Abstract
Another Pandemic Winter Term
After a summer which nourished the hope that we will be back again in classrooms together with our students, yet another difficult winter term followed. Although there is great commitment on all sides for teaching in presence, online teaching often is the only feasible possibility at least for large lecture courses. The effects of the pandemic on teaching and learning is a central issue for psychology educators and for psychological research on teaching and learning. In this issue of PLAT as well as in the upcoming ones, you will find many recent articles, reports, reviews and more dealing with teaching and learning psychology in times of COVID.
ESPLAT Conference 2021
Due to the pandemic situation, ESPLAT held its conference in 2021 online. The conference was hosted by Birgit Spinath and her team at Heidelberg University (Marie Zieger and Zoe Sander). It was such a pleasure to see the growing ESPLAT community and to participate in the lively conversations. A Special Issue about the conference is currently in the review process which is steered by the team of Guest Editors Veit Kubik, Camilla Hakelind and Richard Harris. Besides the rich scientific program, in the General Assembly ESPLAT members thanked the outgoing Executive Committee and welcomed the incoming new team. A special thanks went to Sally Wiggins (Linköping University), the Founding President of ESPLAT, who did a wonderful job. She handed over the baton to Susanne Narciss (University of Dresden), who now is the new President (see the new Executive Committee here: https://www.esplat.org/executive-committee). All the best for you, Susanne, and the new Executive Committee! The ESPLAT Conference 2023 will be hosted by Michael Gruber and his team in Umeå, Sweden. Thank you for taking over this important task! The ESPLAT community looks forward to meeting again in Umeå!
Change in Journal Management
Also at the ESPLAT conference, we announced a change in the Journal Management of PLAT. Cordelia Menz has left PLAT and Heidelberg for her hometown Vienna in September 2021. Cordelia, you were a wonderful Journal Manager! You had everything under control and with a gentle but firm hand you steered the journal. We will miss you very much. Our new Journal Manager is Zoe Sander also from Heidelberg University. Welcome Zoe! You took over from Cordelia in October 2021 and you are already handling all the process at PLAT very professionally.
The Current Issue
The current issue of PLAT contains one review, two research articles and two reports. Moreover, you will find the abstracts of the current issues of Psychology Teaching Review and Teaching of Psychology.
The Corona Crisis is a severe challenge for students, especially those who are entering a new educational context. In their review, Pownall, Harris and Blundell-Birtill provide evidence-based, psychology informed recommendations for how educators can support students’ transition to university. Drawing upon the “Five Sense of Student Success” model, five key considerations are highlighted that higher education educators should be attentive to when preparing for the next academic year.
To support students on their way through higher education, raising their study satisfaction is an important goal. In a longitudinal study with five cohorts of first-year students, Bebermeier, Austerschmidt and Nussbeck investigated determinants of psychology students’ study satisfaction. Based on Person–Environment Fit Theory and the findings of this study, the authors suggest that enhancement of students’ self-efficacy beliefs and comprehensive information about relevant aspects of their studies might help to increase satisfaction and thus study success.
Artificial intelligence becomes increasingly important in our lives. Because psychologists can contribute valuable insights to the development of artificial intelligence systems, it is important to foster the willingness to engage with artificial intelligence among psychology students. Building on technology acceptance models, Gado, Lingelbach, Kempen and Bipp identified in their investigation relevant individual factors for designing artificial intelligence training approaches to be implemented in psychology curricula.
Hakelind, Steinvall and Deutschmann report on a personality psychology course designed to produce Aha-experience about gender stereotypes. Using an intriguing quasi-experimental setup, students were confronted with own gender stereotypes. In combination with guided reflection, students’ own assumptions were challenged, while self-awareness and critical reflection were promoted.
The second report in this issue provides insights into distance teaching in Europe during the COVID-19 Pandemic. It is based on a survey study initiated by the Board of Educational Affairs of the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA) in cooperation with the European Federation of Psychology Teachers’ Associations (EFPTA). Sokolová, Papageorgi, Dutke, Stuchlíková, Williamson and Bakker present results from a large sample of secondary school and university teachers from 28 European countries, showing similar challenges in adopting distance teaching methods. Despite the challenges, psychology teachers described positive aspects of distance teaching, examples of good practice and lessons learned that can be implemented in the teaching of psychology beyond the pandemic situation.
Please also pay attention to the abstracts from Psychology Teaching Review (PTR27(2)) as well as Teaching of Psychology (ToP48(4)) that you will find in this issue.
I hope you enjoy reading this issue of PLAT!
Editor of PLAT
March 2022