Psychology as a Science

For my second class period, I am going to be working on describing psychology as a science.  This includes a brief review of the scientific method and also research ethics.  Prior to any lecture material, students are asked to read through an article from popular media in pairs and decide if the article is an example of scientific research and whether they think psychology is a science.

I usually walk around the room to observe the answers they're writing down.  If they just answer yes/no to a question, I direct them to think more critically about their responses.  I let them know that yes/no are never sufficient answers to a question in my class.

Next, we discuss what science is and how it is different from other types of observation.  Then, research ethics.  After this discussion, students return to the article.  They are asked to review and modify their previous answers given the new information they learned during class.

At the end of the class period, the students are assigned their first scientific literacy assessment (for out-of-class completion).  It is not too difficult - the students read another popular media article (click here) and answer questions about it.  The worksheet asks them to provide straight-foward information (author, date and place of publication) and also to apply information about the scientific method to the article (e.g., how did the authors follow the scientific method, is it an example of research, etc.).    I am giving the students a little over a week to complete the assignment.

**************
Another goal of the second class meeting is also to further introduce students to different perspectives/occupations in Psychology, the biopsychosocial model of psychology (this may be textbook specific, I use Myers' Psychology in Everday Life, 2nd ed., but think the model is a useful one), and general problems with using personal experience to form beliefs (e.g., hindsight bias & overconfidence).

I will return once the classes have been taught to let you know how it's turned out.

Introduction to Psychology

My objectives on the first day of class are always very clear in my mind:

1. Demonstrate the rigor of my course to my students.
2. Engage the students from minute 1, so they understand my expectations for the semester.
3. NEVER let the class out early.

Do I already sound like a teacher you'd never want to have?  Comments from my friends are usually of the sort "I'm glad you weren't my teacher in college".

Now, I know my friends are kidding, but I don't want my students to see me a la wicked witch, but rather understand that old and wise, I am.

Yoda - Star Wars

Let's start with the 3rd thing on my list.  Why is it important to keep students the entire time? Believe it or not, students are using that first day (Ha! Who am I kidding? The first 2 minutes) to assess the entire semester.  These beliefs underlie their behavior and it's hard to change those after the first day of class.  Because I emphasize to my students that they should value learning as an experience and respect our time in the classroom, keeping them the entire time on the first day of class models such respect for them.  

Now, would they think I'm more fun and more cool to just cover the syllabus and let them leave? Maybe. But in the end, I'm interested in them learning, not liking me.

To address items 1 and 2 in my list: I always cover the syllabus on the first day and require some sort of in-clas assignment.  

Syllabus Review 

            This ended up taking longer than I expected because my school just adopted a new Learning Management System (LMS) called Canvas and none of the students have even heard of it.  Well, that's not entirely true.  It seemed as I went from class to class, more and more students were indicating they knew what it was and had used it before.  I sent out an email the week before class asking students to go onto Canvas and view the syllabus, so hopefully at least one person granted my request.  Of course, the course analytics suggested that about 1% of my students actually logged into Canvas and viewed my course before coming to the first class period.

             My syllabus has several opportunities for me to show my students that I am giving them assignments/tasks for a reason, often supported by research.  For example, I give my students mastery quizzes at the beginning of each new unit/chapter in class.  This is because research on the "testing effect" has shown that students retain information for longer and perform better on exams due to such testing (e.g., Roediger & Karpicke, 2006).  I also discuss the importance of self-motivation and how it is the #1 characteristic that college students rate as being their reason for success in a college course (as discussed in "What the Best College Teachers Do" by Bains, 2004).  I use this as a diving board to discuss classroom expectations - that they can expect that I will make the classroom an engaging and informative environment and that they will dedicate themselves to learning in it.

I also call roll on the first day of class.  I make it a point to learn my students' names, which helps them feel more connected to myself and the classroom community.  

Teamwork Game: This semester, I am trying a new teamwork game that takes about 30 minutes as an opportunity for them to get to know each other and exchange contact information so they have someone to lean on if they miss a class period.    I think that in the one class I've done this in so far, this was an epic failure.  I used a slide-show with famous psychologists on it and, in teams of four, students had to work together to name the person in the picture.  Part of the rules were that everyone on the team had to raise their hands for the team to "buzz in" and then I would randomly select a team member to give me the answer (so everyone had to know it).  Now, I think in the end the students got to know one another but the activity did not highlight the value of teamwork the way I had hoped.  I think the issue really lay in using psychology figures they had just learned about in that same class period - the students honestly just had no ideas who any of the pictures were.

I am trying today to re-work the slide show.  I think if I use more famous faces, it might work a little bit better though it may be less psychology related.  I had throught to perhaps scrap the activity altogether, but I do think it's important for them to work in teams and get to know one another.  I'll let you know what I decide and how it goes.  

Brief History of Psychology: 

            I gave my students about a 15-20 minute review on the history of psychology.  I think this went very well.  I emphasized that they need not take notes, but should just get a general idea of where psychology started and how we think of it today. This is a perfect segue into thinking about psychology as a SCIENCE.  I emphasize to my students that the reason psychology is so amazing is because no matter what your major or your profession in life, the principles of scientific thinking and the understanding you gain of human behavior from an Intro Psych class are relevant.  That's when I branched into my new module for the semester:

Scientific Literacy in Psychology: 

        Now, I wish I could claim credit for this brilliant set of assignments, but I cannot.  This module is a set of learning objectives, classroom activities, and assessments developed by Jamie J. Peterson and Arturo Sesma, Jr. at St. Catherine University.  While the authors implemented these activities as a lab for their course, I am integrating mine right into lecture.  I think the format of the in-class portion of the activities aligns nicely with my own goal of having students work together ("active learning") rather than listening to me drone on and on for an hour.  The assessments are a well-scaffolded series of assignments that build on one another and allow students to read and evaluate popular media based on scientific research.  

         I am excited about this module for a plethora of reasons.  First, I think it is absolutely essential that we start having students (and really society in general, if you don't mind my optimism) think about Psychology as a science.  There are psychology instructors the nation over (but specific ones in Florida come to mind) working to convince the government that Psychology has a place in STEM curriculum or teaching their students that the end goal of a psych degree is not limited to counseling.  But without putting our money where our mouths are, the stigma of psychology as a "touchy-feely" subject without much grounding in science at all will continue.  Second, the activities allow students to integrate popular media into the course, which is a way to keep intro psych new and refreshing.  And not least, all the groundwork has been done for me :)  So I am a little bit of a cheater in that regard.

On the first day, I review what scientific literacy is with my students and the process of reading a popular media article and then dissecting it, comparing it to the original research article (with just some guided questions and class discussion) and then have them report to me (in a "minute paper") what they think scientific literacy is and how they can use it in their everyday lives.  

******

I sent my students home with a copy of "5 Thinks You Should Never Say to Your Professor", an article written by one of Santa Fe's own - Jorie Scholnik.  You can read it yourself by clicking here.  This allows students to review my most important expectation of them - that they take responsibility for their own learning - and also reminds them that I care about how successful they are.  I hand-wrote a note to them at the bottom ("Thank you in advance for your commitment to learning, responsibility, and professionalism.  I am looking forward to a great semester! Prof. Soicher") to really drive home the latter point.  Here's to hoping they actually read it :)

Why blog about teaching?

Last week was my first week in my new job at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, FL.  This is my first full-time teaching position, but so far the transition hasn't been too difficult for me.  The best perk of all: my own office.  I don't think many people take time to appreciate their office - I know when I was working at CSUS, I didn't stop to think about how even my small cubicle was my own space.  But now, I have a space to call all my own, to decorate as I please, to leave all my school things when I go home at the end of the day.  Sure, I still will take some work home with me, but the days of my rolly-bag are behind me.

Perhaps the best piece of advice I have ever received but never followed was at my first National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology (NITOP) conference.  In a workshop for new teachers of PSYC 1, it was suggested that master teachers keep a journal or make notes about each and every lecture that they give.  This allows for real-time reflection on the success of a given lesson plan, with specific points on what worked and what you would like to change for next time.  The problem with this is that, as an adjunct faculty member, I was always running all over the place (they don't call us "freeway flyers" for no reason) and just couldn't seem to find the time to do this.

So here I am, only one class period into my brand new semester, teaching a class I haven't taught in over a year (and 5 sections of it, no less), and excited to track my successes (and failures) in the classroom.  I'm choosing a public forum for this because I want to be of use to other instructors.  So if you're reading this and you want more information on any of the activities I discuss, please let me know.

Specifically if you are a psychology instructor, consider becoming a member (it's cheap!) of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (teachpsych.org).  It's a very rich community that it really pays to be a part of (pun intended :) ).  The mentorship and opportunities for professional development that I've had with STP have been (and continue to be) fantastic.