Curriculum & Teaching

Teaching Psychology to Undergraduates

Building Better Psych Departments: Using APA's benchmarks, departments can assess their programs by examining eight broad educational dimensions, including curriculum and administrative support.

• A Primer on Teaching Positive Psychology: Connect positive psychology to students' lives, whether you're teaching one unit or a whole course
• Teaching Students the Rewards of Research: How a professor created a successful student research program
• Closer Connections: Undergraduate programs building closer-knit communities for students to prevent burnout, dropouts and anxiety

Guidelines & Publications

APA's Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major (PDF, 168KB) outline 10 goals and suggested learning outcomes that represent reasonable departmental expectations for the undergraduate psychology major. The Assessment CyberGuide for Learning Goals & Outcomes in the Undergraduate Psychology Major serves as a companion resource for implementing the APA guidelines. The cyberguide should aid psychology departments and their faculty to design the most appropriate and effective assessment plans. 

• Undergraduate Writing in Psychology: Learning to Tell the Scientific Story, Revised Edition: Guidance on how to communicate with instructors on a professional level is given, and the book shows examples of checklists and grading rubrics instructors might use

• Evidence-Based Teaching for Higher Education: APA book synthesizes scholarship of teaching and learning findings to help teachers choose techniques and tools that maximize student learning

• Principles for Quality Undergraduate Education in Psychology: How to provide students with needed workplace skills, a solid academic background, and more

• Undergraduate Education in Psychology: A Blueprint for the Future of the Discipline: APA book helps teachers and administrators design effective undergraduate psychology programs

• Constructing Undergraduate Psychology Curricula: Instructional resource from APA Books offers a general framework for flexible undergraduate curricula
• Handbook for Enhancing Undergraduate Education in Psychology: Tool for faculty development from APA Books   
   

Online Psychology Laboratory

The Online Psychology Laboratory — OPL website offers students opportunities to participate in studies and engage in data analysis. Teaching with OPL, you'll find interactive studies and demonstrations that can be integrated seamlessly into your classroom.

History of Psychology

Classics in the History of Psychology: The full texts of 200+ historically-significant articles, chapter, and books from psychology’s past. Also includes 20+ short introductions and/or commentaries by experts in the field.

Teaching Groups

• Psychology Department Program: Members of APA’s Psychology Department Program receive access to many of APA's teaching and advising publications
• Psychology Teachers at Community Colleges: Supports and promotes community college psychology teachers
• The Society for the Teaching of Psychology: APA's Division 2 promotes excellence in the teaching and learning of psychology