Background: Acquisition and generalization of data analysis skills are perennial challenges for psychology students. Teaching advanced data analysis in a psychology-specific context might improve students' learning. Objective: At a mid-sized public university, we evaluated student outcomes after a new quantitative psychology course taught in the…

This study assesses the effectiveness of critical thinking drills (CTDs), a repetitious classroom activity designed to improve methodological and statistical thinking in relation to psychological claims embedded in popular press articles. In each of four separate CTDs, students critically analyzed a brief article reporting a recent psychological…

Refutation-style texts have been considered a viable strategy for changing psychological misconceptions. The current study aims to integrate refutation-style texts into a classroom-based method of learning. Psychology students were administered a true/false misconception survey and then viewed several refutation-style poster presentations…

The goal of this study was to investigate which common instructional methods (active vs. direct) best promote higher level thinking in a psychology course. Over a 5-week period, 71 undergraduates were taught psychology using both active learning and direct instruction. Pre- and post-course assessments were coded as either higher or lower level…

Teaching of psychology courses trains graduate students in pedagogy, but little is known about how diversity is addressed in these courses. A survey of instructors in teaching of psychology courses assessed their coverage of diversity and classroom bias, as well as the instructional methods used to cover them. Results indicated that 87% of…

Classroom demonstrations help students better understand challenging concepts. This article introduces an activity that demonstrates the basic concepts involved in analysis of variance (ANOVA). Students who physically participated in the activity had a better understanding of ANOVA concepts (i.e., higher scores on an exam question answered 2…

Described are computer assisted instruction exercises designed by a college professor to help undergraduate psychology students acquire fundamental skills in data collection--recording the data, using tables and graphs, and recognizing functional relationships. (RM)

Describes the use of a student-designed questionnaire to generate data for teaching statistical procedures and concepts. Maintains that students learn firsthand that data analysis is an integral part of the research process. Concludes that students find real data more interesting. (CFR)

Provides a classroom demonstration designed to test an astrological hypothesis and help teach introductory psychology students about research design and data interpretation. Illustrates differences between science and nonscience, the role of theory in developing and testing hypotheses, making comparisons among groups, probability and statistical…

Described is an in-class demonstration of mass reaction time which measures the speed of nerve impulses and the duration of various cognitive processes. A simpler version of the experiment for at-home use is described. (Author/DB)

We developed a novel variation on classroom data collection by having students conduct a national research project. Students at 20 different colleges and universities measured "school spirit" at their institutions according to several operational criteria (school apparel wearing, car stickers, alumni donation rate, ratings by a major sports…

Described is a college course on the use of computers in psychology that included an introduction to computers, computing, word processing, data analysis, data acquisition, artificial intelligence, computer assisted instruction, simulation, and modeling. Students conducted independent research projects using the computer. (Author/RM)

Describes a computer program called AnoGen that automates the process of generating data sets for ANOVA designs and operates within DOS and Windows compatible computers. Explains that the program runs in both student and teacher modes and is freely available for noncommercial use through the Internet. (CMK)

We describe a perceptual experiment that we have successfully used in Research Methods classes. Students attempt to identify a series of simple cookie cutter shapes using only the fingers and hands (haptic perception). Students read archival studies that have used this procedure, identify confounds, generate and test alternate hypotheses, and…

Suggests a classroom activity for teaching psychology students about group norms. Calls upon students to conduct peer surveys about a particular behavior and then to represent approval or disapproval of the behavior graphically. Argues that the activity increases student understanding of survey research methods, the need for controlled research,…