Fall 2004 ◆ Volume 14 ◆ Issue 3 Welcome Back Debra Park West Deptford High School Westville, NJ Inside: Internet Resources.....................2 Mini- Research Projects........................3 Institutional Review Boards..........................6 Student A wards: TOPSS...........................5 PT@CC..........................8 Activities: Using Internet Scavenger Hunts to Teach about Women in Psychology......................9 Assembling an Introduction......................13 Book Review................15 Announcements: Funding.......................16 Teaching A ward Nominations................17 As I sit at my computer on this beautiful August morning, I am lamenting that I only have 3 weeks left to enjoy my “summer vacation.” I have so much I want to do before school starts, at home and for school. Then it dawned on me - most of my friends and fellow psychology teachers will be preparing to go back to school this week or next week!!! I hope that your time off was restful and rejuvenating. With family and work commitments, we all need to take some time for ourselves. As you read this, the school year is in full swing and you are all back in your classrooms doing what you do with so much energy and devotion. You actually missed your students, didn’t you? Maybe you are looking for some new information or a new activity to add to your already fun-filled repertoire! The PTN is a great place to start and of course check out the TOPSS homepage every now and then - http://www.apa.org/ed/ topss/homepage.html. There are some excellent opportunities for you to attend workshops for your own professional development in many areas of the country. Visit the website for news about conferences and workshops h t t p : / / w w w. a p a . o r g / e d / t o p s s / conf_wkshop04.html. I want to tell you about one that will be taking place soon. Last year I met hundreds of psychology teachers at the annual convention of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) in Chicago. This year’s NCSS convention will be held in Baltimore, Maryland, from Friday, November 19 th through Sunday, November 21 st and will have several workshops and sessions that you may want to attend! The NCSS website, http:/ /www.ncss.org/, is updated daily with information on the convention activities, as well as hotel and travel information. Here is a list of some of the sessions for psychology teachers being offered: Friday November 19, 2004 Psychology: Understanding Diversity of Individuals and Society Positive Psychology: The Other Side of the Coin Activities & Strategies that Work in Psychology! AP Psychology Information Session Saturday November 20, 2004 Brain Science in the Psychology Classroom Teaching Motivation and Emotion: Activities You Can Use Sunday November 21, 2004 Psychology and Diversity in the 21st Century “Families” in Psychology As you can see, there are a variety of sessions that will provide you with information you can use in your classrooms. It is also a great opportunity to meet other teachers, to share ideas and make new friends. If you have never been to Baltimore, you would love it! There are great things to do all within a short distance of the convention center. Welcome Back continues on page 2 1 Welcome Back continued from page 1 Internet Resources for Teaching Methods in Psychology TOPSS Invited Addresses at the APA National Convention in Hawaii this summer featured speakers addressing international and diversity issues as they relate to education. Dr. Harold Takooshian from Fordham University discussed the need to internationalize the psychology curriculum and spoke about how little we know about non-Western psychology. Dr. Lynn H. Collins from La Salle University discussed gender and power issues and the interrelatedness of the two factors. Dr. Marie L. Miville of Teachers College, Columbia University, who received a Presidential citation at the APA Convention, discussed mental health issues that were pertinent to Latinos. Dr. Doug McDonald from the University of North Dakota gave an interesting talk on the dearth of psychology education and training among Native American populations. Educators from Hong Kong, Australia and Canada were among the audience attendees to these sessions and added the international flavor to this convention. TOPSS extends its sincere appreciation to these invited speakers. We hope to see more psychology educators at the APA convention in Washington, D.C. in 2005. TOPSS member Rob McEntarffer was honored at the convention as the recipient of the Moffet Memorial Teaching Award. by Maureen A. McCarthy American Psychological Association Research Methods: This compendium is a particularly informative site that may help students if they wish to have an additional online resource. http:// trochim.human.cornell.edu/kb/ Reference Materials for Ethics: The American Psychological Association provides links to resources for conducting ethical research. http://www.apa.org/ science/research.html The Council on Undergraduate Research offers a topical website addressing ethics of undergraduate research. The papers from the Undergraduate Research Responsibility Symposium are a faculty resource available at the following website. http:// www.cur.org/conferences/responsibility/ ResRespons.html The following demonstrations require online access: Animated examples of power: Animated examples of power are particularly useful because they provide realistic demonstrations that illustrate the factors affecting power. Applets at the following websites offer clear examples of changes in sample size, standard deviation, power, and effect size. http://www.stat.sc.edu/~ogden/javahtml/power/ power.html and http://www.stat.uiowa.edu/~rlenth/Power/ Psychology Matters PsychologyMatters.org — an APA web-based compendium of psychological research that demonstrates the application and value of psychological science in our everyday lives — was officially launched this Summer and welcomes ideas for new entries. Within 19 content areas, individual and interrelated studies, all of which found statistically significant effects and that have had important applications in society, are described. Some of the studies reported on started out as basic research and led to unexpected results and valuable applications. All of the studies demonstrate the important role that psychology and psychological research play in addressing societal and human needs. For information about how to contribute, please go to http://www.psychologymatters.org/submit.html. Psychology Teacher Network Examples of regression animation: This interactive applet offers additional clarity regarding regression because it allows the student to interactively change data points and immediately see the effect. This is a particularly useful demonstration for explaining the effect of outliers. http://www.stat.sc.edu/~west/javahtml/ Regression.html Virtual laboratory for demonstrating probability and statistics: This site provides multiple interactive examples of probability along with examples that illustrate hypothesis testing. http:// www.math.uah.edu/stat/ Fall 2004 2 Incorporating Mini-Research Projects into an Introductory Psychology Course Allyson Weseley, Ed.D. Roslyn High School, Roslyn, NY conformity expressed in a number)? One of the more difficult topics for my students to master is research methods. Many of my students enroll in psychology instead of taking a “science.” One of the best ways I have found to help students with this topic is to assign them miniresearch projects. Each quarter, I ask students to work in groups of four to design, execute, and present a simple project. Instead of giving students topics to research, I use the assignment to allow students to pursue topics that have piqued their interest. I require only that they can link their research question to something we have learned. Examples of topics they have researched in the past include: One important point that this assignment drives home is the difference between what one would like to be able to do and what one can do. For instance, we spend a lot of time in class talking about the importance of random samples and diverse populations. In their own research, students learn that obtaining such a sample is virtually impossible and that more important is to understand how one’s sample impacts one’s ability to generalize about one’s results. I usually give students about a month during which to work on the project, and the vast majority of the work takes place outside of class. I assign the first project while teaching the social psychology unit, which I present immediately after the introductory unit. I find that it is relatively easy for students to come up with research questions associated with social psychology. Approximately two weeks after explaining the assignment, I have students submit a “Research Proposal.” The proposal includes their hypothesis, a description of their participants and how they plan to select them, a draft of any instruments they plan to use, and a description of the procedures. I grade the proposal but weight it far less than the end product. I return it with detailed comments and suggestions. I expect that my students will make a number of errors on the proposal and that they will correct them when they carry out the project. In extreme cases, I ask groups to resubmit the proposal after correcting the errors and/or meet with me. After receiving their corrected proposals, I give students approximately two weeks to gather and analyze their data and organize their presentation. • Does the framing of a diet advertisement impact the desire to go on the diet? • Do new and experienced readers perform the same on the Stroop test? • Do boys and girls dream about different things? To simplify the data analysis process, I limit students to three types of designs: A) Examine the correlation (relationship) between two continuous variables. For instance, is there a relationship between the number of children in a family and their IQ? Between height and running speed? Between weight and happiness? B) Examine the relationship between two nominal (categorical) variables. For example: Who is more likely to help someone in need, men or women (variables = help/not help and men/ women)? Ethical Considerations It is important to have the study reviewed by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to letting the student conduct the study. An IRB is, of course, the ideal, but if you teach at an institution without an IRB, you can ask an administrator or colleague with expertise in this area to review the study. It is important that someone unconnected with the study review it for potential risks overlooked by the student and faculty sponsor. C) Examine the difference between two groups on a continuous variable. For example, do teenagers conform more than younger children (variables = adults/adolescents and amount of Incorporating Mini-Research Projects continues on page 4 3 Group Research Project Assessment It is also essential to monitor students’ plans closely. I only permit projects that involve minimal risk; that is, projects in which the activities present no more risk than the participant is likely to encounter in daily life. Despite the low level of risk, I mandate that students use consent forms. I give them a standard form, and they add a description of their project and a way to contact the primary investigator and faculty sponsor. To ensure that students have taken this step, I require them to submit completed copies of the consent forms. Content – Each category is worth up to 5 points for a maximum of 80 points ___Is the topic interesting and creative? ___Is the hypothesis reasonably grounded in a theory related to something we studied? Data Analysis ___Is the hypothesis clear and in the proper form? Most of my students do not have access to statistical packages such as SPSS so I provide instructions on how to analyze their data using Microsoft Excel. Given the limitations on the types of designs they may employ, their data can be analyzed using one of three simple tests. If they select option A, they run a Pearson product movement correlation; if they select option B, they run a chi square test, and if they select option C, they run a t-test. ___Do you clearly name and describe your research design? ___Are the variables appropriately and clearly operationalized? ___Is the method of sample selection and assignment clearly described and appropriate? ___Do you foresee and take steps to minimize potential ethical concerns? Evaluation ___Is the procedure clearly described and an appropriate test of the hypothesis? I primarily evaluate the groups on the presentation of their research. When I give them the assignment, I provide a rubric. Additionally, before the group’s presentation, they turn in a selfevaluation – a copy of the rubric on which they have evaluated their own performance. While I occasionally have groups whose evaluations vary from my own, more often students seem cognizant of which aspects of their project are strong and which are weak. The groups also turn in a signed, detailed list of each member’s contributions to the group. I skim these and speak with students who seem to have carried either too great or too small a portion of the work. As long as the groups stay with the plan presented in the proposal and make the suggested changes, the projects are generally quite good. Some have been extraordinarily innovative and interesting, and several have served as springboards for students to continue work on their own and enter the end product in science fairs. More important is the role that weaker projects play in clearing up student misconceptions. Students rarely commit the same kind of error a second time, and the quality of the projects improves as the year progresses. ___Do you control for potential confounds? ___Do you correctly use the proper statistics to analyze your data? ___Are the results presented clearly and accurately? ___Do you make clear to whom the results can be generalized? ___Do you recognize and explain the limitations of your design and findings? ___Do you discuss multiple, potential explanations for your findings? ___Do you identify interesting, logical ways to extend your research? ___Do you draw appropriate conclusions given your data? Incorporating Mini-Research Projects continues on page 5 Psychology Teacher Network Fall 2004 4 Presentation – Each category is worth up to 5 points for a maximum of 20 points Lucrecia Cecilia Teran - Colegio Pablo Apostol Yerbe Buena, Tucuman, Argentina ___Does the whole group participate? Michael Jason Sloyer - Roslyn High School, Roslyn, NY ___Is the work clearly and well presented (i.e., rehearsed)? William Patrick Jagoe - A.R. Johnson, Health, Augusta, GA ___Are the visuals clear, attractive, and appropriate? Ashley Lauren Foster - Evans High School, Evans, GA ___Is the group able to answer the class’questions? The sixth annual APF/TOPSS Scholars Competition engages high school students in completing a critical analysis and synthesis of empirical research, designing an original program, and generating a quality research proposal to empirically test its effectiveness. This year’s essay question focused on APA President Dr. Diane Halpern’s interest surrounding international psychology. Three winners were selected by a panel of high school, college, and university level psychology faculty. Each of these three winners received $1,000 in scholarship money, generously contributed by the American Psychological Foundation. The 2004 winners included: Total (Out of 100) = _______ Recognizing Excellence in Student Research The APA Education Directorate, the American Psychological Foundation (APF), and the APA Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) are pleased to announce the winners of three competitions recognizing the outstanding work of high school students in the area of psychology. The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) was held May 9-14 at the Portland, Oregon Convention Center. The fair is highly competitive: 3 million to 5 million students submit projects at local and regional fairs each year, and roughly 1,200 of those students make it to ISEF in one of 15 categories, such as behavioral science, biochemistry, computer science, earth and space sciences, engineering, gerontology, mathematics, medicine and health, and microbiology. APA is one of several scientific organizations that recognize students competing in the behavioral and social sciences category. The effort is funded and organized through the Education Directorate. This year’s winners included: Jennifer Ledon, Michael Krop Senior High School, Miami, FL (Test Anxiety) Erik Paulson, Sun Prairie High School, Sun Prairie, WI (The Effects of Acculturation Within the ParentChild Relationship) Linda Bravman, Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda, MD (Culture and Emotions). The APF/TOPSS Excellence in High School Student Research Awards recognizes outstanding high school student research projects. The 2004 winners are: First Place Award $1,500 Anuraag Suhrid Parikh, Roslyn High School, Roslyn, NY (Effect of Price Level and Price Type) First Award of $1,000 and a certificate Henny Admoni - John L. Miller-Great Neck North High School, Great Neck, NY Second Place Award $1,000 Michael Sloyer, Roslyn High School, Roslyn, NY (Gender Differences in Students Confidence Level) Second Award of $500 and a certificate Kristen Elaine Fenska - Miami High School, Miami, OK Third Place Award $500 Samuel Neill, Roslyn High School, Roslyn, NY (Impact of Target Music Preference) Third Award of $250 and a certificate Russel Thomas Burrows - Health Careers High School, San Antonio, TX Fourth Place Award $250 Allyson M. Goldberg, Croton-Harmon High School, Croton-on-Hudson, NY (Manipulating Body Core Temperature). Honorable Mentions Jennifer Alicia Ledon - Dr. Michael M. Krop High School, Miami, FL Psychology Teacher Network 5 Fall 2004 The Institutional Review Board: History and Purpose Loreto R. Prieto, Ph.D. University of Akron After all the reading and literature searches, all the wrestling with refining research questions, all the machinations to get use of a local subject pool, all the trouble to recruit help with collecting data, why am I required to fill out this Institutional Review Board (IRB) application? This is not an unusual complaint. Many psychology teachers engage in research, some to meet tenure standards, some in the pursuit of grants, some for curriculum evaluation, and some who assign research projects for their students. Many of these projects will need to pass through and receive approval from an IRB before they can actually be carried out. Psychology teachers’ reactions to the need for IRB approval vary. Some see it as an unnecessary check on their work and imposition on their time. Others regard the IRB approval process as an important safeguard for research participants, researchers, and institutions alike. Regardless of one’s perspective, IRBs are probably here to stay, as they are mandated by federal regulations (with oversight from the Office of Human Research Protections, or OHRP). Knowing a little about the genesis and purpose of IRBs can be one step toward understanding and appreciating their role. Although the overwhelming majority of social science and allied health investigators are quite ethical in their practice of conducting research projects, medical and behavioral research has been, and still is, conducted absent the best interests of research subjects in mind. Many infamous projects, like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (circa 1932-1972), demonstrate the extent to which researchers can horribly lose sight of the primary need to protect the welfare of research participants, and also, knowingly elect to cause terrible (and unnecessary) pain, suffering and even death to persons under their care in order to obtain scientific information. Incidences like these understandably shake public trust, destroy the credibility of scientific work, and bring into question the true motivations of investigators in the allied health professions (including psychology). In fact, so grievous an example of bad science was the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, that, in 1997, President Clinton made a formal, national apology on behalf of the US government, the US Public Health Service, and its associated agencies involved in the Tuskegee project. President Clinton issued a frank and moving apology for the inhumane treatment of the nearly 400 African American men from whom curative medical treatment for syphilis was withheld. So consequential were the actions of the investigators in the Tuskegee study that less than a dozen of the original hundreds of research subjects in that project actually survived to hear President Clinton’s apology. As well, many of the research subjects’ wives and children were stricken with syphilis or syphilis-related illnesses. Projects like the Tuskegee study are not rare; US history is replete with such violations of trust; from the treatment and sterilization of mentally retarded citizens during the US eugenics movement in the early 1900s through latter day concerns over research on, or clinical use of, experimental medical treatments or procedures. Available texts relay information on some of these historical scientific offenses (see Rothman, 1991). It is also extremely important to note that such grievous offenses are not a thing of the past; within the past five years alone, several institutions of higher learning in the US have come under severe sanction from OHRP for failing to observe basic human subjects rights. And, many of these violations did not involve bio-medical specific procedures; rather, they were failings that concerned basic human subjects rights such as obtaining informed consent, providing full disclosure of research intent, using appropriate recruitment procedures, and misusing subjects from vulnerable populations (Oakes, 2002). Historically, the medical atrocities committed by the Nazis against their concentration camp prisoners, in the name of scientific research, have been recognized as the impetus behind world-wide realization of the need for uniform codes of ethical and procedural conduct to protect human subjects in research. The Institutional Review Board Guidebook (DHHS, 1993) provides a tidy historical summary of the most well known of these ethics/procedural codes, including the Nuremberg Code (1947); The Helsinki Code (1964/1989); the Belmont Report (1979); and of course, the APA Code of Ethics (1992/2002). These codes have outlined the aforementioned basic ethical principles we know today as mainstays in research protocols; concepts of informed consent, risk/benefit Institutional Review Board continues on page 7 6 to human research subjects. Categories of research (e.g., survey, interview, invasive bio-medical) and levels of approvals/actions (e.g., exempt, expedited, full board/continuing review) exist to help IRBs efficiently manage their task, as well as serve researchers and potential research participants well. Typically, these categories of research and available range of actions help IRBs to assess whether a more brief or more extensive review is necessary; again, the populations under research, the interventions or data collection methods used, and the potential risk/benefit ratio to research participants and society are among the many factors that an IRB uses to evaluate research protocols. The purpose of an IRB is not to obstruct or make conducting research more difficult for investigators, despite the extra paperwork and effort that can be involved to demonstrate compliance with regulations. In fact, as a researcher, I view compliance with an IRB and relevant regulatory statutes as a way in which all persons involved (participants, university, and me) can feel a real measure of confidence that any approved project I conduct has had several sets of eyes on it, all working toward ensuring safeguards for the people who will participate in my research. And, although sometimes a hassle, ultimately, waiting a few weeks to receive IRB approval is not very much of a practical hold up to my work. Much like any other form of professional consultation, I am happy to have my perspective and plan for research assessed, verified (or corrected, if necessary) and supported. I am also a member of my institution’s IRB. Having seen things from both sides of the table, I sincerely hope that our community of teachers, scientists and researchers in psychology share my positive perspective on the necessity and benefit of IRBs and our strengthened concerns about human subjects’ protection. After all, we need to remember that the IRB and regulations concerning human subjects’ rights did not arise out of a vacuum. The system was put in place specifically because of the highly perilous and offensive situations in which some investigators were historically willing to place human subjects (in the name of research) before any such oversight was required. As a scientific community, we all shoulder a continuing legacy, foisted upon us by those who are not trustworthy and who have, and still, perpetrate wrongs against innocents — in the name of research — wrongs against those who are politically, economically, socially, psychologically or physically vulnerable. As such, we can consider the small inconveniences and extra work brought to us by compliance with current standards and IRB procedures as a small price to pay. Many unfortunate analyses of research projects, and the primacy of participant well-being and protection. On the basis of these earlier codes, as well as other key events and political forces, in the late 60s and 70s, the US government and many of its associated research-oriented branches began to issue regulatory statutes concerning the protection of human subjects in research (DHHS, 1993). These legislative actions included such landmark guidelines as the 1966/1974 NIH Policies for the Protection of Human Subjects, the 1974 National Research Act, and 1991 revised Federal Policy for Protection of Human Subjects. This latter Policy governs research conducted at sixteen different federal agencies and the institutions that receive funding from those agencies. Later updates and supplements to these regulations came about that addressed the use of pregnant women, fetuses, in vitro fertilization/embryos, prisoners, and children as research subjects. Because these regulatory statutes are federally-based, virtually all of the research that is funded by government grants or monies falls under the jurisdiction of, and is subject to, review and/or approval according to these policies. Typically, such oversight is implemented through an institutionallybased, appropriate IRB board. As well, research conducted at institutions that receive federal funds to support their general operations (e.g. universities and many educational facilities) are also often held to these same human subjects protection standards. This is why many psychology teachers are compelled to check with IRB boards regarding their research. A typical IRB will be staffed by scienceoriented researchers/scholars from many different professions and disciplines, who have ties to the institution or organization over which the IRB has jurisdiction. As well, individuals who have no ties to the institution in question and who are nonscientists are also required to be a part of an IRB; typically these may be community leaders or persons who hold valuable perspectives. In this way, a balance of expertise and experience is brought to the decision-making engaged in by an IRB. Finally, IRB boards have independence from the institutions they are affiliated with so that administrative pressures or interests cannot be brought to bear on Board decisions, and so that Board members can, as objectively as possible, evaluate research protocols that come before them. An IRB board is charged with ensuring that research investigators, protocols, and procedures are in line with all applicable regulations (e.g., federal and institutional policy). An IRB is also responsible for carefully reviewing those research ventures that represent more than minimal risk or potential harm Institutional Review Board continues on page 8 7 Institutional Review Board continued from page 7 research subjects have paid a much greater price than the small inconveniences we endure to ensure the safety of those with whom we conduct research. US Department of Health & Human Services (1993). Institutional Review Board Guidebook (Office for Human Research Protections). Author. REFERENCES Authors Note: I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Phillip Allen and Dr. Margaret Wineman, current and past IRB Chairpersons, respectively, at the University of Akron, for reviewing and suggesting edits on earlier drafts of this work. Oakes, J. M. (2002). Risks and wrongs in social science research: An evaluator’s guide to the IRB. Evaluation Review, 26, 443-479. Rothman, D. J. (1991). Strangers at the Bedside: A History of How Law and Bioethics Transformed Medical Decision Making. New York: Basic Books. PT@CC Electronic Project Contest Winners Second Place Dress for Success by: Jeff Rehak, Aaron Birch, Brittany Blackburn, Eric Sanger, and Nicole Howard. PT@CC Sponsor: Maria Chavira Mesa Community College, Arizona During the spring, the APA Committee of Psychology Teachers at Community Colleges (PT@CC) announced the second annual APA Electronic Project Contest. Developed as a means to recognize innovative and high quality electronic presentations, the contest guidelines invited submissions in the following two categories: Third Place Afraid: A Book for Children “at risk” for Huntington’s Disease by Michelle Thompson PT@CC Sponsor: Ann Ewing Mesa Community College, Arizona • Presentations designed as demonstrations or teaching modules that illustrate and explain a psychological concept, theory, or research discovery. • Presentations that illustrate and explain a service-learning experience or other application of psychology in the community. Honorable Mentions Classical Conditioning and Fear by Aimee White PT@CC Sponsor: Lawrence Venuk Naugatuck Valley Community College,Connecticut The APA Committee of Psychology Teachers at Community Colleges extends thanks and appreciation to the APA Education Directorate and our contest co-sponsor, Allyn & Bacon Publishing, for support of the Electronic Project Contest. In addition, special thanks go out to all of the students who participated in the 2004 competition. Join us in congratulating this year’s winners and their PT@CC sponsors: “Research for Dummies” and Schema Theory by Kristy Cahoon PT@CC Sponsor: Kimberley Duff Cerritos Community College, California Visit the PT@CC web site to view the winning electronic projects. Look for details later this year about the 2005 Electronic Project Contest on the Web at www.apa.org/ed/pcue/ptatcchome.html. First Place Psychology and the Law: Compatibility or Impasse A Website Presentation by Noel Derecki PT@CC Sponsor: Kevin Handley, Germanna Community College, Virginia Psychology Teacher Network Fall 2004 8 ACTIVITY Using Internet Scavenger Hunts to Teach About Women in Psychology: Some Thoughts and A Design It Yourself Guide Carlota Ocampo, Ph.D. Trinity College Ethnic Minority Affairs publication Communique that using technology to teach about diversity in psychology is a natural (Ocampo, “Diversity, technology, and the teaching of psychology”, July 2001, 51-56). Teaching about diversity can help the APA meet two goals: to recruit more psychologists from under-represented groups and to ensure that all psychologists are trained to be culturally competent. Although evidence suggests that undergraduate populations are increasingly made up of students different in “age, color, ethnicity, gender, national origin, physical and mental ability, emotional ability, race, religion, language, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or unique individual style”2, their numbers dwindle in graduate school and beyond. The well-known “feminization of psychology” has not been followed by other trends in diversification: in 1993, 24% of undergraduate students nationally were from minority groups, but only 16% of those awarded bachelor’s degrees in psychology were from minority groups (84% were European American) and only 9% of those receiving doctorates were from minority groups (January 1997 Final Report of the APA Commission of Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention and Training). Although these data are now nine years old, they converge with recent data reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education regarding bachelor’s and doctoral degrees awarded in all fields3. One might assume that rollbacks in affirmative action have stalled efforts to recruit potential psychologists from under-represented groups (minority enrollments plummeted in the University of California system, for example 4). We need to devise strategies for catching and keeping the interest of all kinds of students in psychology. Using technology to teach about diversity also meets two goals. It gives our increasingly diverse undergraduate students practice with technological skills, helping to bridge the “digital divide.” In addition, in classes made up of homogeneous students from homogeneous communities, the Internet can open up a new world of diversity. Students can visit websites like Division 45’s Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues at http://www.apa.org/divisions/div45/resources.html, or the Association of Black Psychologist’s homepage at Technology in the classroom - revolutionary wave or time-wasting fad? Many professors have strong feelings one way or the other, and the new teaching technologies have clear pros and cons. The jury is still out as to whether they actually enhance learning, and they require intense preparation to be effective. On the other hand, there are good arguments for their integration into high school and college classes. The new technologies can enhance multimodal learning and break up the monotony of straight lecture with attention grabbing graphics, sounds and video images. Exposure to word processing programs, presentation software, image composers, spreadsheets, statistical packages, html editors and other computerbased technologies look good on students’ resumes, and part of our job is to equip them for “the real world.” Higher education administrators want technology rich classrooms and reward teachers who can provide them. But the best argument for the new technologies is that they can engage students in “active learning” - yes, another buzzword, but one that can benefit multimodal learners and help many students reinforce what they’ve been taught (if only because they stay awake during the activities!). The Internet provides good opportunities for active learning. Seminar classes are very exciting for students when they search databases for the most cutting edge research studies - or originals of seminal works - and pull up full-text on-line for immediate analysis and discussion. Students in an Experimental Psychology class were fascinated when they found J.R. Stroop’s 1935 paper, “Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions”, while doing a Stroop task in an interactive Internet laboratory. (The paper, originally published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, 28, 643-662, is available at http:// psychclassics.yorku.ca/Stroop/). Obviously, the Internet can be yoked as a great learning tool and a means of communication in distance learning or webenabled classes. Internet scavenger hunts involve high school and first and second year college students in a wealth of materials. With the Internet, the world in all its great diversity – at least the virtual version of it - is at students’ fingertips.1 Diversity is another buzzword in psychology and across higher education; personally, I find it a welcome buzz. I recently argued in the APA’s Office of Activity continues on page 10 9 http://www.abpsi.org/, or they can check out the cultural links at Social Psychology Network (http://www.socialpsychology. org/ cultural.htm#nativeamerican). A survey conducted by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology task force on diversity found that 73% of respondents (all teachers of psychology) valued diversity but only 15% taught a diversity class,5 and the task force’s recent analysis of diversity literature published in Teaching of Psychology from its debut as a journal in 1974 through 2000 found that less than 10% of articles dealt with teaching about diversity in a substantive way6. It may be that teachers want to address diversity in the classroom, but lack resources or teaching tools. The Internet can help. The brass tacks: designing an Internet Scavenger Hunt on diversity in psychology is a timeconsuming but rewarding task - because it is fun. Students learn how to use the Internet in a safe and scholarly way while learning “content.” Below is an example of a Scavenger Hunt on women in psychology that I hope readers will enjoy using. I start the exercise with a tutorial on the Internet and on search techniques, making sure to discuss the reliability of different servers (.edu and .gov are more reliable than .org and .com servers in most cases) and emphasizing that students should put their websites to the same rigorous tests they do print sources before accepting the validity of the information (knowing who the authors are, their credentials, using referenced materials, etc.) I point out differences between materials found through different search engines, specific databases, or websites with known reputations (like the APA’s). The tutorial introduces students to the basics of a successful scholarly experience on the Internet. The Scavenger Hunt accomplishes the dual goals of allowing students to practice these new skills while teaching them how to “discover psychological content” for themselves. For the Women in Psychology Hunt, I thought about some of the things I would like students to know about the topic, and I tried using keywords in different search engines or databases to find sites with the information I wanted them to learn. In designing the Hunt questions or clues, I used keywords I “tested for success.” It is important to test the keywords prior to each use, as the Internet constantly changes. For example, to help students find Mamie Phipps Clark, an earlier version of this Hunt used the keywords “African American woman psychologist, Brown vs. Board of Education” (formulated as the instruction: find information about an African American woman psychologist who contributed to the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 1954 desegregation decision) but Psychology Teacher Network Fall 2004 10 these keywords no longer retrieve appropriate documents in search engines. I found that the only way to direct students to scholarly sites was to use her name. Another reason to check all of the keywords first is to ascertain that none of them accidentally take students into unsafe sites that proliferate on the Internet! This exercise usually takes a little over an hour, depending on students’ skill levels and how quickly they get through the tutorial. Splitting them into teams (no more than three to a computer is best) and having them compete against each other is an added motivation, and I always keep prizes on hand (school mugs, water bottles, t-shirts or paraphernalia left over from other functions work well). Teaching technologies have been with us since the first Sumerian picked up a stylus and clay tablet and began cuneiform writing – yet griots and griottes (oral historians who memorize and pass on immense historical works) still persevere (Griots even perform on the Internet – see http://www.psu.edu/ur/archives/ intercom_2000/ Jan27/griots.html). Technology can complement our teaching and can be a useful addition to a teacher’s bag of tricks. But it won’t replace good course preparation, good teaching, and a passion for psychology. Women in Psychology Internet Scavenger Hunt Part One: Tutorial 1) First, let’s access the Web. Use your mouse to click on the Netscape navigator or Internet explorer icon on your desktop. If there is no icon, move the mouse to the start button, usually at the bottom left-hand corner of your screen. Click; a menu will pop up. Select programs and click. On the program menu, you should see the program appear; click on it. The College Homepage will appear on your screen. 2) You are now viewing the Internet with a web browser. In order to search for information on the Internet, or “surf the web,” we must access a search engine or use a specific URL (universal resource locator, or web address). 3) First, let’s try looking at a specific URL in psychology: www.apa.org, the website for the American Psychological Association. In the address box at the top of your screen you will see the College’s URL. Type the APA’s URL over it (www.apa.org) and hit the enter key on your keyboard. The APA homepage will now appear on your screen. How should we use this site to find out about women in psychology? It helps to have a research question clear in our minds. For example, do we want to find out about women’s contributions to psychology, or about research on women in psychology, or about the prevalence of certain psychological problems in women? Let’s see what we can find out about research on women’s mental health. On the APA homepage, there are several “links” - areas where your mouse becomes a pointing finger - that you can click on to go to other pages within the website. What happens when we click on the links? How can we best find information on women using these links? Try clicking on the student link. Again, many links to choose from appear. Scroll down the page by pointing your mouse on the scroll button on the right side of your screen, or clicking on the arrow below it. Note the “APA style helper” - you may want to access this “on-line writing center” while working on a paper! Now, click on the link to “PsycINFO Direct”. You will see a menu that will tell you how to use a psychology database, “PsycINFO”. To have full access to this database, your institution must have a site, or you must register and pay a fee. For now, let’s use the “DEMO” function. Click on it. You will see a search window on your screen. Type in keywords related to your search (let’s try “women’s mental health”). Press the enter key. Record here one item on your screen: Note that if you click on the blue-highlighted text, you can read the abstracts or full citations for the studies listed on the page. How can these abstracts be helpful in learning about psychology, or doing research? Well, you can order the full text of the articles over the Internet, or you can find out if your library (or a consortium library) carries the journal and access the full text of the article that way. You can also find scholarly information directly on this site. Using the back button on the top left-hand corner of your screen, go back to the APA homepage (or click on the American Psychological Association link at the bottom of the PsycINFO page). At the top left of the page, you will see a search window for ALL of APA’s site, including the links, news releases, etc. and other documents posted here. Let’s try our keywords and see what happens. Whoops - didn’t find anything? Maybe we need to change our keywords! Try “mental health and women” instead. Click on some of the links (blue-highlighted text) that are listed. Record one fact about research on women’s mental health you learned from this search: Think about the differences in the kinds of resources you accessed using the general website and the database. This will be helpful and timesaving when you surf the web to find material for your psychology papers. Another good database for psychological research is maintained by the National Institutes of Health at www.nih.gov. You can search the entire NIH site or specifically go to the National Library of Medicine through Medline at www.nlm.nih.gov. Try this now; keep clicking on Medline until you get to a search window and input women’s mental health. 4) Now let’s try looking for information on women’s mental health using a commercial search engine. There are a number of different search engines available to search the web, such as AltaVista, Lycos, Yahoo, etc. These engines sift through the entire web in response to the keywords you enter into the system. Each engine responds to the keywords using different sets of programming instructions, so the different search engines will yield different results. For demonstration purposes, let’s go to one of my favorite search engines, www.google.com. Type this URL in the address window at the top of your screen and hit the enter key. Or, click on the flashlight in your navigation toolbar above the address window, and select Google from the search screen that appears. The Google search window will appear on your screen. Let’s see what we can find out about women’s mental health in Google. Type in the keywords we used before. (*Note: some search engines offer interactive search options - we can limit our search by directing the engine to return only those sites that contain all our keywords, or specifying which time period to search, or to return documents in English only.) To view the sites, click on the bluehighlighted titles of the sites. Click on the “back” button at the top left-hand corner of your screen to return to the Google retrieval list. Record one fact about women’s mental health you learned from this search: ** Some things to think about: What were the differences in the kinds of information you retrieved using the URL versus the search engine? Were you overwhelmed by the amount of material presented? How might you narrow your search terms to return only those Activity continues on page 12 11 websites that will be useful in your studies? her work: Try narrowing your keywords - let’s input “depression in women.” Record one fact on women’s depression here: Was this approach helpful? Part Two: Scavenger Hunt Now let’s play Internet Scavenger Hunt! For our scavenger hunt, let’s find out about women who contributed to the field of psychology. Let’s break into teams - three players each. You may search any way that you like. Hunt for the following items - whichever team finishes first wins a prize! 1) Find a website about a woman psychologist who developed an important theory of color vision: Record the URL of the site: Record her name and describe her theory of color vision: 2) Find a website about the first woman president of the APA. Who was she? Where did she study? What was her major career accomplishment? Record the URL of the site: Record information about her accomplishment: 3) Find out about one Neo-Freudian personality theorist who was a woman. (Hint: She was born in 1885). Some now consider her theories feminist. How did her theories of personality development differ from Freud’s? Record the URL of the site: Record her name and describe one of her contributions to psychoanalytic theory: 4) Find a website about Mamie Phipps Clark. Who was she? Where did she study? What was her major contribution, via her research in psychology, to changes in US policy? Record the URL of the site: Record information about her contribution: 5) Who wrote Lenses of Gender? Describe one major psychological contribution of this author. Record the URL of the site: Record her name and contribution here: 6) Find information about a woman who has made discoveries about the sense of taste (perceptual psychology). Hint: She is a researcher at the Yale University School of Medicine. Record the URL of the site: Record her name and briefly summarize 7) Find a website for a scholarly psychological journal which focuses on the psychology of women. Record the URL of the site: Record the journal’s name and list topics on which this journal publishes articles: 8) Find a website for an organization in your community that employs a psychologist who is a woman: Record the URL of the site: Record her name and job description here. What degree does she have? 9) Find a website with information about grants or scholarships you may be eligible for to study psychology! Record the URL of the site: Write the name of the scholarship here: When you finish the search, call out “done!” The first group to finish will report out their findings to the rest of the class and win a prize! Footnotes 1 A brief caveat - In my experience, teaching psychology with the Internet is best done in a computer classroom or academic computing center that can be reserved so that each student (or every two students) has a computer in front of her. (If unavailable, students can be assigned the Internet projects as homework). 2 Hall, C. (1997). Cultural malpractice: The growing obsolescence of psychology with the changing US population. American Psychologist, 52, 642-651. 3 The Chronicle of Higher Education (August, 1999) reported the following: out of 42,705 doctoral degrees conferred, .5% went to American Indians, 3.8% went to Hispanics, 4.8% went to African Americans, 10.3% went to Asians, and 77.8% went to European Americans. Out of 550,822 full-time college faculty, .4% were American Indian, 2.3% were Hispanic, 4.9% were African American, 5% were Asian, and 85% were European American. Add these figures to James Jones’ (1997, Prejudice and Racism, published by McGraw Hill) report that about 53% of Hispanics, 76% of African Americans, and 82% of Whites graduate from high school, while 9% of Hispanics, 12% of African Americans and 26 % of European Americans graduate from college. Activity continues on page 15 12 Assembling an Introduction: Teaching the Organization of an APA-style Introduction John Murray, Ph.D. Georgia Southern University up the Introduction to each article. The instructor will present each group with a shuffled set of index cards. The group’s task is to assemble the shuffled cards into the correct order. When the cards are in the appropriate order they collectively represent a coherent introduction. When a group of students believes the cards from one article are in the correct order, they can call the instructor over to the group and the instructor can quickly check his or her notes which should have the correct order of the codes on the reverse side of each index card. If the group’s order is incorrect, the instructor can have them try again. This process can be repeated until the correct order is presented. Once two groups have successfully ordered their cards, they can exchange card sets. If there are as many card sets as there are groups, then over the course of the lab period each group will have been given a chance to order all the articles. Conveying to students the organizational scheme of an APA-style Introduction can be difficult. Of course, there is no substitute for having students just “jump right in” and attempt to write an introduction and receive specific feedback later on. However, before they actually write, students need some knowledge about what is contained in an Introduction and how those contents are organized. Over the years I have managed this issue by merely describing, in a lecture, the contents and structure of the introduction, using examples from my own work. I’ve also used the standard “inverted-triangle metaphor” (The introduction begins broadly by covering a wide range of studies, then narrows to a small number of studies that are more relevant to the present research). These approaches are not necessarily flawed. But they lack the impact that characterizes a more experiential approach. A useful supplement to a standard lecturebased approach for teaching about the structure of an Introduction is a simple exercise that I came up with a number of years ago (I should state that I never found this exercise in any teaching source, although it is possible that someone else may have come up with it as well). This approach is appropriate as a lab activity, and is best implemented after students have received some general lecture-based content on the different parts of an APA-manuscript. The exercise requires that students be broken up into small groups (consisting of 3 or 4 students). It also requires the instructor to find a number of published articles containing relatively short introductions (A good source for me has been the “Research Reports” from Psychological Science). You’ll need as many articles as there are groups in the class, and they should cover a variety of disciplines. As a final preparation, the instructor will need to take each photocopied article and divide the introduction into “chunks,” usually consisting of one or two paragraphs. Each individual chunk should be affixed to an index card. The instructor should make a record of the correct order of the index cards, and put a code number or letter on the back of each. (The codes should not be ordered in an obvious manner, like “1,2,3” or “A, B, C” on successive cards). The exercise itself consists of having the student groups “assemble” the paragraphs that make What to expect from this exercise? When they receive a set of cards, students will most likely distribute them among the group members. After reading them, the students will discuss the contents of each person’s card. Through their dialogue students will need to make inferences about which card should be first, second, third, etc. Of course, students will attempt to use surface cues related to the specific content of each paragraph to help them order the cards (e.g., the content words placed at the end of one paragraph may match up with content words at the beginning of another paragraph). However, this strategy will not be sufficient to successfully order the cards. Students will need to have knowledge of the nature of the information that is usually at the beginning of the introduction and be aware of how that information is different from the information stated in other parts of the document. If the students have had the “inverted triangle” lecture, they are likely to find the exercise easier than if they have not been exposed to this information. With practice ordering a number of card sets, students will see that the initial paragraphs of the introduction typically convey information about the general topic of the paper. Middle paragraphs begin to hone in on a specific issue, and later paragraphs usually refer to unanswered questions and/or Assembling an Introduction continues on page 14 13 Assembling an Intro continued from page 13 hypotheses that the present study is likely to address. Usually the final paragraphs contain information that overviews the current methodology and presents predictions. What is nice about this exercise is that students are gleaning important information about document structure through the use of real articles. I think most instructors of scientific writing wish that students could glean more information merely from reading the content of articles (i.e., the articles that they need to read for content). I am constantly reminding students that the most valuable information that they will receive about writing an APA-style paper will come not from me, but from the articles that they read themselves. This exercise provides a vehicle by which students learn valuable information from real scientific articles. ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 27th Annual National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology January 2–5, 2005 TradeWinds Island Grand Hotel St. Petersburg Beach, Florida During the spring, the APA Committee of Psychology Teachers at Community Colleges PT@CC announced winners of the new APA Teaching Tips Contest. Developed as a means to recognize and encourage sharing of high quality instructional techniques, the contest guidelines invited community college instructors to submit an original demonstration, an individual or group class activity, an interactive teaching/learning module, or other pedagogy designed to illustrate a psychological concept or theory. Join us in congratulating this year’s winners! First Place “Chili Day’” By Professor Lawrence Venuk Naugatuck Valley Community College, Connecticut Second Place “The Peanut Lab or How to Identify Abnormal Peanuts” By Professor Abigail Norfleet James Germanna Community College - Locust Grove Campus, Virginia The 27th Annual National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology is designed for teachers of psychology at universities, two- and four-year colleges, and high schools, who wish to explore new ideas that will enhance and broaden their teaching skills. The Institute is structured to provide an atmosphere that supports individual involvement and group interaction. Presentation formats are diverse and provide occasions for informal exchange so that you can select a personal agenda that meets your professional development needs. Hands-on workshops, concurrent sessions on topics relevant to both classroom skills and content updates, poster sessions, participant idea exchange sessions, book displays and software demonstrations, and informal networking sessions combine to meet the needs of both past participants and psychology faculty in general. For registration fees and other information visit the NITOP website: www.nitop.org, or Contact the conference office: National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, 2303 Naples Court, Champaign, IL 61822; 217-398-6969 email: jfetzner@uiuc.edu Psychology Teacher Network 2004 APA Teaching Tips Contest Winners Fall 2004 14 Third Place “The Use of Anguish Languish to Demonstrate Top Down Processing” By Professor Fabian Novello Clark State Community College, Ohio Honorable Mentions “Piaget and the Blue Potato Chip” By Professor Diane Finley Prince George’s Community College, Maryland “Learning About Being an Eyewitness” By Professor James Bell Howard Community College, Maryland PT@CC extends thanks and appreciation to the APA Education Directorate and Worth Publishers for support of the Teaching Tips Contest. In addition, special thanks go out to all of the psychology faculty members who participated in the 2004 competition. PT@CC is working to make the winning Teaching Tips available to psychology teachers. Look for details on the Web at www.apa.org/ed/pcue/ptatcchome.html. BOOK REVIEW psychology is not spared by Myers’ investigative eye. Evidence-based efficacy studies of mental health practice are juxtaposed with “clinical/ therapeutic intuition” to differentiate suitability for predicting future academic performance and criminal or suicidal risk. For the reader who would like to further explore topics encompassed in Intuition: Its Powers and Perils, Myers provides a companion website with links to several of the studies cited in his book at http://www.davidmyers.org/intuition. Intuition: Its Powers and Perils addresses many of the preconceived beliefs regarding everyday phenomenon that students bring to the introductory psychology classroom. Myers challenges these beliefs with scientific evidence in a way that is both understandable and accessible to the general public. His rich and varied use of examples of “powerful” and “perilous” intuitive thinking assure that every reader will find something she can relate to. Teachers can use this book as a supplement to their text or as a reference tool to illustrate a myriad of topics discussed in introductory psychology from cognitive psychology, to sensation and perception, to social psychology and statistics. More importantly, Myers’ Intuition: Its Powers and Perils reinforces the role of scientific psychology in shedding light on everyday phenomenon. As teachers of psychology we often stress the need for evidence based, decision making. Teaching students to step back and question their own “taken for granteds” is a desired outcome of many of our courses. Myers’ book assists in that endeavor. Intuition: Its Powers and Perils Reviewed by Patricia Puccio, Ed.D. College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL Author: David G. Myers Publisher: Yale University Press Copyright: 2002 ISBN: 0-300-09531-7 Length: 322 pages Price: $24.95(hardcover); $16.00 paper The ability to apply critical thinking, skeptical inquiry, and the scientific approach to problem solving are oft stated learning outcomes of psychology coursework. In Intuition: Its Powers and Perils, social psychologist and textbook author David G. Myers combines his skill as a “communicator of psychological science” with recent research in cognitive psychology to illustrate how our unconscious, automatic thinking – often referred to as intuition –can lead to both powerful and perilous decision making in everyday situations. In his opening chapter, Myers frames his discussion of intuition with a review of cognitive and biological psychology research delineating the function of the post-Freudian unconscious. According to Myers “thinking without awareness,” or intuition, is the level at which “most of our everyday thinking, feeling, and acting” operates. The remainder of Part 1 identifies social intuition, intuitive expertise, and creativity as “powerful” products of our intuitive minds. In Part 2, Myers explores the “perils of intuition” including memory construction, predicting everyday behavior, hindsight and self-serving bias, perception, and problem solving. The fundamental attribution error, illusory correlation, heuristics, and false memory syndrome are some of the many psychological constructs discussed. Myers applies two basic questions underlying all psychology-based inquiry: “What do you mean? And how do you know (what’s your evidence)?” to the practical application of intuition in Part 3 of his book. Common intuitive beliefs such as winning and losing streaks, investment intuition, interviewer intuition, mate selection, gambler’s intuition, and psychic intuition are pitted against psychological science’s research findings. Myers’ discussion of risk intuition is of particular relevance to our post September 11, 2001 worldview. Myers advises his readers to “think smarter about risk” when making decisions about such things as whether it is riskier to fly or drive on their next family vacation. The discipline of ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Activity continued from page 12 4 Cooper, K.J. (2000, April 2). Colleges testing new diversity initiatives. The Washington Post, A4. 5 Simoni, J.M., Sexton-Radek, K., Yescavage, K., Richard, H., & Lundquist, A. (1999). Teaching diversity: Experiences and recommendations of American Psychological Association Division 2 members. Teaching of Psychology, 26(2), 89-95. 6 Ocampo, C., Prieto, L., Whittlesey, V., Connor, J., Janco-Gidley, J., Mannix, S., and Sare, K. A review of diversity research in Teaching of Psychology: Summary and recommendations. Under review at Teaching of Psychology. Psychology Teacher Network 15 Fall 2004 Funding Opportunities Funding For Precollege and Undergraduate Teaching Conferences To enhance the quality of teaching and learning outcomes, the Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) reviews proposals for financial support to award $5,000 in BEA Block Grants each year. Criteria To be considered for funding, applications must meet the following criteria: 1. the conference must advance the teaching of psychology at the secondary, 2-year, and/or 4-year level; 2. the conference must be directed by an APA member, associate, or affiliate; 3. the grant must be requested by an APA member, associate, or affiliate; and 4. the grant must be used to offset travel expenses of selected conference participants, registration fees of conference participants, and/or speaker fees. It is possible that conferences that have received block grants two years in a row may not be funded or may be funded at lower levels on the third consecutive application to ensure that a variety of conferences receive grants. Proposals for block grants will be reviewed and evaluated according to the following criteria: 1. Conference Goals and Activities. Proposals will be rated on the perceived importance and innovativeness of the conference as well as the clarity and completeness of the description of the conference objectives and activities. (A conference announcement/ brochure should be submitted with the application.) 2. Composition of Target Audience. Proposals will be rated on the potential impact and suitability of content for the target audience. 3. Budgetary Information. Proposals will be rated on the clarity and completeness of the description of the conference budget, anticipated expenses, as well as confirmed and anticipated sources and amounts of funding. Following the evaluation of the proposals, the BEA Block Grants Subcommittee will recommend monetary awards based on the availability of funds and on the quality of the applications. * * Applicants may be awarded up to $1,000 during a given year. If fewer than five acceptable applications are received in a given year, the BEA may award more than one block grant (and more than $1,000) to the same conference in that year. Deadline Funding requests for teaching conferences in 2005 should be postmarked by February 25, 2005. Please send written requests to: Martha Boenau American Psychological Association Education Directorate 750 First Street, NE Washington, DC 20002-4242 Email: mboenau@apa.org Funding for Teaching Initiatives To support TOPSS in the development of grassroots efforts among psychology teachers, the American Psychological Foundation (APF) receives proposals and distributes modest grants each year through the Nationwide Psychology Program. These funds are made available for state-wide initiatives such as mailings, workshops, and institutes that support the formation of regional networks of psychology teachers. Send proposals to: Emily Leary American Psychological Association Education Directorate 750 First Street, NE Washington, DC 20002-4242 Email: eleary@apa.org Be sure to include a justification/rationale for how a specific project would build local networks and enhance high school psychology on a local basis. Psychology Teacher Network Fall 2004 16 ANNOUNCEMENTS AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATION CHARLES L. BREWER DISTINGUISHED TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY AWARD The American Psychological Foundation (APF) invites nominations for the APF 2005 Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award. • • • • THE AWARD: The awardee receives a plaque, a $2,000 check, and a two-night, three-day, all-expenses- paid trip to the 2005 convention in Washington, DC, where the award will be presented. practice in psychology; and/or, Administrative facilitation of teaching; Research on teaching; Training of teachers of psychology; Evidence of influence as a teacher of students who become psychologists. APPLICATION PROCESS: APF provides nomination forms. Nominations should include the form, a statement that illustrates how the nominee fulfills the guidelines of the award, and the nominee’s current vita and bibliography. Letters in support of the nomination are welcome. All materials should be coordinated and collected by the chief nominator and forwarded to APF at the same time. AWARD REQUIREMENTS: The award recognizes a career contribution to the teaching of psychology. The APF Teaching Subcommittee selects a psychologist for the award who has demonstrated: • Exemplary performance as a classroom teacher; • Development of innovative curricula and courses; • Development of effective teaching methods and/or materials; • Teaching of advanced research methods and The deadline for receipt of materials is December 1, 2004. Requests for nomination forms and completed nomination packets should be mailed to the Charles L. Brewer Teaching Award Coordinator, American Psychological Foundation, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC, 20002-4242. Requests for nomination forms may also be sent to foundation@apa.org. Call for STP Teaching Award Nominations The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Division Two) announces its 2005 program of awards for outstanding teachers of psychology. Teaching awards of $750 and a plaque are bestowed for outstanding performance in each of four categories: Four-year Colleges or Universities (Robert S. Daniel Award); Two-year Colleges; High Schools (Moffet Memorial Teaching Award); and Graduate Student (McKeachie Graduate Student Teaching Excellence Award). The deadline for submission of supporting materials is January 14, 2005. Renominations and self-nominations are acceptable. Submission of materials, queries, and requests for nomination criteria may be sent to the Chair of the Teaching Awards Committee: Elizabeth Yost Hammer Department of Psychology, Box 194 Loyola University 6363 St. Charles Ave. New Orleans, LA 70118 E-mail: eyhammer@loyno.edu Psychology Teacher Network 17 Fall 2004 Psychology Teacher Network is published quarterly by the Education Directorate of the American Psychological Association (APA). Subscriptions are free to High School and Community College Teacher Affiliates of APA and APA Members, and $15 a year for all others. Address editorial correspondence to Psychology Teacher Network, APA Education Directorate, 750 First St., NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242; (202) 572-3013. Address inquiries regarding membership or affiliation to the APA Membership Office, at the same address. Production Editor...................................Jewel Beamon jbeamon@apa.org Co-Editors..............................................Martha Boenau mboenau@apa.org Maureen McCarthy, Ph.D. mmccarthy@apa.org Emily Leary eleary@apa.org Consulting Editors: TOPSS....................................................Rob Johns rjohns@westside66.org WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Annual Conference November 19-21, 2004 Baltimore Convention Center Baltimore, Maryland For more information, please email eleary@apa.org or visit the TOPSS website at http://www.apa.org/ed/topss/ conf_wkshop04.html PT@CC..................................................Robert Johnson, Ph.D. bjohnson@rosenet.net Psychology Teacher Network Education Directorate American Psychological Association 750 First Street, NE W ashington, DC 20002-4242 Psychology Teacher Network Nonprofit US Postage Paid W ashington DC Permit No. 6348 Fall 2004 18