Background: Learner-centered syllabi influence students' perceptions of their instructors; however, studies have not investigated the gender identity of the instructor. Objective: We sought to investigate whether the gender of the instructor and the syllabus design affected students' perceptions of the instructor, course, and memory of the syllabus. Method: Participants were randomly assigned to read either learner- or instructor-centered syllabi for a course taught by a male, female, or gender-neutral instructor. They reported their perceptions of the instructor (i.e., Teacher Behavior Checklist), how they perceived the syllabus (i.e., Syllabus Tone Survey), and their memory of syllabus information. Results: Students who received a learner-centered syllabus perceived the instructor as possessing higher master teacher behaviors, positive tone and remembered more of the course syllabus. Students perceived gender-neutral instructors as more caring, supportive, professional, and communicative compared to male and female instructors. Perceptions of male instructors were the least negative, and female instructors were the least positive. Conclusion: The current study adds to the growing body of research demonstrating that a learner-centered syllabus can positively influence students' perceptions of the instructor. The initial evidence suggests that gender may also have an effect. Teaching Implications Instructors should consider designing their syllabus using learner-centered principles and be cautious and aware of a potential gender bias.

Background Instructors often use a point-based system for grading students (e.g., 100 or 1000 total points). This system can impact student outcomes. Objective The purpose of this research was to examine the implications of different point value courses for student emotions, perceptions of courses, and classroom performance. Method The lab-based study used an experimental design to gather student responses to a hypothetical course with one of three potential total point values (100, 1,000, or 100,000 points). The classroom-based study examined student responses to different point values in 12 actual courses in which students were enrolled (with either 100 or 1000 total points). Results In the lab-based study, courses with greater total point values (i.e., 1000 and 100,000) had greater emotional impact than a course with 100 total points. Participants in these conditions also preferred a course that featured a pass/fail scheme. In the classroom-based study, students in the 100-point condition (vs. 1000-point condition) missed more assignments, and as a consequence, performed more poorly in their course. Conclusion Higher total point values in courses may have a more significant impact on students’ emotions, and as a consequence, they may miss less work, and perform better in the course overall.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all of American higher education transitioned to online during Spring, 2020 A nationwide sample of 482 undergraduates were asked to identify a course that transitioned online and to evaluate dimensions of the course, in addition to completing various pedagogically relevant measures The transition was overall evaluated negatively, specifically that the courses became less enjoyable, less interesting, decreased in learning value, facilitated less attention and effort, and incorporating less cultural content after transitioning online On positive note, courses were perceived as becoming more flexible to students needs after transitioning online Evaluations of courses transitioning to online were consistently predicted by online self-efficacy, emotional well-being, computer anxiety, online student engagement, and student perceptions of instructor confidence with transitioning online Implications for continued mass online instruction, as well as general lessons for online instruction, are discussed (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

Those who attended the 2018 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Meeting (CLDE18) held in Anaheim, California, from June 6 to 9, are aware of the expertise shared and the synergy created among the participants working toward the advancement of civic learning and democratic engagement on campuses and in communities. This special issue of the eJournal of Public Affairshighlights exemplary work that was presented at the meeting and that has since been further developed into peer-reviewed scholarship ready for broaderdissemination. Readers who attended CLDE18 will be reinvigorated by this collection of articles, while those who could not participate can now join the conversation. Though the journal editors considered manuscripts describing a number of exemplary programs, this special issue focuses on projects related to innovative civic engagement teaching pedagogy.

This pilot study and experiment investigates the use of active reading questions (ARQs) as a potential reading tool to support college students’ textbook reading. The pilot study compares the self-selected use of ARQs and PowerPoint slides (PPTs) in 4 college classrooms and indicated that both reading strategies had similar but limited effects on learning. In the experiment, a reading tool (e.g., ARQs or PPTs) was required or participants were given no tool at all (control group). Time spent reading and general reading comprehension skills were controlled for. Participants who completed the ARQs demonstrated significantly increased higher-level learning for recall questions when compared with the PPT (p = .02, d = .36) and control conditions (p < .001, d = .31). Students given ARQs also demonstrated significantly increased lower-level learning for recall questions when compared with the PPT (p = .03, d = .68) and control conditions (p = .003, d = .63). There were no differences in participants recognition of information. Applications of these findings are discussed as well as limitations and future directions.

This study contributes to the service learning (SL) literature by providing new empirical evidence of learning from a problem-based SL research project conducted in a developmental research methods course. Two sections of the course taught in a traditional manner were compared to two sections of the course taught with an integrated SL project involving a local Boys & Girls Club. Pre- and posttest scores of the groups were compared in regard to content knowledge, civic engagement, and perceptions of the course. Results indicated that the SL students outperformed the control courses in learning outcomes. Civic engagement did not significantly change over the course of the semester. Student preference data indicated that most enjoyed the SL course, found it helpful, and thought it contributed to their understanding of the course material. The findings are related to past research and theoretical underpinnings that support SL.

Instructional design for psychology courses is ever changing. Recently, there has been an explosion of scholarly literature related to flipped classroom pedagogy in higher education. This essentially entails inverting a course so that lectures are viewed outside of class, and class time is devoted to active learning through activities such as demonstrations and group work. Although beneficial to student learning, implementing the flipped course design into a psychology class can be difficult, time consuming, and daunting. As such, we provide a primer for successful implementation of the flipped design. Based on the literature, we describe several teaching tips (e.g., what content to deliver in class versus online) that may aid in the implementation process. Additionally, we describe several common pitfalls to avoid (e.g., apprehension about learning new technology) when implementing the flipped classroom.

To date, research has not examined the influence of mentorship on the teaching effectiveness of Early Career Psychologists (ECPs). We sought to fill this void by conducting a national survey of 122 ECPs assessing the presence or absence of three types of ECP mentors (i.e., in their department, in another department at their university, or another self-selected mentor) as well as the successes and challenges associated with working with those mentors. Overall, ECPs viewed relationships with mentors quite favorably, and mentorship was positively related to more effective teaching activities and adherence to model teaching criteria. Implications for future research on the study of mentorship among ECPs and how junior and senior faculty can benefit from these findings are discussed.

Mentoring has long been touted as an essential step in the personal and professional development of those new to a field. A bevy of research indicates that this is particularly the case in business settings (e.g., Roche, 1979; Scandura, 1992) and in clinical psychology settings (e.g., Kaslow & Mascaro, 2007). However, to date, there has been little research on the role of mentoring in the development of junior faculty, particularly those focused on teaching careers. In answer to this need, we set forth to examine the extent to which different types of mentors impact development of teachingfocused Early Career Psychologists (ECPs). (For the sake of this research, we have considered individuals within 7 years of earning one's PhD or within 7 years of beginning a full-time faculty position to be an ECP).A recent study by Troisi, Leder-Elder, Stiegler-Balfour, Fleck and Good (in press) found that teaching-focused ECPs benefit from mentoring. Both teaching effectiveness and adherence to model teaching practices were enhanced for those who have a mentor as compared to those who do not. Further, these researchers found that the greater number of mentors one reported, the greater the benefit to their professional development. In the current exploratory research project, we sought to extend previous findings by examining whether mentors, in general, were related to greater success or whether there was something unique to the particular type of mentor relationship that yielded such beneficial effects.There is a great deal to be said for early career faculty having a network of mentors, including those who are superiors, peers, and subordinates (Baugh & Scandura, 1999; de Janasz & Sullivan, 2004; Higgins & Kram, 2001). Among early career faculty members, concerns are often centered on balancing teaching and research, meeting tenure requirements, preparing courses, and meeting the requirements of both work and family (Good, Keeley, Leder, Afful, & Stiegler-Balfour, 2013). An extended support system of mentors may be able to provide guidance in the myriad of responsibilities and duties inherent in one's early career.On the other hand, there are pitfalls that can be associated with having too many mentor relationships (Burk & Eby, 2010). For example if individuals are illsuited, both mentor and mentee may find themselves dissatisfied with the experience. In extreme cases mentees may report low levels of career or social support, which may lead to higher stress, lower satisfaction, and even withdrawal (Eby & Allen, 2002; Eby, Butts, Lockwood, & Simon, 2004). Similarly, mentors may become focused on the costs of mentoring and resist investing in future partnerships (Ragins & Scandura, 1999). Further, faculty may feel apprehension about mentoring, due to uncertainty about the overall objectives of such programs. Particularly for ECPs, there exists the potential implication that a mentor has been assigned to expose professional deficiencies (Lucas & Murry, 2002). This concern has shown to be particularly true if mentors are involved in department-level decisions related to tenure and promotion. Accordingly, one may want to be judicious with regard to the number and type of mentorship relationships in which one participates.Research QuestionThe current study builds upon previous research examining mentor-mentee relationships to examine the relative effectiveness of certain types of mentors and how critical it may be for ECPs to identify and select their mentor(s). We provide an exploratory examination of how helpful and effective intra-departmental, intra-university, and other self-selected mentors were to mentees' professional development, personal development, teaching, and research.MethodParticipantsParticipants were 122 ECPs (84 women, 35 men, 3 did not report gender; M^sub age^ = 33.71, SD^sub age^ = 4.57; 92.62% identifying as White) who were recruited to participate in an online study of mentorship from psychology teaching email listservs and the Early Career Psychologist Facebook group. …

When parents talk with their children about lessons learned in school, they are participating in reminiscing of an unshared event. This study sought to understand if pedagogical documentation, from the Reggio Approach to early childhood education, would support and enhance the conversation. Mother–child dyads reminisced two separate times about preschool lessons, one time with documentation available to them and one time without. Transcripts were coded extracting variables indicative of high and low maternal reminiscing styles. Results indicate that mother and child conversation characteristics were more highly elaborative when documentation was present than when it was not. In addition, children added more information to the conversation supporting the notion that such conversations enhanced memory for lessons. Documentation could be used as a support tool for conversations and children’s memory about lessons learned in school.