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Introduction to Psychology
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When I first started teaching Introduction to Psychology, I found it difficult—much harder than teaching classes in statistics or research methods. I was able to give a lecture on the sympathetic nervous system, a lecture on Piaget, and a lecture on social cognition, but how could I link these topics together for the student? I felt a bit like I was presentingalaundrylistofresearchfindingsratherthananintegratedsetofprinciplesandknowledge.Ofcourse,what was difficult for me was harder still for my students. How could they be expected to remember and understand all themanyphenomenaofpsychology?Howcouldtheytellwhatwasmostimportant?Andwhy,giventheabundanceof information that was freelyavailable to them on the web, should they care about myapproach? Mypedagogy needed something to structure, integrate, and motivate their learning. Eventually, I found some techniques to help my students understand and appreciate what I found to be important. First, I realized that psychology actually did matter to my students, but that I needed to make it clear to them why it did. I therefore created a more consistent focus on the theme of behavior. One of the most fundamental integrating principlesofthedisciplineofpsychologyisitsfocusonbehavior,andyetthatisoftennotmadecleartostudents.Affect, cognition,andmotivationarecriticalandessential,andyetarefrequentlybestunderstoodandmaderelevantthrough theirlinkswithbehavior.OnceIfiguredthisout,Ibegantyingallthematerialtothisconcept:Thesympatheticnervous systemmattersbecauseithasspecificandpredictableinfluencesonourbehavior.Piaget’sfindingsmatterbecausetheyhelpus understand the child’s behavior(notjusthisorherthinking).Andsocialcognitionmattersbecause our social thinking helps usbetterrelatetotheotherpeopleinoureverydaysociallives.Thisintegratingthemeallowsmetoorganizemylectures,my writing assignments, and my testing.
University of Minnesota Libraries - Organizational Body
NONE
Social Science
English
2015
1-646
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