Convention is headed to San Francisco! Are you attending? If so, there are some amazing sessions this year. If you can’t attend in person, don’t stress because we have you covered. We will be live Tweeting much of what’s going on.
As faculty members, most of us “feel” the popularity of the psychology major, whether in an increase in our class sizes, the number of advisees we are assigned or an increase in the number of adjunct faculty hires. We know psychology is one of the most popular undergraduate majors in the U.S.; in the last year the data are available (2014-2015), 117,557 bachelor’s degrees in psychology were awarded (National Center for Education Statistics, 2017).
Kevin sits at his desk doodling while the other students are eagerly writing their biographical essays. Time has almost run out and it is clear he will have nothing to hand in. You want to light a fire under him and get him motivated, but how?
In the early 1900s, 85% of American families were involved in the agricultural industry. Consequently, as the summer months rolled around, children were needed to pitch in on the farm. Our current school calendars reflect this history. Children start school in late Summer, and finish in late Spring. This allowed our children to come home and work on the farm with us. Now, you may be thinking, “But I don’t work on a farm!” Yes, times have changed and most of us have very little to do with agriculture. Yet the school calendars persist.
At its best, teaching is about making connections. Through a shared joke in class or a quick conversation about a concert t-shirt before class, we connect with our students. We also connect with other teachers, at first out of desperate necessity to stay afloat, but eventually – hopefully – as united families do. By taking them on a journey where their efforts are rewarded with mastery, we try our best to connect our students to the curriculum.
The school year is over, and it is time to rest and reinvigorate! Below is a list fascinating books for psychology teachers this summer which will have you prepared and excited for new students this fall.
What are some core elements of Psychological Science? If you had just a few minutes to summarize why your discipline is important, what would you say? I filtered down the key elements of the entire 15-week course down to the amount of time it takes you to hard boil an egg (a little more than 12 minutes for those of you who have not boiled one recently). I gave a TEDx talk and now, with the help of Rosalyn Stoa, present several fun ways to use the video in classes and to engage students. Students have a fun way to see how much psychology they know and teachers have a ready-made assessment tool (student responses to the quiz provided can be shared).
Did you know that an estimated 3.4 million individuals in the United States hold a bachelor’s degree in psychology and that younger psychologists are more racially/ethnically diverse than older ones? The APA Center for Workforce Studies maintains a series of interactive data tools to answer these and other questions about the psychology workforce and education pipeline. Hold your mouse over the graphs and figures, and a box pops up with additional information.
Did you know that older adults (individuals 65 years of age and older) are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population?
Did you know that in 2035, older adults are projected to outnumber kids for the first time in U.S. history?
Did you know that the Bureau of Labor Statistics just reported that the majority of the jobs that will have the most growth in the next 10 years are related to aging services?
There is a broad range of exciting and personally fulfilling career opportunities to work with this rapidly growing segment of the population. However, students seldom consider pursuing a specialization and career focused on adult development and aging.