strategies for scaffolded collaborative research skill acquisition are described. Students were invited to complete an evaluation survey.Results The hypothesis that students would indicate that the course contributed to (a) satisfaction of their psychological needs, (b) intrinsic motivation, (c) well-being, and (d) development of psychological literacy was supported. The hypothesis that psychological need satisfaction would predict both intrinsic motivation and well-being was supported. The hypothesis that students would indicate that the course contributed to increased competence in research and experimental design was supported.Conclusion Explicitly framing the pedagogical approach in terms of psychological literacy and the satisfaction of psychological needs, and scaffolding research skill development, is a promising approach in courses emphasizing the value of psychological science.Teaching implications Teachers can readily adapt this approach to their own context, making use of our open course materials.
Introduction: Analytical flexibility describes the multiple defensible analytic strategies researchers can use. Registered reports reduce analytical flexibility by submitting a manuscript in two stages, where journals provide an in-principle acceptance after Stage 1. Statement of the Problem: Open science is a key concept for undergraduate psychology students but relies on an understanding of analytical flexibility. Limited examples exist that integrate analytical flexibility and open science in psychology undergraduate education. Literature Review: The present article provides an example learning activity where students read a Stage 1 registered report, receive the data, and implement the analysis plan as described. In an example implementation, students gave a 10-minute oral presentation of their results, then compared them with the final Stage 2 and those of other students. Teaching Implications: We provide example materials and identify registered reports with analytical approaches appropriate for undergraduate students. This project could be integrated into advanced undergraduate or graduate courses in research methods, statistics, or laboratory work. Conclusion: Activities using registered reports or preregistrations can help students achieve multiple important learning outcomes focused on the impact of analytical flexibility, advantages and limitations of open science practice, and using statistical methods with real data.
Background Research has found that the terms abnormal psychology and psychopathology are stigmatizing. However, these terms are commonly used in academia.Objectives This study examined whether faculty members in graduate programs (a) believe the terms abnormal psychology/psychopathology increase stigma, and (b) support adopting a new course title instead of Abnormal Psychology or Psychopathology.Method The study participants consisted of faculty across all accredited doctoral, counseling, and social work programs in the United States (N = 3,920). Participants completed a survey assessing their beliefs about the aforementioned terms and answered demographic questions. Data collection occurred between May 2024 and January 2025.Results A total of 441 participants completed the survey. The majority of participants (74.38%) believed the terms abnormal psychology/psychopathology increase mental health-related stigma. Results indicated strong support (73.02%) for changing the name of the course focused on mental health conditions instead of using the titles Abnormal Psychology or Psychopathology.Conclusion Academics across graduate programs believe the terms abnormal psychology and psychopathology are stigmatizing and should not be used as a course title.Teaching Implications It is strongly recommended to no longer use the terms Abnormal Psychology or Psychopathology as the name, or as part of the name, of the course that teaches about mental health conditions.
Background Research supports the role of inclusive instructor teaching practices in promoting student engagement, belonging, and success in psychology. Socially marginalized students may show lower attainment in these areas in part due to the emphasis placed on Western and colonial models of the curriculum. Objective The purposes of this study were to assess students' perceptions of the degree to which their Introductory Psychology (Intro) courses were decolonizing, accessible, anti-racist, equitable, and sustainable (DAARES); measure the extent to which these characteristics predict student belonging, sense of psychological membership, learning outcomes, and critical consciousness; and examine differences between marginalized and non-marginalized students. Method Six-hundred forty-five undergraduate students recruited from multiple U.S. institutions of higher education who had completed Intro within the past two years participated in an online survey. Results Students endorsed moderate to high levels of DAARES teaching delivered by their instructors. DAARES teaching predicted higher levels of each outcome variable. For critical consciousness, DAARES teaching and participant marginalized identity were both significant predictors. DAARES teaching predicted greater increases in critical consciousness among non-marginalized students. Conclusion DAARES teaching practices can promote student success and should be implemented by Intro instructors and their institutions.
Background Habits are ubiquitous in daily life, but we often underappreciate their influence on our behavior.Objective The Psychology of Habit is an undergraduate course that teaches students how habits work and how to leverage habit principles to make positive changes in their behavior.Method Students in the course (n = 25) completed the "Habit Change Project," in which they selected a new habit to develop (e.g., exercise, reading) and tracked their performance by responding to a brief daily survey for 10 weeks. The course guided students in applying key principles from the psychology of habit to their selected behavior.Results The response rate for the daily surveys was high, with 1,490 total responses (86%). On average, students performed their behavior on 75% of intended days, and 14 students (56%) developed at least some automaticity of their behavior by the end of the 10 weeks.Conclusion The results provide a promising proof of concept for using daily tracking to engage undergraduates in the psychology of habit, foster behavior change, and collect real-world data on habit formation.Teaching Implications Integrating daily habit tracking into psychology courses can be a simple yet powerful instructional tool.
Background Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly being integrated into higher education, yet empirical research on its impact on learning, student engagement, and interest remains limited.Objective The purpose of this study was to examine whether incorporating AI into an active learning activity would enhance situational interest among undergraduate students.Method A total of 312 introductory psychology students completed a lesson on the fundamental attribution error (FAE) under one of two conditions: (1) AI-assisted, using a custom GPT developed by the authors to guide an interactive dialogue-based lesson; or (2) No AI, completing an equivalent worksheet-based version of the activity. Following the lesson, students completed a measure of interest.Results Contrary to expectations, in face-to-face settings, students who completed the activity without AI reported significantly higher interest than those who used AI. There was no significant difference between conditions for total time spent on task, although students in the AI condition spent less time on an ungraded assessment of their learning.Conclusions The mere inclusion of AI-assisted learning may not inherently enhance interest and engagement in short, in-class applications.Teaching Implications These findings highlight the importance of human facilitation in sustaining student interest.
Introduction: Online survey research promises easier access to human subjects. Despite concerns about online data quality, there has been minimal guidance aimed toward novice researchers. Statement of the Problem: The uptake of data evaluation practices has not kept pace with the expansion of online survey administration. Increased exposure to and practice with data quality evaluation can help improve the quality and rigor of research at all levels. Literature Review: We review the literature on the prevalence and implications of low-quality data in online survey administration. Although low-quality data negatively impact findings, audits indicate that approximately half of published articles involving online survey administration do not describe any data quality evaluation procedures. Teaching Implications: In an effort to provide a comprehensive set of guidance and increase researcher buy-in to data quality, this paper describes the Survey Data Quality Evaluation Model (SDQEM), a set of procedures developed to help researchers identify and remove low-quality cases. We illustrate how researchers can use the SDQEM and how retaining low-quality data impacts results. Conclusion: The SDQEM is intended to increase novice researchers' use of data cleaning procedures when relying on online samples. The SDQEM is a necessary and accessible resource, especially for junior scholars.
Background: Heyman and Vanpaemel (2022) proposed “many-multiverses-one-dataset” as a pedagogically sound alternative to traditional undergraduate capstone projects. However, they did not evaluate this model. In our contexts, capstone projects require a higher level of individualisation. Furthermore, project students value choice, autonomy, and ownership. Consequently, we’ve iteratively developed a variation of Heyman and Vanpaemel’s model in which students choose their own effect/dataset for an individual multiverse capstone project. Objective: To evaluate student-led individual multiverse capstone projects. Method: One cohort of five project students qualitatively reflected on designing, running, and reporting an individual multiverse project in a small group supervision context. We thematically analysed these reflections. Findings: Two themes captured (a) the factors promoting project success (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual) and (b) the outcomes of a multiverse capstone project (the range of skills developed and multiverse’s potential contributions to psychology). Conclusion: Individual multiverse projects are a meaningful, desk-based alternative to traditional capstone projects, and address many key undergraduate research methods learning outcomes. Teaching Implications: We propose an evidence-based ‘recipe’ for successful individual multiverse projects. In a post-COVID world, all project supervisors should have possibilities like this ‘up their sleeves’.
Background The American Psychological Association (APA) style is a convention adopted by many universities worldwide. However, students find it difficult to apply the correct APA 7th edition format.Objective This study developed and validated a curriculum-based questionnaire to assess students' competence in formatting journal articles according to APA style.Method We recruited 1,117 participants online (69.2% master's students and 30.8% doctoral students) from various Indonesian universities. Each participant completed our 30-item Student Competence in APA 7 Writing Style (SCAWS) scale. We used simple Rasch models to evaluate the scale's psychometric properties.Results The Rasch analysis confirmed model fit based on global-fit statistics. Totally, 27 of the 30 items were found to fit the Rasch model. The scale's reliability was .813, indicating strong internal consistency.Conclusion The 27-item SCAWS scale provides a valid measure suitable for use in educational and psychological research.Teaching implications The SCAWS scale appears to offer lecturers a useful instrument for diagnosing postgraduate students' difficulties in understanding the APA 7th edition writing style and provides recommendations for addressing their weaknesses in specific areas.
Background The American Psychology Association's (APA) Introductory Psychology Initiative recommended strategies for teaching introductory psychology courses.Objective I describe a revised introductory course built to be consistent with APA recommendations. The revised course-taught across multiple small sections at my institution-focused on learning to think like a psychologist in tackling real-world problems. In this paper, I examine the extent to which students can successfully complete the high-level work associated with the revised course and whether students taking the revised course perceive their course differently from students in a more traditional version.Method I administered student surveys and examined student performance on final course projects.Results Students can successfully complete the work in the revised course. In addition, students perceived the revised course as having more emphasis on high-level thinking skills, such as close reading and using the scientific method. Students also rated the revised course higher on several items related to what Ken Bain refers to as "super courses," including the level of student autonomy and the quality of feedback.Conclusion The revised course is a promising alternative to the more traditional introductory course.Teaching Implications I encourage readers to consider shifting the focus of introductory courses toward the thinking skills that psychologists regularly use in their professional lives.
Background Open Educational Resources (OER) may have the potential to enhance student success, yet OER quality and effectiveness vary, and confounding variables have influenced research.Objective This study investigated the impact of OER on student performance, perceptions, and textbook usage in general psychology, while controlling for the instructor and student variability that has affected prior research.Method Two sections of general psychology used OER textbooks, while two sections used commercial textbooks (CT). Lecture content and exams were redesigned for the present study, drawing equally from both source materials. Students were assessed based on exam performance and surveyed about their perceptions and usage of textbooks.Results The OER and CT groups performed similarly. The OER did not negatively affect student performance; students had favorable views of the OER and reported no significant differences in usage.Conclusion Given small effect sizes in favor of OER, cost-savings for students, and favorable student perceptions of OER, this study encourages the use of OER.Teaching Implications There is growing evidence that OER can improve student success, especially for those who may not purchase course materials. Teachers of general psychology should consider adopting OER and assess how many students are not purchasing textbook materials.
Background Research is computationally reproducible when independent analysts can use the underlying data to reproduce the original results. Some research in psychology is computationally reproducible, although much is not.Objective To assess the computational reproducibility of research published in Teaching of Psychology (ToP), Psychology Learning and Teaching (PLaT), and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology (SoTL-P).Method We identified key claims in 60 papers published with open data in ToP, PLaT, and SoTL-P between 2017 and 2025. We then sought to reproduce 101 results supporting these claims.Results We exactly reproduced 73 of the 101 results. For a further 23 results, the substantive interpretations of our results matched those of the original researchers. The majority of the reproductions were performed relatively quickly by a psychology undergraduate with 2 years of relevant experience.Conclusion Psychology learning and teaching research appears more computationally reproducible than research in other psychology sub-fields. However, reproducibility is undermined by several factors, including a lack of open data and code.Teaching Implications Computational reproducibility activities can be incorporated into undergraduate research methods classes, effectively address many research methods learning outcomes, and help students develop both subject-specific and transferable employability skills.
Background Active learning has been widely used as a tool to improve student outcomes; however, recent work suggests that this practice may not be the most inclusive.Objective We conducted a replication of Hood et al. (2021) examining ratings of anxiety toward active learning practices and extended this work by evaluating the factor structure and assessing relevant individual difference measures (e.g., fear of negative evaluation) that may predict anxiety from active learning (e.g., dyadic/group work).Method Psychology undergraduates at a 4-year regional comprehensive university rated the anxiety they experienced in common classroom techniques and completed scales for academic self-efficacy, social phobia, and fear of negative evaluation.Results Consistent with prior research, the highest levels of anxiety were for publicly evaluated activities and the lowest from individual work. Women and first-generation students reported the most anxiety in publicly assessed activities. Fear of negative evaluation and social phobia were the strongest predictors of anxiety in publicly evaluated contexts.Conclusion Although active learning can promote engagement among students, course content, and the instructor, evaluative components may increase anxiety for some students, potentially affecting their participation and success.Teaching Implications Psychology instructors should consider strategies that reduce public evaluative pressure to create more supportive active learning environments.
Background Research indicates that retrieval practice enhances long-term retention in laboratory and classroom settings. However, many studies compare retrieval practice to re-reading and often involve racially homogeneous samples, raising concerns about generalizability. Objective This study investigated whether a diverse sample of undergraduates who completed a short retrieval practice exercise would outperform those who received a review on the final exam. Method Using a quasi-experimental design, students in one section of a psychology course received a brief overview of exam concepts ( n = 19), while those in the other section completed a 10-item multiple-choice practice test ( n = 19). Both sections took a final exam 48 h later. Results Students who completed the practice test outperformed those who received the brief overview on the final exam. The retrieval practice benefit was evident across factual, application, and unrelated questions, with the largest advantage observed for rephrased factual questions. Conclusion This study replicated and extended past findings by showing that a brief retrieval practice activity benefits diverse learners in the classroom. Its simplicity allows instructors to implement it with minimal preparation. Teaching Implications Instructors should encourage retrieval practice in class and during independent study, especially when students are preparing for formal assessments.
Background Recent research suggests that empirical research comprehension can be improved through structured assignments that distribute deliberate practice opportunities over the semester. Objective This recent research used identical Journal Article Comprehension (JAC) assessments of this structured practice in a pretest/posttest design. The current study's aim was to develop an alternate form of the JAC assessment. Method Across four semesters, 125 students completed one form of the JAC at the pretest and another at the posttest. These different forms were matched on question type and answer options. Results All groups improved in empirical research comprehension between the pretest and posttest, as shown through the total JAC score. This improvement occurred regardless of which combination of JAC articles they received at the pretest or posttest. Conclusion The findings suggest that both JACs are equivalent measures of empirical research comprehension. The current results also replicate past research showing overall improvement, that improvement is not just a practice effect, and that improvement can occur with only a few practice opportunities. Teaching Implications The equivalence of the new form of the JAC gives educators an alternate way to assess empirical research comprehension within the context of a semester or to assess the transfer of skills across the curriculum.
