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Most students have difficulty understanding standard scores. (How can a score of zero be a C? Does a
negative score mean that I know less than nothing does?) Standard scores also have the disadvantage of
having a small range. One situation in which standard scores should be considered is when the test means
for the term are unequal and you are dropping students’ lowest test scores.
DECISIONS ABOUT EXTRA CREDIT WORK
Should I provide an opportunity for students to get course credit for work that is not a class requirement? If
you fail to state a firm policy on extra credit work in the syllabus, you will be visited by failing students
during the closing weeks of the term. They would like to write papers, or do something to raise their grades.
A no-extra credit policy is advised, with the rationale that students who are failing the required work would
be better off spending their time on the text rather than writing a paper that is likely to be poorly written or
plagiarized.
If there are to be opportunities for extra credit, they should be available to all students, not just those who
come to your office with sad stories. For your best students, extra credit work is likely to be perceived as
required, and you may find that they are more likely to take advantage of opportunities to earn points than
students who need them more.
Extra credit work will increase your workload. The bookkeeping for volunteer work or research
participation can be a headache, and rewritten or replaced papers means more papers to read and grade.
However, this should not deter you if you can provide extra credit work that is truly a beneficial experience
for students.
What kind of extra credit opportunities could I provide?
One extra credit option that is a learning experience for students and a service to the community is
volunteer work in places such as sheltered workshops, child care centers, nursing homes, and shelters for
the homeless. If you can arrange this type of activity, be sure to set a limit on the amount of credit that can be
earned.
Introductory students are frequently an important source of human subjects for research. If research
participation is not a requirement at your school, you might consider using it as an extra credit option.
If you assign several short papers during the term, you could allow students to rewrite or replace a paper
that has received a low score. Rewriting a poor paper based on your comments and corrections can be
especially beneficial for students who need help with writing skills.
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS IN THE INTRODUCTORY
COURSE
As student’s writing skills have deteriorated, educators have become increasingly reluctant to include
writing assignments as a course requirement. If this deterioration is to be reversed, it seems apparent that
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instructors in disciplines other than English must assume some of the responsibility for providing writing
experiences for students.
DESIGNING WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
The assignments should be related to the objectives of the course. They should increase insight into
psychological concepts, develop critical thinking skills, or stimulate personal growth. The form of the
assignments can be:
. A take-home paper in which students answer a specific question.
. A psychological diary. In writing the diary, students describe everyday experiences related to
what they are learning in class. For example, a student hears a commercial for a cold remedy on
TV, and wonders about the basis of the claim that the product is twice as effective as remedy X;
or a student notes that her father trots out all his dissonance-reducing strategies whenever
something goes wrong with the lemon he bought.
. In-class papers. Students write a paragraph in class expressing their opinion on an issue,
evaluating a film, or describing an experience. It is probably best not to grade these mini-
papers, but it may encourage attendance if students are rewarded with a few points for
participation.
The assignment should be clearly worded and specific. Instruction about the form of the paper should give
detailed instructions on how the paper is to be prepared. The topics of papers should be described in such a
way that the possibility of misinterpretation is minimized. You may need to give a systematic plan for a
paper or to enumerate the points you expect to be covered. You can select questions from those provided in
the test bank or create your own. Here is a list of verbs you may find useful as you create effective essay
questions:
advise compare contrast apply
illustrate evaluate criticize summarize
relate design analyze predict
trace justify
take sides on the controversy between
explore the implications of
Specify a specific purpose or audience for the paper. The instructor is the traditional audience for student
papers, and since you know so much, students tend to expect that you will not need important information
or explanation. An example of a specific purpose would be “to encourage a friend to see a behavior
therapist about a particular phobia.” The targeted audience could be students who have not taken
introductory psychology, the readers of Parents’ magazine, or a person who has written to Dear Abby about
a psychological problem.
Inform students about how their papers will be evaluated. This information, as well as other details, can be
specified in a handout, “All you need to know about writing assignments.” This can be part of the syllabus
or distributed separately. Suggestions for the handout are outlined below.
. General discussion of written assignments: In this section inform students how many papers are
required, how long they are to be, how topics are to be selected, and whether papers that receive
a low score can be rewritten. Students should not be allowed to write more than one paper
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related to a chapter. Assign specific due dates for the papers throughout the term to prevent
students from handing in all their papers on the last day of the term.
. Specific guidelines for preparation of papers: In this section tell students such things as: use 8. by
11 paper; write on one side only; put the title, assignment number and your name at the top of
the first page; type using double-spacing and one-inch margins; don’t use plastic covers or
binders. It is a good idea to discuss plagiarism in this section and to indicate how students
should handle quoted material.
. Evaluation criteria: The three traditional criteria for evaluation of papers are content or ideas,
organization, and mechanics. You may want to assign weights to each of these criteria. For
example, if the maximum number of points for a paper is 25, you might assign 12 for content, 8
for organization, and 5 for mechanics.
. Topics: Provide a chapter-by-chapter list of the topics from which students can choose. Having
this list at the beginning of the term gives students a chance to make tentative choices of topics
that interest them.
EVALUATING STUDENT WRITING
There are two extremes to be avoided in evaluating papers. One is over grading or providing excessive
feedback and the other is putting a grade on the paper with no marks or comments to justify your
evaluation.
To avoid both extremes, it is best to devise an evaluation plan that is relatively easy to use and to
communicate to students. One author suggested drawing a straight line under ideas or other aspects of a
paper that you particularly like and drawing a wavy line under passages that are poorly written or
confusing. This system can be extended by developing a code to indicate the reason for a wavy line; for
example, G for poor grammar, U for unsupported generalization, I for irrelevance, and E for erroneous
information or conclusion.
Critical thinking is an aspect of student writing that you may want to emphasize in evaluating papers. Here
is one set of guidelines for evaluating critical thinking:
. Ask questions; be willing to wonder.
. Define the problem.
. Examine the evidence.
. Analyze assumptions and biases.
. Avoid emotional reasoning: “If I feel this way, it must be true.”
. Do not oversimplify.
. Consider other interpretations.
. Tolerate uncertainty.
There may be nothing you can do for your students that will benefit them as much as writing assignments.
Many students find writing distasteful but are aware of their deficiency in written communication and
apprehensive about the implications of the problem for future employment.
WHAT TO DO WHEN THE EARTHQUAKE COMES
Even the best-laid plans of effective teachers occasionally go awry. If you are not uptight and excessively
formal about what should and ought to happen in your class, these events can often be turned to your
advantage, to reveal your human side or to capitalize on the attention and emotional involvement they
generate to bring some academic points home more forcefully than you could normally. Here are some
suggestions to help you go with the flow:
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YOU HAVE MADE A MISTAKE
Admit it, laugh at it, correct it, consider why you made it, and thank the person who discovered it. If you are
unsure of what is wrong, ask some specific person in the audience to tell you why the students are reacting
as they are.
RULE VIOLATION
When the class is disrupted by deliberate rebellion—individual or collective—or when someone is violating
some implicit rule of yours, handle the problem directly and immediately. Do not ignore it. Do not try to
continue with planned material. Determine first what the nature of the disruption is, how representative it
is of the whole class, and whether the apparent explanation is a valid one (e.g., students who are leaving
early are on their way to some required athletic activity or students are inattentive due to a hearing
difficulty). Assume it is a valid protest until proved otherwise. If, for example, you are distressed by a
student reading the newspaper right in front of you, stop and say so. Say it is upsetting, ask the student to
put it away, or alternately, ask the student to leave and read it outside. It is not necessary to embarrass the
student, but you can set a firm but gentle example of the classroom decorum you expect. It is always
advisable to speak personally to any such disrupting student afterward to explain your action in a
nonthreatening manner. Many potential sources of trouble are won over with such demonstrations of
personal attention and caring.
CHALLENGES TO YOUR AUTHORITY
You will encounter a variety of “problem” students. Do not use your position as an authority to beat them
down in class. Such students often respond positively to a personal meeting after class to discuss the nature
of the problem. This open recognition may be all that is necessary; the student may be calling for help, may
want to be given some limits, or may be able to tell you where you are going wrong and losing student
interest. The best way to establish your intellectual authority is through establishing an open,
democratically run class, not an authoritarian one.
SUMMARY: TEN TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL
TEACHING
For most students, the introductory psychology course will be the only psychology course they will ever
take. While a good text and helpful ancillaries certainly contribute to a successful introductory course, the
teacher often makes the difference between a bad and a good class or between a good class and an
outstanding one. Personal variables–such as the respect you show for the subject matter, the concern you
show for students’ understanding of psychology, and the care with which you prepare your class
presentations–are critical factors that will influence your students’ impressions of psychology throughout
the term and beyond. Your classroom behavior also has important practical implications, because it
determines whether some of your students enroll in other psychology classes or become psychology majors.
In sum, you are a representative of psychology as both a science and career, and as such, your actions reflect
the field’s professional values and standards. Below are ten tips for teaching introductory psychology.
BE PREPARED
There is simply no substitute for knowing your subject matter. Contrary to popular opinion, introductory
students are very perceptive. A teacher who is ill prepared to discuss the subject material or to field
students’ questions will soon be discovered, resulting in large-scale student apathy. Beyond knowledge of
the subject matter, it is also important to schedule enough time for adequate preparation. A teacher
cramming for a presentation is likely to meet with the same result as a student cramming for an
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examination—failure. If you plan to use audiovisual aids, get to class a few minutes early to ensure the
equipment is working properly, the slides are right side up, the microphone is working properly, etc.
Students resent your taking class time for such preparation; their time is as valuable as yours—make sure it
is used for teaching purposes and not your last-minute preparation. Similarly, it is unwise to use class time
for a bull session because you are not adequately prepared to lecture. Your presentations should always be
substantive and informative.
KNOW YOUR STUDENTS
Most students appreciate and, indeed, welcome personal contact with their instructors. You may wish to
arrive a few minutes early to class each day and visit with the students present. You will become more
familiar and comfortable with them, and they will become more familiar and comfortable with you. The
more comfortable students feel with you, the more likely they will be to make valuable contributions to class
discussions. Beyond knowing some (hopefully most) of your students personally, be aware of campus and
local issues that concern students. This allows you to incorporate those examples in classroom
presentations in a meaningful way. Other than the students themselves, the best sources of information on
these matters are the campus and local newspapers.
BE HONEST
Students appreciate instructors who keep their word with respect to course policies and class assignments.
If your office hours are from 10 to 12 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, be there. If an emergency arises, leave a
note to that effect on the door. Follow through on your promises to bring in outside material. Your credibility
as a teacher will be enhanced.
ACCEPT CRITICISM
Each time a new teaching term begins, you acquire a new set of critics. Students may evaluate your style of
dress, your manner of speaking, your sense of humor, and a variety of other elements that may or may not
relate to your ability to convey information about introductory psychology. If only one or two students make
similar criticisms, you may or may not want to take the criticism seriously. If, however, several students
have similar criticisms, you should heed their advice and address their criticisms.
BE RESPECTFUL
Students like everyone else appreciate being treated with common courtesy and respect. Say “hello” when
you pass students in the hall, and respond to in-class questions with openness and respect. Disrespect is a
sure way to put cool distance between you and your students.
KEEP YOUR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION SIMPLE
In addition to having a sound understanding of the subject matter, it is important to know your audience.
Your presentations should be geared to their level. Build your lecture around four or five major points and
use plenty of thoughtful and representative examples.
BE ENTHUSIASTIC
Your level of enthusiasm for the subject matter will be obvious on the first day of class and will determine
the tone for the entire term. More important, your attitude will have a strong influence on your students’
attitudes about the course. Your enthusiasm for psychology can make even the driest topic palatable.
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ESTABLISH COURSE OBJECTIVES
What is it that you wish to accomplish in your class?