men in a circular maze trying to reach a large white light bulb at the center

Undergraduate Students March 12, 2018

Inside the Industrial-Organizational Psychologist’s Toolkit: Job Analysis

Many of us have received care from a nurse, perhaps while at school or at a hospital. If you have, chances are, you had a positive experience. Americans rate nurses as some of the most honest and ethical professionals! But, someone had to make sure to get the right person into that job. How did they do it? How did they make sure that the person helping you has what it takes to be a good nurse? What does it even mean to be a good nurse?

Pre K - 12 Teachers February 26, 2018

Building, Guiding, and Sustaining Regional Networks for High School Psychology Teachers

Professional development opportunities for high school psychology teachers have traditionally been hard to come by. In the past, the only significant opportunities to see presentations on best practices in the teaching of high school psychology were limited to APA/Clark University Workshop for High School Teachers, the annual APA Convention, the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) annual conference or the Advanced Placement Annual Conference. All are outstanding opportunities for professional growth, but typically require significant travel and the latter three require expensive conference fees.

Pre K - 12 Teachers, Undergraduate Students, Undergraduate Teachers February 19, 2018

Environmental Psychology “In Action”: Understanding the dangers of noise to humans

Dr. Arline Bronzaft is worried about the effect noise could be having on your health. She’s an environmental psychologist whose research on the impact of noise in New York City has changed noise code policy and brought a lot of attention to the dangers of noise to humans. Her latest collaborative project with the Department of Environmental Protection of New York City is the Sound and Noise Education Module. This module provides interactive, multi-disciplinary, STEM lessons tailored to teach elementary, middle and high school students about sound and noise in their neighborhoods. Activities in each lesson encourage students and teachers to participate in citizen science projects by collecting and analyzing data.

Pre K - 12 Teachers, Undergraduate Students, Undergraduate Teachers February 12, 2018

Learning through Blogging: Implications of Blog Psychology in the Classroom

It was estimated that in January 2017, there were more than 1.8 billion websites. And as most of us know already, a website can be a personal, commercial, governmental website, or a non-profit organisation. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, ranging from entertainment and social networking, to providing news and education.

Graduate and Postgraduate Students, Undergraduate Students February 4, 2018

The I-O Playbook: Bringing Psychological Assessments to the NFL

Three industrial-organizational psychologists have brought a whole new field to psychology—Dr. Harold Goldstein, Dr. Kenneth Yusko, and Dr. Charles Scherbaum have given the National Football League (NFL) an innovative and evidence-based tool for selecting players during the draft using their extensive research and experience in personnel selection and industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology. Their work designing, implementing, and validating a new psychological test called the NFL Player Assessment Test (NFL-PAT) has shown how the science of I-O can be applied in new, sophisticated, and very cool ways.

Graduate and Postgraduate Students, Undergraduate Teachers January 29, 2018

This is Why Social Media is the Secret to Success in Student Engagement

Over the last few years as a School Psychology doctoral student, I have begun to experiment with various social media and technology platforms with hopes to improve efficiency and service delivery. I have found that the attention and information consumption of youth are structured into small but high-volume increments of time. Each social media platform serves its own purpose in the lives of our youth and as educators we must utilize this knowledge to bridge the educational gaps that exist.

Pre K - 12 Teachers January 22, 2018

What Kindergarten Teachers Wish Children Knew

Kindergarten today is not like it used to be – a place characterized by engagement with social skills and exploring through play.  Over the past twenty years, Kindergarten has become much more concentrated on academics as a result of federal, state, and local policies as well as parental concerns that emphasize the acquisition of basic skills and passing standardized tests. In fact, there’s research that supports the idea that Kindergarten is the new first grade. In response, preschools have become more academic, especially promoting early reading and math skills.  Children now know more than they ever have at this age about these subjects.

Pre K - 12 Teachers, Undergraduate Students January 15, 2018

What High School Psychology Students Told Us About the Future of Healthy Aging

In the past year, high school psychology students embarked upon an essay to describe an “Aging World,” the theme of this year’s Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) annual essay competition for high school psychology students. Ultimately, four students from high schools around the world were named winners, but the broader impact was that a bevy of young people learned about how to age well and how to support this goal for our current aging population. The potential contribution of younger to older generations is enormous, and it has been truly inspiring to see the passion and ingenuity with which these high school students approach an aging world.

Pre K - 12 Teachers January 8, 2018

Why It’s Important to Support the Psychological Well-Being of Early Childhood Educators

It’s the first day of class and Marie is a brand new teacher. She has just finished her professional degree and has had some experience as an assistant teacher, but this is her first time being the head teacher in an early childhood setting and being fully responsible for the children in her care.    During her training she learned about developmentally appropriate practices and working with families and children from diverse backgrounds, but nevertheless she feels overwhelmed and underprepared to deal with the day-to-day challenges of being an early childhood educator.  Marie is expected to provide a high-quality experience for her children but her own anxiety and stress is getting in the way of her ability to provide the children in her classroom with a nurturing and positive educational environment.  Her anxiety sometimes spills over into her interactions with other teachers and parents which in turn affects the behavior and learning of the children under her care.