Critical thinking is a valued educational outcome; however, little is known about whether psychology courses, especially ones such as research methods courses that might be expected to promote critical thinking skills, actually improve them. We compared the acquisition of critical thinking skills for analyzing psychological arguments in 3 groups…

Describes an undergraduate course in psychology that addresses concepts relating to women's mental health. Explains that the course emphasizes the impact of social variables on mental health issues for women. Includes a list of topics and student activities for the course. Presents student reactions and assessment. (DK)

Presents an interview with Margaret Matlin, a teaching professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo. Focuses on the courses Matlin taught when first at SUNY Geneseo, what she currently teaches, her psychology of women course, special techniques she uses, and whether she feels she is a natural born teacher. (CMK)

Discusses the secondary agenda technique where students express their biases on various topics, but their realization is the secondary purpose of the class activity. Illustrates the use of this technique by describing activities where students confront their biases and perceptions about gender and sexual orientation. (CMK)

Discusses an approach to teaching a college course in Hong Kong on problem solving that includes cognitive and social aspects of problem solving. Focuses on the disadvantages and advantages of teaching problem solving from a broad perspective. An appendix lists topics and assigned readings for the course. (CMK)

How classroom debates can be used in a developmental psychology course to teach students about controversial issues and to help them improve their thinking and oral communications skills is described. Evaluations indicate that students consider debates to be a positive learning experience. (Author/RM)

Provides ideas for relating HIV topics to psychology content. Suggests three methods of curriculum integration: (1) using traditional course content (research methods, abnormal psychology, health psychology, gender and ethnic studies, drugs and behavior); (2) exploring diversity issues; and (3) challenging students' critical thinking skills. (CMK)

Provides suggestions for using active learning as the primary means to teaching statistics in order to create a collaborative environment. Addresses such strategies as using SPSS Base 7.5 for Windows and course periods centered on answering student-generated questions. Discusses various writing intensive assignments. (CMK)

An issue-oriented approach to the teaching of personality involved students from one class in formal debates with students from another class. Evaluation of student attitudes and achievement in the course showed that high motivation and sharpened critical thinking resulted from the course design. (Author/AV)

Maintains that undergraduate psychology curricula almost always include one or more required experimental courses. Describes the use of the human subjects review process as a method of stimulating critical thinking. Discusses questions posed by the review process and classroom applications of the approach. (CFR)

Describes the course content, student response, and instructional effectiveness of an undergraduate psychology and law course built around a series of active learning projects. Students chose either to attend a jury trial or to interview three people involved in the legal system. These formed the basis for papers and presentations. (MJP)

Describes the use of debate in teaching a college level course on the psychology of women. Contends that the technique encouraged critical thinking, active learning, and cooperation. Provides suggestions for replicating the process in other courses. (CFR)

Presents four primary objectives for written assignments. Describes the use of writing assignments in a college probability and statistics course. Maintains that this approach requires students to show statistical and writing skills rarely elicited elsewhere in their coursework. (CFR)

Discusses a model for teaching critical thinking and the changes observed in student abilities after taking a course emphasizing the model. Finds that scores on a critical thinking test were significantly higher among the 24 students in the course. Presents a graphic example of the model applied to the issue of homelessness. (CFR)

Maintains that psychology courses attract students who are interested in using their knowledge of human behavior in their professional and personal lives. Describes four approaches used in a developmental psychology course to differentiate between experimental and observational research. Discusses implications of the approaches. (CFR)