Abstract
Volume 46, No. 3
Topical Articles
Undergraduates’ Considerations in Declaring Either a Bachelor of Science or a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
Phan Y. Hong, David A. Lishner, Alexandria Ebert, Caileigh Zimmerman, Markus Oechsner and Lee I. McCann
Teaching of Psychology, 46(3), 179–186.
Undergraduate psychology majors (n = 277) completed a survey assessing their rationale for pursuing either a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) degree. Only 52.9% correctly identified the differences in degree requirements. Of those, BA students indicated greater science anxiety and avoidance than those pursuing a BS. BS students reported greater foreign language anxiety and avoidance than those pursuing a BA. Differences in math anxiety and avoidance were not found. Consideration of math and science degree requirements was more influential on degree choice for those pursuing a BA than for those pursuing a BS, but neither group differed in how influential advisors, family, faculty, family, or career path were in influencing degree choice. Results suggest students’ degree choice may be based on their aversion to areas of study emphasized by the alternative degree: pursuing a BA to avoid science and pursuing a BS to avoid foreign language.
BS, BA, psychology major, anxiety, avoidance, degree choice
Mitigating the ‘‘Powder Keg’’: The Experiences of Faculty of Color Teaching Multicultural Competence
Muninder K. Ahluwalia, Sherlene Iris Ayala, Anna Flores Locke and Tyce Nadrich
Teaching of Psychology, 46(3), 187–196.
Teaching multicultural competence is a unique experience. Little is known, however, about the experiences of faculty of color teaching multicultural competence. In this phenomenological study, semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 faculty of color to explore their experiences teaching multicultural competence in counseling graduate programs and in the context of their universities. Five themes emerged including (1) dual threads of multicultural competence, (2) the most marginalized teach about diversity, (3) faculty of color go above and beyond (content) instruction, (4) challenges and benefits of teaching diversity courses, and (5) the impact of systems is powerful. These findings suggest that faculty of color experience teaching multicultural competence differently than their White counterparts and that these experiences have personal (e.g., burnout) and professional implications (e.g., tenure and promotion).
multicultural competence, faculty of color, diversity, administration, teaching
Disparity in Expectations of Reward for Effort Expended Among Students, Professors, and Employers
Joanne D. Altman, Beth A. Prittie and Gary B. Forbach
Teaching of Psychology, 46(3), 197–207.
This study examined student, professor, and employer perceptions of how reward for effort expended and meeting task performance criteria should be factored into college grades and employment compensation. The sample consisted of students, faculty, and employers. Participants completed a survey assessing perceptions of effort and performance in either a college or employment setting. Results indicated that students felt that effort should account for a significantly larger percentage of their overall grade than did professors and employers. Results also indicated that this attitude carried over into employment settings; students believed that an employee’s financial compensation should include a substantial component based on how hard a student tried, whereas teachers and employers did not. These findings suggest a need to shift student expectations regarding rewards away from effort and toward performance during a college education.
academic entitlement, students, grading, employee
A Lack of Exposure to School Psychology Within Undergraduate Psychology Coursework
Joel O. Bocanegra, Aaron A. Gubi, Gregory L. Callan, Sally L. Grapin and John McCall
Teaching of Psychology, 46(3), 208–214.
School psychology is experiencing a personnel shortage crisis, and scholars suggest that a possible contributing factor is its underrepresentation in undergraduate psychology curricula. Most school psychology trainers do not teach at the undergraduate level, thus undergraduate psychology students may not be adequately exposed to school psychology during undergraduate training. Research suggests that increased knowledge and exposure to school psychology are associated with increased intentions for school psychology. In the current study, 55 undergraduate students completed measures of knowledge, exposure, selfefficacy, outcome expectations, and choice intentions at the beginning and end of professional psychology courses. Results indicated that students enrolled in undergraduate psychology courses did not demonstrate significant increases in the aforementioned areas for school psychology. Efforts such as creating school psychology–specific courses or infusing material should be made to increase the representation of school psychology in undergraduate psychology curricula.
school psychology, undergraduate courses, knowledge, shortage, psychology
Methods and Techniques
Perceived Student Benefits of an Undergraduate Physiological Psychology Laboratory Course
Steven A. Lloyd, Ryan A. Shanks and David Lopatto
Teaching of Psychology, 46(3), 215–222.
Undergraduate research (UR) is a high-impact practice associated with many positive student outcomes. However, extending UR opportunities to all students is not practical for all psychology programs. Classroom-based UR experiences (CUREs) provide a scalable solution to this problem, but there is a paucity of empirically validated, authentic CUREs across all programs and all areas of the undergraduate psychology curriculum. A quasi-experimental design involving a semester-long CURE in an upper-level physiological psychology laboratory course was conducted. Students participating in the lecture and the CURE reported significant perceived benefits across many key domains, more positive attitudes toward science, and favorable changes in postgraduation plans, especially toward graduate school and careers in science, when compared to students in the lecture-only group. The results support the call for UR in the psychology curriculum, demonstrate the effectiveness of an authentic CURE to meet this goal for all students, and provide a model for CURE dissemination in a physiological psychology laboratory course.
experiential learning, classroom-based undergraduate research experience, perception of science, perceived benefits, researchbased curriculum
Faculty Forum
Learning to Give Reverse Causality Explanations for Correlations: Still Hard After All These Tries
Amy E. Sibulkin and J. S. Butler
Teaching of Psychology, 46(3), 223–229.
After explicit instruction on how to give possible bidirectional (two-way) causality explanations for a correlation, 240 students from eight sections of social psychology and research methods courses wrote “reverse causality” explanations on various test questions, creating a total of 882 answers. Averaging across multiple graded attempts over four semesters, only 45% of the explanations were correct. The highest average for a single question was 67% correct. A regression predicting correct answers showed that students with higher grade point averages (GPAs) were more likely to answer correctly. Controlling for GPA and topic of the correlation, later attempts were significantly more likely to be answered correctly than earlier attempts.
critical thinking, research methods, bidirectional causation, reverse causality, authentic assessment, psychology majors, historically Black colleges, correlation, causation
Putting Proverbs to the Test: An Engaging Approach for Developing Students’ Hypothesis Testing Skills
Tim Gamble, Julie M. Turner-Cobb, Ian Walker and Nigel Holt
Teaching of Psychology, 46(3), 230–235.
Integral to most undergraduate psychology degree programs are research methods courses. Students learn about theory, study design and hypothesis testing, and gain knowledge that is assessed by laboratory reports. We describe a problem-based learning approach with an emphasis on acquisition of study design skills. Working in small groups, students took well-known falsifiable proverbs, developed hypotheses to test them, recruited and assessed participants, analyzed the data, and presented their findings in a poster format. This approach allowed students to develop key skills to systematically experiment with an idea using proverbs as a proxy for theory. We suggest proverb testing as a useful technique to engage student-centered active learning in psychology and in the behavioral sciences more broadly.
research methods, poster presentation, proverbs, problem-based learning, hypothesis testing
The Use of Published Articles With Questionable Conclusions in a Research Methods Course
George Y. Bizer
Teaching of Psychology, 46(3), 236–239.
Reading and critiquing journal articles is a way in which instructors can promote learning and critical thought among students, particularly in the undergraduate research methods course. However, articles that have survived the peer-review process are often lengthy and have only nuanced drawbacks, rendering them less useful for such pedagogical purposes. Students read a series published articles that are brief and have fundamental methodological or other concerns that render their conclusions questionable. After students read each article, the instructor leads a discussion in which students debate the article’s benefits and drawbacks. Assessment indicated that the activities increased students’ understanding of the course material and that students found the activities to be educational and enjoyable.
critiques, learning, pedagogy, causality, research methods
Creating Statistics Exercises on the Basis of Research Articles
Sarah Bebermeier and Anne Hagemann
Teaching of Psychology, 46(3), 240–245.
We describe how students can be encouraged to actively review course contents on inferential statistics by creating applicationoriented 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 statistics exam. Students’ ratings of the quality of the exercises, necessary knowledge, and the evaluation of the activity were very positive, and participating students achieved better grades in the final exam than nonparticipants, whereas the groups did not differ regarding their initial skills or motivational characteristics. We conclude by discussing implications for lecturers teaching statistics.
exercises creation, statistics, psychology, active learning
Statistical Software Use in Canadian University Courses: Current Trends and Future Directions
Heather Davidson, Yasaman Jabbari, Heather Patton, Fergal O’Hagan, Kevin Peters and Robert Cribbie
Teaching of Psychology, 46(3), 246–250.
Two controversial topics related to the teaching of statistics to psychology students are (a) when to introduce statistical software and (b) which statistical software package to use. The current research looked at the use of statistical software in statistics classes from every university with a psychology program in Canada. Researchers collected data from 321 statistics courses offered to psychology students at 65 Canadian universities and coded the type of statistical software used (if any) in each course. Results show that slightly more than half of all universities introduce software at the introductory level. Point-and-click software is most popular, particularly SPSS. There is a considerable amount of variability in when and which software is introduced to students. Departments can use these data to inform their own practices.
statistics, statistical software, teaching, SPSS, R, SAS
Little Freudian Slippage: Coverage of the Psychodynamic Perspective in the Undergraduate Personality Course
Amy J. Posey and Jacob Cushing
Teaching of Psychology, 46(3), 251–259.
Debate about the merits of the psychodynamic perspective led us to wonder about the extent of its inclusion in personality textbooks and its coverage by teachers of the undergraduate personality psychology course. We reviewed the tables of contents of 25 recent personality textbooks and found only 4 that had no chapters dedicated to psychodynamic content. We also conducted an online survey of 160 faculty members who teach the personality course. Most respondents cover psychodynamic theory in their course, primarily due to the theory’s historical relevance. Among those who do not cover the perspective at all in their course, the most important reasons were that the theory is outdated and its major propositions do not lend themselves to empirical analysis.
teaching personality, Freud, psychodynamic perspective, psychoanalytic perspective
Kisses of Death in the Psychology Faculty Hiring Process
Guy A. Boysen, Jordan Morton and Tatiana Nieves
Teaching of Psychology, 46(3), 260–266.
Competition for full-time psychology faculty positions is intense, and some behaviors and types of information could lead to the rejection of even highly qualified candidates; the current research explored these so-called kisses of death in the hiring process. Qualitative analysis of faculty reports of kisses of death in Study 1 (N = 155) produced seven categories: lack of collegiality, questionable qualifications, lack of professional polish, poor preparation, lack of fit, poorly constructed materials, and lack of enthusiasm. Study 2 (N = 297) explored the severity of kisses of death. Ratings of the severity of lack of collegiality, professionalism, preparation, and enthusiasm were similar across baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral institutions, but teaching- and research-related kisses of death showed significant differences. The results suggest that, in addition to building basic qualifications, aspiring faculty should be aware of the skills and strategies that will allow them to avoid kisses of death in the hiring process.
college teachers, teacher recruitment, job applicant interviews, applicant selection, occupational success
The Generalist’s Corner
New Approaches and Debates on Top-Down Perceptual Processing
Cedar Riener
Teaching of Psychology, 46(3), 267–272.
When people perceive the world, what they see is based on the physics of light reflecting off surfaces and entering their eyes. Their brain then processes the raw data so that photoreceptor activity becomes perceptual awareness. Most textbooks and chapters on sensation and perception follow this formula, building student understanding of perception as progressing from the raw data of light to the biological response of photoreceptors to more complex processing of edges and objects in the brain. This approach is often called bottom-up processing. Top-down processing, in contrast, occurs when people’s expectations, emotions, and bodies affect how they see the world. In this article, I review diverse evidence suggesting that perception is not solely a result of bottom-up processing. I also suggest ways that we should inform students of this complexity.
embodied perception, top-down processing, visual perception, bottom-up processing