The Psychology Portfolio: Promoting Writing and Critical Thinking about Psychology

Abstract

Guided writing assignments can encourage critical thinking in undergraduate psychology classes. Students (N − 96) were surveyed to assess the effectiveness of the method. Results suggested that the assignments were at an appropriate level for the course. Students indicated that they were able to relate the assignments to the course convent and that the assignments made the lecture and text material easier to understand. Overall, students thought that the assignments were integrated into the course content. Perhaps most important, students indicated that the assignments helped develop their individual interests in the subject matter. Finally, these assignments were overwhelmingly preferred to a traditional term paper.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Beers

S. E.

(1985). Use of a portfolio writing assignment in a course on developmental psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 12, 94–96.

Knabe

Blevins B.

(1987). Writing to learn while learning to write. Teaching of Psychology, 14, 239–241.

Boice

(1982). Teaching of writing in psychology: A review of sources. Teaching of Psychology, 9, 143–147.

Boice

(1990). Faculty resistance to writing-intensive courses. Teaching of Psychology, 17, 13–17.

McGovern

T. V.

Hogshead

D. L.

(1990). Learning about writing, thinking about teaching. Teaching of Psychology, 17, 5–10.

Snodgrass

S. E.

(1985). Writing as a tool for teaching social psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 12, 91–94.

Snyder

C. R.

Higgins

R. L.

(1988). Excuses: Their effective role in the negotiation of reality. Psychological Bulletin, 104, 23–35.

Spiegel

T. A.

Cameron

S. M.

Evans

Nodine

B. F.

(1980). Integrating writing into the teaching of psychology: An alternative to Calhoun and Selby. Teaching of Psychology, 7, 242–243.

Weber

(1984). Teaching tips for social psychology. Contemporary Social Psychology, 10, 9–10.