Although many psychology departments and instructors are aware of the "American Psychological Association Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major Version 2.0," they are often less aware of the means by which to assess student mastery of the recommended goals. Our purpose is to discuss general principles for assessment, offer a…

We describe a model for new and senior faculty members, integrating a behavioral approach to enhancing teaching skills with research from the field of positive psychology on virtues and character strengths. The Teacher Behaviors Checklist (Keeley, Smith, & Buskist, 2006) identifies target behaviors amenable to modification, derived from…

The near invisibility of women's contributions to psychology is a serious problem in the teaching of psychology. We tested the effectiveness of a teaching exercise aimed at increasing students' awareness of women's contributions to psychology. The exercise involved making, displaying, and examining posters about women in psychology. Students (a)…

Evaluates four modules, created by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, for educating students about industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology. Reports that students' knowledge about I/O increased, and their interest in taking an I/O psychology course also increased. (CMK)

Assesses how accurately psychology undergraduates perceive: (1) the importance of various graduate admission criteria, including minimum grade point averages needed for consideration by graduate programs; (2) the length of time required to complete graduate degrees; and (3) starting salaries at various educational levels. Presents and discusses…

Describes a method for assessing student attitudes toward studying international psychology. States that 33 seniors participated in a seminar course in which they took a pretest, wrote and presented information on a country, and then took a posttest. Reveals that five months after the course students' attitudes improved significantly. (CMK)

Provides a way to introduce students to the philosophical roots of psychology by surveying their assumptions on the nature of mind, emotions, and behavior. Describes and gives examples of a 50-item Likert-scale questionnaire concerning positions of the philosophers, biologists, and psychologists discussed in the class. (MJP)

Describes a simple exercise that demonstrates how content knowledge facilitates the rate of retrieval of domain-specific information. Music experts and novice students quickly name any seven words that relate to music. Reliably, the experts complete the task more quickly. Students rated this demonstration as both educational and interesting. (MJP)

Describes an undergraduate psychology class that required the students to either write an essay (counterattitudinal advocacy) or read an essay supporting a scientifically acceptable position contrary to one of their beliefs. Maintains that counterattitudinal advocacy is more effective for overcoming beginning students' erroneous beliefs about…

Provides an overview of the recent research concerning the application, benefits, and deficiencies regarding critical-reading skills and college instruction. Discusses how reading skills support cognitive processes necessary for acquiring psychological knowledge. Delineates the differences between narrative (story-like, believable) reading and…

Recommends the inclusion of a master's thesis in industrial and organizational psychology programs. Argues that the thesis serves several critical educational purposes and is relevant to applied psychology. Offers suggestions for increasing the relationship between the educational requirement and the professional tasks. (MJP)