The use of multimedia-driven instruction in college courses is an emerging practice designed to increase students' knowledge. However, limited research has validated the effectiveness of using multimedia to teach students about functional behavioral assessments (FBAs). To test the effectiveness of a multimedia tool called Content Acquisition…

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…

A capstone experience serves as a culminating exercise for students to assimilate the information learned in a course and to realize how to use the material and skills in different contexts. Both majors and nonmajors benefit from having the material in the introductory course consolidated in such a way, for later study in the field and to more…

The present study investigates the impact of participation in a peer assessment activity on subsequent academic performance. Students in two sections of an introductory psychology course completed a practice quiz 1 week prior to each of three course exams. Students in the experimental group participated in a five-step double-blind peer assessment…

Montepare suggested the use of a self-correcting approach to multiple-choice tests: Students first take the exam as usual, but are allowed to hand in a self-corrected version afterwards. The idea of this approach is that the additional interaction with the material may foster further learning. To examine whether such an approach actually improves…

A multifaceted approach to teaching five experimental designs in a research methodology course was tested. Participants included 70 students enrolled in an experimental research methods course in the semester both before and after the implementation of instructional change. When using a multifaceted approach to teaching research methods that…

Jigsaw classroom research has primarily explored racial relationships at the primary and secondary educational levels. The present study explored whether the jigsaw classroom would have an effect on students' attitudes about their own academic abilities and practices at the university level. The present study also sought to illuminate the…

This study examined the impact of an assignment involving intergroup contact (The Voices Project [TVP]) on student racism toward Muslims, African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics in Introduction to Psychology. TVP students interviewed members from racial groups and wrote autobiographical memoirs of their lives. A faculty-writing team integrated…

The authors present the experience of a continuous assessment procedure carried out in the second term of a physiological psychology course during 3 consecutive academic years at a Spanish university. Each year, the academic outcomes of students under continuous assessment (the experimental group) were compared with those of students under…

College students participated in a study on the "psychology of note taking" during which they took notes on video content and later completed a multiple-choice test on the material. Researchers assigned 71 participants to either the ringing condition (the video was disrupted by a ringing cell phone) or the control condition (no cell phone rings…

The guided experimentation method requires that students learn how a database works by generating and testing hypotheses about it (i.e., become skilled at strategies of experimentation). These strategies are essential to learning by inquiry, which is linked to argumentation. We conducted a quasi-experimental field study to show that students who…

The present study reports the results of a controlled examination of the effectiveness of an online graduate preparation program, the Virtual Advisor. The effects of the Virtual Advisor were compared to a website preparation group and a wait-list control group. Results indicated that, compared to the control group, students who utilized the…

The authors developed a one-credit freshman-level course designed to enhance psychological critical thinking. They based the new curriculum on Stanovich's (2004) text, with an emphasis on active learning and critically evaluating claims by applying scientific concepts. To assess the effectiveness of this course, they used a pretest-posttest design…