Technology: Digital tools to keep your students engaged
Bring psychology alive in your courses and immerse students in personalized learning using APA’s all-digital textbook replacement resource, PsycLearnopens in new window®. Now available for undergraduate research methodsopens in new window and social psychologyopens in new window courses, PsycLearn features interactive activities, videos, assessments, and more that test students’ understanding of the material and help instructors monitor student progress. “PsycLearn gives students immediate feedback on their understanding of the concepts,” says Victoria Cross, PhD, of the University of California, Davis, who has used PsycLearn: Research Methods in three regular and two summer terms. “Because they’ve read and understood more, in lectures we can discuss the material rather than having to introduce it cold each time.”
- Learn more about APA’s digital toolsopens in new window for higher education.
- To request a demo or use PsycLearn in your courses, email your APA partnership manageropens in new window.
What to download
1. Technology, Mind & Society
Sessions from APA’s interdisciplinary showcase on psychology’s role in human-tech interaction are now available to view on demand for free. Watch at Technology, Mind & Societyopens in new window.
2. Why People Believe in Conspiracy Theories
University of Kent psychologist Karen M. Douglas, PhD, joins the Speaking of Psychology podcast to talk about the psychological factors that drive the popularity of conspiracy theories (see article, Misinformation: Controlling the spread). Listen online.
3. APA Books for Navigating Zoom School
APA children’s book imprint Magination Press has partnered with the digital reading platform Epic in a pilot program to offer subscriptions to children, families, and teachers to help with online learning. Sixty APA titles are now available at Epic on such topics as anxiety and social-emotional wellness. Go to Epic's websiteopens in new window.
Submissions: COVID-19 and psychology
Translational Issues in Psychological Science is seeking submissions for a special issue devoted to theoretical and empirical research related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including how psychology can improve disease modeling and prediction and improve adherence to public health guidelines. The goal is to promote a better understanding of the complex personal and societal issues arising from the pandemic in hopes of better preparing communities for any future public health crises. Manuscripts must be co-authored by at least one psychology doctoral student. The submission deadline is July 1.
Find a full list of APA journals soliciting manuscripts for articles, special sections, and special issues for COVID-19 online.
New faces at APA
Maysa Akbar, PhD, ABPP
In January, APA welcomed Maysa Akbar, PhD, ABPP, as its new chief diversity officer. Akbar will focus on infusing equity, diversity, and inclusion into the association’s work and deepening psychology’s commitment to antiracism, racial justice, and addressing systemic barriers to equity. “There could not be a more auspicious time for me to assume this position,” says Akbar, an Afro-Caribbean scientist practitioner by training who is fluent in Spanish and has worked with diverse populations throughout her career. “Issues related to building equity, diversity, and inclusion are central to the evolution of workplaces and communities, particularly in this time of nationwide trauma with heightened awareness of racism.”
Before joining APA, Akbar ran a clinical practice specializing in race-based trauma in New Haven, Connecticut, as well as a consulting firm that helps city governments, public schools, court systems, and other public entities embrace diversity and inclusion. She is an assistant clinical professor of cultural diversity and family therapy at the renowned Yale Child Study Center at Yale School of Medicine and her most recent book is Beyond Ally: The Pursuit of Racial Justice.
Learn more at Maysa Akbaropens in new window and share your ideas with her.
Mitchell J. Prinstein, PhD
Also in January, APA named Mitchell J. Prinstein, PhD, as its new chief science officer. Prinstein, who will begin transitioning into the post March 1, will lead the association’s science agenda and efforts to apply psychological science to critical work being done in health care, government, industry, law, academia, education, and other settings. “Science is the heart of psychology, the defining characteristic of our special position within the health care community and the foundation upon which our association’s work is based,” says Prinstein, whose research on peer relations, particularly among adolescents, has been funded by the National Institutes of Health for more than 20 years.
Prinstein began teaching psychology in 1999 as an assistant professor of psychology at Yale University. In 2004, he joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is now the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor and the assistant dean of the university’s honors college, Honors Carolina. He has published more than 150 scientific articles, an undergraduate textbook on clinical psychology, and the mass-market book Popular: Finding Happiness and Success in a World That Cares Too Much About the Wrong Kinds of Relationships on how popularity in adolescence shapes people’s lives. He has been involved with APA governance since he was a graduate student, most recently as a member-at-large of APA’s Board of Directors.
Learn more at Mitch Prinsteinopens in new window and share your ideas with him.
How to reach us
Answers to many of your questions may be found on APA’s website; for phone service, call (800) 374-2721; for story ideas or comments, contact Editor in Chief Trent Spiner.