This activity explores attitudinal beliefs and behavioral responses of obedience to an illegitimate authority figure in an ambiguous situation. In Experiment 1, students either self-reported the likelihood that they would obey a request made by a stranger to surrender their cell phone or were asked directly and in person by a confederate to…

We describe how students can be encouraged to actively review course contents on inferential statistics by creating application-oriented exercises and sample solutions on the basis of concrete and realistic research articles and their data. For evaluation purposes, we use students' reactions to the activity and investigate its effects on the final…

College students have been increasingly demanding warnings and accommodations in relation to course topics they believe will elicit strong, negative emotions. These "trigger warnings" are highly relevant to Abnormal Psychology because of the sensitive topics covered in the course (e.g., suicide, trauma, sex). A survey of Abnormal…

People are reluctant to admit they harbor implicit biases. Students (N = 68) from four social psychology courses completed an assignment designed to raise awareness about implicit biases. After completing an Implicit Association Test (IAT), students answered six essay questions, read two articles on the IAT, and answered five additional essay…

Student response systems have received much attention over the past few years. This easy-to-use technology has been marketed as a great way to enhance the student experience in the classroom through increased engagement and improved course performance. This aim of this study was to demonstrate that the simple addition of a student response system…

This study addressed how trait levels of classroom shyness can influence conformity when students answer opinion questions in different ways. "We recruited 128 introductory psychology students to indicate their opinion on 50 controversial questions by raising their hand or anonymously pressing a button on a keypad ("clicker")". Compared to…

This study examined three methods of responding to in-class multiple-choice concept questions in an Introduction to Psychology course. Specifically, this study compared exam performance and student reactions using three methods of responding to concept questions: (a) a technology-based network system, (b) hand-held flashcards, and (c) hand…

Previous research on the effectiveness of clickers has found their use to be positively associated with exam scores but not without methodological issues that hinder the conclusions that can be drawn. To address these limitations, the current studies isolated the effects of clickers from the effects of questions presented with clickers. Study 1…

We evaluated the effectiveness of the use of an electronic personal response system (or "clickers") during an introductory psychology lecture on perceptual constancy. We graphed and projected student responses to questions during the lecture onto a large-screen display in Microsoft PowerPoint. The distributions of answers corresponded…

Our study compared the quantitative and qualitative outcomes associated with course evaluations collected over the Internet with those collected using a paper-and-pencil method. We randomly assigned students to 1 of the 2 different formats. There was no significant difference in quantitative student responses based on administration method, but…

We developed a computerized game designed around principles shown to improve classroom performance and experience: multimedia, practice testing, vivid instructional techniques, and in-class participation. Students compete as 2 teams, and the game plays like Jeopardy meets Hollywood Squares with learning outcomes. Our evaluation indicated that the…

Presents a demonstration for teaching psychology students to be wary of pseudoscientific treatment methods. Offers instructions for presenting the demonstration. Shows how a patently ridiculous treatment can be shown effective, in the same way that a fad treatment can sometimes appear valuable. Concludes that students learned from and enjoy the…

A public Web site (Goolkasian & Van Wallendael, 2001), established to provide educational materials in cognitive science, served as the primary text for an interdisciplinary course. We tracked student use of the Web site online and with self-report questionnaires. A majority (74%) of the students rated the Web site to be as useful or more useful…

Sixty-one psychology textbooks were analyzed according to four criteria: student acceptance and interest, readability and human interest, comprehensiveness and size, and psychobiological content. This analytic approach can be used in all subjects to match text selection with course objectives in order to increase student satisfaction. (AM)

A rationale for using field trips to correctional institutions in an abnormal psychology class is presented. Also discussed are reasons why, over the years, student interest in these field trips has declined. (RM)