Industrial/Organizational Psychology for High School Teachers
A two-hour Workshop
Friday, August 17, 11:00 AM – 12:50 PM, Moscone Center Room 2018

Co-sponsored by the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology (APA Division 14) and the APA Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS)

If you are interested in attending this workshop, please email Elise Amel so the presenters know how many people to expect.

Chairperson: Elise L. Amel, Ph.D, University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN)

Co-facilitators: Douglas C. Maynard, Ph.D., SUNY New Paltz (New Paltz, NY), Carrie A. Bulger, Ph.D., Quinnipiac University (Hamden, CT)

General Summary

The High School Outreach Subcommittee of the Division 14 (SIOP) Education and Training Committee has been working with APA’s Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) to prepare a 7-day unit plan for high school teachers on the topic of Industrial/Organizational Psychology.  Prior to the publication of the new unit plan, the workshop facilitators would like to conduct an interactive workshop to introduce the material to a group of high school teachers.  During this 2-hour workshop, workshop presenters will provide overviews of three of the topics addressed in the unit plan.  Presentations will be interactive in nature, encouraging question and answer time regarding content and presentation tips as well as general comments about appropriate depth and complexity for high school students.  To provide direct experience with the material, a majority of the time will be spent conducting hands-on activities. The workshop will end with a brief discussion of resources related to the field of Industrial/Organizational Psychology. 

The unit plan will cover six content areas: Selection, Training, Performance Appraisal, Organizational Justice, Job Stress, and Leadership. However, the workshop will focus on three areas: Performance Appraisal, Organizational Justice and Job Stress.  A booklet of activities and resources will be disseminated to each audience member to take back to their school. 

Workshop format

The workshop will begin with a 20-minute general overview of the field of I/O: where I/O psychologists work, the “scientist-practitioner model”, goals of the field, and its connections to other areas of psychology such as cognition, social, motivation and emotion, personality, and cross-cultural. 

Three topics will then be covered in an interactive format:

1. And Justice for All:  Presenters will discuss why understanding justice is important to organizations.  Three different elements of justice perceptions (procedural, distributive and interactional) will be discussed.  Time will be allotted for role play, which will allow comparisons of employee perceptions when treatment varies.
2. How are you doing? Evaluating Employee Performance: Presenters will discuss the process of evaluating employee performance in terms of why it is done, what type of information can be collected, typical cognitive errors evaluators make, and a very effective and popular technique, 360-degree feedback. 
3. I’m So Stressed Out!: Presenters will give a pop-quiz as a way of dispelling myths surrounding stress.  Also discussed will be the use of a group activity for identifying workplace stressors. 

The workshop will end with a discussion of resources.

Questions?  Contact Elise Amel.