Background: Perceived social support (PSS) is associated with positive outcomes for adolescents and young adults. Team-based learning (TBL) is an evidence-based teaching paradigm that may result in greater PSS among students. Objective: We compared PSS reported by students taught using TBL and non-TBL methods. Method: We measured PSS at the end of…

Background: Limited research has compared relationships among student characteristics, study guide format, and academic performance. Objective: This study investigated relations among student characteristics (motivation, self-efficacy) and academic performance, examined the efficacy of study guide format on performance, and aggregated student…

I examined concerns surrounding teaching culturally diverse students and attitudes toward incorporating diversity content into courses, held by a national sample of psychology educators (N = 91). Findings indicated that as instructors' personal acceptance of culturally diverse students increased, instructors' level of "backlash"…

Today's college students are significantly different from previous generations. On average, they are overconfident, have high expectations, report higher narcissism, are lower in creativity, are less interested in civic issues, and are less inclined to read long passages of text. They are highly confident of their abilities and received…

The American Psychological Association's (2007) curricular guidelines recommend that students develop both an understanding of how psychologists do research and an appreciation for why scientific thinking is necessary. We surveyed a large sample of psychology majors on specific interests, as well as individual difference variables relevant to…

Investigates whether undergraduate psychology students will give optimistic estimates of their life expectancy if they receive either no information or correct information about the average life expectancy. Reveals that both men and women in each of the two conditions estimated their life span at approximately their actuarial age. (CMK)

Reports on a study of 301 new psychology majors to test and extend a generic model for academic pathways to the undergraduate major and investigate feminization of the field. Finds that a student's contact with basic college psychology courses is a major factor leading to a decision about an undergraduate major. (CFR)

Examines a model for identifying homogeneous subgroups within the larger heterogeneous group found in an introductory psychology course. In order to increase the number of individuals able to succeed within a class, teachers must direct their attention toward the underlying processes of task performance and the characteristic ways in which…

Discussed is a study which measured the importance of considering differing student abilities to deal with cognitive ability task factors when developing research methodology and statistics courses in psychology. Topics discussed are data on which the study was based, testing procedure, testing instrument, results, and major findings. (Author/DB)

Reviews literature related to learning styles and gender differences. Determines that abstract and reflection are associated traditionally with mind or masculine, whereas concrete experience and active experimentation are associated with the body or female. Calls for additional experiential activities to provide a more gender-balanced approach to…

Maintains that cheating is a major concern on college campuses. Presents data from 2,153 upper-division undergraduate students on the frequency of cheating, reasons for cheating, and influence of penalties on cheating. Offers a model that develops an internalized code of ethics to counteract academic dishonesty. (CFR)