From the Education Directorate
Undergraduate Psychology Major Learning Goals and Outcomes
The Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) Task Force on Undergraduate Psychology Major Competencies is pleased to share its report on the Undergraduate Psychology Major Learning Goals and Outcomes. Endorsed by the APA Board of Educational Affairs in March 2002, the report is intended to serve as a resource to undergraduate psychology departments and faculty to assist with academic review processes and curriculum planning.
The BEA established the Task Force on Psychology Major Competencies to describe a set of goals and learning outcomes for the undergraduate psychology major. These outcomes are intended to incorporate the broad range of competencies encompassed in a psychology major in a liberal arts and sciences education. In addition, these outcomes address competencies developed to serve students seeking entrance to graduate or professional schools as well as those entering the labor force upon receipt of the baccalaureate degree. The document will serve as an important contribution to the discipline of psychology that will be valuable to psychology departments, faculty members, and to higher education administrators. The Task Force is currently developing a companion document to address implementation issues, including recommendations for assessment of the learning outcomes specified in the report.
Next Steps
To ensure the most comprehensive feedback possible, the Task Force is distributing the report widely and welcomes your review and whatever further edits you might suggest. Copies are available online (http://www.apa.org/ed/pcue/taskforcereport2.pdf) or through the APA Education Directorate. Please contact Martha Boenau by email or at (202) 336-6140. The Task Force will review all comments and recommendations carefully. Please send feedback either by email or snail mail by December 1st to Jane Halonen, PhD; School of Psychology; James Madison University; MSC 7401; Harrisonburg, VA 22807.
2002 Pinnacle Project
The 2002 Pinnacle Project-Summit was held at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York August 5-11. The Pinnacle Project, sponsored by American Psychological Foundation’s Esther Katz Rosen Center for Gifted Education Policy, is a talent development model for exceptionally high achieving adolescents.
Each summer, a new cohort of discipline-based teams, meets for one week to plan a year-long mentorship and project for a young scholar to complete. Teams include an eminent artist or scientist (master), a rising star (associate) and a high school age scholar. Masters’, associates’, and scholars’ biographies can be found at the Center’s website, www.apa.org/ed/cgep.html. This year’s teams included computer science, theoretical physics, visual art, music composition, creative writing, journalism, and psychology.
The psychology team was headed by Dr. Martin Seligman and joined by Dr. Derek Issacowitz, assistant professor of Psychology at Brandeis University. The student, Edward Coakley, 17, of Fairfax County, Virginia is analyzing the content of selected released tapes of President Lyndon Johnson’s telephone interviews using Content Analysis of Verbal Expression (CAVE.)
The Center for Gifted Education Policy is busy with many other projects. The first issue of the new online newsletter, Gifted Dialogue, which offers through the CE office, continuing education credit will come out this month.
The Center is also developing a one-day proto-type of Pinnacle, the Young Scholar’s Social Science Summit, to be held in Washington, D.C., February 7, 2003. To read all the details about the Center’s activities, please visit the website, www.apa.org/ed/cgep.html.
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