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National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula
APPENDIX B—IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES
How To Use the National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula in Day-to-Day Lesson Plans
Accountability legislation typically demands that teachers demonstrate how their lessons and courses align with local, state, and national standards. Some local school districts and state boards of education have adopted standards for teaching high school psychology that are based on these standards. Along with, or in the absence of, local or state guidelines for teaching high school psychology, teachers can use these standards as a starting point for daily lesson planning, once scope and sequence for the course are determined.
Teachers should first note that there are suggested performance indicators for every performance standard. These performance indicators may be used as a starting point for classroom activities or student assignments. They are only suggestions. Teachers will want to substitute and supplement freely as they develop their own courses and lesson plans.
Many other resources can help build the standards into an effective
course. APA Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) has been especially active in publishing a series of unit plans designed to help instructors teach a scientifically based course. Each of these plans contains a suggested procedural outline, a content outline, activities, critical-thinking exercises, discussion questions, and a bibliography. Two of the already published units, An Introduction to the Field of Psychology and The Stats Pack, are extremely helpful for developing the Introduction and Research Methods unit, which is the core of these standards. As they are developed, these unit plans are distributed to TOPSS members. Previously published units are available online for current members on the TOPSS Web site (http://www.apa.org/ed/topss/unitlesson.html).
Paper and electronic copies of unit lesson plans can be obtained from the Education Directorate at APA. In addition, various groups within the APA produce products that are especially beneficial to high school psychology teachers. The vast expertise of the members of the APA is a rich resource for enhancing a person's own knowledge of psychology and for enriching course content for high school students. Becoming an APA High School Teacher Affiliate/TOPSS member can be beneficial because APA resources can be key tools for planning, preparing, and teaching a high school psychology course. Appendix C provides additional information about TOPSS.
Teachers can also use materials provided with psychology textbooks. Most books have an extensive package of materials that can be used to teach content more effectively. Perhaps the most helpful of these materials is the instructor's manual, which generally contains background information for the concepts covered in the text, lecture ideas, and suggestions for activities, demonstrations, and assignments. The usefulness of this information may vary, and one way to help select the most valuable information is to use the instructor's manual in conjunction with these standards. Time is at a premium for most teachers, so the standards can be helpful in choosing what to emphasize. Ideally, the teacher can relate every class activity to these standards.
From software to electronic mailing lists, technological resources
also provide teachers with support in the form of specific classroom
activities, and can be used in conjunction with these standards.
Software can enhance the teaching of high school psychology by promoting active learning; most of the major textbook publishers have developed software to accompany their introductory psychology textbooks, and other distributors have marketed relevant software. Electronic mailing lists provide teachers with the opportunity to communicate with many other teachers with relative ease and convenience and are an excellent way to get answers to questions about the teaching of psychology. Electronic mailing lists allow groups of people to carry on dialogue (called "threads") and share ideas. Appendix C contains information on print, video, and computer resources, and lists several electronic mailing lists that are of particular interest to psychology
teachers.
The best thing for a teacher to do is to start with the basic framework provided by the standards to determine which parts of the textbook will be taught. The teacher should join TOPSS to tap into a source of high-quality curriculum materials (as well as a professional connection with other high school psychology teachers and a variety of student-oriented benefits, among other things). The teacher needs to explore other sources of information to continually refine and improve the psychology course. As long as the materials and activities used fit the standards suggested in this document, students will experience an accurate, high-quality introduction to the science of psychology.
This section contains a Lesson Planning Sheet to help connect teachers’ present
teaching strategies and materials to the psychology curricula standards
and to develop new lessons designed specifically to meet one or more
performance standards. The format of the sheet makes it possible
to integrate the standards quickly and efficiently into the curriculum
in a practical, useful way. To show how the Lesson Planning Sheet
might be used, a blank planning sheet and a sample lesson are included
at the end of this section.
Suggested Scope and Sequence for a High School Psychology Course
Deciding what to teach and when to teach it is the first decision teachers
must face in any course, and psychology is no exception. Psychology teachers
have many options for determining scope and sequence of their courses based
on the standards contained in this document. Ideally, psychology should
be a year-long course covering the units within each standard area in a
relatively equitable fashion. In a year-long course, teachers can take
roughly 2 weeks to teach each standard area, thus providing enough time
to cover the material adequately and leave time for discussions, active
learning, and inevitable interruptions in school schedules.
Not all teachers, however, have the luxury of teaching psychology as
a year-long course. Block scheduling and priority for required courses
may leave schools that want to offer psychology little choice other than
to offer it as a one-semester course. A one-semester course does not provide
sufficient time to teach units (standard areas) that enable students to
achieve all of the standards. However, these standards do provide flexibility
for teachers whose schedules are limited. The authors and editors of the
psychology curriculum standards recommend that teachers design courses
to highlight each of the five core domains found in the standards (Methods,
Biopsychological, Cognitive, Developmental, and Variations in Individual
and Group Behavior). Designing a domain-driven course gives teachers avenues
to solve the scope and sequence problem in semester courses with creativity.
The domain-driven course exposes students to the diversity of scholarship
in psychology. This section provides some sample course outlines for 5-unit
to 15-unit courses of study that use the five domains of the standards
as the driving force behind curricular decisions.
Curricular decisions are made for a variety of reasons, and a teacher
might choose one outline or another based on any of several factors. For
example, instructors may choose outlines that put the areas with which
they are most comfortable earlier than other areas. Alternatively, the
choice may be made to time content areas to correspond with related current
events (e.g., aligning the Social and Cultural Dimensions of Behavior unit
to occur near an important election or the Life Span Development lessons
to occur shortly before graduation). An instructor whose students participate
in a science fair may choose to emphasize units that seem most likely to
generate ideas for research projects. A 5-unit semester course may be desirable
when the teacher chooses depth over breadth, whereas a 10- or 15-unit semester
course may be preferable if the teacher wants students to recognize the
wide diversity of the field. Each of the outlines meets these recommendations. Whatever choice the instructor makes, these outlines provide structure for a course that covers psychology at an appropriate level and with appropriate breadth.
Sample Outlines for a 5-Unit Semester
These outlines incorporate one unit from each domain.
Plan 1
| Unit |
Domain |
|
| Introduction and Research Methods |
Methods |
| Biological Bases of Behavior |
Biopsychological |
| Memory |
Cognitive |
| Lifespan Development |
Developmental |
| Psychological Disorders |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
Plan 2
| Unit |
Domain |
|
| Introduction and Research Methods |
Methods |
| Sensation and Perception |
Biopsychological |
| Memory |
Cognitive |
| Lifespan Development |
Developmental |
| Social and Cultural Dimensions of Behavior |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
Sample Outlines for a 7-Unit Semester
These outlines highlight each domain, but focus on one or two domains depending on student interest or teacher specialization.
Plan 1
| Unit |
Domain |
|
| Introduction and Research Methods |
Methods |
| Social and Cultural Dimensions of Behavior |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
| Psychological Disorders |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
| Treatment of Psychological Disorders |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
| Biological Bases of Behavior |
Biopsychological |
| Memory |
Cognitive |
| Lifespan Development |
Developmental |
Plan 2
| Introduction and Research Methods |
Methods |
|
| Lifespan Development |
Developmental |
| Biological Bases of Behavior |
Biopsychological |
| States of Consciousness |
Cognitive |
| Memory |
Cognitive |
| Psychological Disorders |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
| Social and Cultural Dimensions of Behavior |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
Sample Outlines for a 10-Unit Course
These outlines highlight each domain, but allow for greater depth of coverage since all units are not included.
Plan 1
| Unit |
Domain |
|
| Introduction and Research Methods |
Methods |
| Biological Bases of Behavior |
Biopsychological |
| Learning |
Cognitive |
| Memory |
Cognitive |
| Lifespan Development |
Developmental |
| Individual Differences |
Cognitive |
| Motivation and Emotion |
Biopsychological |
| Sensation & Perception |
Biopsychological |
| Stress, Coping, and Health |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
| Psychological Disorders |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
Plan 2
| Introduction and Research Methods
|
Methods |
|
| Lifespan Development |
Developmental |
| Biological Bases of Behavior |
Biopsychological |
| Sensation and Perception |
Biopsychological |
| Learning |
Cognitive |
| Memory |
Cognitive |
| Personality and Assessment |
Developmental |
| Individual Differences |
Cognitive |
| Psychological Disorders |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
| Treatment of Psychological Disorders |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
Plan 3
| Introduction and Research Methods |
Methods |
|
| Social and Cultural Dimensions of Behavior |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
| Learning |
Cognitive |
| Memory |
Cognitive |
| Biological Bases of Behavior |
Biopsychological |
| Thinking and Language |
Cognitive |
| States of Consciousness |
Cognitive |
| Lifespan Development |
Developmental |
| Motivation and Emotion |
Biopsychological |
| Stress, Coping, and Health |
Biopsychological |
Sample Outline for a 15-Unit Course
This outline includes all standard areas or
units. This sequence is based on a traditional textbook sequence. The
sequence can be adjusted depending on student interest or teacher preference.
| Unit |
Domain |
|
| Introduction and Research Methods |
Methods |
| Lifespan Development |
Developmental |
| Biological Bases of Behavior |
Biopsychological |
| Sensation and Perception |
Biopsychological |
| Motivation and Emotion |
Biopsychological |
| Stress, Coping, and Health |
Biopsychological |
| Learning |
Cognitive |
| Memory |
Cognitive |
| States of Consciousness |
Cognitive |
| Thinking and Language |
Cognitive |
| Individual Differences |
Cognitive |
| Personality and Assessment |
Developmental |
| Psychological Disorders |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
| Treatment of Psychological Disorders |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
| Social and Cultural Dimensions of Behavior |
Variations in Individual and Group Behavior |
Lesson Planning Sheet
Standard Area (Unit Name):
Domain:
Targeted Content Standard(s):
Targeted Performance Standard(s):
Performance Objective:
Materials Needed:
Notes:
Sample Lesson Planning Sheet
Standard Area (Unit Name): Stress, Coping, and Health
Domain: Biopsychological
Targeted Content Standard(s):
CONTENT STANDARD IID-2: Physiological reactions to stress
Targeted Performance Standard(s):
Performance Objective IID-2.1: List and explain possible physiological
reactions to stress
- Teaching strategy to be used: Discussion of stress, its sources,
and how it affects health
- Performance indicator (assessment technique): relevant activity
- Estimated time required: One period of class time and out-of-class
assignment
Materials Needed: Materials for activity
Notes:
Achieving Proficiency in Teaching High School Psychology
Teacher certification in psychology should be addressed by each school
district in which psychology is taught. The first step for each district
is to determine whether or not present teachers of psychology meet the
certification requirements for its state board of education.
A survey of certification requirements for psychology teachers reveals
a wide variation from state to state. Some states have no specific requirements,
and others require a degree in psychology. The purpose of this document
is not to supersede previous state board of education mandates. Rather,
it is intended to inform:
- Teachers and future teachers who are trying to determine whether they
have the recommended background in the discipline necessary to teach a
scientific psychology course
- School districts preparing to offer their first psychology courses
- School districts seeking to provide germane in-service opportunities for their experienced psychology teachers
To function adequately in a scientific psychology course, teachers will
need a background in or seek to enrich their understanding of content areas
typically covered in such a course. Undergraduate or graduate level course
work will help teachers achieve:
- Proficiency in the scientific method and research skills
- Increased understanding of social-emotional issues
- Increased sensitivity to social-emotional issues
- Expertise in biologically based behavioral phenomena
- Familiarity with cognitive components of behavior
- Knowledge of developmental processes
Many teachers may be deficient in one or more of the domains listed above. Teachers who are not as well prepared in
these areas can take college courses aimed at eliminating the particular
deficiency, or enroll in one of the many psychology teacher workshops held
throughout the country. For more information about workshops or professional
development opportunities for high school teachers, contact the Education
Directorate of the American Psychological Association at: 750 First Street,
NE, Washington, DC, 20002-4242, (202) 336-5500.
The ever-changing nature of psychology requires continuing education for all high school psychology teachers.
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