The Educator | December 2014

Office of Precollege and Undergraduate Education update

TOPSS and PT@CC celebrate several accomplishments and awards in 2014.

For full details about activities of the Office of Precollege and Undergraduate Education, see the complete issue of The Educator (PDF, 6.06MB). Highlights include:

New unit lesson plans

Excellence in Teaching Awards 

TOPSS selected three recipients of the 2014 APA TOPSS Excellence in Teaching Awards, recognizing exemplary teaching and commitment to academic and professional excellence:

  • Lara Bruner, MA.
  • William Elmhorst, MS.
  • Joseph Swope, PhD.

Professional Development Awards for High School Psychology Teachers 

The Education Directorate announced six recipients of the 2014 APF’s Professional Development Awards for High School Psychology Teachers.

  • Susan Abate, Elk Grove, California.
  • Jessica Bullock, Beijing, China.
  • Theresa Cicali, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey.
  • Sharell Elam, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
  • Yesenia Hernandez, East Hartford, Connecticut.
  • Maria Tsolka, Bayside, New York.

High School Psychology Teacher Network Grants 

The Education Directorate announced six recipients of the 2014 APF High School Psychology Teacher Network Grants.

  • Wanda Alderman, Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
  • Melody Barger, St. Louis.
  • Debra Park, Elmer, New Jersey.
  • Jaclyn Parslow, Fontana, California.
  • R. Scott Reed, Chandler, Arizona.
  • Steven Turner, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Scholars Competition for High School Psychology Students 

The TOPSS committee named four student winners for the 2014 TOPSS Competition for High School Psychology Students.

  • Miriam Hauptman of Ladue Horton Watkins High School (St. Louis).
  • Rebecca Jordan of Rye High School (Rye, New York).
  • Emory Nager of North Salem High School (North Salem, New York).
  • Milena Pirman of Kimberly High School (Appleton, Wisconsin).

Intel International Science and Engineering Fair

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) was held May 11-16, 2014, at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles. Over 1,400 students from about 70 countries, regions and territories competed at the 65th ISEF. As a Special Awards Organization, APA granted seven awards to the best projects representing psychological science. During two days of intense judging, a panel of psychologists selected the top projects. The effort is funded and organized through the Education Directorate.

Support at the Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology Reading

The Education Directorate supported a professional development night at the Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology Reading, held in Kansas City, Missouri. The directorate also sent materials about APA, PT@CC and TOPSS to the event. Preliminary results show that over 260,000 AP psychology exams were taken by high school students across the country.

The TOPSS Committee also announced at the reading that it has renamed the APA TOPSS Excellence in Teaching Award the “APA TOPSS Charles T. Blair-Broeker Excellence in Teaching Awards” to recognize longtime TOPSS member Charlie Blair-Broeker, who retired in 2014. At the 2014 APA convention Charlie was presented with an APA Presidential Citation from 2014 APA President Nadine Kaslow, PhD, recognizing his “exemplary efforts to promote high-quality instruction of and professionalism in teaching high school psychology.” Amy Fineburg, PhD, presented him with the citation on Kaslow’s behalf.

APA/Clark University Workshop for High School Teachers 

The 10th annual APA/Clark University Workshop for High School Teachers was held June 30-July 2, 2014, at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Twenty-four high school teachers from around the country participated in the workshop. Presenters included:

  • Keynote: Mary Kite, PhD, Ball State University.
  • Randy Ernst, Lincoln Public Schools (Nebraska).
  • Nancy Fenton, Adlai E. Stevenson High School (Illinois).
  • Michael Addis, PhD, Clark University.
  • Wendy Grolnick, PhD, Clark University.
  • Katerine Bielaczyc, PhD, Clark University.

APA Pre-convention Workshop for Introductory Psychology Teachers

The APA Education Directorate, thanks to funding from APF, sponsored a pre-convention workshop for introductory psychology teachers on Aug. 6, 2014. Forty-seven teachers registered to attend the workshop. Recorded presentations are available online. Participants included:

  • Jeffrey Stowell, PhD, Eastern Illinois University.
  • Sue Frantz, MA, Highline College.
  • Greg Neimeyer, PhD, APA Education Directorate.
  • Lynn Bufka, PhD, APA Practice Directorate.

APA briefing on high school psychology

A second “APA Briefing on High School Psychology” was held Sept. 18, 2014, at APA headquarters, following an initial briefing in March 2013. The purpose of the meeting was to share information on the teaching of high school psychology, APA policy documents and resources for high school psychology, and to discuss possible collaborations with participating groups. Board of Educational Affairs member Amy Fineburg, PhD, TOPSS Chair Michael McLane, MA, and Education Directorate staff facilitated the briefing.

Participants included representatives from:

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science.
  • Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
  • District of Columbia Public Schools.
  • National Association of State Boards of Education.
  • National Council for the Social Studies.
  • National PTA.
  • National Research Council.
  • Society for Neuroscience.

TOPSS webinar

The APA Education Directorate and TOPSS sponsored a second TOPSS webinar on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, on “Neuroethics and Neurotechnology,” featuring Eric Chudler, PhD, associate professor of research in the department of bioengineering, University of Washington, and executive director of the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering. 

Support of a Washington, D.C., public schools psychology bowl                   

The APA Education Directorate provided financial support to a “psychology bowl” that will benefit high school students enrolled in psychology courses in Washington, D.C. The event will be held in 2015.

Local Groups and/or Workshops for Psychology Teachers

A new webpage has been added to the TOPSS website listing local groups and/or workshops for psychology teachers. Several of the groups include meetings for community college teachers as well (e.g., MATOP, MISTOP).

New APA committee on undergraduate education

In August 2014, the APA Council of Representatives established a new Committee on Associate and Baccalaureate Education (CABE) to replace the APA Committee of Psychology Teachers at Community Colleges (PT@CC). The new committee will more broadly consider undergraduate education in psychology at both the associate and baccalaureate levels.

Data on curricula and outcomes

The Office of Precollege and Undergraduate Education, in collaboration with the Center for Workforce Studies, launched a national “Undergraduate Study in Psychology: Curricula and Outcomes” in early 2014. John Norcross, PhD, of the University of Scranton, and his former student Rory Pfund, now at the University of Memphis, and APA staff members Robin Hailstorks, PhD, and Karen Stamm, PhD, presented the results of this study at the APA convention in Washington, D.C., in August 2014. Information about the survey findings will be available in 2015.

Teaching and curriculum resources

The Education Directorate created a poster that features an overview of the five broad goals and student learning outcomes for the undergraduate psychology major. The poster is a snapshot of the recommendations included in the APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major: Version 2.0 (2013).

Copies of the poster were mailed to psychology departments this fall and may be requested from Martha Boenau.

Earlier this year, Jane S. Halonen, PhD, University of West Florida, presented on the guidelines in a webinar, “The Evolving APA Undergraduate Psychology Guidelines: Where Are We Now?”

Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) online briefing 

Curious about changes to the 2015 Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)? The new MCAT will test students’ knowledge and use of concepts from the behavioral sciences. The exam will consist of four sections, including the new section on psychological, social and biological foundations of behavior. An online briefing (PDF, 353KB) is available for students as well as educators.

New publishing opportunity for the scholarship of teaching and learning: MedEdPORTAL 

In recognition of the importance of psychology as both a basic and a clinical science in the preparation of the health care workforce, Barney Beins, PhD, associate editor of MedEdPORTAL, is now soliciting submissions related to psychological science. This opportunity is the result of collaboration between APA and the Association of American Medical Colleges to create an online-only collection of free, peer-reviewed educational resources in MedEdPORTAL Publications. This repository is used across the health professions in the preparation of future practitioners.

Accepted submissions are complete stand-alone learning or teaching modules that have been successfully implemented in the classroom or clinical training environment. This effort is to collect case studies of pedagogical approaches to promote the scholarship of teaching and learning. Visit the MedEdPORTAL Publications website for current examples and instructions for submission. Submissions of resources that facilitate the teaching of foundational psychological science related to behavior and health are particularly encouraged.

Award for Excellence in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at a Two-Year College or Campus 

The APA Committee of Psychology Teachers at Community Colleges (PT@CC) selected Kimberley Duff, PhD, of Cerritos College in Norwalk, California, as the recipient of the APA PT@CC Award for Excellence in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at a Two-Year College or Campus.

Conference funding

In early 2015, BEA will award $10,000 in grants to support conferences on enhancing the quality of undergraduate education in psychology and advancing the teaching of psychology at the secondary, two-year or four-year level.

For your students

The Psychology Student Network (PSN) newsletter is designed for undergraduate psychology students. PSN features articles and announcements about careers and interesting topics in psychology, with a focus on opportunities for students. PSN is published twice a year, in the spring and fall.