Abstract
PLAT’s Special Formats for Papers and How to Make the Most of Them
PLAT offers different formats for contributions, that is, research articles, reports, reviews, target articles, and book reviews. Many authors find it difficult to choose the right format for what they want to convey. Therefore, I would like to use this editorial to explain why we offer these different formats and how authors can make the most of them.
As you know, PLAT aims to enhance knowledge of how to improve the learning and teaching of psychology. This can be done on different levels. On the one hand, we are eager to give new insights into teaching and learning processes, based on empirical research studies. This is what articles should convey. On the other hand, we would like to inspire communication about what is happening in classrooms. This information is shared via reports. Another possible way to contribute to PLAT is to inform readers about the state of the art in a certain field. The format for this is a review. Further, we offer the opportunity to stimulate discussions among scholars via target articles and comments on them. And last but not least, we invite you to review new psychology books for PLAT. If you want to do so, please contact the journal manager (plat@uni-heidelberg.de) to suggest your preferred book. If we think that a review of a book might be of interest to our readers, we will organize for you to receive a review copy from the relevant publisher and will be happy to publish your review in one of the forthcoming issues of PLAT. We look forward to receiving your suggestions!
From our experience, we know that the distinction between articles and reports is the most difficult, both for authors and for reviewers. To help you choose the right format for your own submission and to clarify what to look for when reviewing for PLAT, I will describe these two formats in more detail.
The most common format in psychological journals is the research article. You should choose this format if your main focus is on answering clear-cut research questions, for example, about the effectiveness of a certain teaching method in comparison to another. To be appropriate as a research article, the design of the study has to be sufficiently strong, so that the data actually allow for robust conclusions. This calls for sufficiently large samples, sound measures with established psychometric properties, and a good design. If you want to show that one teaching method is more effective than another, you need a truly experimental design, that is, at least two groups – one treated and one treated differently or not at all – and preferably random assignment of participants to groups or pre-test-measures that ensure group equality prior to treatment. If you are interested in the effectiveness of a teaching format but your study does not have these features, you should choose a report as a format for your submission.
The focus of a report lies in the description of an innovative or otherwise interesting method or another development that is of relevance for the learning and teaching of psychology. There are many interesting methods that have not yet been tested in strong research designs but are nevertheless worthwhile to share with the community. For a report about such a method, a small-scale evaluation drawing on student self-report is sufficient. However, authors should be careful not to interpret their findings as effects of their method if they cannot substantiate this claim by comparison with a control group. It is also important to ensure that your report offers detailed information about your teaching method, so that readers might adapt your method and implement it in their teaching.
I admit that the distinction between an article and a report is not always easy. If you want help with the decision, we are happy to offer it. I hope that these explanations are helpful for future authors and reviewers of PLAT. Please also look at our website for detailed information about each format (https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/journal/psychology-learning-teaching#submission-guidelines).
I look forward to receiving your submissions!
The Current Issue
The current issue includes five research articles, two reports and two book reviews. Moreover, you will find abstracts of the current issues of Psychology Teaching Review and Teaching of Psychology.
In their research article, Powers, Brooks, Galazyn, and Donnelly tested a publisher-provided course-pack (MyPsychLab) that is advertised with strong claims about its effectiveness. In this independent evaluation, no positive effects of MyPsychLab were found in comparison to traditional instruction. We need more such critical evaluations to fully understand the benefits or potential shortcomings of these and other new teaching methods.
A well-known problem for everybody who has ever worked in teacher education is teachers’ reservations concerning empirical data and its use as a basis for professional decisions. In this article, Dunn sets out to understand pre-service teachers’ concerns regarding classroom-level, data-driven decision-making. Knowing pre-service teachers’ concerns about using data for decision-making and mapping these concerns in profiles is a necessary first step towards changing future teachers’ view on evidence-based professional practice.
Pre-service teachers were also the target group of the study by Kaendler, Wiedmann, Leuders, Rummel, and Spada. These authors developed a training that enhanced pre-service teachers’ ability to diagnose behavioral indicators of students’ collaborative, cognitive, and meta-cognitive activities during collaborative learning. A correct diagnosis of these student behaviors is crucial for fostering beneficial student interaction.
Young and Goldberg refer to the paradigm shift in professional psychology, education, and practice that has come with the intensified focus on competency attainment. Their study found that trainees’ perceptions of end-of-internship oral competency examination were strongly related to their exam performance.
Psychology is a discipline about which many stereotypes and wrong notions are held. Brinthaupt, Hurst and Johnson investigated the beliefs and stereotypes students have about the discipline and major of psychology. These results are important for addressing and changing misconceptions about psychology.
Pinnow compared the efficacy of a standard lecture to the Decoding the Disciplines methodology in teaching introductory psychology students about the scientific process. The results suggest that using the Decoding the Discipline methodology may facilitate student learning about scientific inquiry.
Building on the idea that teachers’ actions in the classroom can be viewed as complex problem-solving, Imhof, Starker, and Spaude developed a live action role play to enhance pre-service teachers’ competences. It was found that the Everyday Life in the Classroom method was perceived by students as authentic and helpful for learning.
Please also take a look at the book reviews and the abstracts from Psychology Teaching Review and Teaching of Psychology. I look forward to receiving papers based on your recent work! I hope you enjoy reading this issue of PLAT.
March 2016