Background: Limited research exists on the prevalence of undergraduate research participant pools (URPs) in psychology departments or guidelines surrounding their use. Objective: The aim of the current study was to replicate older studies on the prevalence of URPs in the United States and the procedures and guidelines related to those…

Despite the multiple benefits of the careers in psychology course, it is not universally offered in undergraduate programs. Teachers who wish to design such a course may wonder about its typical number of credits, when students should take the course, and how much it uses a common curriculum across sections. The 2018 Undergraduate Study in…

It is a common, if controversial, practice to recruit undergraduate psychology students as research participants. There is substantial research concerning putative educational benefits for students, but as students increasingly have freedom to choose between studies to meet participation requirements, factors underlying student choice of…

To identify where ethics is presented to undergraduate psychology students, this study reviewed a national sample of 706 syllabi for required mandatory psychology courses. The results indicated that 6 syllabi were designated as ethics courses and 65 syllabi did not mention ethics at all. Even though 641 syllabi mentioned ethics, the most frequent…

The effects of offering and seizing optional learning opportunities rarely have been investigated. Thus, university instructors have no basis on which to decide whether offering optional learning opportunities to their students would be worth the effort and which students would seize and benefit from them. To target these questions, we designed a…

Similar to the other developing countries, undergraduate psychology programs in Turkish universities have rapidly grown in the last two decades. Although this sharp increment signifies the need for psychologists, it has also caused a number of challenges for effective teaching of psychology. The department chairs (N = 42) were interviewed with an…

Research methods and statistics courses constitute a core undergraduate psychology requirement. We analyzed course syllabi and faculty self-reported coverage of both research methods and statistics course learning objectives to assess the concordance with APA's learning objectives (American Psychological Association, 2007). We obtained a sample of…

Reports on a national survey of 520 psychology programs on the number of mathematics and science courses required as part of the general education requirements for an undergraduate degree. Finds that an average of one mathematics course and two science courses are required. (CFR)

Two studies investigated the effectiveness of a course in career planning for psychology majors. Study 1 used a quasi-experimental design. Students who completed a corequisite research methods course in the year before the department added the careers course to the curriculum served as a comparison group. Analyses showed that students in the…

Investigates the content and structure of the undergraduate curriculum in psychology by analyzing 500 college catalogs. Reveals that introductory, statistics, and a capstone are the common required courses, laboratory experiences are not integral to required courses, prerequisites are recommended, and the traditional model is the most popular…

Examines the catalogs of a random sample of 292 national and regional universities and liberal arts colleges to collect curriculum data on the prevalence of focused specialty versus general degrees in psychology and on the course requirements for the various degree options. Presents the findings and addresses the status of nongeneral degrees. (CMK)

Describes a Teaching of Psychology course required for University of Alabama psychology doctoral students. Reports that graduate students take full responsibility for teaching an introductory psychology section and participate in a weekly seminar on practical and theoretical issues. Suggests that both faculty and graduate students are satisfied…

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)

Summarizes the results of a survey that revealed several dichotomies between what instructors felt introductory psychology courses delivered and what students wanted. Students desired a knowledge of people and relationships while the instructors felt the courses provided a broad overview of the discipline. Includes statistical data and analysis.…

Asserts that, among trends in higher education, none is more debated than the place of general education and the use of the core curriculum as an antidote to specialized education. Argues that psychology can be effectively presented to undergraduates in an interdisciplinary core curriculum. (CFR)