Hope College social psychologist David Myers will, first, offer 10 striking examples of how people (at both ends of the political spectrum) express beliefs in things that are clearly untrue. He then will recap psychological mechanisms that enable and sustain false beliefs. Finally, he will illustrate the contribution of scientific inquiry and the role of educators in restraining misinformation.

Dr. David G Myers is a professor of psychology at Hope College in Michigan, United States, and the author of 17 books, including popular textbooks entitled Psychology, Exploring Psychology, Social Psychology and general-audience books dealing with issues related to Christian faith as well as scientific psychology. Recently, he's published How Do We Know Ourselves: Curiosities and Marvels of the Human Mind, a new collection of short essays that shine the light of psychological science on our wonder-full lives. He has been featured at many conferences, including NIToP and is widely hailed as a wise and dynamic speaker.

Instructors share favorite demonstrations, assignments, teaching tips, class practices, and current research on teaching. 

1. Memory Box: First Day of Class Intro Activity

Paula Hylton, Cannon School 

Description: This is a first day of school activity and demonstration that is a means for students to learn basic strategies that help a student be successful and get to know their instructor better. This activity is adapted from the article, “A Classroom Icebreaker with a Lesson that Lasts” by Virginia Freed. The demonstration involves a box and 20 small objects. As the instructor goes through the various steps of the ice breaker, they are also interweaving basic strategies that help a student be successful (such as being on time, being prepared, paying attention, serial positioning effect, spaced versus massed practice, semantic memory, verbalizing information, etc.). As a bonus, this can also be a simple way for the instructor to introduce themselves to the new class. Often, students remember this activity and its purpose much longer into the year than expected. It is a great way to set expectations AND to start students learning about how to learn.

Bio: I am a high school psychology teacher at Cannon School, which is an independent school in Concord, NC. I teach both honors level and AP level introductory psychology courses. I have an undergraduate degree from St. Lawrence University and a masters degree from UNC at Charlotte. I have 16 years of teaching experience and thoroughly enjoy helping students learn how to learn. I am also a wife, mother of two little girls, and an avid crossfitter. 

2. Specifications Grading in Introductory Psychology

Carole Yue, Covenant College

Description: Students enroll in Introductory Psychology with a variety of goals, motivations, and preparation levels. One approach to help students focus on deeper learning and reduce performance-related anxiety is to implement specifications grading, which allows for flexibility and revisions within the course structure. In this session, I will discuss specifications grading in my General Psychology class and encourage collaborative discussion on how and why this approach may be beneficial.

Bio: Carole Yue is an Associate Professor of Psychology and the chair of the Psychology Department at Covenant College. She earned her BA from Samford University and her MA and PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research focuses on student learning and metacognition, and she regularly teaches General Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, the Science of Learning, Research Methods, and other fun courses. 

3. Pandemic-Related Impacts on Student Well-being and Learning (research talk)

June Gruber, University of Colorado, Boulder

Description: Challenges to student mental health and learning is a growing concern internationally. These challenges have been exacerbated as a result of unprecedented stressors and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in a global mental health crisis. This talk will first consider how extant mental health struggles have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic for students and young adults., and this impact within pedagogical teaching contexts for instructors and faculty. I will discuss a multi-prong and evidence-based path forward disseminating the science of happiness through pedagogy. The talk will end with a call to action to promote and elevate student mental health and optimize learning outcomes during and beyond the pandemic.

Bio: June Gruber is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado, Director of the Positive Emotion and Psychopathology Laboratory, and a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Teaching and Learning. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at UC Berkeley and previously was faculty at Yale. Her teaching has been recognized by the Cogswell Award for Inspirational Instruction, Boulder Faculty Assembly Excellence Award in Teaching & Pedagogy and the UROP Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award. She has published over 100 articles and chapters on positive emotion and mental health has been recognized by several early-career awards. She is the co-author of the  upcoming 14th edition of Psychology with David Myers and Nathan DeWall. Twitter: @junegruber 

4. Truly Universal Truths? Introducing Social Psychology with a Case for Context 

Emma Grisham, Duke University

Description: This activity is designed to kick off the social psychology unit by illustrating the importance of context for understanding the diversity of psychological experiences. In pairs, students are prompted to generate a truly universal statement about the human experience that applies to every living person (e.g., all people need love). Students are then asked to share their universal truths with the class and have their classmates weigh in on whether it does apply to every human experience and, if not, identify a context or situation in which that statement could be false. 

Bio: Emma Grisham is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Florida and her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of California, Irvine. During her graduate training, she conducted research on intra- and interpersonal processes associated with psychological adjustment following collective trauma, participated in UCI’s Pedagogical Fellows Program, taught Introductory Psychology, and trained graduate teaching assistants. Since joining Duke in 2022, her work has focused on the practice and science of teaching. She teaches intro psych and social psych, trains undergraduate students to become effective teachers, and conducts classroom research to improve student outcomes.

Instructors share favorite demonstrations, assignments, teaching tips, class practices, and current research on teaching. 

1. Science Can Be Yummy! Teaching Principles of Objective Inquiry With Oreos

Meghan Gangel, Western Carolina University

Description: I will use Oreos to demonstrate the 4 steps of the scientific method, specifically creating a hands-on activity for students (can be completed as an theoretical assessment tool). 

Bio: Dr. Meghan Gangel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Western Carolina University, teaching Adolescent and Adult Development in addition to Introduction to Psychology. Previously she has taught at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Wake Forest University, and has nearly 10 years of teaching experience. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College in Psychology, a master’s degree in Experimental Psychology from Villanova University, and a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her research interests involve the development of adolescent and emerging adult cardiometabolic health, and focus on the effects of parents, peers, and stigma. And when she’s not teaching, she is parenting three young wild children.  

2. Moving Discussions: Exploring Myths and Misconceptions Using a Movement Integrated Exercise

Shannon Wittig, Henderson State University

Description: For this exercise, students examine a myth commonly associated with psychology. At the start of the activity, students pick their stance (i.e., agree, neutral, or disagree) on a particular myth by physically moving to the designated zones in the classroom. Once in their zone, students break into smaller groups (typically 4 to 5 students in each group) to find/discuss three pieces of evidence to help support their stance. Once determined, a spokesperson from each group presents their evidence to the class. The objectives are to develop critical thinking by examining how empirical evidence can counter unsubstantiated myths.

Bio: Shannon Wittig is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Program at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, AR. She teaches a variety of courses including introductory psychology, research methods, research statistics, applied psychology, and infancy and childhood. Shannon is involved in her program's curriculum and assessment committee and she is a strong believer in allowing students to engage in psychology by "doing" psychology through application and active learning in her courses.

3. Ho’āla: Integrating Native Hawaiian Methods of Inquiry and Observation Into Introductory Psychology Courses

Ashley Biddle, University of Hawai'i - Leeward CC

Description: This demonstration will introduce participants to the ways I have woven Native Hawaiian methods of analysis into my Introductory Psychology courses across a variety of modalities. Broadly, students are scaffolded through methods of analyzing various artifacts (e.g., photos, objects, films, Hawaiian proverbs) and relating to their lives and course content in meaningful, holistic ways. I will also discuss the importance of traditional training and giving appropriate credit when using methods developed by Indigenous people.

Bio: Ashley Biddle has been teaching at Leeward Community College (Pearl City, HI) since she earned her PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2017. She centers her courses around the principles of meeting students where they are, using Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Pedagogy to localize content, and integrating culturally relevant pedagogical tools whenever possible and appropriate. She is also interested in the ways institutions can better serve parenting students. Dr. Biddle was an OER Research Fellow in 2020-21, received an Instructional Resource Grant from Society for Teaching Psychology in 2022, and looks forward to connecting with new colleagues at her first Psych One conference! 

4. When Andragogy Meets Pedagogy 

Julienne King, Houston Christian University

Description: Infusing technology effectively in the classroom and lesson planning template that I created that has kept students engaged in the lesson. I combined my experience in the K12 classroom with the teaching practices that worked well for me and adapted it to the college and university setting. I created a lesson plan template focused on the adult learner and used the tool and methods in my class. It has created significant results in the classroom experience.

Bio: Dr Julienne King has been an educator for 20+ years. While spending most of her time teaching science to middle school students, she has also taught psychology at the Higher Education level in the Houston area both online and face to face. Over the years, she learned a great deal about how to effectively maximize the student learning experience in the higher education level with creative teaching strategies of the K12 classroom. In addition to teaching, Julienne has had many opportunities to share these best teaching practices with colleagues both at the K12 and Higher Ed levels. Her trainings empowers educators to take risks in cultivating a learning space where students actively engage with the content and become critical thinkers in this digital age.  Julienne is also a mother to 2 beautiful girls, a mentor, and an author. She also enjoys serving in her local community in various ways. 

5. Flexible Policies and Alternative Grading - What Should I Do? (Research Talk) 

Alison Melley, George Mason University

Description: In this short talk, I will share where I have landed after four semesters of trying out various flexible policies in large enrollment introductory psychology. Structure is key to successfully managing these courses, but can we also allow flexibility in attendance, late work, and grading policies without increasing our workload? Data regarding student impressions of and use of these policies will be shared, along with some discussion about finding the right balance for you and your students. 

Bio: Alison’s teaching roots began at the University of Virginia where she earned her doctorate, and those roots grew and flourished at Montgomery College Maryland. While at MC, she experienced a transformative teaching fellowship with the Smithsonian that has informed much of her work since. She has been at George Mason University since 2019, where her primary responsibility is developing and facilitating the Psychology Department graduate teaching practicum. While she enjoys the personal and professional challenge of mentoring graduate students, her current (work-related) passion is for students taking large enrollment introductory psychology courses where she also has developed an undergraduate learning assistant program. Her major interests are in developing inclusive, accessible, and resilient classrooms (online and on-campus), using and creating OER, and encouraging students to find and follow their curiosity. In her non-working times, Alison follows her own curiosities, usually involving creating something, being outside with her family, or the garden. 

Guests will select from a range of teaching topics and exchange ideas in a roundtable format, led by a group facilitator. Halfway through the session, attendees will have an opportunity to switch to a different discussion topic. 

1. Bringing Behavioral Neuroscience into Introductory Psychology

William Eiler, Franklin College

Description: Engaging students in the classroom meaningfully is always difficult, especially for a technically complex topic such as behavioral neuroscience. This is further complicated by the fact that many students that take introductory psychology courses are non-majors coming from disparate programs across campus. Therefore, it is important to discuss this complex topic in an engaging and accessible fashion. In this focused discussion, we would like to share some of the engaged learning methods we employ in the classroom as well as learn some new strategies from other attendees.

2. Get into the Spirit! Incorporating Holiday-Themed Activities to Enhance Understanding and Engagement in Your Introductory Psychology Course

Meredith Henry, Georgia State University

Description: One consistent finding of memory and learning is the benefit of elaborative rehearsal – meaningfully tying new information to information already successfully stored in long-term memory. This is an especially successful technique if the connection made is self-referential (Simpson et al., 1994). This proposed roundtable discussion, which accompanies a proposed talk on “The Psychology of Halloween” will facilitate discussion on how instructors can use the existing contexts of national, local, and/or university holidays and celebrations to assist students’ learning. Students are likely to hold prior knowledge & expectations for these events, positioning them favorably to guide memory and application.

Bio: Meredith A. Henry is a lecturer of psychology at Georgia State University and a founding member of the NSF-supported Research Coordination Network FLAMEnet (Factors Affecting Learning, Attitudes, and Mindsets in Education Network). Her research focuses on students’ and instructors’ views of failure and challenges in higher education. She is particularly interested in how these perceptions of failure/challenge can be leveraged to improve noncognitive outcomes (e.g., fear of failure, mindset, coping behaviors, attribution style) within the classroom. Her teaching interests include finding ways to encourage students to apply class content to real-world situations and continuing the quest to convince

undergraduates that stats/research methods are cool.

3. Bringing “Community” into Introductory Psychology

Joshua Lovett, University of Illinois at Chicago

Description: Introductory Psychology is a very popular course and is often seen as the course that opens the gate to the discipline. Many textbooks and courses tend to cover content in similar chunks, such as social psychology, neuroscience, and development psychology; however, community psychology is rarely mentioned or covered in introductory courses. This often overlooked sub-discipline may introduce new ways of thinking about the field and may lead to additional critical insights about other topics covered in the course, such as psychological disorders. Led by a current doctoral student in a Community Psychology Program, this roundtable discussion will explore multiple ways of bringing Community Psychology into the introductory course. 

Bio: "Josh is a doctoral student in the Community and Applied Developmental Psychology Program at the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC). With a deep interest in education and psychology, Josh pursued his undergraduate degree in psychology at Duke University, where he also served as a Costanzo Teaching Fellow. After graduation, Josh spent three years as a Fulbright Scholar in South Korea, where he taught ESL to a wide range of students. During his graduate studies, Josh has served as a research assistant, teaching assistant, and mentor. Josh's research interests lie in the social and behavioral contexts of learning, with a particular focus on the social-emotional competencies of teachers and their impact on classroom dynamics. For his current thesis work, he is exploring how and why teachers adapt social-emotional learning (SEL) programs. Upon completing his doctoral program, Josh is eager to pursue a career in teaching.

4. Classroom Engagement in The Time of Tik Tok Attention Spans 

Amanda MacNeil, Cleveland State University 

Description: Tik Tok is popular for brief, bite-sized bits of content. Whether solely entertaining or informational, these videos are easy to get through and are over within 60 seconds. Scrolling to the next video within minutes produces quick hits of engagement and attention. In their free time, college students relax by watching these short-form videos. Lectures, however, are much longer and perhaps difficult to digest for students who engage with small bits of information. This discussion will dive into using tik tok as a teaching tool to increase participation, inform bite-sized lessons, and better understand the bandwidth of the current student.

Bio: Amanda MacNeil is a 5th-year doctoral candidate in Adult Development and Aging at Cleveland State University. Her dissertation focuses on the subjective experience of difficulties and distress experienced by individuals with dementia. Amanda has been a GA throughout her Ph.D. program and has finished her second year as instructor of record at Cleveland State University and John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, where she has taught four sections of Introduction to Psychology as well as Psychology of Aging, Descriptive Statistics, and Health Psychology. Amanda will graduate in the Spring of 2024 and hopes to continue in a teaching-focused role at a university. 

5. Research Based Study Methods: Providing Low-stakes Retrieval Practice to Improve Student Learning Outcomes

Jamie Newland and Zoe Cheung, University of Florida 

Description: Extensive research demonstrates that retrieval practice improves student learning and is an effective learning strategy. Retrieval practice involves the active recall of information from memory, which has been found to enhance long-term retention of information. However, many students are not aware of the well-established benefits of retrieval practice. As a result, this valuable learning strategy remains underutilized as students may rely on less effective strategies such as rereading or highlighting. Participants are invited to share their approach to providing low-stakes retrieval practice and recommendations to students regarding the best study methods to optimize learning. 

Bio: Jamie Newland is a PhD candidate at the University of Florida, where she teaches Introduction to Psychology. She is a passionate educator who collaborates with fellow professors to investigate methods to optimize student learning outcomes. Jamie also conducts research on infant cognitive development, using a variety of methods such as eye-tracking, neural measures, and behavioral measures, in the Brain, Cognition, and Development Lab. Her current work focuses on parent-child interactions and joint attention during shared book reading and how these interactions contribute to infant learning and development. She is excited to collaborate with fellow educators and researchers who share her passion for optimizing student learning outcomes and advancing knowledge in the field of psychology.

6. Taking the “Pulse” of the Class by Collecting Informal, Continuous Feedback

Gregory Preuss, North Carolina Wesleyan University 

Description: Introductory Psychology instructors want to know about the aspects of the class that are (or are not) going well for their students. From each student’s perspective, what is the instructor doing that is the most effective? What topics resonate with students? In this roundtable, instructors will discuss ways to maintain a dialogue with every member of the class—especially those who are less likely to come to office hours or ask questions after class. Specifically, instructors will share ideas about ways to collect informal, continuous feedback to determine the “pulse” of the class and promote course belonging and engagement. 

7. "Two Sides of the Same Coin? Making Effective Use of Student Experience while Combating Myths

Shaina Rowell, Florida Atlantic University 

Description: Students come into the Introductory Psychology course with pre-existing ideas about how people think and behave. Part of our mission then is to help them identify which ideas are supported by evidence and delve deeper into those, while also identifying which ideas are misconceptions. This discussion will focus on a variety of ways to combat myths about psychology as well as how to balance this with making effective use of the knowledge students bring into the course. Participants will be encouraged to share about challenges they have faced as well as resources, assignments, and activities they have used.

8. An Introductory Psychology Laboratory to support APA IPI Student Learning Outcomes

Carole Yue, Covenant College 

Description: According to the student learning outcomes generated by the APA IPI, students who complete the Introductory Psychology course should be able to demonstrate scientific thinking in the context of psychological methods and findings.  One way to accomplish this set of goals is to offer a structured laboratory component, similar to that included in other introductory courses in scientific disciplines.  This session will discuss a possible laboratory curriculum for the Introductory Psychology course.

Bio: Carole Yue is an Associate Professor of Psychology and the chair of the Psychology Department at Covenant College.  She earned her BA from Samford University and her MA and PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research focuses on student learning and metacognition, and she regularly teaches General Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, the Science of Learning, Research Methods, and other fun courses.  

The recent years of racial reckoning have taught social scientists that everyone needs to be informed about the complexity of race's meaning in our society; however, it can be challenging to be inclusive in the methods, aims, and content of our psychology courses. In this interactive lecture, attendees will clarify their roles in bringing innovative approaches to culturally-informed health care to our classrooms.

Dr Afiya Mbilishaka  grew up as her family’s hairstylist, graduating from lawn chairs at cookouts to eventually holding space in her college dorm room for a mini-salon. Her trait of being a skillful active listener and creative translated smoothly to the field of psychology, earning her degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Howard University. At the age of 26, Dr. Mbilishaka earned a PhD in clinical psychology and was a therapist at Columbia University. She is now a professor and head of the Psychology Program at the University of the District of Columbia. Dr. Mbilishaka innovated the practice and research of "PsychoHairapy," where she uses hair as an entry point for mental health services in beauty salons and barbershops, as well as social media.

Sponsored by W.W. Norton and Soomo Learning

Enjoy wine, cheese,  heavy hors d'oeuvres, and conversation just a short walk from our conference location at the Devil's Krafthouse. 

(*Many attendees treat this event as dinner)

Despite a large literature demonstrating the importance of agency/autonomy in student motivation and achievement, there has been little focus on developing specific, practical, and implementable interventions that promote autonomy in educational settings. If anything, many practices endorsed by university teaching and learning centers, such as mandatory attendance, mandatory drafts, and syllabus quizzes, serve to undermine feelings of autonomy. Here, we briefly review the literature on the benefits of promoting agency, provide several concrete teaching strategies for doing so, and provide evidence of their efficacy. Agency-promoting teaching practices have the potential to improve student outcomes both in the classroom (i.e. more motivated students who consequently learn more) and beyond.

Dr. Danny Oppenheimer is a professor at Carnegie Mellon jointly appointed in Psychology and Decision Sciences who studies judgment, decision making, metacognition, learning and causal reasoning, and applies his findings to a diverse array of domains, such as charitable giving, consumer behavior, education, electoral outcomes, and how to trick students into buying him ice cream.  He is the author of over 50 peer-reviewed articles and books including Democracy despite itself: Why a system that shouldn't work at all works so well and Psychology: The comic book introduction. He has won awards for research, teaching, and humor, the latter of which is particularly inexplicable given his penchant for truly terrible puns.

Based on the proposals for this conference, and on the news in general, it's clear that AI and alternative grading are on everyone's minds. For this session, we will have small group discussions; attendees can choose which topic to focus on.

AI, in the form of ChatGPT and the like, has taken the world by storm, and has significant implications for how we teach Introductory Psychology. Questions include: How are students using it? How can we deter AI-based cheating? How might we use AI as a teaching tool, or to make our lives easier as faculty?

Alternative grading is a catch-all term that encompasses a multitude of options: specs grading, assignment choices, and more. What do all those options entail? What are the pros and cons of each? How can instructors make the leap while maintaining a reasonable workload?  

Instructors share favorite demonstrations, assignments, teaching tips, class practices, and current research on teaching. 

1. Online Psychology Lab

Martin Shapiro, CSU Fresno

Description: I have created a webpage using Google Sites that contains many hands-on experiences for students. These labs correspond with topics typically taught in an introduction to psychology course. There are two types of labs: activities and experiments. Activity labs connect students to online interactive websites. Students are guided through the activity and can fill out worksheets as part of the class assignments. Experiment labs are original or replicated experiments. Datasheets and results will be available to students. Although I have built several labs, it is still a work in progress, and collaborations are welcome. 

Bio: Martin S. Shapiro is a professor of psychology at California State University, Fresno, and the program director for a new neuroscience major in the College of Science and Math. For several years he was the chair of a task force for high-impact practices and project-based learning at CSU Fresno. His primary research interests are in animal behavior, decision-making, behavioral economics, and psychophysiology. He has authored two textbooks available through Flatworld publishing: Biopsychology: Fundamentals and Contemporary Issues (2019) and The Science of Psychology: Connections and Contemporary Issues (Fall, 2023). He has taught courses in biopsychology, motivation, learning, and senses and perception for the past 23 years. He has also developed and taught courses on global challenges. Dr. Shapiro has received several teaching awards from CSU, Fresno, including a University Provost award for using technology in teaching, the Psychology Department’s instructor-of-the-year honor, and the student-selected Faculty Lecture Series Award.

2. Which Countries are Happiest? Operational Definitions, Cultural Humility, and Influences on Behavior

Rachelle Tannenbaum, Anne Arundel Community College 

Description: In this class activity, the class first explores different definitions of happiness and well-being, and how culture can impact those definitions. We then explore results of the UN World Happiness Report and other cross-country comparisons to see which countries are happiest, and generate possible explanations for the results. This activity allows us to introduce or reinforce concepts such as operational definitions, cultural humility and competence, and different levels of influence on human behavior.

Bio: Rachelle Tannenbaum is a psychology professor at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, MD. She primarily teaches Introduction to Psychology, which is her favorite course by far; she also teaches and is course coordinator for Developmental Psychology. She has been actively involved in training and review processes related to online learning and course design, her department’s learning outcomes assessment efforts, and efforts to reshape the curriculum to emphasize access, equity, and inclusion. After 23 years, she's still in love with the fact that she gets paid to spend her time learning new things. When she's not at school, she can be found reading, playing board games, and generally hanging out with her husband and three kids.

3. Using a Web-Based Correspondence Bias Module to Enrich Introductory Students’ Encounter With Psychology

Neil Lutsky, Carleton College

Description: This presentation will provide an overview of a website on correspondence bias (aka, the fundamental attribution error) designed to introduce introductory students to central issues in psychology, including generalization, replication, cross-cultural comparisons, and racism in the history of psychology. The module is built around the attitude attribution research paradigm developed by Jones and Harris (1967), allows students to participate in a correspondence bias study themselves, and shows students how psychological scientists build a rich and informative literature around a signal research paradigm. A central goal of the site is to give students stimuli to prompt scientific thinking.

Bio: Neil Lutsky is William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Psychology at Carleton College in Northfield, MN. He teaches courses in social psychology, personality, general psychology, and positive psychology. He is a former president of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and the 2001 recipient of the Minnesota Psychological Association’s Walter D. Mink Undergraduate Teacher Award, the 2011 recipient of the American Psychological Foundation’s Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award, and the 2018 recipient of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology’s Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring Award. His professional interests include the teaching of psychology, quantitative reasoning, obedience to authority, and the study of therapy, relationship, and other life endings. Lutsky has served as a visiting faculty member at Ashoka University in India and at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad in Copenhagen. 

4. Getting Students "Ready Through Research"

Jackie Cerda-Smith, North Carolina State University, and Kristie Winter, Carrboro High School

Description: The Ready Through Research (RTR) curriculum involves a series of research workshops, developed to engage AP Psychology students in designing and conducting authentic research projects. Students are mentored by local research “experts.” Their relationship centers on reciprocal feedback in which experts and students share their research ideas and give advice to one another. RTR goals include (1) enhancing students’ research competencies, (2) promoting research as a tool for community improvement, (3) fostering students’ science identity, and (4) encouraging students’ interest in a STEM career. RTR resources and ways to adapt RTR to other contexts are discussed.

Bio: Jacqueline (Jackie) Cerda-Smith is a fourth-year graduate student in the Lifespan Developmental Psychology program at NC State University. Her community-engaged research involves working with local stakeholders to examine ways that schools can support adolescent well-being and equity. For example, she is currently partnered with a local AP Psychology teacher to co-design and implement the Ready Through Research curriculum. Jackie is a former AP Psychology teacher who received her National Board Certification in 2018. She is a mom of two who advocates for practices and policies that support pregnant and parenting students at NC State by founding the Student Parent Association. To learn more about Jackie’s research, teaching, and advocacy work, please visit her website at www.tinyurl.com/cerdasmith 

Bio: Kristie Winter is a high school AP Psychology and Newcomer ESL teacher at Carrboro High School. She has been teaching for 3 years. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a master’s degree in Teaching from UNC-Chapel Hill. Kristie is passionate about building relationships with students and engaging them in the study of psychological science. Kristie attended the APA Clark University workshop last summer and will be attending the APA/APF Oregon State University workshop this summer. She loves to collaborate with other high school teachers, college professors, and researchers to further her learning of psychology and best practices for teaching. 

5. Reducing Stigma Through Awareness: A Psychology Awareness Project

Sara Speybroeck, University of Cincinnati

Description: Students will complete an awareness project to reduce stigma around a chosen issue in Psychology. The awareness project runs throughout the semester and consists of 4 parts. First, students must research a specific issue of their choice related to Psychology and submit a topic choice paper. Second, they will create an infographic sharing accurate information from evidence-based sources. Third, they are required to develop an additional ‘product’ to create awareness regarding their chosen issue. Fourth, they need to build an electronic portfolio including the topic choice paper, the infographic and the product completed during the course.

Bio: Dr. Speybroeck is an Assistant Professor Educator in the Psychology Department at the University of Cincinnati. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of Ghent (Belgium), and her PhD in Educational Sciences from the Universities of Leuven and Antwerp (Belgium). She also obtained a Master of Teacher Training in Psychology from the University of Leuven (Belgium) and completed an undergraduate certificate program in violence prevention (University of Cincinnati). Before joining UC, she worked as a researcher at the University of Leuven (Belgium) and the University of Bristol (UK). Her research interests focus on improving educational outcomes for underprivileged and disadvantaged children. At UC, she is teaching Introduction to Psychology, Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Development, and an honors course on Death and Dying.