Awards January 2008

At the January 2008 NITOP, four participant posters were presented with awards. All awards were decided by Institute faculty and announced at the closing session on January 6, 2008. The Frank Costin Memorial Award for Excellence (including a certificate, a check for $250, and a complimentary registration at a future NITOP conference), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best promoting quality teaching methods, was presented to Stacie M. Spender and Vicki DiLillo for their poster entitled “A Learner-Centered Approach to Teaching Adherence in a Health Psychology Course.” The NITOP faculty also recognized two tied runner-ups for the Frank Costin Memorial Award: “Methodology Shop,” by Marijke Engels-Freeke, and “Online Psychology Club: Engaging Distance Students beyond the Virtual Classroom,” by Teresa Mason, Jean Mandernach, Andrew Johnson, and Brian Cowley. The Doug Bernstein Award (a certificate, a check for $250, and a complimentary registration at a future NITOP conference), for the poster judged by the NITOP conference committee (not including Doug Bernstein) as the most humorous, creative, or original poster, was presented to Alice P. Carter for her poster entitled “Roadmaps for Statistical Decisions.” The Society for the Teaching of Psychology Award (a certificate, a check for $250, and a year’s membership in STP), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best incorporating new or innovative content into psychology courses, was presented to Linda J. Kunce and Sarah Tribble for their poster entitled “Teaching Psychology Statistics with a Sustainability Theme.” The NITOP faculty also recognized the runner-up for the STP Award: “Reinforcing Concepts of Life-Span Development through Analysis of Holocaust Memoirs,” by Stephen L. Chew. The Society for the Teaching of Psychology also supported a new award in January 2008, the STP Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Award, which included a certificate, a check for $250, and a complimentary one-year membership in STP. This award was given to the poster judged by the NITOP conference committee to be outstanding in terms of (a) the importance of the research question addressed, (b) the soundness of the research methodology employed, (c) the use of appropriate qualitative and/or statistical analyses, and (d) the clarity with which the implications of the research findings for teaching and learning are expressed: “Traditional Lecture May Be More Effective in Teaching Nervous System Anatomy and Function than the Jigsaw Classroom Technique,” by Amanda Maynard and Sarah Uzelac. The abstracts of these posters follow.

FRANK COSTIN MEMORIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

A Learner-Centered Approach to Teaching Adherence in a Health Psychology Course

Stacie M. Spencer
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
email: stacie.spencer@mcphs.edu

and Vicki DiLillo
Ohio Wesleyan University
email: vgdillil@owu.edu

Adherence is an important concept in a Health Psychology course, especially adherence to long-term behavior change such as quitting smoking, increasing physical activity, and following complex medication regimens. The definition of adherence is easy to master, and textbooks typically provide lists of strategies for improving adherence that students can easily understand and memorize. The following assignment was developed to move students from these basic forms of critical thinking (retention and comprehension) to more advanced forms (application and evaluation). Prior to the class discussion of adherence, students are given candies and corresponding instructions that represent seven medications taken by a 65-year old person. Students are instructed to take these medications for three days, beginning the next morning. Two days later they are given three new medications to add to their regimen. Students are instructed to keep a record of when they take their medications and to write a two-page reaction paper to describe specific aspects of their experience. Reaction papers are due the day the topic of adherence is discussed in class. In class, students share their experiences and identify common issues. They are then given a list of strategies to improve adherence and discuss which they used and which were more/less effective. This technique has been successful in making adherence personally relevant to students, increasing participation in discussion of the topic, and improving retention and comprehension as well as evaluation and application skills. This poster will describe the technique and will include the medication regimen and reaction paper guidelines.

Runner-ups: FRANK COSTIN AWARD

Methodology Shop

Marijke Engels-Freeke
University of Amsterdam
email: m.freeke@uva.nl

The Methodology Shop is an advisory institute that is run by students of psychological methods at the Department of Psychology of the University of Amsterdam. The Methodology Shop is accessible to all staff members (of the Department of Psychology) and their students, who have methodological and/or statistical questions concerning their research. The questions concern a wide variety of methodological or statistical problems. These include questions relating to experimental design, data collection, statistical power calculations, the choice of appropriate statistical analyses, use of statistical software (general use of SPSS including data entry), and the interpretation of the results of statistical analyses. Students may also have questions concerning the contents of their first-year statistics courses or their second-year test theory courses. The Methodology Shop has three goals: (1) to support the students who have difficulties with methodology and/or statistics and therefore need help and perhaps reassurance, and assist staff and their students (both MA and PhD) with methodological and statistical aspects of their research; (2) to train the psychological methods students in the role of statistical advisor; and (3) to detect flaws in the contents of the first and second year methodological courses. On three days per week, two methods students are present in the shop to answer the questions of the students or staff members. They do not solve a given problem by actually performing the analysis for the questioner. Rather they provide a relevant illustrative worked example, and/or they refer the questioner to the relevant literature (including course material of the first and second year courses). All asked questions are registered and classified, together with the solution or answer provided by the methods students. The annual overview of the problems is used to adapt the contents of the first and second year methodological and statistical courses. The methods students who run the methodology shop are supervised by two staff members who give them advice and help them with problems that are beyond their present expertise.

Online Psychology Club: Engaging Distance Students beyond the Virtual Classroom

Teresa Mason, Jean Mandernach, Andrew Johnson, and Brian Cowley
Park University
email addresses: teresa.mason@park.edu, jean.mandernach@park.edu, andrew.johnson@park.edu, brian.cowley@park.edu

Park University has an established distance learning program serving over 500 undergraduate social psychology majors. Typical of most online programs, the geographically diverse nature of the student population limits the feasibility of live, synchronous interactions. While online courses have clearly established themselves as an effective means of content-based education, online students have typically been limited in their opportunities to participate in traditional student organizations that are not linked to a particular course or degree requirement. To address this issue, we created an Online Social Psychology Club. Our goals for the Online Social Psychology Club are to: (1) increase awareness of the opportunities in the field of psychology, (2) create a forum for those people interested in learning more about psychology to gather information and participate in the field, and (3) facilitate involvement in psychological issues, such as relevant community service projects, leadership roles in this organization, and participation in professional enhancement activities relevant to the field. Due to the online nature of the organization, all club activities and interactions are facilitated via an asynchronous, online format. Our poster will address the following: (1) technology infrastructure needed to support the club, (2) compliance with university standards of club activity, (3) advisor duties and procedures for student leadership selection and training, (4) reasonable activities for an online psychology club, (5) challenges and successes, and (6) assessing the online club.

DOUG BERNSTEIN AWARD

Roadmaps for Statistical Decisions

Alice P. Carter
Louisiana Tech University
email: alice@latech.edu

Psychology students are often anxious about courses in research and statistics. Innovative techniques can help relieve some of the tension associated with learning statistical techniques and making appropriate decisions regarding when to use those techniques. Flowcharts and decision trees have been presented in textbooks as ways to simplify this process. This poster will provide another method of presenting the process to students. Two roadmaps, univariate and multivariate, for statistical decision-making will be displayed. The roadmaps will present a visual picture of the process. Individual roadmaps will be provided for participants at the conference. Student reactions to the roadmaps, including comments and suggestions, will be included as part of the poster.

SOCIETY FOR THE TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY AWARD

Teaching Psychology Statistics with a Sustainability Theme

Linda J. Kunce and Sarah Tribble
Illlinois Wesleyan University
email: lkunce@iwu.edu

Substantial evidence indicates that human choices and behavior are driving the current environmental crisis. Given this, teachers of psychology should be well placed to respond to calls for the greening of college campuses and curriculum (e.g., Bartlett & Chase, 2005; Koger & Scott, 2007). Because environmental sustainability has not been a major focus within the traditional domains of psychological science, however, teachers of psychology may struggle to apply their science to this critical social issue. In this poster, we will describe repeated efforts to teach a psychology statistics course with a sustainability theme. Emphasis will be placed on strategies for introducing the theme, organizing instruction to address multiple learning goals, and locating useful resources. In addition, we will share several demonstration activities, each designed to illustrate (a) an important statistical test, (b) a key psychological concept, and (c) an important sustainability issue. Finally, risks and benefits of teaching psychology statistics with a sustainability theme will be considered from multiple perspectives (e.g., student, instructor, disciplinary, societal).

Runner-up: STP AWARD

Reinforcing Concepts of Life-Span Development through Analysis of Holocaust Memoirs

Stephen L. Chew
Samford University
email: slchew@samford.edu

One way to enhance and reinforce learning of concepts in a life-span development course is to have students apply the concepts to analyze a person’s life. This may take the form of a student interviewing someone or reading a memoir. Holocaust memoirs are particularly well suited for this purpose, especially because there are now a number of fine memoirs in which the writer experienced the Holocaust as an adolescent or young adult, an age similar to traditional students and a dynamic time of development. The memoirs are highly engaging and teach students about development under both peaceful and horrific conditions. The books also teach students about the Holocaust and about another time and culture. This poster describes a book review project in which students were assigned one of five Holocaust memoirs to read and analyze using concepts such as identity development, resilience, attachment, social influence, and moral development. These memoirs were written for a young adult audience, so they are fairly brief and easy to read. As part of the assignment, students reflected on how it had affected their learning. The results indicated that the assignment had been highly engaging cognitively and emotionally, with many describing it as a transformative experience. Students came away with both a better understanding of development and a deeper understanding of the Holocaust. This assignment can easily be adapted for other psychology courses.

STP SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING AND LEARNING (SoTL) AWARD

Traditional Lecture May Be More Effective in Teaching Nervous System Anatomy and Function than the Jigsaw Classroom Technique

Amanda Maynard and Sarah Uzelac
Mount Saint Mary College
email addresses: maynard@msmc.edu, uzelac@msmc.edu

Undergraduate students in general psychology and biological psychology courses are required to learn about the locations and functions of the structures in the central nervous system (CNS), and often indicate that they feel intimidated by the technical nature of this material. We hypothesized that using a collaborative learning technique, the jigsaw classroom, instead of traditional lecture to teach about the CNS would improve learning, exam performance, liking for, and interest in the topic. Pre- and post-test knowledge, subjective student reactions to the material, as well as later exam performance were compared in both lower division general psychology and upper division biological psychology courses using the traditional lecture format and jigsaw classroom format. Contrary to our hypothesis, for general psychology, there was no significant difference in post-test performance for the jigsaw technique (t(39)=1.294, p=.203). There were significant differences in student reactions for the enjoyment (t(38.32)= -2.122, p=.04), intellectual stimulation (t(37.58)= -2.331, p=.025), and interest (t(39)= -2.60, p=.013), subjective response items and exam performance (t(31.65)= -2.941, p=.006), but in favor of traditional lecture. Similarly, for the biological psychology course, there was a significant difference in learning as indicated by post-test performance (t(44)= -2.89, p=.006) and a significant difference for interest in the material (t(38.57)= -2.166, p=.037), with both scores being greater for lecture compared to the jigsaw classroom technique.

Awards January 2007

At the January 2007 NITOP, three participant posters were presented with awards. All awards were decided by Institute faculty and announced at the closing session on January 6, 2007. The Frank Costin Memorial Award for Excellence (including a certificate, a check for $250, and a complimentary registration at a future NITOP conference), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best promoting quality teaching methods, was presented to John Bates for his poster entitled "Concept-Network Analysis as a Measure of Learning Outcomes in a History and Systems of Psychology Course." The NITOP faculty also recognized the runner-up for the Frank Costin Memorial Award: "From Traditional Lecture to Problem-Based Learning in Undergraduate Statistics: Why and How," by Christie P. Karpiak. The Doug Bernstein Award (a certificate, a check for $250, and a complimentary registration at a future NITOP conference), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as the most humorous, creative, or original poster, was presented to Mark I. Walter and Jamie L. Walter for their poster entitled "Putting the Pieces Together: Using Puzzles to Help Students Integrate Key Figures in the History of Psychology." The NITOP faculty also recognized the runner-up for the Doug Bernstein Award: "Psychology of the Seven Deadly Sins and Heavenly Virtues," by Michael R. Hulsizer. The Society for the Teaching of Psychology Award (a certificate, a check for $250, and a year's membership in STP), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best incorporating new or innovative content into psychology courses, was presented to Michael R. Hulsizer for his poster entitled "Psychology of the Seven Deadly Sins and Heavenly Virtues." The NITOP faculty also recognized the runner-up for the STP award: "Introductory Psychology Can Alter Student Views of Evolution and of Psychology as a Science," by Kevin E. Moore. The abstracts of these posters follow.

FRANK COSTIN MEMORIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

Concept-Network Analysis as a Measure of Learning Outcomes
in a History and Systems of Psychology Course

John Bates
University of Baltimore
email: jbates@ubalt.edu

History and Systems of Psychology is a required course with the Psychology BA Program at the University of Baltimore. Many concepts discussed in this course, though arguably central to the evolution of modern psychological theory and practice, are so arcane and complex that their definitions may be rote-memorized by students while their historical significance and implications for other concepts may go unrecognized. Nevertheless, mastery of these concepts has been included as a significant learning objective in Psychology BA Program outcome assessment plans. Rather than using more traditional techniques, UB psychology faculty have selected analysis of students' concept networks pre and post instruction as a means of demonstrating achievement of that objective. An instrument was administered to 20 History and Systems of Psychology students at the first fall 2006 class meeting, on which students rated on a 4-point scale the degrees of relationship which they perceived within all unique pairs of 16 core course concepts. The instrument will be readministered during the final class meeting. Graphic representations of pre- and post-instruction individual and overall student concept networks will be constructed via Pathfinder analyses of these data, and will be contrasted to a concept network constructed from the course instructor's responses on the same instrument. Significant changes should be demonstrated in students' concept networks as a result of instruction, such that their post-instruction networks should be more similar to the network of their instructor's. A detailed description of this investigation along with results and implications will be presented at the conference.

Runner-up: FRANK COSTIN AWARD

From Traditional Lecture to Problem-Based Learning in Undergraduate Statistics:
Why and How

Christie P. Karpiak
University of Scranton
email: karpiakc2@scranton.edu

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been employed in medical schools for decades, is recommended by Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) for education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and is used in science courses in many universities. PBL provides superior "retention, application, and motivational outcomes," over traditional lecture (McKeachie and Svinicki, 2006) and although it is not widely used in psychology courses, it is highly compatible with psychological findings on optimal conditions for learning. Psychology statistics courses are ideal contexts for PBL, which can be used both to teach course content and to advance students' general quantitative literacy, an important component of a liberal education (see PKAL and AAC&U).
The successful change from lecture to PBL in a psychology statistics course is described in this poster and supporting materials. It is a major change-PBL is markedly different from the traditional lecture format, most noticeably in the presentation of problems before lecture and the centrality of group work. After training, PBL problems were not difficult to develop. Real-world statistics problems were readily generated from current events and publicly accessible databases were identified for use with problems. More subtle but of equal importance were the accompanying changes to the syllabus, class structure, nature of examinations, demand for grading, and physical layout of furniture and computers. Course evaluations from before and after and student feedback specific to these changes will be presented. The importance of compatibility with course goals and catalog descriptions, as well as preparation for the GRE or other outside evaluation, will be discussed.

DOUG BERNSTEIN AWARD

Putting the Pieces Together:
Using Puzzles to Help Students Integrate Key Figures in the History of Psychology

Mark I. Walter and Jamie L. Walter
Albion College
email: mwalter@albion.edu
email: jwalter@albion.edu

One of the major goals in a history of psychology course is for students to learn the interconnectedness of various people and ideas. In order to help students think about more than just the details of the individual psychologists/philosophers, we present a classroom exercise that encourages students to draw connections and integrate the key figures in psychology's history. Several seven-piece hard-backed toddlers' puzzles (available at most toy stores) were brought to class. Students, in groups of four or five, wrote the name of either a psychologist or a philosopher and a very brief detail about that person on the back of each puzzle piece. They were instructed to construct the puzzle in such a way that the pieces fit together based on the interrelationships of the people and concepts that they wrote on each puzzle piece. In so doing, they had to reflect not only on an individual's contribution to psychology but also how those contributions are related to other people discussed in class. Students then presented their puzzle to the class justifying their rationale for putting the names and ideas together as they did. Student comments regarding this exercise were very positive and indicated that the assignment did indeed promote thoughtful discussion regarding the key people and ideas in the history of psychology, while also being fun. This assignment provides instructors with a tool that augments lecture and provides students with an active and enjoyable hands-on approach to learning the material in a history of psychology course.

SOCIETY FOR THE TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY AWARD

Psychology of the Seven Deadly Sins and Heavenly Virtues

Michael R. Hulsizer
Webster University
email: hulsizer@webster.edu

Since the beginnings of recorded history, humans have felt the need to operationalize sin. This process led to the publication of the Seven Deadly Sins: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Anger, Envy, and Pride. However, philosophers and religious scholars also felt a need to provide believers with a set of virtues. These Contrary (Heavenly) Virtues included Chastity, Moderation, Generosity, Zeal, Meekness, Charity, and Humility. The goal of creating a psychology course revolving around these sins and virtues is three-fold. First, discussion of these sins/virtues can serve as a means to discuss our current understanding of the psychological underpinnings of these behaviors. For example, a discussion of lust/chastity can open up into a lecture on the psychology of love and attraction. Discussion of Gluttony/Moderation can include a conversation about eating disorders. Similarly, the remaining sins/virtues all have a wealth of related psychological material that the instructor can introduce as the class further explores these behaviors. Second, the course can allow the instructor/class discussion to explore the boundaries between science and pseudoscience as related to these concepts-furthering critical thinking skills. Finally, this course is easily accessible to most students with minimal knowledge of psychological functioning. Consequently, it may serve as a useful "feeder" course for the department by encouraging students to take advanced classes in the field. The proposed poster will provide lecture and project suggestions. A handout will provide a sample syllabus, useful books, articles, videos, DVDs, and web sites that can aid in course preparation.

Runner-up: STP AWARD

Introductory Psychology Can Alter Student Views
of Evolution and of Psychology as a Science

Kevin E. Moore
DePauw University
email: kemoore@depauw.edu

Many students come to Psychology courses with little understanding of the nature of psychology as a science. Similarly, many students view integration of evolutionary principles into psychology with suspicion-often based on lack of knowledge or understanding of evolution. One strategy for dealing with student misunderstandings of the importance of evolutionary principles and the scientific nature of psychology is to postpone treatment of these issues until later courses (e.g., research methods, evolutionary psychology, a hoped-for biology elective, etc.). This poster describes another strategy and provides evidence for its effectiveness-opening Introductory Psychology with extensive coverage of evolutionary theory, applications, and common fallacies concerning evolution, heavy coverage of the nature of science in general, and of psychological science in particular. Students in Introductory Psychology responded to scale and narrative items about psychology as a science, evolution, and fallacies concerning evolutionary principles (e.g., naturalistic fallacy, genetic determination, etc.) at the beginning of a course and later in the semester. The results showed that intensive coverage of these issues was accompanied by large changes in students' views in all the areas measured, and that students were much less likely to fall prey to fallacies surrounding evolutionary theory. The results suggest that introductory students benefit from this approach, and that emphasizing this material early may be better than waiting until later courses. It is also likely that after this early exposure to evolutionary theory and ideas, students are better prepared to integrate this perspective into future learning experiences.

Awards January 2006

At the January 2006 NITOP, three participant posters were presented with awards. All awards were decided by Institute faculty and announced at the closing session on January 5, 2006. The Frank Costin Memorial Award for Excellence (including a certificate, a check for $250, and a complimentary registration at a future NITOP conference), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best promoting quality teaching methods, was presented to Andrew T. Johnson for his poster entitled "Utilizing a Mnemonic-Creation Activity to Assess Metacognition." The NITOP faculty also recognized the runnerup for the Frank Costin Memorial Award: "Use your 'Brain' to Study for the Cerebral Cortex: An Active Learning Exercise," by J Rudine, Leslie Gerrard, & Paul Fox. The Doug Bernstein Award (a certificate, a check for $250, and a complimentary registration at a future NITOP conference), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as the most humorous, creative, or original poster, was presented to Deborah A. Gagnon for her poster entitled "Conceal to Reveal: The Mask as a Reflection of Identity." The NITOP faculty also recognized the runnerup for the Doug Bernstein Award: "A Palatable Introduction to and Demonstration of the Concept of an Interaction," by Andrew N. Christopher & Pam Marek. The Society for the Teaching of Psychology Award (a certificate, a check for $100, and a year's membership in STP), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best incorporating new or innovative content into psychology courses, was presented to Jeffrey S. Nevid for his poster entitled "Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes with Their Money: Teaching Points from Investment Psychology." The abstracts of the winning posters follow.

FRANK COSTIN MEMORIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

Utilizing a Mnemonic-Creation Activity to Assess Metacognition

Andrew T. Johnson
Park University
email: andrew.johnson@park.edu

Students in a senior-level Cognitive Psychology class were given the option of creating a one-page "cheat" sheet for an essay exam. The only condition for the cheat sheet was that the information had to appear in mnemonic form. If there was any information that could be identified by a psychology layperson, then the cheat sheet would be inadmissible to the exam. On the exam day, students received a mnemonic survey sheet asking questions such as: (1) How long did you work on creating your mnemonic sheet? (2) How much of your mnemonic sheet do you remember right now? (3) How much of your mnemonic sheet will you remember in the future, e.g., three months from now? This final question served as the Metacognition/metamemory question.

Following these questions, students responded to four general questions about the activity on a five-point Likert scale. During the final exam period the students were re-presented with a copy of their mnemonic sheets and asked to write down as much of their mnemonics as they could remember. Analyses of these were compared to the percentage of recall (question 3) recorded two and a half months earlier.

The following elements are included for this learning activity: (a) mnemonic activity survey sheet, (b) results from the mnemonic survey along with student comments, and (c) results from the evaluation of the mnemonic memory test.

Runnerup: FRANK COSTIN AWARD

Use Your "Brain" to Study for the Cerebral Cortex: An Active Learning Exercise

J Rudine, Leslie Gerard, and Paul Fox
Appalachian State University
email: rudinejl@appstate.edu

Ten undergraduate introductory psychology classes participated in an investigation of the effectiveness of an active learning exercise on the cerebral cortex. Each of the classes received a guest presentation on the anatomical and functional areas of the cerebral cortex. Three different presentation styles were manipulated between classes. The first style was similar to a traditional lecture with PowerPoint slides as a visual aid. The second style combined lecture with a novel visual aid in the form of a human model with the anatomical and functional areas of the cerebral cortex painted on his head. The final style combined lecture with an active learning exercise in which students created their own 3-D model of the anatomical and functional areas of the cerebral cortex on a balloon. The effectiveness of the guest presentation on memory for the cerebral cortex was evaluated approximately 2 months later by administering a quiz on the cerebral cortex to each class. In addition, the effectiveness of presentation for different types of memory retrieval (recall versus recognition) was also assessed. Results indicated that using a balloon to draw a 3-D representation of the anatomical and functional areas of the cerebral cortex was more effective for long-term retention than lecture alone. In addition, long-term retention was better when assessed by recognition quiz questions as opposed to recall quiz questions. Finally, students found the balloon exercise to be more enjoyable and more effective in increasing understanding of the cerebral cortex than traditional lecture.

DOUG BERNSTEIN AWARD

Conceal to Reveal: The Mask as a Reflection of Identity

Deborah A. Gagnon
Wells College
email: dgagnon@wells.edu

Identity creation is a singular achievement in some personality theories, most notably, in Erikson's stage theory of development. Metaphorically, individuals try on various 'masks' and 'costumes' in the identity creation stage in an attempt to explore and discover who they are. The fully integrated identity reflects the values and ideals of the individual which have evolved through a personal and family history and been influenced by the culture and society in which they live. In a course titled Psychology, Art, Culture, and Experience, freshman students were asked to reflect upon these influences in the formation of their own identity. The course adopted the approach of using art to explore theories and concepts of note in the various subdisciplines of psychology. For instance, a mask-making exercise was used as an avenue for discussing Erikson's developmental theory and Snyder's self-monitoring theory of personality. Masks were cast of each student's face and then personalized through decoration and modification. The students wrote a reflection paper on the experience and analyzed their mask for what it revealed about themselves and the influences on their identity. The exercise also offered the opportunity for students to experience the rich personal and situational relationship that art has for the artist, a point that is often obscured in the traditional museum or gallery setting. To make the point, students collaborated in creating their own exhibit of masks and excerpts from their reflection papers; examples will be on display in the poster presentation.

Runnerup: DOUG BERNSTEIN AWARD

A Palatable Introduction to and Demonstration of the Concept of an Interaction

Andrew N. Christopher
Albion College
email: achristopher@albion.edu

& Pam Marek
Kennesaw State University
email: pmarek@kennesaw.edu

This poster presented an engaging technique to introduce the notion of an "interaction" in statistics and research methods courses. To conduct the demonstration, teachers prepare a cookie dough recipe, such as that found on most if not all packages of chocolate chips. As the recipe is prepared, teachers explain that each ingredient represents an independent variable, with the amounts of each ingredient representing its levels. The dependent variable is perception of taste. The demonstration provides an opportunity to distinguish between the main effect of each independent variable and the interactions between variables. Not only do students like this demonstration, but we have evidence in the form of exam question performance that it does improve understanding of the notions of main effects and interactions. We selected the chocolate chip cookie recipe because students are familiar with it; however, we also describe recipes that are less complex. The important point is to select a recipe that clearly enables students to understand how different ingredients (main effects) and the amount/levels of those ingredients (interactions) affect taste perception.

SOCIETY FOR THE TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY AWARD

Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes with Their Money:
Teaching Points from Investment Psychology

Jeffrey S. Nevid
St. John's University
email: nevidj@stjohns.edu

Why do smart people make dumb mistakes with their money? Scholars in the emerging field of behavioral finance are applying insights gleaned from pioneering research conducted by Nobel prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman and his late colleague Amos Tversky to better understand the cognitive biases and social influences that lead people to make bad investment decisions.

As psychology instructors, we need to demonstrate to our students how psychological principles relate to their daily lives. As an example, if classical conditioning only taught us about salivation processes in dogs, it would barely be worth a footnote in psychology textbooks today. This poster demonstrates how instructors can use psychological concepts to help students better understand their investment behavior. Though students may not currently have money of their own to invest, hopefully someday they will. By becoming better informed about underlying cognitive biases in decision-making, students may avoid some of the painful lessons their elders learned from the school of hard knocks.

Drawing upon the classic work of Kahneman and Tversky, as well as others from the fields of cognitive and social psychology, this poster identifies errors in thinking that underlie bad investment decisions. The poster presentation will include examples of cognitive biases and social influences that psychology instructors can use in class, including the availability heuristic, the representativeness heuristic, the overreaction bias, the confirmation bias, the herding principle, the hindsight fallacy, anchoring biases, and the inertia bias.

Awards January 2005

At the January 2005 NITOP, three participant posters were presented with awards. All awards were decided by Institute faculty and announced at the closing session on January 5, 2005. The Frank Costin Memorial Award for Excellence (including a certificate, a check for $250, and a complimentary registration at a future NITOP conference), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best promoting quality teaching methods, was presented to Guy A. Boysen for his poster entitled "A Library Field Trip Activity to Achieve McKeachie's First Day of Class Goals." The Doug Bernstein Award (a certificate, a check for $250, and a complimentary registration at a future NITOP conference), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as the most humorous, creative, or original poster, was presented to Brian L. Burke for his poster entitled "'PoPS' Art: Paintings of Piaget's Stages." NITOP faculty also recognized an honorable mention poster which received a close second place in the voting for the Doug Bernstein Award: "Helping Students Understand Psychology through The Sims" by Eric K. Cooper. The Society for the Teaching of Psychology Award (a certificate, a check for $250, and a year's membership in STP), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best incorporating new or innovative content into psychology courses, was presented to Michael R. Hulsizer and Linda M. Woolf for their poster entitled "Incorporating Online Hate Sites into Social Psychology Classes." Congratulations to all these presenters! The abstracts follow below.

FRANK COSTIN MEMORIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

A Library Field Trip Activity to Achieve McKeachie's First Day of Class Goals

Guy A. Boysen
Iowa State University
email: gaboysen@iastate.edu

McKeachie (2002) suggests that specific goals can be achieved on the first day of class: students should have a basic idea of what will be covered in the class, rapport building with the students should be initiated, it should be clear that the instructor cares about student learning, and a perception should arise that the class "will be both valuable and fun" (p. 28). The current poster proposes a library field trip activity to achieve these goals and outlines an initial assessment of the activity.

The library field trip begins after handing out the syllabus and giving a general overview of the course. Class adjourns to the library where students are shown the section containing psychology texts and journals. Students are then assigned to explore the entire section. Their goal is to find a book that seems interesting to them, bring it back to the instructor, and introduce themselves and explain their interest in the book. The essential components of the field trip activity are to have students interact with real psychological materials and the instructor, but any number of variations can be performed to fit an instructor's specific situation and goal.

An initial evaluation of the library field trip activity indicated moderate support for its effectiveness. The primary benefit indicated by a comparison with another class was the development of some basic psychology research skills. In addition, student comments about the experience were positive and appreciative. In summary, the library field trip has promise in achieving McKeachie's first day of class goals but more controlled assessments are needed.

DOUG BERNSTEIN AWARD

"PoPS" Art: Painting of Piaget's Stages

Brian L. Burke
Fort Lewis College
email: burke_b@fortlewis.edu

This poster has two objectives: 1) Viewers will discover how visual metaphor can be effectively used to enhance student learning, and 2) Viewers will learn how to identify which stage of Piaget's cognitive development model the child-artist is in based on specific aspects of each drawing.

Rationale: 1) Empirical research (e.g., Gedeon, 1998) points to the potential utility of visual metaphor in the classroom, indicating that visual metaphor may encourage students to use a greater portion of their brains (i.e., both halves!) in the learning process and that visual metaphor may facilitate overall memory for the specific material taught. Cognitive psychologists (e.g., Lowman, 1984) have further revealed that humans learn best through imagery as well as by building on preexisting cognitive structures (McKeachie, 1994). Visual metaphor incorporates both of these findings into a single educational exercise. 2) The poster will demonstrate the effective use of visual metaphor for a class in Introductory or Developmental Psychology. Using various aspects of the pictures, viewers will be able to determine which cognitive stage of development (in Piaget's model) the child is in. For instance, a child who draws a clear picture of people with limbs and head all out of proportion is in Piaget's preoperational stage, since he or she has not yet mastered simple mathematical concepts such as ratio. By using actual children's drawings as visual cues in this exercise, it improves the likelihood that students will "think psychology" outside the classroom as they come across these cues (i.e., artwork) in their daily lives.

Honorable Mention: DOUG BERNSTEIN AWARD

Helping Students Understand Psychology through "The Sims"

Eric K. Cooper
Seton Hill University
email: ecooper@setonhill.edu

I am constantly searching for ways to create fun and relevant assignments to excite students about the field of psychology. I typically offer several options for a final project in introductory psychology that students may choose from in order to match the assignment to their interests. A recent article in Psychology Today (2003) inspired me to add a new option for the final project based on a popular video game: The Sims.

The Sims, which allows players to create and control the lives of a virtual family and place them in a virtual environment to see how their lives unfold, is one of the most popular video games around. The game offers players a limited amount of points to distribute across personality characteristics, such as activity level, neatness, and extraversion, to establish basic personalities for characters. Then, 'life' begins and quickly starts taking some unexpected turns. Characters can date, get married, go to work, and raise children. Thompson (2003) highlights instances of infants being taken away from families by social workers, the emotional turmoil of characters, and the importance of Maslow's hierarchy.

This poster presentation highlights the details and implementation of the assignment. A summary of the results of the major psychological themes that students related to the experience and student ratings and responses to the assignment is provided. Information on The Sims 2, a more advanced update, and how it can be used to enhance the assignment is provided.

SOCIETY FOR THE TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY AWARD

Incorporating Online Hate Sites into Social Psychology Classes

Michael R. Hulsizer and Linda M. Woolf
Webster University

One aspect of social psychology classes that makes them particularly appealing to undergraduates is the extent to which the material can be readily applied to their everyday lives. However, for many students, particularly those who spend significant time online, their everyday lives have been negatively impacted by the emergence of internet sites and chat rooms devoted to propagating hate and violence. In addition to serving as an obvious example of prejudice and discrimination, internet hate sites can serve to illustrate many important social psychological concepts. For example, instructors may wish to use these sites to explore the social psychological process at work in a hate site such as the just world hypothesis, belief perseverance, biased assimilation, confirmation bias, terror management, fundamental attribution error, judgmental heuristic processes, persuasion, social influence, group dynamics, and social relations. Additionally, these sites serve as vehicles to discuss the role that a culture of violence, a perceived threat orientation, and an ideology of superiority play in the formation and propagation of prejudice and discrimination.

The goal of introducing this material in a social psychology class is three-fold. First, these hate-related web sites can serve as examples of social psychological theories in action - albeit for destructive purposes. The poster outlines how to best use these sites to enhance social psychology lectures. The second goal of introducing this material into a classroom setting relates to the fact that a discussion of the social psychological concepts which underlie the promotion of hate can also be used to develop strategies designed to reduce the effectiveness of hate web sites. Consequently, the proposed poster will provide lecture and project suggestions designed to encourage intervention, prevention, and peace. Third, students can be taught valuable skills related to the critical evaluation of web sites. Unfortunately, hate sites such as www.martinlutherking.org often attempt to blend into the internet landscape. Thus, information relative to web site evaluation is provided. Finally, reference will be made to several useful books, articles, videos, DVDs, and web sites that can aid in the presentation or discussion of hate sites in social psychology classes. Handouts of all of these materials are also provided.

Awards January 2004

At the January 2004 NITOP, three participant posters were presented with awards. All awards were decided by Institute faculty and announced at the closing session on January 6, 2004. The Frank Costin Memorial Award for Excellence (including a certificate, a check for $250, and a complimentary registration at a future NITOP conference), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best promoting quality teaching methods, was presented to Jennifer Meehan Brennom for her poster entitled "It's Game Day! Designing Developmentally Appropriate Games as a Developmental Psychology Project." The Doug Bernstein Award (a certificate, a check for $250, and a complimentary registration at a future NITOP conference), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as the most humorous, creative, or original poster, was presented to Brian L. Burke for his poster entitled "Abnormal Psychology in Saguaro Cacti: Seeing Is Believing." The Society for the Teaching of Psychology Award (a certificate, a check for $250, and a year's membership in STP), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best incorporating new or innovative content into psychology courses, was presented to Linda M. Woolf for her poster entitled "Integrating the Psychology of Terrorism into the Curriculum." The abstracts of the three winning posters follow. Following them, the abstracts of two posters whose presenters received honorable mention recognition are also posted.

FRANK COSTIN MEMORIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE:

It's Game Day! Designing Appropriate Games as a Developmental Psychology Project

Jennifer Meehan Brennom
Kirkwood College
email: jmeehan@kirkwood.edu

Students in my Developmental Psychology class are required to complete a group project in which, instead of playing an educational game, they make one! They are required to identify the specific developmental skills that the game is designed to enhance, and can involve skills from infancy to late adulthood. To encourage them to better understand psychological research articles and their application, they are required to find at least six empirical research articles that are relevant to some aspect of their game. The students use the research in a written report to support why they developed their games the way they did. They also physically develop the game with their own game boards, cards, playing pieces, etc. taking into account the developmental needs of the players for which the game is intended. We set aside some time in class to have a game day when students bring their games to class, explain the research used to support their game, and describe how it is played. After the presentations are made, students are able to play each other's games. This project allows students to develop skills in reading and understanding psychological research and the application of that research in a fun and interactive way. The poster will allow attendees to informally learn about and discuss information on the assignment itself, possible finished products, evaluation options, and ways to adapt for alternate modes of delivery such as interactive distance learning television classes.

DOUG BERNSTEIN AWARD:

Abnormal Psychology in Saguaro Cacti: Seeing Is Believing

Brian L. Burke
Fort Lewis College
email: burke_b@fortlewis.edu

This poster has two objectives: 1) to demonstrate how visual metaphor can be effectively used to enhance student learning and why it should be used, and 2) to illustrate how pictures of "The Abnormal Psychology of Saguaro Cacti" can demonstrate a visual journey that creatively and humorously links critical course concepts to nature, something in which many of today's students are increasingly interested. Empirical research (e.g., Gedeon, 1998) points to the potential utility of visual metaphor in the classroom, indicating that visual metaphor may encourage students to use a greater portion of their brains (i.e., both halves!) in the learning process and that visual metaphor may facilitate overall memory for the specific material taught. The importance of visual metaphor may be most salient in the more "abstract" disciplines, in which painting vivid pictures of key concepts may be essential for the promotion of deep student learning (i.e., "I see" = "I understand"). Cognitive psychologists (e.g., Lowman, 1984) have further revealed that humans learn best through imagery as well as by building on pre-existing cognitive structures (McKeachie, 1994). Visual metaphor incorporates both of these findings into a single educational exercise. Visual metaphor can be effectively used for a class in Abnormal Psychology which focuses on the psychological exploration of mental disorders. This naturalistic visual metaphor—using ubiquitous cactus plants as visual cues—serves as a "hook" to draw students into my class and has the additional advantage of increasing the likelihood that students will "think psychology" outside the classroom as they come across these visual cues in their daily lives. It also makes a didactic point about the superficial nature of many psychological diagnoses.

THE SOCIETY FOR THE TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY AWARD:

Integrating the Psychology of Terrorism into the Curriculum

Linda M. Woolf
Webster University
email: woolflm@webster.edu

With the war on terrorism and the status of the terrorism alert system ever changing, the issue of mass violence at the hand of terrorists remains in the forefront of American news sources as well as the minds of students. As the issue of terrorism integrates itself into the American landscape, it is important that information garnered from research be taught about terrorism. Without such education across many levels, a mythology regarding terrorism may develop that may serve to be more destructive than constructive to individuals as well as nations. Psychology has much to offer in the discussion of terrorism. This poster will address the means by which the psychology of terrorism can be integrated into the behavioral science curriculum. Lecture suggestions as well as a bibliography will be provided. Additionally, information concerning a course focused solely on the psychology of terrorism including course description and objectives will be presented.

HONORABLE MENTION, FRANK COSTIN MEMORIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE:

Are Females at Risk of Failing Statistics?

Isabelle D. Cherney and Ramie R. Cooney
Creighton University
Email: cherneyi@creighton.edu, cooneyr@creighton.edu

Students tend to have higher levels of anxiety for a statistics class than for other psychology classes. Because anxiety can impair the performance in a class, and ultimately the mastery of the subject matter, we designed the Statistic Anxiety and Assessment Scale (SAAS) to assess student's anxiety and attitudes about statistics. The 22-item scale with three sub-scales (math-based anxiety, statistics-based anxiety, and applicability) was used at the beginning and at the end of a statistics class to assess the overall anxiety levels of the students. We found that, over the course of a semester, students' math anxiety levels tended to decrease, statistics anxiety levels tended to remain stable, while the sense of applicability of statistics increased significantly. However, this pattern was different for males and females. As hypothesized, at the beginning of the semester, females reported significantly greater statistics anxiety than males, but they did not differ in their math anxiety and applicability. At the end of the semester, however, males and females had equivalent anxiety scores. Consistent with other findings, regression analyses showed that females' statistics anxiety scores were predictive of their performance in the class. These results suggest that females are at greater risk of poor performance in a statistics class. The poster will show ways in which the scale can assist instructors in their assessment of statistical anxiety and in particular, ways in which levels of anxiety can be reduced for females.

HONORABLE MENTION, SOCIETY FOR THE TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY AWARD:

Undergraduate Research Experiences in Psychology: A National Study

Lee McCann and Baron Perlman
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Email: mccann@uwosh.edu, perlman@uwosh.edu

Psychology has always valued having our undergraduate students actually practicing psychological science. We surveyed departments nationally to better understand the extent of students' scientific opportunities and activities. Results show intradepartmental variability, but overall students can expect seven courses that offer scientific work in the typical psychology curricula. Nonetheless, research is often not the primary course goal, some students must wait until their junior year to take such a course, and most such courses are elective, not required. We conclude that curricula and quality courses in which students do scientific work depend more on committed, master teachers than type of institution, available resources, or departmental size. Implications for departments' curricula and future research directions are discussed.

Awards January 2003

At the January 2003 NITOP, three participant posters were presented with awards. All awards were decided by Institute faculty and announced at the closing session on January 5, 2003. The Frank Costin Memorial Award for Excellence (including a certificate, a check for $250, and a complimentary registration at a future NITOP conference), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best promoting quality teaching methods, was presented to Gary L. Bradshaw, Nancy McCarley, and B. Michael Thorne, for their poster entitled "ePsych: Free Web-Based Experiments and Demonstrations in Psychology." The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Division Two) Award (a certificate and $500 toward expenses for attending the next APA Convention), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best incorporating new or innovative content into psychology courses, was presented to Julie A. McGuire and Michelle R. Hebl, for their poster entitled "'The Grapefruit Race': Demonstrating Gender Differences in Same-Sex Intimacy." The new Doug Bernstein Award (a certificate, a check for $250, and a complimentary registration at a future NITOP conference), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as the most humorous, creative, or original poster, was presented to Esther Yoder Strahan for her poster entitled "Dead Psychologists Come to Dinner: A History of Psychology Dinner Party." The abstracts of the three winning posters follow.

ePsych: Free Web-Based Experiments and Demonstrations in Psychology

Gary L. Bradshaw, Nancy McCarley, and B. Michael Thorne
Mississippi State University
email: glb2@ra.msstate.edu, ngm1@ra.msstate.edu, bmt2@ra.msstate.edu

ePsych (http://epsych.msstate.edu) is a growing website that contains a number of interactive experiments and demonstrations in psychology. The site is geared toward an introductory-level treatment of topics, but it can be used in more advanced classes as well. Multimedia elements include interactive Java programs, video clips, and animated graphics. These elements are automatically accessed as visitors use their browsers to view web pages. The site features a "journey" metaphor through which visitors travel to different worlds of the mind. There they are greeted by various characters who help them both to navigate around the site and to understand the various topics. Currently four different worlds have been developed: the descriptive mind (sensation and perception), the deliberate mind (decision-making, planning, and problem-solving), the adaptive mind (learning), and the biological mind (physiological psychology). New worlds under development include the communicative mind (psycholinguistics) and the executive mind (attention). Each world features a visitor's center (to orient the student to the world), maps (for navigation), modules (brief coverage of specific topics), and guidebooks (extended coverage of more general topics). Currently, 23 modules, which have about 100 Mbytes of information, are available. The modules incorporate close to 500 different html files, 52 different Java applications, 1,600 image files, and 30 video clips. Active learning is encouraged by challenging students with puzzles and problems and providing the opportunity to "dig deeper" to learn more about the phenomena at hand. The site is free, and access is unrestricted.

"The Grapefruit Race": Demonstrating Gender Differences in Same-Sex Intimacy

Julie A. McGuire
Stanford University
email: jmcg@psych.stanford.edu
and Michelle R. Hebl
Rice University
email: hebl@rice.edu

Numerous studies suggest that male same-sex friendships are less intimate than female same-sex friendships (Clark & Ayers, 1993; Foot, Chapman, & Smith, 1977; for a review, see Lips, 2001). For example, college males are significantly more reluctant than females to volunteer to sign up for studies about friendship requiring them to bring along a same-sex friend (Lewis, Winstead, & Derlega, 1989). One of the reasons there may be less physical contact among male same-sex friends is the fear of homosexuality that is stronger in men than women. For example, Wong & Csikszentmihalyi (1991) found that teenage boys who are highly affiliative report more negative emotional states than do teenage girls. In this classroom demonstration, students witness one effect of gender differences in comfort with physical intimacy in same-sex interactions. Two four-person teams (one all female and one all male) engage in a race. The race involves passing a grapefruit from one team member to the next—using only the neck. (In other words, the grapefruit is held between the chin and chest, and passed to the next person without the aid of other body parts.) This exercise requires close physical proximity to be successful. Despite the fact that males may excel at other competitions involving coordination and speed, they are worse at this task than females, and finish after the female team finishes. Quantitative data confirmed that students felt the demonstration was helpful and beneficial to learning and exploring gender differences on comfort with physical intimacy with same-sex members.

Dead Psychologists Come to Dinner: A History of Psychology Dinner Party

Esther Yoder Strahan
Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio
email: estrahan@heidelberg.edu

Teaching History of Psychology at the undergraduate level can be a challenge. Students have trouble simply keeping names like Köhler and Külpe straight. I have had good success at enhancing students' interest with a Dead Psychologists Convention that I hold in lieu of a final exam. Early in the semester, each student selects one psychologist from our history of psychology textbook (Schultz & Schultz, 2000). The student writes a term paper on that psychologist, and impersonates him/her at the dinner party. As part of the term paper, the student is required to discuss how the Zeitgeist shaped that individual's life or work. As the semester goes by, class discussion and additional writings enhance the student's understanding of that historical figure. For the final exam, each student brings to the dinner party the following: 1) a costume, whether literal or metaphorical, representing her/his psychologist. This requirement has been a key part of the fun and success of the experience. 2) a typed speech in which that psychologist describes his/her contributions to psychology in a way that would be "in character." 3) two written, thoughtful questions for each other psychologist present, also written "in character." Over dinner, the students make their speeches and pepper each other with their prepared questions. Grading is based primarily on the written work, with some points for costume and presentation. Students have been quite enthusiastic about the experience, some of them mentioning to me several years later that they really enjoyed that part of the course.

Award Summer 2002

At the June 2002 Summer NITOP, The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Division Two) Award (a certificate and $500 toward expenses for attending the next APA Convention), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best incorporating new or innovative content into psychology courses, was presented to Mary Bower Russa and Richard Paschke, of Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, for their poster entitled "Teaching Psychology of Physical Disabilities." Their abstract follows.

Teaching Psychology of Physical Disabilities

Mary Bower Russa and Richard Paschke
Grand Valley State University
email: bowerm@gvsu.edu

Although the perception is often that disabilities happen to "someone else," data suggest that about half of the U.S. population has some sort of chronic condition, about two-thirds experience limitations in their abilities to perform some daily activities, and about 10 percent are significantly limited in an activity required for daily living (Riley & Nagi, l970). A survey of 2000 students at a major Midwestern university indicated that 90 percent of them reported that a family member with whom they were close had a major illness or disability (Wright, 1983). With the fastest growing segment of our population currently consisting of those over the age of 85, and with medical and technological advances that now allow those with even very serious disabilities (e.g., spinal cord injuries) to live into old age, understanding disabilities is becoming an increasingly important part of daily living. Before they experience such difficulties themselves, many persons will deal with disabilities in their roles as family members and/or caretakers for aging relatives. This poster is geared to instructors who are interested in incorporating coverage of issues related to physical disabilities into their traditional psychology courses. The poster will emphasize the importance of understanding the complex interplay between biomedical and psychosocial factors in dealing with disabilities. Basic psychological theories or models that can be used to attempt to understand the experience of disabilities and its impact on individuals and families will be presented, and examples of psychosocial issues that are particularly relevant to specific types of illnesses or injuries will be highlighted. Finally, data based on student ratings of various disability-related topics for interest of the topic and relevance to daily life will be presented.

Awards January 2002

Students' Perceptions and Expectations of the Job of a Professor

Darren R. Ritzer, Kelly D. Chandler, and Merry J. Sleigh
George Mason University
email: slyritz@erols.com, kdchand@aol.com, msleigh@gmu.edu

People's expectations can powerfully influence the way they perceive a situation. As teachers, we have wondered, "What do the students expect out of us?" Thus, we surveyed 265 students about their perceptions of faculty members' day-to-day responsibilities. According to most students, the average faculty member works 35 hours/week and is underpaid at $48,400/year. When asked for the top three responsibilities, 99% of students responded with teaching-related statements. The most frequent answers were (1) to be knowledgeable, (2) encourage learning/motivate students, and (3) to be clear/organized/prepared. Only three students mentioned either service or research. Given the chance to list all of the responsibilities of a faculty member, the most common answers were to assist students (40%) and have a life (17%). Five percent of students included "meetings/administrative tasks," and 1% included "assisting with clubs/organizations." Older students reported that professors work longer hours and spend more time preparing for class. According to most students, every teacher should use email and some form of web-based technology. Teachers should be willing to share personal information, especially their educational background, during class time. Faculty should spend as much time with each student as needed during office hours, extending office hours when necessary. Teachers should return emails within 24 hours, and exams/papers within one week. Younger students expected more office hours and a quicker return of graded papers. Also, faculty should have increased availability around test time, providing study sessions before each test. The lower the students' GPA, the greater the expectation of this availability.

Psyche Cattell Was Not James McKeen's Nickname!

Linda M. Woolf
Webster University
email: woolflm@webster.edu

Women such as Christine Ladd-Franklin, Inez Beverly Prosser, Galina Starovoitova, and Psyche Cattell have often been omitted from the history of psychology. Yet psychology's history includes a vast array of women who made significant contributions both inside and outside of psychology. This poster is designed to provide information concerning a seminar created specifically to introduce students to the contributions of these foremothers as well as the contributions of more contemporary women psychologists. This seminar examines the lives of these women, their intellectual contributions, and the unique impact and special problems that being female had on their careers. In relation to the latter, issues such as the family claim, the exclusion of women from the academy, marriage vs. career, mentoring problems, the myth of meritocracy, and the effect of stereotyping and prejudice are discussed in relation to these women's lives and careers. Current research on these topics is also included. Additional emphasis is placed on highlighting the lives of women psychologists who are at special risk for being lost to the history of psychology such as women of color and international women psychologists. The lives of women in related disciplines such as anthropology and sociology are also discussed. Students learn a variety of library, cybrary, research, and investigative skills, as the information is often not accessible through the use of traditional literature search methods.

Award Summer 2001

At the July 2001 Summer NITOP, The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Division Two) Award (a certificate and $500 toward expenses for attending the next APA Convention), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best incorporating new or innovative content into psychology courses, was presented to Kim Ernst, of Loyola University, New Orleans, for her poster entitled "Using The Nun Study as a Means to Review Introductory Psychology Course Concepts." Her abstract follows.

Using The Nun Study as a Means to Review Introductory Psychology Course Concepts

Kim Ernst
Loyola University, New Orleans
email: kernst@loyno.edu

Course instructors of introduction to psychology have well-established routines for both the content and the mechanics for the first class meeting. The last class meeting, however, is usually defined less well. Instructor's manuals and psychology teaching handbooks offer few suggestions or teaching activities for the last class meeting, especially for instructors who want to help their students review for a comprehensive final exam. To this end, an activity that uses a single study, The Nun Study, as a means to review several major themes of the course and related concepts, was developed.

The poster describes how a last-class meeting activity was designed and implemented to help students review for an introduction to psychology comprehensive final exam. In brief, the activity requires the instructor to present an overview of The Nun Study. Students then take turns identifying and defining the psychological themes and related concepts. The course instructor facilitates the activity by connecting the concepts and illustrating their interrelationships across psychology's subfields. This activity is designed to help students review course material in preparation for a comprehensive final exam. The activity also provides flexibility for course instructors to expand and elaborate on the concepts and principles identified by the students. The poster also presents quantitative evidence of the effectiveness of the activity.

Awards January 2001

At the January 2001 NITOP, two participant posters were presented with awards. Both awards were decided by Institute faculty and announced at the closing session on January 6, 2001. The Frank Costin Memorial Award for Excellence (including a certificate and a check for $250), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best promoting quality teaching methods, was presented to Michael R. Hulsizer, for his poster entitled "Incorporating International Human Rights Issues into Social Psychology Courses." The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Division Two) Award (a certificate and $500 toward expenses for attending the next APA Convention), for the poster judged by Institute faculty as best incorporating new or innovative content into psychology courses, was presented to Christine McBride and Debra Hydorn, for their poster entitled "Statistics and Methods in the Field: The Integration of Service Learning into Research Based courses." The abstracts of both winning posters follow.

During the summer of 2000, we asked directors of local nonprofit agencies if they would like assistance with program evaluation, survey development, and/or data analysis. We then incorporated the needs of agencies into student projects and assignments. The agencies, many of which do not have the knowledge and/or resources to evaluate the effectiveness of their work, gained valuable information that aided them in grant writing and program development. The students gained practical experience and community contacts that will be useful when applying for jobs and graduate programs. At the end of the fall semester, we will be assessing the project's impact on student learning. Students will respond to a survey that addresses interest in and value of the material presented.