Resources for Applying Psychology to Teaching and Learning

Research in Brain Function and Learning

It is important for teachers and parents to understand that maturation of the brain influences learning readiness, for teachers, this is especially important when designing lessons and selecting which strategies to use.

• Addressing New Teacher Stress
  This tutorial is based on the psychological literature relating to both general and teacher-specific stress. It recognizes that there are two types of stress, both positive and negative, and that it’s the balance between the two that determines a person’s overall feelings of satisfaction and security in his or her work. The tutorial is composed of 7 sections covering definitions of stress and providing sources and survival strategies for coping with different types of stress. 

• Classroom Management for K-12 Teachers
  This set of comprehensive tutorials provides information on practical classroom management and interventions for classroom disruption.

• Understanding and Preventing Classroom Violence
  An APA Board of Education Affairs task force was tasked with creating a resource aimed at helping K-12 teachers cope with and prevent the occurrence and threat of violent incidents in the classroom. This report outlines the task forces' recommendations for research, policy and practice. The Task Force also created a brochure (PDF, 140KB) that translates the current science into a resource for teachers designed to provide strategies to help cope with violent threats or incidents.

• Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education
  Focuses on K-12 STEM education research, as well as how psychological science can improve teaching and learning in STEM classrooms.

• Zero Tolerance Task Force Report
  The APA Zero Tolerance Task Force report examines the impact of Zero Tolerance policies and makes recommendations regarding the implementation of these policies in elementary and secondary schools.

• Report on the Teacher Needs Survey
  This report analyzes responses from over two thousand teachers who were surveyed about their professional development needs in classroom management, instructional strategies, classroom diversity, and parental communication.

• The Other 3 Rs: Reasoning, Resilience, and Responsibility
  Sponsored by the James. S. McDonnell Foundation, this project involved the collaboration of the APA, Montgomery County Public Schools and Vanderbilt University. A third grade curriculum promoting the teaching of Reasoning, Resilience and Responsibility was successfully piloted in the Montgomery County, Maryland Public Schools and is available here on our website.