The author, a psychology instructor at an American university, describes the internationalization of his course in Human Growth and Development. The author argues that human development cannot be easily summarized by nature (i.e., biological and evolutionary predisposition) or nurture (i.e., learning through environment and experience).…

What is "General Psychology?" Is it just one course that could be an elective, part of a minor, or part of a student's major? Or could "General Psychology" literally be the "corner stone" or "foundation block" upon which all the other psychology courses, taken afterwards, add to like bricks upon a "foundation block?" This paper will seek to…

A model is described for teaching about death and dying with emphasis on mental health aspects. The author relates personal observations from her experience as a death educator and suggests precautions for individuals organizing thanatology courses for the first time. (AV)

Explores the merits of using a combined cognitive and experiential approach to the teaching of psychology. Findings indicate that expanding a traditional course to include vivid personal experiences integrated with cognitive growth is an effective modification and enhances concept learning. (Author/DB)

As a result of the development of two computer statistics laboratories in the psychology department at New York's Brooklyn College, a project was undertaken to develop and implement computer program modules in undergraduate and graduate statistics courses. Rather than use the technology to merely make course presentations more exciting, the…

This paper explains that an interdepartmental writing across the curriculum course at Syracuse University was developed and proposed by a writing teacher and a professor of experimental psychology and psychopharmacology. The paper states that the course, Perspectives on Drug Experience, was to be offered in both writing and psychology and sought…

"Active Learning" refers to activities that help students connect new academic subjects with previous knowledge and experiences. This paper is an outline of a senior seminar on making connections between psychology and the broader lives of students. It is assumed that, for many undergraduate students, basic understandings of human nature…

Describes an undergraduate course entitled "Nontraditional Families and Individual Development" that focuses on nontraditional families and their implications for life-span development while familiarizing students with psychological research, theories, and applied issues. Explains that this course was created as a response to the changing state of…

This study surveys secondary teachers and students in the state of Mississippi about the status of, and their attitudes toward, psychology courses. The results are compared with those of a similar survey conducted in Florida. In 1975, a four-page questionnaire was mailed to 375 schools in Mississippi. Of these, 198, or 52.8 percent, were filled…

The 6-week summer institute program provided 56 high achieving secondary school students with exposure to the social science disciplines. The major objectives of the training program were as follows: 1) to provide a combination of unique social experiences to high ability students which would be sufficiently challenging to motivate them toward…

An innovative approach to teaching undergraduate psychology in a self-directed group discussion format was implemented at Raymond Walters College, in Ohio, based on premises from the active learning and employee involvement movements holding that adults achieve more when they are actively involved in their own learning and that students are…

Describes a college-level psychology course in which students learn how to think about the ideas of psychology instead of memorizing psychological information. Suggests modeling of thought in lectures and other classroom activities. Recommends strategies for class discussions and student evaluation. (CFR)

Argues that the bulk of most undergraduate psychology curriculum is geared towards preparing students for graduate study. Proposes several specific curriculum changes designed to give the general undergraduate a working and useful knowledge of some of the fundamental concepts concerning psychology. Includes course outlines and structured…

Describes techniques for clarifying goals, improving organization, and evaluating students in research courses that are typically unstructured. Includes methods for assisting students in designing experiments, creating evaluation tools, and monitoring student progress throughout the course. These simple methods are appropriate for courses with an…

Outlines a laboratory group program for engaging large numbers of undergraduate psychology students in faculty research at small liberal arts colleges with limited research resources. Participating in the group enhances the students' interest in and understanding of research and improves their chances of being accepted into a graduate program.…