Online Conference Program
February 10-14, 2025 (all times in EST)
* Once you register for the conference, many of the sessions below will appear hyperlinked to the author-provided resources. Register today at teachpsych.org/Registration2024
Program Table of Contents
Synchronous 25-Minute Symposia
Synchronous 45-Minute Symposia
Participant Idea Exchanges (PIEs)
Audio Recordings from On Location Conference
Keynote Address
Friday, February 14th from 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm (EST)
The Confluence of Metacognition, Culturally Responsive Teaching, Assessment, and Rapport: Evidence and Practical Advice to Infuse into Your Course
Aaron Richmond, 2025 ACT Online Keynote Speaker, Editor of Teaching of Psychology
Often, minoritized students view their personal lives as conflicting with the cultural norms of their school. This has vast social and academic impacts, such as low academic self-efficacy and performance. So, how do psychology educators reduce these barriers? Our research suggests that the answer may be to build student rapport and metacognition through the lens of culturally responsive teaching and assessment strategies.
Synchronous 25-Minute Symposia
Friday, February 14th from 9:25 am - 9:50 am (EST)
The Right Way to Right Wrongs
Bridget McConnell
A common problem faced by instructors is how to provide timely feedback and how to motivate students to learn from their mistakes. This talk presents a student-led method for providing feedback, which facilitates learning for students giving corrections and students receiving corrections. This method expands the learning opportunities from assessments, which differs from more common practices in which students submit corrections only to the instructor. This talk will discuss the benefits and innovation of this procedure, how others can use it, and limitations to consider. It will also review qualitative analyses that support its effectiveness as a teaching tool.
Introductory Psychology through Digital Projects
Lisa Dierker & Laura Perez Maquedano
Introductory courses are key in higher education, offering opportunities for dynamic, project-based learning. Integrating digital tools and skills like data analytics, programming, and web development into real-world contexts allows students to engage deeply with content. This approach is especially valuable in social sciences, where many women and underrepresented students begin their academic journeys. Through the NSF-funded Digital Intro initiative, we aim to transform Introduction to Psychology into an empowering, skills-focused curriculum, fostering digital literacy and inspiring students to explore further coursework and careers in the modern digital world.
Friday, February 14th from 10:00 am - 10:25 am (EST)
Psychology Students Who are Wounded Healers: Helping Future Helpers to Separate their Trauma from their Training
Lisa Faille
This presentation will offer an in-depth understanding of psychology students who are wounded healers by exploring their academic challenges and reasons for entering the field. This presentation will further address how their prior and current mental health issues can affect their academic diligence. Lastly, the presentation will offer empathy building along with specific strategies for appropriately guiding psychology students who are wounded healers.
Beyond the Classroom: Unleashing Student Motivation through Service Learning
Helena Mawdsley
The current study investigates how Service Learning (SL) participation for a Human Growth and Development (HGD) course influences undergraduate students’ intrinsic motivation specifically enjoyment of and perceptions of course usefulness. The study will expand the literature on undergraduate SL participation and its potential influence on student motivation and achievement. The results will inform all psychology course development and teaching as students re-engage with higher education institutions post-pandemic.
Friday, February 14th from 5:00 pm to 5:25 pm (EST)
Inclusive Discussion Facilitation Methods
Dina Gohar
Class discussion is a key active learning strategy that relies on student participation. How instructors elicit class participation—whether by voluntary responding or calling on students—can significantly influence its quality, quantity, and distribution (Bean & Peterson, 1998), but research on this is limited. Studies suggest that some students are more likely to volunteer to participate, such as males (Aguillon et al., 2020), and those who volunteer frequently are perceived as “experts” by their peers (Grunspan et al., 2016). To determine what best facilitates diverse student participation, learning/performance, and belonging in an Introductory Social Psychology course, Graduate Student Instructors led 3 discussion sections each that primarily entailed either 1) voluntary participation, 2) cold calling with an option to pass, or 3) warm calling with advanced notice, by random assignment.
How Bad Is It? Prevalence of Generative AI Usage in Undergraduate Psychology Courses
Jacob F. Miranda & Cassie M. Whitt
In this descriptive study, we collected data on students’ anonymous self-admission rates of generative AI usage. We hope to gain information that can be used to address faculty fears about the perceived pervasiveness of AI amongst their students. We also aim to understand how normative perceptions can potentially be manipulated to ensure that generative AI is understood as an instrument for learning – instead of a tool to bypass critical thinking. In sum, by understanding the extent to which generative AI is abused by students, we can better understand – and address – psychology educators’ concerns.
Friday, February 14th from 5:30 pm to 5:55 pm (EST)
Using Learning Science to Modernize the Teaching of Psychological Statistics
Ji Son & James W. Stigler
Teaching statistics to psychology majors requires us to balance competing priorities: equipping students with modern skills like statistical modeling and visualization techniques, integrating active learning strategies, and using relatable data sets. The Practicing Connections Framework offers a cohesive approach towards these goals. Grounded in learning science, the framework focuses on helping students connect the core concept of statistical model to real-world contexts, authentic data practices, and representations (e.g., math notation, R code). We will demonstrate how this framework has been implemented in an innovative online textbook (CourseKata.org) in order to modernize statistics instruction to promote deeper, transferable learning.
Generative AI in Online Courses: A Reflective Approach
Kruti Surti
An important part of learning includes metacognition. The use of reflective activities alongside the integration of AI in online course assignments can enhance student learning. I discuss two examples of activities from my two online asynchronous courses in which I asked students to complete an assignment on their own, then complete the assignment using ChatGPT, and then reflect on the two versions. Student feedback on these activities indicated that comparing their own version with AI-generated output helped them improve their understanding.
Synchronous 45-Minute Symposia
Friday, February 14th from 10:35 am to 11:20 am (EST)
Fostering Belonging and Professional Identity in Underrepresented Psychology Students: Designing Emerging Scholars Programs
Kristina Howansky, Anandi Ehman, Gili Freedman, & Scott Mirabile
Psychology programs attract diverse students, yet the development of belonging and professional identity for underrepresented groups still needs to be improved. Statistics and research methods courses often challenge students, impacting their trajectories as future psychologists. This symposium details our Emerging Scholars in Psychology program, an optional course taken with Statistics/Research Methods to build community, support professional development, and reinforce foundational concepts. We will review the need for such programs, course structure, and student feedback, and discuss strategies for program sustainability. Attendees will gain actionable insights for creating and maintaining programs that enhance belonging and retention for underrepresented psychology students.
Teaching Resources for Health Psychology
Karen Thompson
The Society for the Teaching of Psychology maintains Resources for Teachers of Psychology for many different Psychology subject areas. However, there are currently no resources for teachers of Health Psychology. Health Psychology is an important component of psychology curricula to promote wellness and potentially reduce health disparities, with direct career application in areas such as behavioral health. In this symposium, three novel assignments from a Health Psychology course will be reviewed and discussed. Student feedback will be presented regarding the impact of the assignments. The symposium will also allow for an idea exchange regarding assignments and desired student learning outcomes.
Friday, February 14th from 1:15 pm to 2:00 pm (EST)
“Motivational, Insightful, and Relatable”: Implementing and Assessing an Undergraduate Peer Mentor Program
rMadelynn Shell, Malin Lilley & Andria F. Schwegler
The Society for the Teaching of Psychology maintains Resources for Teachers of Psychology for many different Psychology subject areas. However, there are currently no resources for teachers of Health Psychology. Health Psychology is an important component of psychology curricula to promote wellness and potentially reduce health disparities, with direct career application in areas such as behavioral health. In this symposium, three novel assignments from a Health Psychology course will be reviewed and discussed. Student feedback will be presented regarding the impact of the assignments. The symposium will also allow for an idea exchange regarding assignments and desired student learning outcomes.
Combating Teaching Burnout with Kindness
Georgeana Stratton
Burnout may be robbing us of our ability to be kind to others. How can we hope to build a community in the classroom if we feel so burnt out and isolated ourselves?... by practicing kindness in the classroom and at home. This workshop will discuss some of the research linking kindness to wellbeing and give specific ways for teachers to implement kindness personally and professionally, from cognitive reframing techniques to student engagement exercises.
Friday, February 14th from 6:00 pm to 6:45 pm (EST)
Canaries in the Coal Mine: Pedagogical Practices that Support Neurodivergent Students & Others
Steven Martel, Cole Whitaker, & Sara Sanders Gardner
Learn new ways to motivate, teach, and assess neurodivergent students, as well as provide an inclusive environment for all students. We will identify current practices and answer questions you have coming in, as well as those that arise throughout. We will explore designing curriculum and assessments to deliver an accessible educational experience, including weaving common classroom accommodations into pedagogy. Participants will come away with information they can implement right away to make a difference in student motivation, access, and response. Resources for future learning will be shared as well.
A New Frontier in Education: AI-Driven Role-Playing
Kelly Soczka Steidinger
Are you looking for an innovative way to drive curiosity and enhance student learning? This presentation will explore and explain practical strategies for the integration of Character.AI roleplaying in the classroom. Character.AI is a free large language model that empowers instructors to construct, personalize, and contextualize chatbots easily; no coding knowledge is required! For instance, students in an Introduction to Psychopathology (abnormal psychology) course were able to practice interviewing virtual chatbot clients to hone their critical listening, interviewing, and diagnostic skills. Students were able to interact with chatbots either in text format or through verbal conversation to simulate a mental health status exam, a case study for diagnosis, or motivational interviewing techniques. After implementing these exercises, students indicated lower communication apprehension and increased engagement. This presentation will include best practices for incorporating AI role-playing technology into the classroom while also addressing ethical considerations and potential challenges. By the end of the presentation, psychology instructors will be able to successfully implement an AI chatbot learning activity or authentic assessment into their course curriculum.
Participant Idea Exchanges (PIEs)
Friday, February 14th from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm (EST)
Engaging Remote Graduate Students Through Bichronous Learning
Janessa Dominguez
Remote learning at any level can pose challenges in student engagement, which can lead to reduced motivation and academic performance, as well having an impact on the instructor. Diverse student populations in graduate programs means that students are in different development stages, often looking for convenience and accessibility. Bichronous learning blends synchronous and asynchronous modalities, offering increased flexibility and autonomy. Through innovative strategies and practices, online graduate programs can better engage students. This Participant Idea Exchange (PIE) will focus on sharing innovative strategies to increase student engagement utilizing a bichronous learning modality.
Expanding Horizons: Enhancing Student Engagement
Mireidy Fernandez
This proposal examines strategies for enhancing online graduate student engagement through virtual field trips and learning activities that extend beyond traditional classroom boundaries. It explores the effectiveness of virtual field trips as immersive learning experiences that provide practical, real-world applications relevant to academic theories and content. Through digital exploration of professional sites and industry environments, students actively engage with subject matter, fostering deeper comprehension and critical thinking. This presentation will offer best practices for designing and implementing virtual excursions and other engagement tools to support learning outcomes, build community, and enrich online graduate education beyond the virtual classroom.
Antiracist Pedagogy: Theoretically grounded suggestions for course content
Scott Mirabile, Anandi Ehman, Gili Freedman, Kristina Howansky, & Nicole Lorenzetti
Educators are interested in anti-racist pedagogy, yet little scholarship addresses antiracist pedagogy in psychology classes (see Ahmed, 2008; Costa & Bedir, 2022; Gillborn et al. 2023; Steele et al., 2023). Framed by Okun’s (2021) critique of White Supremacy Culture, we share anti-racist content for psychology courses: the hidden curriculum; critical information literacy; representational diversity; connections with the “real world;” critiquing psychology as a discipline; race, racism, and whiteness; and antiracist mindsets (e.g., intersectionality) and skills (e.g., activism). Participants in this session will discuss concrete recommendations that they can immediately incorporate into their teaching.
Beyond Incivility: Marginalized Faculty and Student-to-Faculty Microaggressions
Jeannetta Williams
Faculty lament about the high rates of academic incivility among students in their classrooms, particularly since the pandemic. These student behaviors may be innocuous and unintended. However, students who selectively engage in these behaviors, depending on the social identities of their instructors, may instead be committing microaggressions. Research predominantly portrays faculty as either perpetrators or mitigators of classroom microaggressions. The experiences of faculty as targets of student-to-faculty microaggressions have been largely overlooked. The goal of this PIE session is for marginalized faculty participants to share their experiences with microaggressions and to discuss impacts on their academic identities.
Adjuncts: On the fringes yet essential
Alishia Huntoon
At many higher education institutions today, adjuncts are essential to their successful functioning yet are largely in the shadows. This participant idea exchange aims to discuss the role of adjuncts, considering challenges, benefits, and supports. What role do adjuncts play? What do adjuncts need? How can they be supported? How does it work to be an adjunct with multiple positions? What challenges and successes face adjuncts and institutions? This PIE welcomes both adjuncts and full-time employees that support adjuncts to join in conversation.
Affinity Group Meet-Ups
Friday, February 14th, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm (EST)
Community College Educators
Hosted by Todd Allen Joseph and Heather Schoenherr
This will be an opportunity for those working at community colleges (or those simply interested in community colleges) to meet and discuss whatever issues people might like to talk about.
Mid-Career Psychologists
Hosted by Darcey Powell and Deanne Buffalari
Identify as mid-career? Members of STP's mid-career psychologists committee would love to connect with you to hear about your experiences and desires for future programming!
Supporting Teaching-Focused Faculty
Hosted by Melissa Maffeo, Karenna Malavanti, and Ellen Carpenter
Teaching-track faculty positions are becoming more common in higher education. However, these positions are not always well defined, and worse, sometimes don't come with the rights privileges that our tenure-track colleagues enjoy. Please join us to learn more about teaching-focused faculty, how to advocate for our important roles at our institutions, and how to navigate your career trajectory in research-oriented institutions.
On-Demand Posters
February 10-14
The Implementation of Eco-Life Attitude Project Using the Yale Model in the Attitude and Attitude Change Course
Getrude C. Ah Gang
Exploring Deep Fakes in Cognitive Psychology: Educational Tools, Ethical Dilemmas, and Perceptual Challenges
Rachel Walker
Students’ Mindfulness, Attitudes, and Anxiety About Statistics
Rachel Walker
Assessment Tool to Build and Share Self-Knowledge
Stephanie Freis
Do courses in human development change students’ intuitive theories of parenting?
Ashley Biddle & Derrill Scott
Reinventing Exam Question Assessments in the Age of AI to Promote Deep Learning
Kelly Soczka Steidinger
Creating an Interdisciplinary Course from Perspectives of Psychology and Visual Communication: Women of Color’s Development, Well-being, and Empowerment
Yanbin Li & Feixue Mei
Treating Survivors of Therapist Sexual Misconduct: A Review of the Literature
Alyssa Wilken, Janet Sonne, & David Vermeersch
Fictitious professors’ flexible due date policies do not influence students’ attributions of responsibility
Stefanie S. Boswell
Encouraging first-semester student engagement through peer discussion boards
Stefanie S. Boswell
Understanding the Impact of Attitudes to Student Support, Support Toll, and Institutional Prioritization of Faculty Mental Health on Burnout
Loranel Pace, Brenda Guerrero, & Maria De la Cruz
Should slides include full sentence statements?
Turkan Ocal
Increasing Self-Care Self-Efficacy in a Positive Psychology Course
Kurt DeBord
Very Mindful, Very Demure: Promoting Evidence-Based Mental Health Awareness on Social Media
Joy B. Krumenacker, Meredith Carter, & Zoe King
The Successful Statistics Student: Insights from Start- and End-of-Class Surveys
Jeffrey Bowen
The Influence of Self-Connection on Student Well-being and Performance
Chloe Gauthier & Ashley Waggoner Denton
Impact of class size on students' perception of their role in undergraduate classes
Claire W Lyons, Chloe Thomasson, Hollie Frost, Samantha Barton, Elaina Ward, & David Kinzer
The Integration of Practical and Theoretical Learning in a Model of Synergistic Scaffolding
Chiung-Yi Tseng
Investigating the Impact of a Psychology Alumni-Student Mentorship Program
Sophia Khan & Ashley Waggoner Denton
A Different Type of Icebreaker: Using Misconceptions of Psychology to Normalize Group Work and Spark Curiosity in Large Courses
Kacie Armstrong
Three Big Questions: A Low-Stakes Opportunity for Students to Measure Their Own Learning
Kacie Armstrong
Blended Learning in Lifespan Developmental Psychology: Students’ Reactions at Two Different Institutions
Darcey N. Powell
Evaluating the Effects of Academic Contingent Self-Worth on College Students’ Performance and Study Habits
Sadhika Bandi & Amanda Woodward
Using P-curve Analysis to Teach Critical Evaluation of Psychological Findings
Alina Hyk, Jannah R. Moussaoui, and Jason S. McCarley
Allowing revise and resubmits: Student participation rates and course implications
Eve Sledjeski
The Difference is in the Distribution: Assessing Performance of Generative AI users vs. non-users on a Major Writing Assignment
Patricia Y. Sanchez
Belief in career myths predicts career decision anxiety
Dan Segrist, Paul Rose
Statistical Savvy: Exploring the Impact of Quantitative Psychology Programs on Dissertation Methodology in Psychology
Catherine M. Bain, Hannah M. Baskin
Empowering diverse student populations in a new course about data science and AI in psychology: The role of passion, self-efficacy, and engagement
Sara Kien, Samari Hall, Hunter Herrington, Megan Farris
Improving the Visibility of Psychology’s "Hidden Figures" in Undergraduate Psychology Courses
Alison E. Kelly, Jenna N. Laurin, Adelyn K. Emter
Creating Resilient Spaces: Promoting Environmental Safety Cues on Campus
Chelsea L. Robertson
Levels of discrimination and social support among trans, gender diverse, and cisgender lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) college students
Lee A. Golembiewski, Robert A. Bartsch
How Much is Too Much? Tips for Effective Use of Digital Textbook Publishers’ Embedded Questions
Gwynn Morris
Positive Psychology: A Syllabi Review
Jordan D. Snyder
AI Joins the Discussion
Julee S. Poole
The 3 R’s of Authentic Assessments
Julee S. Poole
Peer Tutoring and Mentoring: Incorporating Empirical Research Articles and Reflection into the Service-Learning Experience
Megan M. Morrison, Kayoung Kim
The Value of Robust Debriefing in Online Surveys: Connecting Student Participants to Research
Heather Schoenherr, Liza Véliz
Lab Rats No More: The Ultimate Guide to Being a Psych Research Assistant
Jasmyne Thomas, Malin K. Lilley, Dawn R. Weatherford, Juliana M. Arguello, Isabella Castellanos, Ho P. Huynh
Career Decision Self Efficacy and Career Information increases in a Professions and Careers in Psychology Course
Laura A. Powell
Development and Success of an Accelerated Bachelor’s to Master’s (ABM) Program at the University of South Alabama
Courtney Lewis, Laura A. Powell
“Set” A LevelUp QEP Reflection Project: Exploring NACE Competencies in Psychology Majors
Brooke Simila, Laura A. Powell
The Difference is in the Distribution: Assessing Performance of Generative AI users vs. non-users on a Major Writing Assignment
Patricia Y. Sanchez
An innovative approach to supporting the development and availability of mental health professionals in Puerto Rico schools
Gabrielle A. Ruiz-Tudo
Faculty and College Student Perceptions of Disability Accommodations
Kathryn L. Boucher, Payton Bowling, Ansley Crutchfield
A backward design approach to curriculum revision: Applying the American Psychological Association (APA) Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major, 3.0 and the International Competences for Undergraduate Psychology (ICUP)
Rachel A. Fikslin, Paige H. Fisher, Kelly M. Goedert, Amy S. Joh, Marianne E. Lloyd, Susan A. Nolan
Undergraduate Learning of Open Science and Preregistration
Carmen B. Farrell, Amanda Mae Woodward
Stimulating Skepticism: Assessing Information Literacy in the Age of Social Media
Bianca M. Sumutka, Nancy D. Johnson, Andrea Stanfield, Nicole Tarr, Daniel Terry, Kevin Gannon
Backward Design, Scaffolding, and Specifications Grading in Action
Elisa Geiss
Student Ratings of Instructor: Does Modality Matter?
Jessica Pleuss
Evidence-Inspired Teaching & Learning: A Model Course Design
Robert McKelvain
Learning with ChatGPT: Examining Student Academic Motivation and Use of Generative AI
Ruby I. Vega, Sharon Claffey
Using a dice-based role-playing game to promote problem solving and empathy in undergraduate students
Kristin N. Kirchner
Cognitive appraisals and statistics anxiety in the context of psychological statistics
Jennifer K. H. Kunz
The Impact of a Group Mentoring Program on Psychosocial Development and Sense of Belonging in Undergraduate Students
Natasha L. Varnick, Kevin R. Ganey, Karen D. Huttemann
On-Demand Symposia
February 10-14
The International Competences for Undergraduate Psychology (ICUP) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Ideas for Educators
Susan A. Nolan, Jacquelyn Cranney, Luciana Karine de Souza, Sonja Goedeke, Aneesh Kumar, & Ritika Patel
This symposium highlights the crucial role of psychology in achieving the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We will introduce the International Competences for Undergraduate Psychology (ICUP; icupo.org) model consisting of seven competence categories that align with a number of the SDGs. The presenters, members of the ICUP development team, will describe how the SDGs connect with the ICUP competences and share teaching strategies used by undergraduate educators in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, India, and the US. We aim to encourage psychology educators worldwide to incorporate the SDGs into their curricula, fostering psychology graduates’ commitment to sustainable development.
Innovating Perception: Problem-based Learning in Sensation/Perception and Introductory Psychology Courses
Laura Cacciamani & Laura Freberg
Student engagement is enhanced through opportunities to apply classroom knowledge. Students studying sensation and perception as a single course or as a unit in introductory psychology developed an innovation designed to address a practical problem experienced by people with a particular perceptual difference, such as a visual or hearing impairment. Students are guided through three phases: identifying the population and problem (empathizing and defining), exploring existing research (ideation), and designing a conceptual prototype. This presentation will explore strategies for scaling this activity, making it appropriate for both upper-division sensation/perception courses and lower-division introductory psychology courses designed for non-majors.
Adoption of an extension policy designed to fairly support students in an adult development course
Stefanie S. Boswell
Due date extension policies allow faculty to show compassion to students experiencing extenuating circumstances. I implemented an extension policy in my Adult Development course and solicited students’ feedback about the policy. Eleven students participated in a previous semester; data collection is ongoing this semester. Preliminary data indicate that students perceive the policy to be beneficial for academic outcomes and managing responsibilities. This presentation will describe students’ perceptions of the policy’s effects. It will also provide recommendations for instructors who wish to implement policies to support students during challenging times.
Sense and Sensibility: Balancing Grace and Grades for Student Success and Retention
Albee Mendoza
Using Bridgerton as inspiration, this presentation discusses sense vs. sensibility, grace vs. grades, and IQ vs. EQ and their effects on response rate, course evaluation, and final grade data on a sample of HBCU students.
Integrating Reflective Writing and Emotion Regulation in Undergraduate Psychology Courses
Trisha Nowland, Thaatsha Sivananthan, & Alissa Beath
The scientist-practitioner education model has historically emphasized skills in academic writing and scientific understanding, perhaps at the expense of reflective writing skills and personal understanding. In this talk we describe a first-year unit that integrates reflective writing skills and experience as a participant in the evidence-based Study Without Stress Program (Lowe & Wuthrich, 2021). Students are educated in the self-regulated learner model, integrating weekly reflections about student experiences. We sequentially support students in thinking through applications of their learnings, developing critical thinking skills and social awareness. We present our aims and techniques for enhancing reflexive skills through reflective writing practices.
Using the Vevox polling tool to facilitate engagement in students and provide instant formative feedback
Laura Jenkins
Engaging students with module content is often a difficult task for academics. When students are not receiving feedback in lectures, this can lead to increased disengagement. Polling software can be used to resolve this issue and increase engagement in such modules. This case study presented describes how Vevox was implemented with two cognitive psychology modules within the UK, and how students perceived the use of Vevox. Overall feedback about the use of Vevox within the module was very positive. The case study provides evidence of the successful use of Vevox with guidance for academics on how to successfully use the tool.
Do mental models of AI predict student usage and what influences those mental models?
Brian W. Stone
What do students think generative AI is, and is their mental model of AI influenced by the language and metaphors used to describe it? I will present data on how students view AI, including theory of mind questions (is it capable of planning, understanding, holding beliefs, creativity, remembering, feeling pleasure, acting immorally, solving math problems, etc.), and whether manipulating the framing of AI (anthropomorphic, computational, neutral, or none) influences this. I will report on how this predicts usage of AI and intention to use it in their schoolwork, and whether individual differences in gender, political orientation, or analytical thinking matter.
Career Exploration Interventions Within Academics
Allie Alayan
This presentation will explore the effects of a short course focused on career exploration and meaningful work. The course is designed to help students learn about themselves (e.g., identify important elements of their interests, values, and personality), learn about the world of work (e.g., connect to resources, learn how to informational interviews), and learn about their fit within the world of work. This presentation will describe the specific elements of the short course, and discuss ways that psychology courses can best prepare students for career decisions.
Teaching Methods for Supporting Diverse Researchers: The Role of Psychology Organizations
Rihana Mason, Mary M. Rogers, Gabrielle P.A. Smith, Jason Edwards, Vinita Puri
This session will couple the presentation of teaching methods for recruiting and retaining diversity of researchers in psychology with dialogue about current efforts, and areas of need not addressed by organizations or in the literature. Psi Chi strategies and other novel organizational strategies to promote justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and sustainability (JEDIS) will also be discussed. Session attendees will : (1) learn best practices across systems levels to increase diverse researchers and improve psychological science and (2) engage in a critique of current practices and offer suggestions for novel scholarship and practice to make this domain more inclusive and socially just.
AI Creation and Grading of Short-Answer Questions in Psychology Courses
Jeffrey R. Stowell & Jian Zhu
Our study focused on how ChatGPT may be used to generate and grade assessments of student learning. We provided ChatGPT with course-specific content to create short-answer assessment questions, and then directed ChatGPT to score students’ responses and deliver personalized, real-time feedback using retrieval-augmented generation. Compared to the instructor, ChatGPT assigned higher grades at the low end of the grading scale, whereas the instructor tended to assign higher grades at the high end of the scale. Although students were not enthusiastic about ChatGPT’s grading, the majority agreed that the instant and personalized feedback was helpful for their learning.
AI Can Help You Backward Design Your Course
Laura A. Freberg
Implementing the APA Introductory Psychology Initiative student learning outcomes through backward course design is a wonderful idea, but how do we accomplish that without spending huge amounts of time? This session will demonstrate the ability of AI tools to streamline the process of aligning modules and entire courses. Examples using the APA IPI SLOs will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of different AI models, including the avoidance of overt and subtle bias. A quick lesson on prompt engineering and links to additional resources will help participants in their own design efforts for any type of course.
Building Endurance to SPRINT: A Longitudinal Assessment of High School Student Outcomes after Participating in a Summer Psychology Outreach Program
Alexa Sacchi, Natalia Sisson, Jennifer Chan, Bryan Hong, Lauren Homann, Logan Doyle, Emma Galarneau, Sagana Vijayarajah, Catalina Yang, Ashley Yim, Elizabeth Page-Gould
The Summer Psychology Research Initiative (SPRINT) is a free two-week high school outreach program aimed to provide BlPOC students an opportunity to learn about psychology and gain research experience. To assess the long-lasting impact of programs aimed at increasing diversity in psychology, we invited the 2023 cohort (n=60) to participate in a one-year longitudinal study. Students reported their knowledge across various areas in psychology, research methods, and related careers. Our findings suggest that even six-months post-participation, high school students significantly reported increased knowledge across all areas. We will present results one-year post-participation and preliminary data from the 2024 cohort.
Audio Recordings from On Location Conference
Conference Remarks
Opening Remarks
Lindsay Masland, ACT Director
Presentation of Annual STP Awards
Loretta Neal McGregor, STP President
Recognition of Service
STP Leadership
Closing Remarks
Lindsay Masland, ACT Director
Keynote Addresses
Presidential Keynote (October 11, 8:45 am - 9:45 am)
Loretta Neal McGregor, STP President and Professor of Psychology at Arkansas State University
Hope in a Time of Monsters: Supporting Faculty and Student Mental Health (October 11, 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm)
Sarah Rose Cavanagh Senior Associate Director for Teaching and Learning in the Center for Faculty Excellence and Associate Professor of Practice in the Psychology Department, Simmons University
Teaching is a vocation. When supported with resources and security, it is a constantly renewing source of excitement and richness. The last several years of disruption, uncertainty, and overburdened workloads have exhausted teachers and students alike. Monsters have reared their heads, and we have understandably shrunk from them. Faculty are burnt out—sacrificing their own mental health, phoning it in out of desperation, or leaving the profession entirely. Students are experiencing an epidemic of mental health problems, especially of anxiety. As instructors, we can support and encourage student mental health through pedagogies of care. A pedagogy of care involves high-touch practices like frequent communication, flexibility, inclusive teaching practices, learning new technologies and techniques, and being enthusiastic and passionate. All these practices involve both a heavy investment of time and a high degree of emotional labor. How can we support our students without burning ourselves out? How can we revive our sparks? In this interactive keynote, Sarah Rose Cavanagh will present some research and food for thought based on her recent book on how higher education should respond to both faculty depletion and the student mental health crisis.
What Falls Away in Teaching Psychology (October 12, 3:35 pm - 5:00 pm)
Stephen L. Chew, Professor of Psychology at Samford University (Audio File)
Students cannot and do not remember everything we try to teach them. After students leave our courses, what do they remember and what falls away? Teachers cannot teach everything they think is important for students to know. As we gain experience teaching, what do we prioritize and what falls away? These are key questions that should influence how we teach and what we teach. It poses important challenges that should be addressed by educational and cognitive research. A collaborative research project, initiated by Jordan Troisi and assisted by Drew Christopher and me are starting to gather evidence about the issue of what students remember. In this talk, I will summarize what we can already glean from extant research, generate hypotheses from my own personal teaching experience, and update our research progress. I’ll also try to explore the complementary question, of how teaching changes with greater experience.
Symposia and Workshops
Struggling with "All the Things" as a Professor? Offload to AI/LLMs to Save Your Workflow
Alexander B. Swan, Jordan R. Wagge
This talk aims to assist psychology instructors and professors to use AI and Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, to improve the richness and depth of their teaching, research, and service responsibilities, help refine their teaching and research projects, such as proposing a new course, and optimize workflows in areas like data analysis, summarizing readings, and lecture assistance. We’ll go through several examples that we use in our own work. We will also explore suggested best practices surrounding privacy and intellectual property. These suggestions can offer instructors some help for “all the things!”
A New Look at Applied Psychology Writing Assignments: Cultivating Skills to Prepare Students for Professional Settings
Karen L. Neal, Melinda S. Harper
Writing is a core competency in psychology and embedded throughout the psychology major (APA, 2023). Empirical evidence supports the need for writing instruction which serves multiple purposes in professional psychology (APA, 2023; Chenneville & Gay, 2021). The purpose of this symposium is to present creative approaches to developing students’ writing skills through applied psychological experiences. These assignments are linked to “real-life” tasks that psychology undergraduates may be required to complete in future professional roles. Three assignments will be presented to illustrate creative forms of professional writing in psychology. Discussion will focus how creative writing assignments expand students’ writing in psychology.
Stats Improv: Brainstorming answers to your toughest teaching questions
Jessica Hartnett, Janet M. Peters
Teaching statistics can be difficult; teaching statistics in a way that is engaging, fun, and developmental can feel close to impossible. Thus, the objective for this interactive symposium is to provide audience members with specific examples, resources, and demonstrations for ways to make learning (and teaching!) statistics more enjoyable. Attendees at this symposium should come ready to participate, share ideas, and explore new ways in which to approach the teaching of statistics. Time will be set aside to ask questions, share answers, and collaborate on new ideas.
Developing a Mentoring Checklist: Themes, Insights, and Where to Go Next
Makenzie L. Peterson, Xiaomeng Xu, Ellie C. Cameron, Alexis A. Christensen
The Teacher Behavior Checklist (Buskist et al., 2002) has been highly influential and useful for teachers of psychology, however, a similar checklist does not exist for mentors. We have been working towards developing such a checklist. We have conducted 10 interviews with those who have extensive experience with mentoring. These interviews are available to listen to via the PsychSessions podcast. Join us as we discuss the themes from the first stage of this project, the future directions for our research, the highlights of this project (thus far), and our favorite advice from the expert mentors that we interviewed.
Beyond Honor Codes: Leveraging Equity-Based Academic Pledges to Reduce Academic Dishonesty
Maggie R. Albright-Pierce, Shana Cole
In an era of rising academic integrity (AI) violations, instructors need new tools to reduce academic misconduct. Across two studies, we explored whether framing AI violations as a matter of equity (i.e., honor pledges that make students aware of how their cheating contributes to unequal or unfair outcomes for other students) reduces the likelihood of academic dishonesty. Results suggest that corrective equity pledges might be most effective for deterring AI violations and inducing concern about interpersonal consequences of academic actions.
Getting Started with Alternative Grading
KatieAnn R. Skogsberg, Deanne Buffalari, Alison Melley, Sara Peters, Aileen Bailey, Jessica Taggart
Alternative grading strategies, such as Ungrading (Blum, 2020) and Specifications Grading (Nilson, 2015), have been touted as ways to help reduce stress and frustration for both students and instructors. They may also improve equity by giving students alternative ways of showing that they understand and can apply the content. This workshop will provide overviews of Ungrading and Specifications Grading (including pros and cons) to allow participants to decide what might work best for them. We will walk participants through a step-by-step process to help them develop an assignment or series of assignments using an alternative grading strategy.
Advancement of EDI Initiatives in Teaching Psychology
Anna Michelle McPhee
A novel EDI-themed course was designed as a fourth-year seminar-style course to examine developmental pathways for individuals who have developmental, sensory and/or physical disabilities. Barriers to inclusivity were also examined to understand how these barriers influence development. One primary objective of this course was for students to understand that differences in development do not mean deficits in development. This course was developed to help challenge students’ pre-existing stereotypes about developmental abilities, enable students to identify barriers to accessibility in their environments, engage students in proposing solutions to these potential barriers, and promote inclusivity amongst all members of society.
Let’s Not Pour from an Empty Cup: Supporting Student Mental Health Through Pedagogical Practices (Without Compromising Your Well-being)
Melanie Maimon & Maggie Albright-Pierce
Over the past several years, student mental health issues have been on the rise (e.g., Lipson et al, 2022), placing higher demands on institutions and faculty to support student mental health. Relying on instructors to be “first responders” in this mental health crisis, though, can contribute to the also increasing mental health struggles among faculty. In this session, we aim to 1) define and recognize stress and burnout in both students and faculty, 2) identify resources and tools for mental health support for students and faculty, and 3) recognize what instructors can do within their roles to support student mental health. First, we will differentiate between challenge, stress, and burnout to better recognize when individuals may be experiencing distress vs. challenges. Defining and recognizing levels of stress will also help us to identify appropriate tools for situational support. Next, we will discuss what support may be available to students and faculty that match the level of need. Finally, we will focus on what our roles are as instructors in supporting students’ mental health struggles while appreciating instructors’ own struggles. We will cover various levels of support instructors can provide for combatting course-based causes of stress, including referring students to services (e.g., listing services in the syllabus, communicating professional boundaries, creating a plan for care referrals), cultivating a pro-mental health course culture (e.g., promoting belonging to reduce identity-based stressors, fostering growth mindset, fighting cognitive distortions), and structuring courses for greater flexibility (e.g., late policies, grading policies, assessment considerations). Ultimately, we will advocate for attendees to find their personal balance with course culture and course design that can alleviate stress for students without leaving themselves vulnerable to burnout.
Energizing Introductory Psychology: An Evidence-Informed Guide For Teaching the Course
Regan A. R. Gurung, Joseph J. Slade, Lindsey Rutter
How is Introductory Psychology best taught? In answering this question this session provides a brief review of how introductory psychology evolved over time summarizing the main ways the course is taught, the content covered, and evidence of effective practices. Given that instructors draw heavily from textbooks for lecture content and course structure, we will present how textbooks vary through an analysis of key terms used in widely-adopted introductory psychology textbooks and then share the most important terms to cover in the course from top psychological research journals. Attendees will receive practical ways to bolster how they teach the course including explicit ways to motivate and engage their students.
Active Learning Can Eliminate Achievement Gaps in STEM
Katherine G. Golway, Marci S. DeCaro
Active learning methods have been shown to boost student learning and well-being, especially for minoritized students in STEM. We will review research illustrating that active learning interventions that are interactive, provide structure, and integrated frequently within a course are especially supportive for underrepresented students. We provide evidence from two studies in STEM courses at our university and discuss how these findings can apply to psychology courses. Fully understanding how, when, and for whom active learning works can help instructors best support underrepresented students, increasing equity and inclusion on college campuses and in the STEM field.
It’s Giving Inclusion! Utilizing Online Advocates for Inclusive Pedagogy
Ilyssa P. Salomon
The purpose of this mixed-method study was to create an impactful lesson on disability for a Lifespan Development course that included a personalized video created by an online disability advocate. Participants were students in two sections of a Lifespan Development course at a private liberal arts college (N = 49; age 18-22; 83.7% women; 85.7% white). To assess students’ attitudes toward disability, they completed the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons with Disabilities (Findler & Werner, 2007) before and after the lesson. Students also answered open-ended questions about their prior experience with disability and the impact of the lesson.