Date: November 4, 2011
Time: Noon – 4:30 pm Eastern
Effective instruction in the discipline of psychology requires specific tools and techniques. In this four-and-a-half-hour workshop, expert practitioners in the fields psychology and education will explore need-to-know topics for student engagement, including student misconceptions about psychology, study skills, active learning, and critical thinking.
In addition to the benefits of the longer format—more material, greater chance for collaboration within the cohort of attendees—participants will receive a complimentary book with registration.
Part One - Mythbusters in the Psychology Classroom: Debunking Common Student Misconceptions
In part one of the workshop, Scott O. Lilienfeld will discuss the nature and prevalence of widespread student misconceptions about psychology (e.g., opposites attract, most people use only 10% of their brain power, people with schizophrenia have multiple personalities) and argue that dispelling students' misunderstandings of the subject matter is often essential for promoting accurate psychological knowledge. He will offer a number of tangible examples of student misconceptions about psychology and examine their probable sources and origins. Finally, by drawing on the extant literature from educational psychology and science education, he will explore potentially fruitful teaching approaches to confronting and debunking student misconceptions of psychology.
Part Two - What Does 'Study More' Really Mean?: Helping Today's Psychology Students Improve Study Skills
How should students study? What is the best advice to give students regarding study skills? What works? In this portion of the workshop, Regan A. R. Gurung provides instructors with a review of the empirical evidence on study skills, offers key suggestions for instructors to modify their pedagogy to aid student studying, and concludes with items for future research on this critical topic.
Part Three - Engaging and Inspiring Today's Students through Active Learning
Young Americans reportedly spend an average of 6.5 hours of each day using electronic media. How can college professors find time for active learning, while also competing with the electronic media's high entertainment value, immediate connectivity, and instantaneous rewards? Can we learn and borrow from these new technologies to improve our teaching? In this portion of the workshop, Karen Huffman will focus on maximizing student engagement and inspiration. She will discuss when and how to use a variety of demonstrations, assessment techniques, short video clips, and more to enhance classroom presentations. Participants will be invited to reflect upon their own teaching, student engagement, and active learning experiences and insights, resulting in a rich knowledge exchange among participants.
Part Four - Teaching for Critical Thinking
Critical thinking involves students (and teachers) being able to identify and research the assumptions that frame how they think and act. Only if assumptions are accurate and valid can we trust them as guides for thought and action. Studies of critical thinking show that two factors are crucial to learning critical thinking: seeing teachers model the process and experiencing it as a social learning process. In this interactive workshop Stephen D. Brookfield will model critical thinking about critical thinking and will introduce a number of classroom activities that can actively engage students in learning how to think critically.
