Society for the Teaching of Psychology President Letter Blog

Guest Column: ACT 2026 – Changes, Highlights, and Submissions

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:14:31 GMT

STP President, Drew Christopher, asked Garth Neufeld, Director of the Annual Conference on the Teaching of Psychology, to submit a guest column for April’s Letter from the President.

Guest Column: ACT 2026 – Changes, Highlights, and Submissions

by Garth Neufeld, ACT Director

The Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT) will be held in St. Louis, October 15–17, 2026. We are expecting more than 300 attendees to come together and experience this thriving and supportive community of psychology teachers.

There are some fun changes coming this year that you will want to know about. And, while ACT does not typically have an official conference theme, one does seem to be floating around STP, and we plan to lean on it. Our last two presidents, Stephanie Afful and Drew Christopher, have both emphasized the importance of self-care in their presidential task forces, and you will see that content woven through this year’s program.

Logo

This year we launched STP’s Virtual Conference on Teaching (VCT). As part of the official distinction between the virtual conference and the in-person Annual Conference on Teaching, we created brand new logos for both events. Who knows where you might see them — on a T-shirt, on a mug, or maybe even tattooed on a colleague! (fingers crossed)

Mission

ACT is a place of belonging where psych teachers nurture one another toward personal and professional success. It is a different kind of academic conference: professional, supportive, and inspirational. If you have attended ACT before, you know what it feels like to find your people. We are making every effort to ensure that both new and returning attendees feel welcome and connected. Be on the lookout (new this year!) for our “first-time-attendee” online gatherings ahead of the conference.

Highlights

This year we are excited to welcome two outstanding keynote speakers:

Jane Halonen has served the teaching of psychology community for decades and continues to lead at the highest level. As she inches toward retirement, I look forward to hearing reflections and wisdom from someone who has shaped our field in so many ways.

Our second keynote speaker, Christina Maslach, is a research powerhouse in the area of burnout. Her work has been guiding our understanding of burnout for decades, and it feels especially relevant right now. It also aligns with conversations many of us are having in STP about self-care.

Submissions

The ACT submission portal is now open (through May 1), and there are several updates this year.

Concurrent Presentations: All concurrent conference sessions will now be 30 minutes in length. (Formerly 25- or 45-minute options.)
Workshops: We will now have two workshop blocks (75 minutes), one on each day of the conference, so that attendees will have more dedicated time to focus on practical teaching strategies.
Demos: We are also moving teaching demonstrations out of the lunch hour and into the regular concurrent session blocks so that demos can be done in smaller settings.
GEM Talks! On Saturday at lunch, we are introducing a new program called GEM Talks: Great Educational Moments. Think TED Talks, but focused on teaching. These will be 10-minute presentations designed to encourage and inspire colleagues. For the first time, this category will include a two-minute video submission.

Please visit the conference submission page for more details.

Registration

As the spring semester winds down, this is a great time to secure your early-bird registration now so you do not have to think about it over the summer. It takes about two minutes to register.

We look forward to seeing you in St. Louis!

Garth Neufeld

Director, Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT)

Watch Garth's 2-minute video about ACT 2026!

Rise Up Like the Sun

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 21:22:04 GMT

Dear Colleagues,

We have officially reached that point of the term. You know the one. The mid-term haze has firmly settled in. The winter weather has been particularly relentless for many of us this year, and right now, the energy levels in our classrooms—and probably within ourselves—feel like they are at an absolute premium. Whether you are teaching AP Psychology, an undergraduate capstone experience, a graduate seminar, or anything in between, you are likely looking out at a sea of tired faces, and probably feeling a deep sense of fatigue yourself. Please know that you are not alone, and if anything, this is an annual occurrence right now!

As psychology educators, we are uniquely equipped to understand exactly what is happening around this time every year. We teach our students about cognitive load, the exhaustion stage of the General Adaptation Syndrome, and the reality of seasonal affective shifts. We know the science of motivation and how it naturally ebbs and flows. Yet, when we find ourselves trapped in these mid-semester doldrums, we sometimes forget to apply that same psychological science and grace to ourselves and our own lives. Remember that this collective fatigue isn’t a sign of professional failing; it is a perfectly normal, predictable response to a demanding academic calendar and helping students for whom life outside of their classes is even more stressful than their coursework.

The good news is that we know the rhythm of this cycle, and spring is coming up fast. The weather will soon turn, the days will lengthen and brighten, and the finish line of the semester will begin to come into view. Right now, it is simply about weathering the storm and pushing through these last tough weeks. As my grading piles up and my motivation taunts me with a game of hide-and-go-seek, I find myself mentally playing the chorus from The Killer’s song Be Still:

Don’t break character, You’ve got a lot of heart…Rise up like the sun, Labor till the work is done

Clearly, we are a group with a great deal of character and heart. Keep that in mind as we navigate the dog days of the semester. It takes an immense amount of passion to do what you do -- not only to guide students through course material and requirements, but the many bigger life uncertainties that so many of them are facing these days. As we’ve always done in STP, let's rise up, lean on each other, and push through these final winter days. The "aha!" moments waiting for us in the weeks ahead will be well worth the short-term grind.

Speaking of things being well worth the grind, I want to leave you with a major carrot to look forward to. Gathering together to share our passion for teaching and our students is one of the best ways to recharge, so please mark your calendars for the upcoming Annual Conference on Teaching. For now, here are some broad details:

· Proposal Deadline: May 1, 2026

· Conference Dates: October 15-17, 2026

· Location: Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel Downtown (St. Louis, MO)

More details about this gathering will be coming your way soon! I look forward to seeing many of you there if not sooner. Until our paths cross again, take care of yourselves and your students.

With deep appreciation for all you do,

Andrew Christopher
President, Society for the Teaching of Psychology

Honoring our mentors

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 16:50:05 GMT

Dear STP Members,

I hope you are settling nicely into your school term. As always seems to be the case, I started my semester feeling underprepared for my classes. Yet now that the routine has set in, things that need to get done are getting done because, just like you, I know that we are all driven by a passion for our students and our discipline.

That passion we all feel was planted some way, somehow, by someone who mentored us into the excellent teachers that we are today. In my case, I would never be in this position – or even this career – had it not been for Barry Schlenker and the late Rich Griggs, both of whom mentored me while I was a graduate student at the University of Florida many years ago.

Indeed, as I reflect on my professional journey, I wanted to do something to honor their efforts, both with me and dozens of other graduate students who came before and after me. Our Society has established a Fund for Excellence for just such a purpose. This fund is special because it is not for immediate expenses; it is an endowment fund designed to exist in perpetuity that allows us to provide monetary support to the recipients of our Society Teaching and Service Awards. It ensures that we can continue to recognize and reward the teaching excellence award winners that epitomize the very best of our community.

I also know that we share a reality that is common across our profession: we often do more with less, and personal budgets are frequently stretched thin. I am acutely aware that asking for money is uncomfortable, and I never want to add a burden to colleagues who are already giving so much of themselves in the classroom. Indeed, I feel nothing short of squeamish writing this letter. But if you are in a position to do so, please consider honoring a teacher who made a difference in your professional and perhaps personal life by contributing to the Fund for Excellence. When you make your donation, you can enter your honoree’s name!

By contributing to the Fund for Excellence, you are not only honoring a mentor or making a donation; you are investing in the long-term recognition of teaching. You are ensuring that we can celebrate future generations of psychology teachers for their innovation, mentorship, and dedication to excellence. If you are in a position to give, please know that any amount makes a difference.

Thank you for considering this request, and more importantly, thank you for the work you do every day for your students and to advance the teaching of psychology.

Sincerely,

Andrew Christopher
President, Society for the Teaching of Psychology

Welcome to 2026!

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 20:57:01 GMT

By Andrew Christopher, 2026 STP President

Dear STP Colleagues,

Welcome to 2026! I hope this letter finds you well and using the Holidays to recharge by spending time with family and friends.

When you think of great prognosticators, I bet names affiliated with science, such as Allan Lichtman or Benjamin Banneker, pop to mind. I would also bet that Joe Walsh -- a singer with the long-time rock-and-roll band the Eagles -- does not pop to mind. At the end of 2024, I had the privilege of seeing the Eagles perform live. During that concert, Walsh asked the audience if they were ready to leave 2024 and enter 2025. Of course, the crowd gave a perfunctory cheer. Walsh looked surprised by the cheering and responded by asking in a perplexed tone, “Oh really?” This question was followed by “Well, buckle up; 2025 is going to be a doozie.”

As we start 2026, with the benefit of hindsight, I doubt many if any of us would argue with Walsh’s prediction, even if he never operationally defined “doozie.” Indeed, 2025 brought us in secondary and higher education (and certainly elsewhere) not only a large quantity of undesirable stressors, but stressors some of us rarely if ever had to deal with previously. I would love to be able to tell you 2026 will be the year during which these undesirable stressors assuage and things get back to “normal.” I’ve been teaching since Summer 1995, the semester after my first year in graduate school. Ever since then -- and likely before that time -- it seems like we’ve been facing the “new normal.” Yet some way, somehow, we as teachers always manage to serve our students to the best of our ability. So too will it be in 2026.

If 2025 felt like you were wandering alone and lost in the desert, you ironically had a lot of company in that feeling. Of course, you are not alone – simply being a member of STP gives you a bounty of support, be it tangible resources to use in your teaching, informational support when you face a dilemma in your work, or, perhaps most importantly, belonging support that we all need to be healthy and happy. Use your affiliation with STP much like you would likely drink from an oasis in the desert. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved with this organization and not only contribute to the work it is doing, but perhaps even more importantly, connect with colleagues who share your passion for teaching. STP offers all sorts of resources to help you keep your teaching fresh and engaging for your students and for you. This February 19^th and 20^th, you can connect with colleagues at the Virtual Conference on Teaching. On October 15-17, we will have our Annual Conference on Teaching in St. Louis. Our profession, especially during the past 5+ years, can easily be isolating. STP provides the perfect safeguard against feelings of isolation while enhancing what we all love to do – teach students.

As you know full well, there is a lot we as educators need to do right now. Then again, we as educators have always had a lot we’ve needed to do. Psychology teachers in particular have an opportunity – and perhaps even an obligation -- to help change many of the problems that the world is facing today and that are adding to our own angst. As Jane Halonen and her colleagues (2022) said, “Using psychology to foster positive change can be an exciting prospect for students” (p. 76). It is for me, too, and I bet it is for you as well. That quote hangs above my desk, so that on those days when I don’t feel at my best, which during 2025 was more often than I found acceptable, I can remind myself today is another opportunity to help students make a real difference in the world.

I am not sure whether to be more honored or humbled (or awed) at the opportunity of serving as your STP President this year. Maybe 2026 will provide a much-needed example of regression to the mean from 2025. All I know is that I can rely on you, my STP colleagues, as my personal oasis again this year, just as you have been for me since I was a graduate student at the University of Florida, then as a teacher at two liberal arts colleges – first at Anderson College (now Anderson University) and for the past 25 years at Albion College. Thank you! I hope I have and will continue to do the same for you. As we get ready to conquer 2026, let’s remember a piece of wisdom from another member of the Eagles, Don Henley: “It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you…” when you are involved in STP.

Let’s make it a great 2026,

Andrew Christopher

A round of applause for the Presidential task forces!

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 16:07:38 GMT

by Stephanie Afful, STP President

As I conclude my year as President, I want to highlight the incredible work of our task forces. Guided by the theme Stronger Together: Building a Community to Combat Teacher Burnout, we launched four task forces focused on assessing needs, developing resources, and fostering community across teaching, research, and service. More than 80 members volunteered their time and expertise. This year, we delivered four presentations at ACT, began work on an eBook for 2026, and created valuable resources I encourage you to read, share, and discuss. All presidential task force resources are on our website.

Our first task force, Addressing Academic Burnout, chaired by Brittany Avila, Melissa Maffeo, and Karen Naufel, developed an interactive infographic offering research-informed strategies to prevent and mitigate burnout, foster resilience, and build supportive communities for faculty, staff, and administrators. Explore practical steps for balancing demands with resources, promoting mental health, and creating inclusive environments. Please share widely—these strategies apply across disciplines.

The second task force, chaired by Guy Boysen, compiled resources on conducting Research on a Small Budget (or non-existent budget!). Whether you are conducting your own research or mentoring student research, I think you will find this guide immensely helpful as we think about creative and collaborative ways to recruit participants, use technology, apply for funding, and publish our work.

The third task force was focused on Using AI to our Advantage, specifically thinking about managing faculty workload and avoiding burnout. This task force is chaired by Chris Hakala and Joe Slade and we look forward to sharing an ebook with you next year on using AI in teaching, research, and service.

The last group, chaired by Gabi Mortorell, worked to review the most important content from Developmental Psychology Review, with nine modules that include a list of core concepts, multimedia resources, activities and assignments. Whether you’re a seasoned instructor seeking a refresh or teaching the course for the first time, these materials will be invaluable.

I’ve learned so much from these initiatives. The STP community’s willingness to share knowledge and support one another truly demonstrates that collaboration can help mitigate burnout. Please take time to explore these resources and share them with colleagues.

Thanks again for such a wonderful year!

With Gratitude

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 16:10:19 GMT

By Stephanie Afful

We’ve just returned from a fabulous Annual Conference on Teaching in Minneapolis two weeks ago, and I’m still riding the wave of inspiration. With over 300 attendees—nearly a third of them first-timers—it was our largest gathering yet! From karaoke and a surprise Ted Lasso sighting to meaningful, vulnerable conversations with colleagues and a charge for the next round of educational leaders, the conference was a powerful reminder of why we do what we do. I left with my cup refilled.

One comment from a session continues to resonate with me: We teach humans, not courses. That sentiment echoed throughout the conference, where I felt both the physiological and psychological comfort of being surrounded by supportive colleagues—people who understand the current challenges we face in higher education, who lead with empathy, and who remain deeply committed to our shared mission.

I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve as STP President this year and for the amazing members I’ve had the privilege to work alongside. If you don’t already know, our Executive Director, Sue Frantz, is the steady hand keeping this mission afloat. Our Executive Committee members are equally generous, consistently giving their time and energy to support our organization.

I’m excited (for more than one reason!) to pass the torch to your next STP President, Drew Christopher. And I want to give the loudest possible shoutout to our ACT Director, Garth Neufeld. His inaugural year was an absolute banger, and I can’t wait to see what’s next. He’s backed by a stellar team: Assistant Director Blake Nielson and committee members Chelsea Robertson and Jennifer Grewe, who helped make this conference a reality.

This month, I hope you’ll take time to invest in the humans you teach and the colleagues you work alongside—both at your home institution and within STP. I’m still savoring the sense of safety and connection I felt at the conference. It’s easy to lose sight of that as we are deep into midterm grades, advising, and spring planning. So pause, pass on some gratitude, and reconnect with your “why” for teaching.

Thank you for being an STP member!

The Magic of ACT

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 16:54:07 GMT

by Garth Neufeld, ACT Director

October 1, 2025

I love magic.

I love card tricks, buildings disappearing, and rabbit after rabbit after rabbit pulled from a hat. I recently saw Colin Cloud, a mentalist, in Las Vegas. It was magic. For an opening trick, he borrowed wedding rings from audience members, interlocked them, held them dangling from one another, and even let the audience tug on the 50k+ string of precious metal.

When a stage trick defies our expectations and the rules of the world as we know them, it exposes a gap in our understanding. Our critical-thinking brains then fire off multiple hypotheses to try to make sense of it all, but none closes the gap. Finally, with awe and wonder, we identify that gap: magic. [cue warm feelings + gratitude.]

The Society for the Teaching of Psychology’s (STP) Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT) has been a bit of magic for me over the years. But instead of trap doors, it has opened doors; instead of making me disappear, it has given me a place to be seen; and rather than squeezing me into a box, it has allowed me to contribute in very personal ways.

In just a couple of weeks, we will welcome 120 first-time attendees to ACT. I remember my first ACT, over 10 years ago. I was new to it all, and I knew exactly one person at the conference. It was scary. With my non-traditional professional and educational history, I didn’t know how I would be welcomed. Fortunately, there was a gap between my fearful expectations and the way this community operated.

ACT is made up of incredible, supportive colleagues who nurture one another toward success. In my experience, it is a culture of openness and generosity. Where other academic research conferences can carry an expectation of tearing down or excluding, the spirit at STP is to build up. I don’t know how else to explain my professional journey from that first ACT to this one, where I now serve as conference director.

I know that we live in a time when not everyone feels welcome. My hope, and our aim, is that ACT continues to be a refuge for people across all sorts of spectrums—a place where we come together to strengthen and support one another and celebrate the pursuit and gift of psychology. I also know that the ability to travel to an in-person conference is a privilege not everyone has. With that in mind, we will soon announce more information about our virtual teaching conference in February 2026. It will be low-cost, and we hope all will attend.

I look forward to seeing many of you soon for some ACT magic in Minneapolis!

Remembering Dr. Jim Korn

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 16:49:52 GMT

by Stephanie Afful, STP President
September 1, 2025

Dr. James (Jim) H. Korn, former Division 2 president and beloved Professor Emeritus at Saint Louis University, passed away on July 17, 2025. Jim was a staunch advocate for teacher training, research ethics, and one of the driving forces behind not only the creation of the Fund for Excellence (FFE) but also fundraising, serving as the FFE’s executive secretary. The FFE continues to support our teaching excellence awards today.

Jim served as a professor at Saint Louis University for over 30 years, where he helped establish the university’s teaching and learning center. I was fortunate to have Dr. Korn in a graduate seminar on the Teaching of Psychology. One of my favorite memories from that class was an early assignment: we were asked to develop our teaching philosophies through creative poster presentations. As a crafty gal, I was here for it, but I remember some of my classmates were less thrilled to hunt down craft supplies. True to his reflective nature, Jim revised the assignment for the next cohort based on our feedback—a small but meaningful example of his responsiveness and care.

In graduate school, we are still trying to figure out “what we wanted to be when we grew up”… a researcher or a teacher? Dr. Korn really created safe space for us to explore these roles and was the first to introduce us to the idea of a scholar-teacher. My own love of teaching and involvement in STP is, in large part, due to his influence.

I had the honor of following in Jim’s footsteps as President of Division 2, nearly four decades after his own term. Even after his retirement and my graduation, Jim continued to mentor me. As a gesture of profound respect, he gave me his teaching book library and his graduation regalia.

I have been re-acquainting myself with the books and found notes to me (see pictures) and handwritten notes in margins and highlighting—such a small and personal memento. Commencement is always an emotional time, but wearing his regalia makes it even more meaningful.

While preparing his obituary (forthcoming in Teaching of Psychology), I reached out to several STP and SLU colleagues. I knew what Jim meant to me, but it’s been a joy to learn what he meant to so many others. Common themes emerged: Jim was authentic, generous, and fun—he loved to dance at conferences—and he taught us not only to be good teachers, but to be good humans.

Our last correspondence earlier this year was about a social media post from SLU celebrating my presidency and referencing Jim’s historical term. In fact, SLU has produced four STP presidents—a legacy that speaks to the culture of mentorship and excellence Jim helped foster. He was proud—proud that his students were continuing his work, advocating for teaching, and mentoring the next generation.

Jim reminds us that teaching is truly a privilege. If you feel so inclined, you can also donate to our Fund for Excellence, to continue his legacy of promoting teaching excellence. Let this also serve as a gentle reminder: even in the hustle of a busy semester, take a moment to check in on your people—and thank your mentors.

Announcements about APA & ACT

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 17:01:26 GMT

by Stephanie Afful, STP President
August 1, 2025

August is a bittersweet month. While we are savoring the last few days of summer break, we are also getting back into syllabus mode. I hope you took time to recharge this summer. Personally, I am still riding the burnout train, so I am especially thankful for the summer break—it gave me just enough space to miss the routine and my students!

APA Convention

Speaking of August, I wanted to highlight our upcoming programming at APA in Denver (August 6-9). Convention is BIG, but division programming offers not only discipline specific research but also best practices in teaching. To help with your planning—whether you're attending in person or virtually—check out APA’s curated list for psychology educators and Division 2-specific sessions.

If you’ll be at APA, I hope you will join us for:
- Harry Kirke Wolfe Lecture
  August 7, 1:00 pm
  Dr. Bridgette Martin-Hard
- STP Presidential Address
  August 7, 4:00pm
  Dr. Stephanie Afful
- Brewer Award
  August 8, 2:30pm
  Dr. Karen Brakke
- Distinguished Scholar Lecture for Teaching
  August 9, 8:00am
  Dr. Michael Tomasello

APA Council

Our APA Council also meets just prior to convention. A big thank-you to our Division 2 representatives- Bill Altman, Jodie Ulman and Linda Woolf– for their continued service. I also want to thank our Vice President of Membership, Danae Hudson, who is serving as a substitute for this August’s Council meeting.

APA Elections

Lastly, you may have read in previous newsletters that our very own Linda M. Woolf (STP’s 2023 President) is running for APA 2026 President-Elect. The STP Executive Committee has endorsed her candidacy and I encourage all APA members to research this year’s slate of candidates . Voting opens August 1 and runs through September 15. Current APA members will receive an email with a link to vote. You can listen to more of Linda’s presidential vision on a recent PsychSessions episode and learn more on her campaign website.

ACT Early Registration

As you are planning your Fall professional development, also remember that early registration for ACT ends August 15!

As the summer winds down, I hope you take a few more moments to recharge as we head into the Fall term, ready to reconnect with our students and colleagues, refresh our courses (maybe with some insights from APA convention!), and refocus our mission for teaching!

2025 Presidential Citations

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 19:46:58 GMT

By Stephanie Afful, 2025 STP President

It is my great privilege to award this year’s Presidential Citations to two inspiring colleagues: Dr. Stephen Chew and Dr. Susan Nolan. STP’s Presidential Citations recognize “individuals who have made extraordinary lifetime contributions to the Society and/or to the teaching of psychology.”

Many of you have read their work, engaged in meaningful conversations and collaborations with them at conferences, and witnessed firsthand their profound impact on the teaching of psychology. The highlights that follow only begin to capture their contributions—but they more than justify STP’s highest recognition.

Dr. Stephen L. Chew

Professor of Psychology, Samford University

Dr. Chew’s teaching excellence has been widely recognized by STP (2005 Robert S. Daniel Excellence in Teaching Award), APA (2018 Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award), and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2011 U.S. Professor of the Year).

But his impact extends far beyond the classroom. I want to especially highlight his exceptional writing, his generosity in sharing resources, and his remarkable ability to build community—through workshops, keynotes, thoughtful publications, and behind-the-scenes contributions.

His textbooks, columns, and online content have enriched psychology education for countless instructors. His willingness to share resources—whether through YouTube or STP forums—embodies the spirit of mentorship and collaboration that defines our community. His leadership as NITOP conference director has also been invaluable in fostering meaningful connections.

Colleagues describe Steve as “brilliant and humble” and a “consummate teacher.” A long-time advocate of active learning, Steve has inspired generations of educators. Past STP President Amy Fineburg, one of Steve’s former students, modeled her early teaching style after his, encouraging students to demonstrate psychological concepts in class. Steve not only cares about his own students, but all students.

Steve’s commitment to student success is evident in his widely viewed YouTube series on effective, cognitively based study strategies—now with over two million views. He also founded PsychFriday, a long-running event in Birmingham that engages high school students, teachers, and the public in psychology, while giving Samford students a platform to present their work.

Dr. Susan A. Nolan

Professor of Psychology, Seton Hall University

Dr. Nolan has an extraordinary record of service to STP (President, 2021), the Eastern Psychological Association (President, 2014), and Seton Hall (Faculty Service Award, 2014). She is a two-time Fulbright Scholar, the author of widely used Introduction to Psychology and Statistics textbooks, and a frequent contributor to Psychology Today.

I want to especially recognize Susan’s visionary leadership in expanding STP’s international programming and championing global learning. From her role as Vice President of Diversity and International Relations, through her presidency and its initiatives, to her current position as Director of International Programming, Susan has done more than anyone to bring STP’s resources to a global audience.

Under her leadership, STP has sponsored conferences in Australia, France, India, and Mexico, and partnered with international teaching organizations. Her work as co-founder and lead of the International Collaboration of Undergraduate Psychology Outcomes (ICUPO) has been especially impactful in defining global competencies.

In addition to her textbooks, writing, and advocacy, Susan is a true leader in every space she occupies. Susan is a generous and skilled collaborator. She consistently uplifts students and colleagues—presenting with them, nominating them for opportunities, and helping advance their careers. She actively seeks out new collaborators and ensures that programs and initiatives are inclusive and welcoming.

Susan builds coalitions and opens doors. Her international work reflects her unique ability to rally people around the shared mission of teaching psychology effectively to as many students as possible.

Please join me in congratulating two of the very best, Dr. Stephen L. Chew and Dr. Susan A. Nolan! We will also be honoring them in Minneapolis this October at ACT.

Reaffirming STP’s commitment to inclusive pedagogy and representation

Fri, 02 May 2025 14:44:44 GMT

By Stephanie Afful, 2025 STP President

This has been a challenging semester, as the current U.S. administration threatens our academic freedom, funding, and curriculum, particularly for psychology educators. The STP presidential initiatives this year center around preventing burnout. I suspect that many of you are feeling burned out at the end of the semester, which may be exacerbated by the constant news about executive orders and the subsequent changes at institutions. Personally, I have felt more vulnerable and unstable in the classroom than I ever have before, as I teach Social Psychology, Psychology of Prejudice, and Human Sexuality. Given this suspected shared vulnerability, I wanted to share some of the work the STP Executive Committee has done to protect our mission and continue to provide resources that align with our values.

In March, the Executive Committee reviewed our mission statement (as we do annually), and affirmed our mission to “promote equity and social justice for teachers and students of psychology with marginalized, racially minoritized, and intersecting identities” as well as to continue to seek diverse candidates for all positions, and include our Statement on Addressing Systemic Racism in STP in all position announcements. STP does not receive federal funds, and therefore, we have the freedom to choose not to yield to the anticipatory fear and over-compliance. As re-organizations are happening on college campuses, we hope that STP, along with APA, can provide resources and community that demonstrate our continual commitment to inclusive pedagogy and representation.

To that end, we want to mention a few resources that may be helpful during this time:

APA has published resources to navigate these policy changes in their advocacy center. APA is also asking members to share their stories of how these executive orders have affected their professional efficacy and use those stories as they meet with lawmakers. Our own APA Council representative, Linda Woolf, shared her experience on Capitol Hill in our last newsletter.
Another way we support each other is to join our Affinity Groups. We have groups (e.g., Latinx educators, Queer educators) that share resources on their own Listserv, and some meet virtually or at ACT. You are not alone, and one of the greatest strengths of our STP community is the generous social support we give to each other.
We also have created three new travel grants that aim to assist under-resourced groups to travel to this year's STP in-person Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT). In addition to our other travel grants, we hope those eligible will consider applying for the Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Instructors ACT travel grant, the Community College Instructors ACT Attendance travel grant, or the Caregivers ACT travel grant (to help alleviate some of the financial burden of caregiving responsibilities). The MSI and Community College grants were recommendations from Past-President Diane Finley’s task forces. We owe a big thank you to Vice President for Grants & AwardsMorton Ann Gernsbacherand Vice President for Membership Danae Hudson for their work on the Caregiver grant.
Finally, please do check out our existing Diversity & International Relations related resources. While the new VP for Diversity & International Relations and committees work to update these offerings and launch new projects consistent with our mission, we also have many years of Diversity Matters blog posts, guidance on decolonizing Introductory Psychology, resources from other agencies, and more. We will continue to work to advocate for and recognize the important diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging related work our members are doing.

As you may already be aware, STP has made significant financial cuts this year. Our goal continues to be to protect funding for under-resourced groups (e.g., the aforementioned travel grants, protecting reduced student ACT registration rates, and STP member rates). As an organization, STP will continue to seek programming and resources to advocate for psychology educators and our students! We welcome all viewpoints and your feedback as this conversation evolves. Thank you for being an STP member during this critical time in our discipline.

New ACT Registration Rates

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 21:09:19 GMT

By Stephanie Afful, 2025 STP President

This month’s presidential column is brought to you by Jordan Troisi, our Vice President for Programming. I want to extend an extra dose of gratitude to both Jordan and our ACT Director, Garth Neufeld, for their continuous work to find the best balance between our financial needs and our members’ needs. As always, please reach out to any of us with questions or concerns.

***

As announced in our March Letter from the President, the STP Executive Committee is reevaluating the organization’s budget, financial philosophy, and policies. Over the years, the organization’s expenses have increased substantially but our income has not kept pace.

Most attendees at the in-person Annual Conference on Teaching are probably unaware of the many financial obligations of hosting the conference. However, to put it succinctly, STP has incurred significant financial losses when hosting this conference. The average registration rate paid by an ACT in-person attendee does not even cover the conference meals they are provided, let alone the many other expenses associated with putting on the conference (e.g., AV costs, WIFI costs, poster board rentals). This is in contrast to the model used by many other professional societies, where conference registration is a major source of income for the society. Though we would love to continue to subsidize registration to support as many possible attendees as possible at ACT, it is no longer fiscally possible.

STP’s Executive Committee has approved new conference registration rates, which will be updated on the ACT webpage soon. The rate increases will help the in-person ACT get closer to breaking even across revenues and expenses. In keeping with STP’s Mission, we have endeavored to adjust these rates equitably. Specifically, the largest increase in rates will be borne by full-time faculty member attendees, whereas student rates have only gone up slightly.

Though we know an increase in conference expenses is never the most welcome news, we hope these adjustments will allow STP to continue providing an outstanding ACT in-person experience for the years to come.

STP Financial Philosophy and Steps Forward

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 16:10:15 GMT

By Stephanie Afful, 2025 STP President

Have you ever wondered what your Executive Committee does? A core of our mission is to provide “resources and services, access to a global collaborative community, and opportunities for professional development.” Much of our discussion in our monthly executive meetings focus on increasing grants and awards, supporting diverse programming, and increasing the reach to our members. This year, our focus has been more specific to our overall financial health. To that end, the Executive Committee approved the following statement:

In our desire to ensure long-term support for our membership, STP is reevaluating our budget and financial philosophy. Just as many of our universities and institutions are financially strapped, so too are professional organizations. Over the years, our expenses have continued to increase as we have expanded grants, awards, and programming to support our members, but our income has not kept pace. Historically, we have set the registration fees for our Annual Conference on Teaching low; however, that well-intended decision has led to significant financial losses every year. Unfortunately, we cannot sustain this pattern for the good of our members and the longevity of the organization. The STP Executive Committee is realigning the budget to better balance expenses with income, focusing on our mission-based priorities and efforts that best serve our members.

In addition to our monthly meetings, your Executive Committee also meets in-person twice a year for more intensive business meetings. This year, the EC made the difficult decision to cancel our in-person Spring meeting and meet via zoom March 6 and 7. In that time, we were able to discuss more specific changes needed to remedy our budget, but also some opportunities for growth. You will see some of these changes coming soon (e.g., new ACT registration rates).

Please know that these decisions are made with great care and sacrifice. It is our duty to be good financial stewards of the organization. We recognize that in a time where higher education is highly vulnerable, this too may feel like another blow. We hope you will still lean in and find community in STP. Please reach out with any questions.

Two antidotes for burnout

Sat, 01 Feb 2025 13:47:22 GMT

By Stephanie Afful, 2025 STP President

As part of my presidential theme, I have been thinking a lot about burnout. How can we best protect and support our faculty from the emotional exhaustion in these current times? January was a long and difficult month for many of us in academia. I often repeat to myself… focus on what is in your control. I cannot change institutional policies or executive orders, but I can focus on my teaching. And I can control making sure my students feel safe and supported in my courses. So, I have two possible antidotes to burnout to share this month.

In the spring, I teach Health Psychology where my students adopt a health intervention over the course of the semester–and I practice along with them. This year, I chose gratitude. It's easy, free, and in my control (and my phone will send me a reminder). But, to make this (hopefully) more effective for workplace burnout–I’ve decided that every day I must list at least one that is specific to work. Maybe it's the class activity that went well, or that my lab alumnus got an interview for a PhD program. Some days- it's just that I have a job. It is forced, and maybe does not seem organic, but I am hoping that this practice of gratitude specific to my job helps me mitigate some of the work-based stress that is upon us.

Another possible antidote is building community. And what better way to do so than to join our online ACT conference. We are excited to offer on-demand programming February 10-13 (Monday-Thursday), and synchronous sessions on Friday, February 14, including a keynote by Teaching of Psychology editor Aaron Richmond at 2:00pm EST. If you attended ACT in Louisville, ACT Online access is complimentary and all other current STP members can register for $25 (“online only” option).

I hope to see many of you at ACT online and share your love of teaching on Valentine’s Day. I welcome any of your tips and suggestions on burnout (email me)! Our presidential task forces will start this month in culling the best resources and sharing out.

Take care of yourselves, STP friends.

2025 Presidential Task Forces and Working Group

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 15:17:39 GMT

by Stephanie Afful, 2025 STP President

Greetings and happy New Year to our cherished STP friends and community!

I am honored to serve as your 2025 STP President. We really have something special in this professional organization. I started my service in STP on our very first Early Career Psychologist committee. A few years later, I joined the Executive Committee as the secretary and now just thrilled to be in this position. My presidential theme this year is “Stronger Together: Building a Community to Combat Teacher Burnout.”

Why burnout? As teachers at all stages of our careers, we likely are balancing our love for teaching with the ever-growing demands and stress of this job. We are still recovering from pandemic teaching, many of our universities are in financial crisis as we approach the great enrollment cliff, AI has changed the way we assess student learning, and we may experience compassion fatigue with the mental health crisis in college students. I hope we can use our collective expertise, care, and community to prevent our flame from going out and spark the joy of teaching again.

Now you might be thinking that one way to mitigate burnout is to say NO to more service but…I do hope you will consider joining one of our presidential task forces. As the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, we should think about ways to care for each other and ourselves as we do for our students, as well as balancing the demands of teaching, research, and service. Given those demands, I would like to call for volunteers to serve on the following presidential task forces (deadline to apply is January 31, 2025):

1. Combating teacher burnout

This task force will focus on tips, toolkit, recommendations to help faculty manage burnout.

2. Supporting research on small budgets

This task force will focus on ways to support faculty who engage in the high-impact practice of mentoring undergraduate research but have little to no funds, such as compiling resources on collaboration sites, networking, grants, etc.

3. Using AI to our advantage

This task force will focus on using AI to manage academic workflow. How can AI help faculty save time?

4. Developmental Content for Intro Psyc Working group

In addition, we have one working group that will be reviewing developmental content in Intro Psychology courses/textbooks. For many of us teaching Intro Psych, we may not be trained in developmental. This working group will review current coverage and provide advice for teachers and textbook authors on what content should stay and what content should go.

WHAT do I actually have to do? We would anticipate these groups meeting virtually once a month for 2025, starting in February. Some task forces continue into the following year. Task forces write an end-of-year report to be shared with the Executive Committee.

WHAT are the outcomes? Presidential task forces often lead to presentations at ACT or APA, ToP articles, white papers, or even new awards or lines of funding for our members.

So I hope you will join me this year, whether on a task force, at a conference, or by email, as we share our best practices on Building a Community to Combat Teacher Burnout.

525,600 Minutes

Sat, 07 Dec 2024 17:08:10 GMT

By Loretta McGregor, 2024 STP President

As I sat writing this final column, I was reminded of the song “Seasons of Love” from the hit Broadway musical Rent. The lyrics are “525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?” (Did you sing the song in your head? I did).

Well, my 525,600 minutes as STP president are nearing the end. I have had many joyous moments, met many inspiring individuals, and seen the passion in your hearts and eyes for this noble profession we call the teaching of psychology. Thank you for embracing my vision of cultivating the next generation of psychology educators. My theme was not accompanied by grand fanfare. It was simple and from the heart. I desire this idea to germinate within each of you and become a part of your mentoring protocol. I want you to consciously and actively seek out current students with the talent and passion to educate the next generation about human behavior and thought. Moreover, I want our future colleagues to realize that teaching their students about the discipline of psychology has the potential to pay big dividends for our society for many years to come.

I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve as your 2024 STP President. It has been an honor to work alongside such dedicated and passionate individuals. I stand here today because influential teachers and instructors saw my potential long before I could. You, too, have the power to be that influential figure for a student. Don't hesitate to share your passion and love for teaching with your students. Encourage them to explore the possibilities of one day joining our ranks. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your 2024 STP President. It has been an honor.

Educators change lives for the better

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 20:13:57 GMT

by Loretta N. McGregor, STP President

We are entering the final stretch of the semester. Mid-term exams have been administered, and first-term grades and parent-teacher conferences have come and gone. We have survived the constant barrage of political ads and another national election. Amid all these things, it is easy to get lost in the minutia of life and lose sight of the big picture. We prepare the next generation of parents, leaders, professionals, and others daily through teaching. We teach them how human behavior and thoughts interact with our environment(s) to influence our quality of life and the lives of others. For many of our students, the introductory course is the only psychology class they will ever take. With that in mind, what do we want all students to know when they leave our classroom?

The APA Education Directorate, along with the APA Committee on Associate and Baccalaureate Education (CABE) and the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP), have worked diligently to provide answers to this question. In October 2021, The APA Council of Representatives approved the APA introductory psychology initiative (IPI) student learning outcomes for introductory psychology. A working group created the recommendations found in the document. The group proposes that, upon completing the introductory psychology course, students should be able to: a). “Identify basic concepts and research findings”; b). “Solve problems using psychological methods”; and c). “Provide examples of psychology’s integrative themes.” The complete committee report and other recommendations can be read in the APA-sponsored book Transforming introductory psychology: Expert advice on teacher training, course design, written by Regan Gurung and Garth Neufeld (2021).

In 2023, a CABE working group created the APA Guidelines for the undergraduate psychology major, version 3.0. The group, comprised of experts in the discipline of the teaching of psychology, outlined the knowledge and skills all undergraduate psychology majors should possess after completing their baccalaureate degree. These guidelines are not just theoretical-they have practical value. In fact, CABE and STP collaborated to create the infographic The skillful psychology student: Prepared for success in the 21st century workplace. This document identifies a list of skills many students learn through completing various psychology courses, skills that employers highly value in the 21st-century workplace.

I am trying to make the point that, as a psychology educator, YOU have and continue to make a difference in the lives of your students. I know sometimes it is hard to accept that the things you do matter, but they do, and SO DO YOU! As this academic semester and calendar year draws to a close, so does my tenure as STP president. Thank you for reading my shared thoughts and ramblings. I hope my words have encouraged you to keep up the excellent work. I will post my final column in December. Until then, have a wonderful November.

STP Presidential Citations

Wed, 02 Oct 2024 17:22:06 GMT

With immense pleasure, I announce the 2024 Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP) Presidential Citation recipients. The STP president presents this annual award to individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to STP and/or the teaching of psychology. This year’s recipients have positively influenced the discipline of psychology and STP through their work.

Karen Z. Naufel, Ph.D.

Dr. Karen Naufel, a psychology professor and former director of undergraduate programs at Georgia Southern University, received a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Arkansas. During the 2014-2015 academic year, Georgia Southern University recognized Dr. Naufel for excellence in teaching by presenting her with the university-wide Award for Excellence in Instruction. Dr. Naufel also received two national awards from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology: the 2010 Jane S. Halonen Teaching Excellence Award for early career teachers of psychology and the 2022 Civic Engagement Award for collaborating with her students and her community to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Dr. Naufel routinely serves on various committees and task forces created to enhance the teaching of psychology at all levels. In 2021, she was co-chair of the APA’s Committee on Associate and Baccalaureate Education (CABE). She currently chairs the APA’s Board of Educational Affairs (BEA), part of the APA Educational Directorate. BEA's primary function is to recommend policy on education and training to the APA Board of Directors and the Council of Representatives. Dr. Naufel’s research interests include the areas of applied social cognition, metacognition, and ethics in research. She is the author of numerous publications and presentations. I am pleased to award the 2024 STP Presidential Citation to Dr. Karen Naufel. Congratulations, Dr. Naufel! Thank you for your service to STP.

Lindsay Masland, Ph.D.

Dr. Lindsay Masland, professor of psychology and Director of Transformative Teaching and Learning at Appalachian State University, receives the STP 2024 Presidential Citation for her extraordinary service to STP.

Dr. Masland completed a Ph.D. in educational psychology with a concentration in statistics from the University of Georgia. She received the Appalachian State University’s Excellence in Teaching Award, a university-wide teaching award, and the 2020 Jane S. Halonen Teaching Excellence Award given by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, a national award for early career teachers of psychology.

Dr. Masland has gone above and beyond in her service to STP as a consulting editor for the journal Teaching of Psychology (TOP) and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). She is also the current Director of the Annual Conference on Teaching, sponsored by STP, where she has done an amazing job. Dr. Masland’s research interests include student engagement, effective teaching practices, and inclusivity. She is also the author of multiple publications and presentations. I am pleased to award Dr. Lindsay Masland the 2024 STP Presidential Citation. Congratulations, Dr. Masland, and thank you for your many years of service to STP and the discipline of psychology.

Guest Column

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 14:41:32 GMT

This month’s guest columnist is Teceta Tormala, Ph. D. Teceta is the Vice President for Diversity and International relations in STP. I appreciate Teceta's initiatives that led to the development of STP's affinity groups and the work she does to support STP members.

Join STP's Affinity Groups

by Teceta Tormala, Ph.D.,
STP Vice President for Diversity and International Relations

Thank you, Loretta, for allowing me this guest column to talk about the STP affinity groups! In 2020, I was co-chair of a STP task force that surveyed STP membership about ways to build a more inclusive and equitable division. One of the ideas that came from the survey was for the creation of affinity groups- small groups of individuals who share a similar social identity or lived experience, and who connect with one another to discuss identity-related experiences and ideas. When I started my role as VP of Diversity and International Relations on the Executive Committee of STP in 2022, one of my main goals was to continue our work to build a more inclusive division, and the creation of affinity groups was one important way to do that.

The significance of affinity groups has been reinforced by research demonstrating their value for connection, sharing, community, support, networking, andadvocacy. For many of our current and potential STP members, being in community with other members who share important aspects of lived experience can help to make a warm and friendly organization feel like a truly inclusive and welcoming space. In this affinity group process, we are following the model of other APA divisions and psychology organizations- such as Division 35 and the National Latinx Psychological Association - and creating a means for people who align around an underrepresented identity or lived experience to connect and engage with one another. Importantly, membership in all affinity groups is open to any STP member.

We put out the call for the creation of affinity groups last year, and I was thrilled about the response; STP members are excited about spaces for connection, support, and community. At present, there are 11 affinity groups aligned around a multitude of educator identities and experiences: Race and ethnic identity (Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi (APID); Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African (AMENA); Latinx; Black); queer identity; in/visible dis/ability identity; community of care and professional resilience; educators at community colleges; educators at Canadian institutions; late career and retired educators; educators who are parents and caregivers. At last year’s ACT conference, the ACT Director, Lindsay Masland, and programming committee graciously created space in the schedule for these newly formed groups to meet and connect. At the upcoming ACT this October, Lindsay has once again blocked out space for the affinity groups; this year, the affinity group meetings will be scheduled throughout the day, to allow conference attendees to attend multiple groups, as befits our intersectional selves.

For any STP members who might be interested, the process to join or create an affinity group is a straightforward one! To join an affinity group, complete a Google Form accessible to all STP members on our websiteto note which group or groups you would like to join. To create an affinity group, STP members- individually, in pairs, or in small groups- can email the VP for Diversity and International Relations at vp-diversity@teachpsych.org with the affinity group that they would like to create and facilitate, and what they see as the group’s purpose. Once the affinity group is finalized, it will be added to the list of affinity groups on our website, and members can choose to join it if interested.

I hope you consider joining an affinity group, or if you see a need for a new group to serve a constituency which is not currently served, to create and facilitate one!

Attending APA and Guest Column

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 19:01:22 GMT

Attending APA and Guest Column

Loretta N. McGregor,
STP President

August 1, 2024

This month’s guest columnist is Danae L. Hudson, Ph. D. Danae is the Vice President for Membership in STP. I appreciate Danae and the work she does to support STP members.

If you are attending APA, I encourage you to download information about STP programming at https://teachpsych.org/conferences/apa/index.php. And, if you see me at APA, stop and introduce yourself. I hope to see you there.

A New Academic Year: Updates from STP

by Danae L. Hudson, Ph.D.,
STP Vice President for Membership
vp-membership@teachpsych.org

Hi STP friends! I hope your summer has been fun and rejuvenating. A new academic year is about to begin, and as Vice President for Membership, I wanted to share a few announcements with you. This information has already been communicated through our various channels, but we wanted to make sure everyone knows about some of the recent changes in STP.

Most people recognize that membership in STP has always been extremely affordable. Access and affordability are important values to our organization. But did you know that STP has not raised dues is over 19 years! Given the rising costs in all areas of life, the Executive Committee voted to modestly increase our dues. The new rates (effective July 1, 2024) are as follows: $35 psychology teachers; $20 students/ postdocs/retirees; $5 for members from countries not classified as high income. If you join/renew your membership now it will last throughout 2024 and all of 2025!

STP offers many free resources on the STP website that do not require membership in STP. However, as a member you have access to additional resources and support.

Once you login to the STP website you gain access to members-only benefits, which include:

Online access to the journal Teaching of Psychology through the SAGE Publishing website. View instructions for setting up online access to the journal (requires login).
Access to identity- and experience-based Affinity Groups.
Eligibility to register for STP's Annual Conference on Teaching.
Eligibility for to apply for STP's grants and awards.
Eligibility for STP's mentoring services.
Ability to participate in contests like the STP Design Contest (look for information very soon about the 2024-2025 contest).
A searchable membership directory.

Also, we now have a private STP Facebook group where members provide support for one another and share pedagogical ideas. This group includes only STP members and is already thriving with over 500 members. The public STP Facebook group still exists but has been transitioned to announcements only. So, if you haven’t joined our new group yet, please click here to join!

I wish all of you a happy and smooth start to the beginning of the new academic year. Please feel free to reach out anytime with questions or feedback. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as STP’s Vice President for Membership.

Apologize until you get it right!

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Apologize until you get it right!

I am the eldest of seven children. As expected, we often had disagreements, scuffles, and sometimes knock-down-drag-out fights. As the oldest, I learned early on that you must always apologize when at fault and do so until you get the apology right.

Therefore, on behalf of the STP Executive Committee, I humbly apologize for the scheduling of the 2024 ACT conference during the religious holiday of Yom Kippur. In my previous statement, I attempted to explain the complexities of conference planning and the added difficulties caused by forced rescheduling amid the pandemic. But I am now aware that my apology profoundly missed the mark.

Religious holidays and celebrations are a time for worship, ceremony, family, and tradition. I understand that many of our STP members are now faced with the choice between being in their community with loved ones to observe the High Holy Days or attending ACT. I realize that many will miss the professional development and networking opportunities they annually look forward to during ACT. Some may even sacrifice time with loved ones because this is the only conference they can attend this year. I deeply empathize with the difficult decision you are being forced to make, and I regret we have put you in this position. We will endeavor to be more mindful of our actions and intentional about the dates we select for future conferences.

As president, I am responsible for ensuring that our organization lives up to our mission statement, revised during the Executive Committee’s meeting in April 2024. Our proposed revised mission statement reads:

The Society for the Teaching of Psychology promotes excellence in the teaching and learning of psychology. The Society provides resources and services, access to a global collaborative community, and opportunities for professional development. It endeavors to promote equity and social justice for teachers and students of psychology with marginalized, racially minoritized, and intersecting identities. The Society also strives to advance the scholarship of teaching and learning; advocate for the needs of teachers of psychology; promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, and belonging initiatives within the teaching and learning of psychology; foster partnerships across academic settings; and increase recognition of the value of the teaching profession [emphasis added].

I still have work to do to ensure that our organization embodies diversity, equity, inclusion, and belongingness. I want to reassure you that our commitment to these values is unwavering. Though we stumbled, we will continue to review, revise, and develop our practices to ensure a more inclusive and equitable organization.

Announcements from STP's Executive Committee

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Dear STP Family,

This month’s announcements come from our Executive Director, Dr. Thomas Pusateri and me. We have collaborated to bring you an update on actions taken during the Executive Committee’s mid-year meeting and to provide a rationale for several recent decisions by STP’s Executive Committee that are designed to maintain our Society's financial and operational health.

As you are aware, inflation has increased the prices of many goods and services, and the annual cost for STP to continue supporting its programming and services for teachers of psychology has also increased. For example, STP provides grants and awards that include travel support for STP members to attend conferences, and many STP leaders receive travel support to coordinate STP programming at ACT, APA, and other national and regional conferences. Because travel costs have increased, the Executive Committee will need to increase the maximum dollar amount for those who receive travel support from STP. In addition, the costs of hosting our Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT) have increased yearly; those who attend ACT pay only a fraction of the total cost to host this annual conference.

Therefore, the Executive Committee has recently voted to increase membership dues from $25 to $35 for non-student members and from $15 to $20 for students, post-docs, and retirees. This adjustment in dues will commence on July 1, 2024, the date when we begin to process new members and renewals for the 2025 calendar year. Those who join or renew in STP on or after July 1, 2024, will receive complimentary membership for the rest of 2024 and through December 31, 2025. This increase in dues will enable us to continue providing high-quality programming and services for our members.

The Executive Committee also voted to increase the registration fees for members to attend the Annual Conference on Teaching. The increase is modest and will not cover the full costs of those who attend ACT, but it will help reduce STP's overall costs of hosting this conference.

This year's Annual Conference on Teaching: On Location in Louisville is a rescheduling of the 2021 conference, which was canceled within a month of its intended start date due to rising COVID numbers. STP was originally penalized over $100,000 for this cancellation, but we were able to negotiate that penalty down to $10,000, plus a signed conference contract for October 10-12, 2024. Unfortunately, those dates fall on Yom Kippur. The STP Executive Committee, along with the ACT Committee members, offer our sincerest apology for this conflict and promise to select future dates for the conference that do not overlap with dates of religious and/or cultural significance.

The Executive Committee has also made a significant decision to divide the responsibilities of the current Executive Director into two budget-neutral positions: Executive Director and Operations Manager. This strategic move is aimed at enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations. The future Executive Director will oversee memberships, conference registrations, and communications with members and nonmembers, among other responsibilities. The Operations Manager will serve as parliamentarian and historian for the Executive Committee and will support the work of other STP leaders (e.g., drafting policies and procedures, updating pages on the STP website). Tom Pusateri, the current Executive Director, will complete his term of office in the Operations Manager position through 2027. Sue Frantz, the current Assistant Executive Director, will be appointed as interim Executive Director in 2025, during which there will be a call for applications for that position to begin January 1, 2026.

The decision to divide the responsibilities of the Executive Director will require a bylaws revision that will add the Operations Manager as an ex officio member of the Executive Committee. In addition, the Executive Committee supports a recent STP task force recommendation to revise the STP Mission Statement by changing the phrase diversity, equity, and inclusion” to “diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.” We will notify STP members when the vote for these bylaw revisions is open, and we encourage all STP members to approve both revisions.

Being a Flexible Planner

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 04:00:00 GMT

I am a planner! And as a dedicated planner, I've already begun preparing for the next semester, even though the current one is still in full swing. Nevertheless, recent events reminded me of the need for flexibility in the classroom and in life.

Each spring, the STP Executive Committee members conduct an in-person business meeting. These meetings typically involve three days of intensive planning for the future of the Society. This year’s meeting occurred in Memphis, TN, April 4-7. After selecting the date and scheduling the venue, I discovered the meeting would coincide with the 56th commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, sponsored by the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Hotel. Several of us arrived early on the first meeting day and were able to attend the commemorative event. The ceremony featured exquisite music by a local university gospel choir, poetic readings by high school students, and presentations by local dignitaries and members of Dr. King’s immediate family. Touring the museum and reflecting on Dr. King’s life of service and sacrifice for others set a positive tone for the balance of our meeting. I am pleased that some committee members were flexible in travel, allowing us to participate in and witness this historical event together.

As a self-proclaimed planner, I have often followed the advice of Marilla Svinicki and Bill McKeachie (2011), who wisely wrote, “…spend a little time on your [course] plans each day…let them percolate in your mind, [and] ideas will come to you while driving, jogging, or walking into your office,” (p. 18). But I have been teaching long enough to realize that some of the best class lectures or activities were the ones I did not plan. Ideas or activities have organically arisen mid-semester and I have followed some of them to fruition. These diversions in my teaching plans have often paid big dividends. I have learned that allowing flexibility in my schedule can enrich my teaching experience and greatly benefit my students.

My recommendation to you is to embrace both approaches to teaching. Plan your lectures and activities for the entire semester but reserve the right to change directions if you can or feel the need to do so. Planning and spontaneity in teaching are not the antithesis of each other. They can co-exist and often result in an enriching experience for students and the instructor alike.

Reference

Svinicki, M. & McKeachie, W. J. (2011). McKeachie’s teaching tips: strategies, research, and theory for collect and university teachers (13th Ed.). Wadsworth, Belmont, CA.

Reference

Svinicki, M. & McKeachie, W. J. (2011). McKeachie’s teaching tips: strategies, research, and theory for collect and university teachers (13th Ed.). Wadsworth, Belmont, CA.

Guest Column

Sat, 09 Mar 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Guest Column

Loretta McGregor,
STP President

For this month’s update, I have invited our Vice President for Grants and Awards, Morton Ann Gernsbacher, to submit a guest column. Morton is seeking participants for a survey on renaming the Abnormal Psychology course to reduce stigma. Please complete the survey and encourage your colleagues to do as well.

Brief Survey on Changing the Name of Abnormal Psychology

by Morton Ann Gernsbacher

Academic course titles preview our courses’ content, connect with our departments’ curricula, and entice our potential students. We also hope that our course titles don’t offend or stigmatize any students in our courses or members of the general public.

Recently, many psychology departments have chosen to change the title of their “Abnormal Psychology” courses, due to concern that the term “Abnormal” might be offensive and stigmatizing. In 2022, the previously named APA Journal of Abnormal Psychology also changed its name to The Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science due to concerns about stigma.

Last year, then STP President Diane Finley commissioned a Working Group to investigate the curricular implications of changing the name of “Abnormal Psychology” courses. I heartily encourage everyone interested in this topic to read this Working Group’s masterpiece report.

The report answered the important question of how changing the name of “Abnormal Psychology” courses would affect high school advanced placement credits and applications to graduate programs. The working group concluded there would be “minimal problems” and any “problems can be minimized with communication among interested parties (alerting transfer institutions, providing course description and/or course syllabus).”

The report also recommended possible replacement names for “Abnormal Psychology” based on important metrics of stigma. Last summer, my lab conducted a study to evaluate the Working Group’s most highly recommended replacement name, along with the previous name “Abnormal Psychology” and an often-chosen replacement name “Psychopathology.”

In our study, we used assays for assessing both implicit and explicit bias. This past fall, we replicated the results of our previous one-site study on four additional campuses, plus a larger sample on our home campus.

I’ll be reporting the results of these studies in a future STP newsletter column. One preview I can share now is that the STP Working Group’s most highly recommended replacement name did indeed fare the best!

For now, I’d like your input. Has your department considered changing the name of its “Abnormal Psychology” course? If so, I would be incredibly grateful if you could complete this short survey.

Thank you in advance!

What do you love most about teaching?

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 23:00:14 GMT

What do you love most about teaching? Take a moment to reflect on your answer. I’m confident your answer did not include “the pay.” I have taught for more than three decades, and on most days, I love my job. I still cannot believe I get paid to do what I do.

I put this question to a couple of my colleagues. Both are early career psychology professors. Each mentioned the thing they love the most about teaching is the ability to impart knowledge about psychology to others. One colleague added that it allows them to talk about psychology to a captive audience. I think these comments reflect how many of us feel, or have felt, about the teaching of psychology.

After many years of teaching, I’ve come to love my job because I now know I make a difference in the lives of my students. This may sound a bit self-aggrandizing, but I have evidentiary proof. Social media has given me the gift of remaining in contact with former students like never before. This continued contact gives me a glimpse into their lives after college. Occasionally, these individuals contact me and cite a specific previous interaction that has impacted their and their families' lives. I am grateful when someone recalls a particular event from class, a comment from an earlier conversation, or explains how they turned a psychological concept into something actionable. These interactions help me realize that what I do does make a difference in the world.

While teaching my students about psychology, they often teach me about pop culture, current events, and constantly challenge me to re-examine some of my beliefs. In other words, my current students keep me young at heart and encourage my continued cognitive growth through their questions and conversations. As I stated above, I love my job!

It is easy for us sometimes to lose sight of the joy we receive through teaching. Strained institutional budgets, governmental oversight, and politicization of the educational system can make even the most stalwart educator question their career choice. But take a moment to breathe and realize you are doing great work! You are changing lives! I appreciate your dedication to the teaching of psychology.

Greetings and Happy New Year

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Greetings and Happy New Year,

With great honor and humility, I assume the responsibilities of STP president for 2024. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Loretta Neal McGregor. I hold a Ph.D. in Human Factors and a Master of Science degree in General Experimental Psychology. I have been active within The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP) for 30+ years. As an STP member, I have served in numerous areas and positions; for example, I served as Associate Director of Society Programming for the APA Convention and as a member of the G. Stanley Hall Lecture selection committee. I have volunteered to work on numerous task forces like The Advisory Task Force for the Center for Teaching Resources in Psychology and the Task Force on Minority Issues.

As an active member of APA, I have worked on various task forces and committees. For example, I was a member of The Board of Directors for Educational Affairs (BEA). I was a member of the BEA's Advisory Task Force on Undergraduate Major Competencies and a participant in the National Conference on Undergraduate Education. This experience resulted in my contributing to the book, Undergraduate education in psychology: A blueprint for the future of the discipline. I currently serve as a member of the advisory panel for APA's Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology.

However, my most meaningful contribution to the discipline and society has been my research and scholarship on the life and contributions of Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark. Dr. Clark, a black woman and psychologist from Arkansas, played a crucial role in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Supreme Court decision. I, too, am a black woman and psychologist from Arkansas. I view Dr. Clark as a giant in the discipline, role model, and my "homegirl." I have given presentations throughout the US and abroad about Dr. Clark's life and contributions to the discipline; it has been an honor and pleasure to share her story with the world.

I am a professor of psychology at Arkansas State University. One of my favorite things about being a professor is mentoring students and newly degreed psychology faculty members. I thoroughly enjoy meeting and mentoring new faculty members. These individuals often bring fresh ideas and an infectious enthusiasm to the discipline and the classroom. That is why I have chosen the theme of Cultivating the next generation of psychology educators as my platform for this year. If you have worthwhile ideas about how STP can encourage current and former students to become teachers within the discipline, please feel free to share your thoughts with me. Thank you to those who have already sent their ideas. I will be in touch.

I believe teachers and professors of psychology make a meaningful difference in each student's life and the lives of their student's current and future families. Yet, we do not do this by brainwashing students! We make a difference by teaching them about human thoughts, emotions, behavior, and development. The mission of the American Psychological Association is "...to promote the advancement, communication, and application of psychological science and knowledge to benefit society and improve lives." As educators of psychology and STP members, this is what we do best! The need to understand human behavior and display empathy toward others is something we currently need in our world. This is why we need more passionate teachers and professors to join our ranks.

STP's International Programming Initiatives

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 05:00:00 GMT

As I write my last Presidential column, I am delighted to include a column from long-time STP leader, Susan Nolan. I also want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me through the Presidency in so many ways. There are far too many to name and far too many ways in which I realized that I am simply the facilitator for STP to happen. It has been an honor and I wish everyone a restful holiday season.

Our guest columnist is Susan Nolan who has served STP in so many ways – it would take a whole column to mention them all. I asked her to write this in her capacity as Director of International Programming. Susan has raised the visibility of STP internationally in only a few months and I see great growth coming. We have always said that STP was an international organization and Susan is making that claim true.

International Programming
Susan Nolan

I am grateful to Diane Finley for the opportunity to contribute to her Presidential Letter. As a former STP president and the current Director of STP Programming at International Conferences, I have long valued the opportunity to work with STP to explore international aspects of psychology pedagogy, curricula, assessment, and policy. Just this calendar year, STP has co-sponsored international conferences in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, and Sweden. Already, we have plans to co-sponsor in-person conferences in 2024 in India and France, as well as a series of webinars in English and Spanish, co-sponsored with several other organizations, including the International Council of Psychology Educators (ICOPE). Of our 16,000 Facebook members, more than 7,000 are from outside of the United States.

Through STP and other teaching organizations, such as ICOPE, I have had the privilege of meeting psychology educators from around the world. One result of those connections is the International Collaboration on Undergraduate Psychology Outcomes (ICUPO) which I co-founded with STP member and former STP Presidential Citation awardee Jacky Cranney of the University of New South Wales (Australia). Jacky and I began this project with the goal of developing international foundational competences for the undergraduate psychology major, a goal we outlined in a 2022 paper with several colleagues.

A little over a year ago, Jacky and I recruited a team which comprised a central ICUPO committee of 13 psychology educators from 17 countries and a broader advisory committee, the International Reference Group on Undergraduate Psychology Outcomes (IRGUPO). More than 100 IRGUPO members come from more than 40 countries. Both the ICUPO and IRGUPO include many (approximately 30) STP members. (And we have been recruiting more and more of those involved with ICUPO and IRGUPO to become STP members; we are grateful that STP now facilitates expanded membership by recognizing that there are economic disparities among nations. Those from any countries not designated as high income by the World Bank may now join STP for US $5 rather than the US $25 for those from high-income countries.)

The aim of the ICUPO and IRGUPO is to develop a consensus document that provides learning outcomes (which we call competences) that might supplement or inform national or regional psychology learning outcomes or other regulatory guidelines at the undergraduate level. We strived to develop competences that were relatively content-agnostic, but rather, were focused on skills and values relevant to psychology undergraduate programs across cultures and countries. We hope that this document will facilitate communication across countries and cultures, and might contribute to mobility of psychology students, faculty members, and degrees.

After more than a year of work (see this paper, starting on p. 22, for an early overview of our theoretical background and process), we recently publicly unveiled the beta draft of the International Undergraduate Foundational Psychology Competences (IUFPC). Members of the ICUPO and IRGUPO have now presented drafts of the IUFPC at conferences in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, and Sweden, as well as at the 2023 STP Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT). At all these venues, including at ACT, attendees provided thoughtful and concrete feedback that has already led to additional changes in the document. We recently launched the latest phase of the project, which is to explicitly seek broad input from psychology educators and psychology associations around the world.

STP members from many different countries have formed the backbone of the ICUPO and IRGUPO. We hope that many more STP members will contribute to the ongoing revisions of the IUFPC. Our goal is to have a completed document by July 2024, and we encourage you to be a part of the project! We invite you to read the beta draft and email us with any feedback, whether laudatory or constructive. You may email me directly at susan.nolan@shu.edu.

Happy November!

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 04:00:00 GMT

I hope everyone is finding something to keep you going as we draw near the end of the term. I know this time of year can be difficult as daylight gets shorter and it gets colder in some places. I just hate getting up and eating meals in the dark!

I would like to remind everyone of some STP information:

Dues statements will be coming out. Please be sure to pay attention to email or snail mail and renew. Better yet, click here to join or renew online so you don’t forget!
Please check the Get Involved page frequently. STP can only work if everyone contributes. There are always opportunities to get involved. We do value all members and want everyone to be involved. Don’t worry if you are new to teaching or new to STP.
We now have affinity groups (some call them special interest groups or SIGS). Click on the link to check which groups are already in place. If you do not find one for you, consider creating it! If you are looking for kindred souls, it is likely others are as well.
STP offers a LOT of grants and awards. Check them out and nominate yourself or a colleague. Please do not feel embarrassed to nominate yourself – many of our award winners have self-nominated. We need to sing our own praises and share our strengths and what we do!
Our social media sites and Listservs can give you a lot of information. We post current announcements from APA such as the updated guide on use of language as well as job announcements and information from related organizations.

I wanted to share some research related to my talk at the recent ACT. My talk centered on sharing our stories and using story to teach (albeit being judicious about what we share in the classroom). I stumbled across a meta-analysis that supported the positive effects of narratives on comprehension and memory. How exciting to see some of my theories supported by research!

Since it is that time of year when we begin to think about those things for which we are grateful, I wanted to use this column to say some thank yous. I am not able to individually thank each person who has supported me this year, but I do want share a few.

Thanks to the Executive Committee (Linda, Loretta, Danae, Teceta, Morton, Bill, Kristin) who has worked far beyond what I even imagined. It is really their hard work (and that of all their committees) that keeps STP running. They have terrific ideas for new initiatives and their grace during our discussions can serve as a model for how to disagree without distressing everyone.

Thanks especially to Secretary Stephanie who keeps meticulous (and speedy) minutes. She can always find the motion or answer other questions (that I should probably know the answer to!).

Thanks to our Executive Director, Tom, for his patience with all my endless questions and for keeping me on track with what I need to be doing.

Thanks to our Treasurer, Jeff, who helps me understand all our budget issues and can always answer my questions about the money. His has a difficult job, and he does it without complaining.

Thanks to Lindsay, our Director of ACT, and Melissa, our APA Program Director. They also answered my questions patiently and they produced two wonderful programs.

Thanks to the many, many other STP committee members who have responded to my queries or helped answer a question. Your work is noticed and appreciated.

I hope you plan some downtime for the upcoming holiday. Try to unplug, don’t check an LMS, don’t answer email!

News from ACT 2023

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Happy October! I am coming off the excitement of a VERY successful Annual Conference on Teaching but also coping with jet lag from the West to East coast flight! A HUGE thanks to ACT Director Lindsay Masland and her conference committee: Brittany Avila, Jacqueline Goldman, Kate Jansen, Alison Melley and Blake Nielsen. Their hard work before and during helped to make the conference an inspiring three days.

I hope everyone who attended ACT left with the same sense of excitement and purpose without jet lag. If you were not able to join us in Portland, remember that there will be an online conference in February. Be sure to check out the details on the ACT web page.

STP has a lot going on. There are a few positions available at our Get Involved page. Please do think about applying to serve in one of these positions. There is always a name you can email if you have more questions.

We also will be seeking applications for three members of our Executive Committee: STP President Elect, VP for Membership, and VP for Diversity and International Relations. The deadline for these positions is November 15, 2023.

I want to share some of the announcements, recognitions and awards from the conference so everyone in STP knows about the great work so many people are doing. There are far too many people for me to name individually, but know that your service to STP is valued.

Keli Braitman, past Vice President for Grants and Awards presented STP’s annual awards. I am always impressed by the accomplishments of our award recipients. This year’s recipients are:

· Wayne Weiten Teaching Excellence Award (2-year college) – Heather Schoenherr

· Mary Margaret Moffett Memorial Teaching Excellence Award (high school) – Maria Vita

· Wilbert J. McKeachie Teaching Excellence Award (graduate student) – Skyler Mendes

· Jane S. Halonen Teaching Excellence Award (early career) – Leslie Berntsen

· Robert S. Daniel Award (4-year college) – Colleen Seifert

· Civic Engagement Award – Michael Figuccio

· Mentorship of Teachers Award – Jessica Hartnett

· Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award - Milton Fuentes

Membership has been busy. The winner of the first annual Design Contest was Jenny Kunz. Her design appears on stickers that were distributed at ACT and will be distributed at other STP-sponsored conferences in 2024. These stickers are sure to become collectibles! This will be an annual contest so look for the announcement and consider submitting a design. The MidCareer Psychology Committee is now officially a committee and is preparing to offer webinars next year. STP’s mentoring services have moved to the Membership area.

Resources has also been busy. There have been special editions of Teaching of Psychology and two new e-books. There are twelve new peer-reviewed syllabi and four new peer-reviewed resources. The Tagging Project has made it easy to find what you need across all our sites quickly.

Diversity and International Relations is continuing to discuss ways to incorporate Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging across all endeavors. They also facilitated the DEIB training for the Executive Committee. Our international presence is growing rapidly and STP will be represented at international conferences in India, Mexico, France and Sweden. Our Director of STP Programming at International Conferences, Susan Nolan, has been making even more connections internationally, so STP has become visible across the world.

Programming has had a successful year. In addition to ACT, STP was present at many conferences. Conference directors include Melissa Maffeo (APA), Molly Metz (APS), David Berg (NITOP), Drew Christopher (SPSP), and Judith Bryant (SRCD). Garth Neufeld oversees the outstanding work of the regional conference coordinators. Brooke Whisenhunt coordinated the speaker selections for our co-sponsored lectures (with APA’s Board of Education Affairs) at APA 2023.

The Executive Committee (EC) has been working for you as well. We have been discussing fiscal responsibility and what that means for our budget. We are exploring ways to honor our members who have passed. We are creating a way to collect demographic information from our members, so we have some data for maintaining and creating programs. Please know that the EC is here to work for you. Let us know if there are concerns or suggestions.

A final note (and a terrific opportunity for college faculty): If you are in higher education and have ever wondered about the Advanced Placement Psychology exam, they are looking for readers (i.e., graders) from higher education. It is a great chance to see how the AP scores are calculated as well as to meet fabulous teachers from all over the world. Plus, you get paid. Next summer’s reading will be in Kansas City. If you are interested, contact Kristin Whitlock.

Looking back to APA 2023 and forward to ACT 2023; Guest Columnist: Teceta Tormala

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Welcome back to a new school year! I hope everyone’s year is off to a rousing start. I know we have already had to deal with a lot of natural disasters, and I hope anyone in those zones has stayed safe. Do let us know if there is anything STP can do to help.

Thanks to Melissa Maffeo for a great and successful program at the APA convention. We had some interesting sessions. You can learn more about STP’s programming at APA 2023 by viewing the August 2023 Special Issue of STP News.

The Executive Committee is gearing up for our meetings at the conference in October prior to and during the Annual Conference on Teaching. If you have anything of concern, please let me know so that we can discuss it.

Speaking of the Annual Conference on Teaching, Lindsay Masland and her committee are hard at work to put on another fabulous time in Portland. I hope you will be able to join us in person. Information about the schedule is available here. There will be an online conference in February 2024 as well.

As always, Lindsay has come up with a great opportunity for networking and connecting. She has announced that she is able to support Affinity Group meetings at ACT: On Location in Portland this year! From Lindsay: “So, if you've ever wanted to meet up with other psych teachers who are like you—whether "like you" means a shared sociodemographic identity, a specific teaching context, or some other area of interest—this could be the perfect venue for you! But, for these meetings to happen, we need folks to propose groups. So, if you'd like to make new friends and are willing to take on the very light lift of filling out an application for a potential group meet-up, please fill out this application by September 15th!”

The mention of affinity groups is a great lead-in to my guest columnist this month, Dr. Teceta Tormala from Palo Alto University. Teceta is also the Vice-President for Diversity and International Relations. At the 2022 ACT she talked about how she uses affinity groups in her teaching. She has brought many new ideas to STP, and I am excited for everyone to read about identity and teaching.

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Socioculturally-Embedded Intersectional Teaching in a Polarized World

Dr. Teceta Tormala, STP Vice President for Diversity and International Relations

I am cycling into my 19th year of teaching (wow!), and I think often about how my teaching- and the scholarship of teaching and learning- has evolved over the past two decades. When I was in graduate school and in my early years in academia, the teaching model of “the sage on the stage” predominated, and the prototypical sage was White, male, and in middle age. In my early years, as a Black woman in her late 20s and early 30s, the mold didn’t fit. As my time as an educator progressed, I came to more fully understand where I fit in the model of teaching and learning, and what was missing from my course content and teaching practice. I had to find another path distinct from the way in which much of psychology had been taught, often decontextualized from the multiplicity of individuals and the complexities of the lived experiences of groups in the sociocultural context of a complicated world. Our field wasn’t always inclusive of the psychological processes and experiences of all.

The term that I have been using to capture this approach to teaching is socioculturally-embedded intersectional teaching, which I conceptualize as facilitating and educating from one’s intersectional self with awareness of the nested contexts of the classroom, institution, and society, and in service of deepening and broadening knowledge of the collective. The lens that our corner of the field- the teaching of psychology, and the scholarship of teaching and learning of psychology- must continue to embrace in our approach to educating is a systemic one, which foregrounds the importance of sociocultural identity, structural factors, and sociohistorical forces in shaping individuals. The work of Urie Bronfenbrenner offers a path, through ecological systems theory, that is attentive to the nested contexts in which each of us exists, and the impact that interactions, relationships, places, policies, laws, social representations, and ideologies have on our thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

We are not operating within a vacuum- we are living and teaching in the reality of 2023, riven with conflict and hatred, in which politics, culture, and identity are clashing at their intersections to deleterious effect on nations, on groups, and on individuals. As educators, we need to grapple with this reality as it impacts our teaching and as it impacts our students’ learning. Who we are and who our students are matters; what we teach matters; how we teach matters. How do we engage across lines of difference in meaningful ways? How do we create open and vulnerable classroom spaces where diverse experiences and opinions can be stated and be heard? What are the ways through which students who are liberal and conservative, disabled and abled, people of color and multiracial and white, religious and areligious can truly engage in our classrooms? Why does cultural responsiveness matter when teaching AP psychology or introductory biological psychology or high-level seminars? How do we stay engaged in the work of teaching the content that we love within the noise and conflict of a dispiriting, troubling world?

Models that we see today within our field orient towards belonging and inclusion. Dr. Thema Bryant’s theme from the 2023 APA convention was, “You belong here”. From her role as president of APA, she invited attendees to wear something that reflected an important aspect of their identity, be it religion, race, nationality, sexuality, or another lived experience. The organizers included an interfaith program, with hourlong practices from Native Hawaiian, Buddhist, Muslim, Lakota, Christian, Sufi, and Jewish spiritual and religious traditions, open to people from all backgrounds. Within STP, I have been thrilled to be a part of the creation of affinity groups organized around identity and lived experience. STP members are excited about spaces for connection, support, and community. At present, there are affinity groups aligned around a multitude of educator identities and experiences: Race and ethnic identity (Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi (APID); Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African (AMENA); Latinx; Black); queer identity; in/visible dis/ability identity; educators at community colleges; late career and retired educators; educators who are parents and caregivers. At the ACT conference in October, Lindsay Masland and the ACT programming committee graciously created space in the schedule for these groups to meet and connect.

Each of us is a whole, complicated, multicultural self with group-based beliefs and experiences- and the only singular us who will ever exist. We share a core humanity and a deep need for connection, and this is the bridge that we traverse as educators- between the collective and the individual, between your way and my way and our way, all in service of deepening our understanding of the human condition.

STP at APA 2023; Sad news; and Guest column by Judith Pena-Shaff

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 16:38:31 GMT

As I write this column, I keep looking at the calendar in disbelief. August, and the start of a new school year, are right around the corner. While I love the start of a new school year and all the possibilities it brings, I cannot believe the summer has gone by so quickly! I hope you have been able to take some time to recharge and relax. I recently found out how important that actually is. Do not let work consume you!

The Presidential Trio (President Elect, Past President and President) along with the executive Director will represent STP at the American Psychological Association annual convention in Washington DC during the first week of August. Our Program Chair, Melissa Maffeo, has put together a program rich in updated content and it looks to be an invigorating experience.

I do have some sad news to share. I always hate to share such news in a public forum, but it is the only way to reach everyone who might want to know. We recently lost two of our long-time supporters and members. Dr. Rick Miller, former President, passed away this June in Mallorca Spain. Dr. Robin Hailstorks, recipient of the 2023 Presidential Citation, passed away in Washington DC in July. Our thoughts are with their families, and we are grateful for all they gave to STP.

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My guest columnist this month is Dr. Judith Pena-Shaff, the Chair of our Diversity Committee. Her thoughts are really apt given the imminent start of the school term.

Building Resilience in Students: Understanding Factors and Implementing Strategies

Dr. Judith Pena-Shaff, Ithaca College,

The other day, I came across a thought-provoking Facebook message that read: "We are confronting a generation of emotionally weak people, where everything must be softened for them." While it would be unfair to label an entire generation as weak, it is true that some college students may struggle with resilience. In this column, I will explore some of the factors contributing to this challenge and propose strategies I have been researching to incorporate in the psychology courses I teach to help build resilience in students. I hope you find some of these strategies useful as well.

Factors Influencing Students' Struggles with Resilience:

Changing societal dynamics: Advancements in technology, evolving family structures, and shifts in cultural values impact how students perceive and respond to challenges. These changes create different pressures and stressors in students' lives.
Increased academic pressure and lack of preparation: College students today face high academic expectations, intense competition, and a focus on achievement. Many are unprepared for the demands of college, leading to stress, anxiety, and feelings of being overwhelmed.
Mental health concerns: Research indicates a rise in mental health issues like anxiety and depression among college students. These conditions can hinder their ability to cope with adversity and affect resilience levels.
Lack of experience: College is a transitional period where young adults navigate newfound independence and face new challenges. Some may not have had prior opportunities to develop resilience fully.
Limited coping skills: Some students may lack effective coping mechanisms and problem-solving strategies, leaving them ill-equipped to deal with the challenges of young adulthood and college life.

Strategies to Foster Resilience in College Classes:

Building resilience in students is crucial to help them navigate the challenges of academic life and beyond. As psychology instructors, we can play a vital role in developing their coping skills and problem-solving abilities. Here are some effective strategies to consider. Many of these can be implemented both in small and large enrollment classes.

Provide theoretical knowledge: Introduce students to various coping mechanisms and problem-solving strategies through theoretical foundations. Explain concepts like cognitive-behavioral approaches and problem-solving models.
Demonstrate practical examples: Use real-life scenarios and case studies to illustrate the application of coping and problem-solving techniques. Show how individuals have effectively managed stress and adversity using specific strategies.
Engage students in experiential learning: Incorporate experiential activities, such as relaxation exercises, mindfulness practices, and stress management techniques, to help students practice coping skills. Use hypothetical scenarios for problem-solving exercises.
Foster group discussions and collaboration: Encourage group discussions and collaborative problem-solving exercises to enhance communication and teamwork skills. Students can learn from each other's perspectives.
Assign Reflective exercises: Ask students to maintain reflective journals to analyze their coping strategies and problem-solving approaches. Encourage self-awareness and metacognitive thinking.
Integrate technology and resources: Utilize digital tools and online resources that offer coping mechanisms and problem-solving guidance. Recommend stress reduction apps and decision-making aids.
Invite guest speakers: Guest speakers, such as mental health professionals or individuals with resilience experiences, can provide valuable insights and real-world examples.
Provide constructive feedback: Assess students' coping skills and problem-solving abilities through assignments or quizzes. Offer constructive feedback to help them improve.
Promote self-reflection and self-care: Emphasize the importance of self-care and self-reflection in building resilience. Encourage students to evaluate their strategies and make adjustments when needed.
Foster a growth mindset: Encourage students to adopt a growth mindset, viewing challenges as opportunities for growth and learning. Teach them to develop resilience through perseverance and effort.
Stay updated and adaptable: Keep abreast of the latest research on coping mechanisms and problem-solving strategies. Be adaptable in your teaching methods to meet students' evolving needs.

Building resilience in college students is an ongoing process that requires empathy, understanding, and support. By implementing these strategies, psychology instructors can equip their students with the tools and knowledge to navigate the ups and downs of college life and beyond. Creating a compassionate and supportive environment will foster their growth, allowing them to thrive personally and academically.

Resources Consulted

DeRosier, M. E., Frank, E., Schwartz, V., & Leary, K. A. (2013). The potential role of resilience education for preventing mental health problems for college students. Psychiatric Annals, 43(12), 538-544.

Rogers, H. B. (2013). Mindfulness meditation for increasing resilience in college students. Psychiatric Annals, 43(12), 545-548.

Shatkin, J. P., Diamond, U., Zhao, Y., DiMeglio, J., Chodaczek, M., & Bruzzese, J. M. (2016). Effects of a risk and resilience course on stress, coping skills, and cognitive strategies in college students. Teaching of Psychology, 43(3), 204-210.

Walsh, P., Owen, P. A., Mustafa, N., & Beech, R. (2020). Learning and teaching approaches promoting resilience in student nurses: An integrated review of the literature. Nurse education in practice, 45, 102748.

Presidential Citations (Alan Feldman and Robin Hailstorks) and Guest Column (Keli Braitman)

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Happy summer! I hope everyone is getting some recharging time, even if you are teaching summer school (as I am). I do try to take time to watch baseball most days. Those who know me know that is really my happy place and since my favorite college team just won the College World Series, I am really happy. Plus, my favorite pro team – the Orioles – is playing lights out.

I want to remind everyone of a few opportunities:

Melissa Maffeo (Program Chair for APA) has put together a wonderful program for APA in DC in August. Please join us if you can. Be sure to come to the Marriott on Thursday August 4 for the Presidential Address (3pm) and Social Hour (4pm) where I will honor this year’s recipients of Presidential Citations (see below).
There are several opportunities to serve STP. Some do not require a great deal of time. Please consider contributing your talents to STP.

Presidential Citations

One of the privileges of the STP Presidency is the ability to give two very deserving individuals a Presidential Citation, which acknowledges “extraordinary lifetime contributions to the Society and/or to the teaching of psychology.” My recipients are extraordinary teachers and people who have contributed to our profession and their students. I have been fortunate to know both of them for decades and I am thrilled to have a chance to recognize them since they are folks who tend to stay in the background.

Alan Feldman

My first recipient is Mr. Alan Feldman of Glen Rock High School in NJ. I know of no other psychology teacher (at any level) who is as accomplished as Alan. He has been a participant in everything related to psychology teaching over the last decades including the National High School Summit, the Clark University TOPSS sponsored workshop, the Advanced Placement reading and test development committee and the executive committee for Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS).

One of the AP administrators says of Alan: ‘Alan has served as a Table Leader on my team numerous times. I rely on his depth of knowledge of the content. A small pre-team of Table Leaders creates the grading rubric that will score one of the free response questions (FRQ's). I often turn to Alan to ask about research that has been done on a particular concept. I know of no other person at the reading who has such an in-depth understanding of the content. His contributions have helped our team build rubrics that are concise and effective tools.”

Alan has received several teaching awards including the Charles T. Blair Broeker Excellence in Teaching Award from TOPSS, the Moffett Teaching Excellence Award from STP and the Perth-Amboy School District Teacher of the Year.

He has presented at too many workshops to count and has served as a keynote speaker multiple times, including as the Professional Night Speaker at the Advanced Placement Psychology Reading.

Alan has taught at a local community college and has served as an instructor in graduate teaching of AP Psychology courses at Goucher College, Drew University and Fordham University.

Most importantly are his achievements with his students. Six of his students from Glen Rock HS have been published in Psychology Teacher Network. Many have gone onto major in psychology and their comments make it clear he is a caring and dedicated teacher. One student wrote: “You made me feel smart in your class. You encouraged me to raise my hand by acknowledging what I had to say as valuable. I loved the way that you taught. You spoke with passion about what you were teaching. Thank you for everything that you did for me, Mr. Feldman. I would not have the confidence I have now if I did not have you as a teacher. When I come back to visit Glen Rock High School, your classroom will be the first I go to.” Another says of Alan: “At the time I had him as a teacher, all I wanted was for Mr. Feldman to see how positively he had impacted those he taught or simply greeted in the halls. He was so modest that when anybody said that he was the best teacher they had ever had, he would simply shake his head and tell them to stop. Well now, I am not letting him shake his head. I want Mr. Feldman to know that he is the best teacher and person I have ever known. He has not only taught me an incredible amount of information, but he has also shown me, by example, how to be an understanding, patient person.” I concur and it is my great honor to present this Presidential Citation to Alan Feldman.

Robin Hailstorks

My second recipient is Dr. Robin Hailstorks of Prince George’s Community College in Maryland. Dr. Hailstorks has been a professor of psychology and Department Chair at Prince George’s for over thirty years during which time she has mentored countless part-time and full-time faculty (including me!).

Robin earned her bachelors at Morgan State University and has helped to make it easier for many community college students to continue their education at the baccalaureate level at Morgan. She earned her doctorate at The Ohio State University.

In 1997, she received the Wayne Weiten Teaching Excellence Award (Division 2) which recognizes excellence in teaching at a two-year college.

She has been involved in making community college psychology a national concern. While advising a Psi Beta chapter at Prince George’s Community College, Robin served as Psi Beta’s Eastern Regional Vice-President (1994 to 1996). Robin was Psi Beta’s National President from 1997-1998.

Robin was involved with APA’s Diversity Project 2000 and Beyond (DP2K), which was a leadership and mentoring program designed for ethnic minority honor students attending community colleges. DP2kB occurred two days prior to and two days during the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association and offered full grants for out-of-state students and partial grants for local students admitted into the program.

She also served as Associate Director of Precollege and Undergraduate Education in the American Psychological Association’s Education Directorate for many years. Jerry Rudmann says of Robin: “she has played a key role in dozens of APA-sponsored events, task forces, and working groups all of which supported, encouraged, and provided valuable resources for America’s psychology teachers and thousands of their students.” She was instrumental in contributing to two working groups appointed by APA’s Board of Educational Affairs.

Robin has always worked quietly “behind the scenes” and many do not really know all the contributions she has made to the advancement of community college psychology and to the teaching of psychology. I am honored to give her this Presidential Citation.

= = = = =

This month my guest columnist (and a pertinent one when we are talking about recharging) is Dr. Keli Braitman. Keli is a Professor and the Chair of Psychological Science, William Jewell College. She recently rotated off the Executive Committee where she served as Vice-President of Grants and Awards. In that position, she worked to make sure grants and awards are equitably distributed as well as to make application and review more coherent and clearer.

Guest Column

Teaching as a Wellbeing Practice

by Keli A. Braitman, Ph.D.

Several years ago – before the pandemic – I developed an interest in learning more about mindfulness and wellbeing. The older I get, the more I prioritize my own wellbeing and focusing on what brings contentment and happiness to my life. I already knew some of the basics about wellbeing (as a psychology teacher), but I wanted to learn more, including what the research has shown and how to better prioritize these practices.

Despite my interest, it never came together. I’m sure we’re all familiar with buying books and then not finding the time to read them! To force my hand, I proposed a new course at our college that would focus on the science and practice of wellbeing, modeled after Laurie Santos’ wellbeing course at Yale University (also available for free on Coursera - https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being). I figured that if I taught the course, it would force me to learn the material. It was mutually beneficial, because I wanted to learn how to enhance my own wellbeing, while offering the opportunity to students as well.

I started by exploring resources available through STP. I found Jess Hartnett’s syllabus for her Positive Psychology course through ‘Project Syllabus’ (https://teachpsych.org/otrp/syllabi/index.php), and after contacting her with a few questions, she generously shared additional material with me. Through my networking connections in STP, I learned of others who were teaching similar courses, and they shared material with me as well – thank you especially to Jane Halonen and Jennifer Oliver!

I’ll start by saying that this was one of the most fulfilling courses I’ve ever taught. Not only did I learn a lot about the science and practice of wellbeing, but overwhelmingly the students reported feeling grateful to learn about this topic as well, especially within our core curriculum. This course satisfied the science requirement for our core curriculum, which I believe helps expand students’ understanding of what science is and how our discipline is informed by scientific inquiry and process.

Topics we read about and discussed included fostering social connection, finding meaning and purpose in our choices and our lives, creating time affluence for ourselves (time to rest or do things we enjoy), fostering gratitude and kindness, practicing mindfulness, including meditation, engaging our signature strengths, finding flow, moving our bodies, and getting enough sleep.

I related these topics to students’ lives and encouraged them to think of ways to incorporate these practices. For example, after completing a survey on signature strengths, students shared examples of how they use their strengths and how they might develop them further.

Once the semester finished, I reflected upon how so many of these wellbeing practices are encompassed in the work that we do as teachers of psychology. Teaching provides us with inherent opportunities for experiencing meaning and purpose in our lives. So many of us have related anecdotes of a student or alumnus sharing a story about the impact we had on their lives – talk about meaning and purpose! Doing work that serves others can lead to incredible fulfillment and meaning.

We’re certainly each utilizing signature strengths within our roles as teachers (e.g., creativity, curiosity, fairness, honesty, humor, judgment, leadership, love of learning – just to name a few). Harzer and Ruch (2012) found that people who incorporate signature strengths into their work are more likely to report job satisfaction and to think of their job as their “calling.” Similarly, LeFevre (1988) sampled workers throughout their day, asking how they were feeling, what was their level of concentration, and what would they rather be doing. Not surprisingly, most who were working reported they would rather be at leisure. However, while at work they also reported feeling a sense of efficacy and self-confidence, whereas when sampled during leisure they reported feeling apathy and boredom. So, although self-care is often represented by taking time to binge Netflix, for example, research suggests that engaging in meaningful work often leads to more fulfillment. Don’t get me wrong – having time to rest and play is important, too, but so is engagement in meaningful activities.

Many teachers experience gratitude for the opportunity to do this work we love, including the flexibility that comes with many teaching positions, and the opportunities to foster intergenerational connections with colleagues and students. We can extend kindness, even when we’re maintaining our policies and expectations. We have the intellectual challenge of staying current on the topics we teach, and the creative challenge of conveying difficult topics in accessible ways. This process can be incredibly meaningful and keep us sharp in ways we may not otherwise experience. And I know I have certainly experienced flow when I’ve been in the classroom. Time has often passed very quickly, and class is over before I’ve realized it. I even experienced flow in writing this column – so much so that I forgot to feed my dogs dinner! (Don’t worry, they reminded me).

Not every aspect of teaching lends itself to practices of wellbeing, and we do have to be intentional about setting healthy boundaries, protecting time for other things, and creating opportunity for exercise and sleep. But it was incredibly gratifying (applying one of these wellbeing practices!) to consider the myriad ways that our chosen profession can align with healthy practices of taking care of ourselves.

I started the course by highlighting for students several news sources stating that “Americans are the unhappiest they have been in decades” (CBS News, 2022) and that “Americans are the most unhappy people in the world” (ABC News, 2013). To highlight the importance of this course, and why I was inspired to teach it. I followed those news stories with a piece by Marcia Morris in Psychology Today (2022) entitled, “Dear College Student, You Deserve to be Happy.” Well, colleagues, so do we. I’m heartened to think about how teaching fulfills many of the practices that can promote our wellbeing, and I’m hopeful you are able to as well. And in the spirit of practicing gratitude – I am thankful to STP President Diane Finley for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts, and to our STP community of teachers, who inspire me on a regular basis and are generous with one another.

References

Americans most unhappy people in the world. ABC13. (2013, February 20).
https://abc13.com/archive/9000225/.

Americans are the unhappiest they’ve been in 50 years, poll finds. NBC News. (2020, June 16). https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/americans-are-unhappiest-they-ve-been-50-years-poll-finds-n1231153

Harzer & Ruch (2012). When the job is a calling: The role of applying one’s signature strengths at work. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 7, 362-371.

LeFevre, J. (1988). Flow and the quality of experience during work and leisure. In M. Csikszentmihalyi & I. S. Csikszentmihalyi (Eds.), Optimal experience: Psychological studies of flow in consciousness (pp. 307–318). Cambridge University Press.

Morris, M. (2022, November 6). Dear college student, you deserve to be happy: Enhancing academic, social, and mental health experiences in college. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/college-wellness/202211/dear-college-student-you-deserve-be-happy

Apply for STP’s DEIB Working Group (by June 30)

Tue, 30 May 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Apply for STP’s DEIB Working Group (by June 30)

I hope that everyone’s Spring terms have ended successfully. If you are beginning a spring quarter or summer term, I wish smooth teaching. This will be a shorter than normal column – I want everyone to spend their time relaxing rather than reading my writing. So, this month, I want to highlight one specific STP endeavor this month.

Before I do that, though, I want to congratulate all the newly elected STP officers and thank everyone who agreed to run. It takes a commitment to serve STP and even to run for office. Please think about future elections and participating as a candidate! More information can be found in the recent newsletter and on our homepage.

This month I want to highlight our call for a Working Group to support our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) initiatives. After the events in 2020, STP has begun to examine our structures, policies, procedures, and programs. We have had several working groups who have already done great work on DEIB. However, this work is not completed. To that end, we are formulating another working group to build on the work of those prior groups. I am including the Call for Applications below, so it reaches a wide audience. Please take some time to consider applying and helping with this work.

STP’s DEIB Working Group

We seek applications for a new STP working group: Integrating DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging) across the structure of STP. Consistent with our Mission Statement and the Statement on Addressing Systemic Racism and Inequity in STP, we encourage applications from colleagues who are from underrepresented groups and have diverse backgrounds and experiences.

In 2020, we put out a statement on our priorities around addressing racism and inequity within STP. As an organization, we have made progress within the four priorities (Critical reflection and assessment, Representation, Equity, and Inclusivity), but still have much work to do. One important area of work that we are now undertaking is an assessment of how to integrate DEIB across all facets of our organizational structure , to ensure that equity and inclusion are embedded within all areas and integrated into the constitution of STP.

To create this structural change, we are forming a working group whose charge is to create recommendations for how to integrate DEIB across the structure of STP. The group would be engaged with questions such as the following:

What structure can STP build to integrate DEIB throughout the organization, rather than have it as a silo or an add-on?
What changes would be required to build a new equity-oriented structure? What resources would be needed?
To reduce the burden for a few, in what ways can this work be shared by many?

Term of Service: Given the scope of the charge of this working group, the term will be August 2023 - August 2024 with reports due February and August. If the working group determines that more time is needed to fulfill the scope of the work, and members are interested and able to continue to participate, the term of the working group can be extended.

Please include the following in your application:

A short letter of application explaining your interest in and qualifications for the position (200-250 words).
A current CV.

Please submit all materials to Diane Finley- president@teachpsych.org- no later than June 30, 2023

In your email, please identify the working group (Integrating DEIB across STP’s structure) in the subject line.

If you have any questions or need any clarification before you make your decision to apply, please do not hesitate to ask.

Remember that any member of STP is welcome (and invited) to apply for any service opportunity. Please do check this site regularly and throw your proverbial hat in the ring. We really want everyone to get involved and we need everyone to make STP the best it can be. From the Get Involved page:

STP is committed to providing opportunities to as many of its members as possible to participate in STP initiatives. Whenever there is a vacancy on a committee, task force, or working group, this will be one of the places where the vacancy is announced. If you have a specific interest or question about any of our initiatives, please visit the STP Leadership page for email addresses of our executive committee members, committee chairs, editors, directors, and coordinators. Even if there is no current vacancy, you should feel free to contact one or more of these individuals to express your interest in getting involved.

If you are not a current member of STP, visit our Join page. We welcome anyone interested in the teaching of psychology.

Apply for STP’s DEIB Working Group (by June 30)

STP’s DEIB Working Group

What structure can STP build to integrate DEIB throughout the organization, rather than have it as a silo or an add-on?
What changes would be required to build a new equity-oriented structure? What resources would be needed?
To reduce the burden for a few, in what ways can this work be shared by many?

Please include the following in your application:

A short letter of application explaining your interest in and qualifications for the position (200-250 words).
A current CV.

Please submit all materials to Diane Finley- president@teachpsych.org- no later than June 30, 2023

In your email, please identify the working group (Integrating DEIB across STP’s structure) in the subject line.

If you have any questions or need any clarification before you make your decision to apply, please do not hesitate to ask.

If you are not a current member of STP, visit our Join page. We welcome anyone interested in the teaching of psychology.

Please vote, complete our survey, and learn about STP initiatives

Mon, 01 May 2023 04:00:00 GMT

PLEASE VOTE, COMPLETE OUR SURVEY, AND LEARN ABOUT STP INITIATIVES

Happy May – I hope everyone has a smooth end of the term if your semester is ending this month. I am not sure why the Spring term always seems so much longer than Fall! Nonetheless, celebrate your accomplishments and those of your students as graduations occur. This month I am going to focus on STP and all that we offer. I think that, too often, we are not aware of everything available to STP members. I know that I have missed things.

PLEASE VOTE FOR STP OFFICERS

First, I want to remind everyone that STP’s elections are currently taking place. Thanks to those who volunteered to run and serve the Society! The STP Elections & Appointments Committee is pleased to announce the candidates for STP offices. Candidate statements are available on the STP website.

All STP members are eligible to vote for four open offices: President-Elect, Secretary, Vice President for Programming, and Vice President for Resources. If you are not a current member and would like to vote for these offices, please join on the STP website. You may vote until May 16 by clicking here (requires login).

APA members of Division 2 will receive a separate ballot for two Division 2 Representatives to APA Council. There are four candidates, and we will use rank-order voting, with the top two vote-getters elected. Ballots will be sent via email to APA members of Division 2 on May 8 and the due date for voting is June 7.

Thank you for participating in this year's vote.

PLEASE COMPLETE THE STP SURVEY FROM OUR TASK FORCES

I also want to share an update on my two task forces. They have been working hard and I commend the two Chairs for the thought they are putting into this process. I asked each to share what their group is doing.

From Crystal Quillen: The Community College Taskforce has been meeting since the end of January. We have a talented group of individuals and were excited to share our backgrounds and experiences. We began our conversation by talking about surveying members and non-members to see who a community college instructor was. This appeared to be more difficult than we thought, which led us to discuss the need for a larger membership survey and invite the MSI Taskforce and the Membership Committee to help. Some of our questions specifically focused on why current community college members of STP have joined and how we can communicate the benefits of STP with non-members.

From Angela Swilling: The MSI (Minority Serving Institution) Taskforce has met a few times and we are working on analyzing email domains to determine an estimate of what percentage of STP members are at MSIs. (This term covers all categories of minority serving institutions). Although this task is difficult since many domains are more generic (e.g., Gmail or yahoo), it does give us an estimate. Additionally, we are working with the Community College Taskforce and Membership Committee to develop a survey to collect data on how STP can improve. We are specifically interested in how faculty from MSIs can be better served and made to feel welcome. We hope to identify factors that might encourage more membership and engagement, including resources that might be beneficial to faculty at MSIs.

The two groups worked together to develop two survey, one for STP members (requires login) and one for STP non-members. Please click on either of the survey links above and take a few minutes to give us your thoughts.

REPORT FROM THE RENAMING ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY WORKING GROUP

During 2021 and 2022, there was a great deal of discussion about the title of the abnormal psychology course on STP’S social media outlets. In response, the STP Executive Committee approved and charged a working group with considering the pros and cons of recommending an alternate title for this commonly offered course. The working group surveyed what titles are being used for the course and examined the potential effects of changing the title. These effects could include transferability, especially between community colleges and four-year institutions. Other effects could be how admissions officers who review applicants to professional programs (including non-psychology programs that have this course as a prerequisite) would view name changes. The question was if the title was important or if admissions officers would review syllabi for comparability. The group also examined how the title might contribute to stigma around mental health. The Renaming Abnormal Psychology Working Group completed their report. It is one of the most thorough and complete I have read. The report is located on the STP website. We have sent the report to a number of other groups who might have a stake in the title of the course. Please take time to review the report.

ADDITIONAL UPDATES ON STP INITIATIVES

STP is expanding its presence at international conferences. Susan Nolan has assumed the position of Director of Programming at International Conferences. Read about upcoming events. STP was represented at the 2023 International Convention of Psychological Science (ICPS) held in Brussels in March.

Remember that STP has groups designed to represent graduate students, early career professionals, and mid-career professionals. Just click the Membership tab to find more information. Each group has compiled lists of helpful resources.

STP has a large number of awards to honor teaching as well as grants to fund travel to conferences, teaching projects, and more. The Grants/Awards page has a calendar showing the due dates for each award or grant. Please consider applying for one of the grants or nominate yourself (or someone else) for the awards.

Our Annual Conference on Teaching (part of our Programming area) is now accepting submissions for the conference, which will be held face-to-face in Portland, OR on October 5-7, 2023 with additional online programming scheduled for early 2024. There are many types of submissions accepted. If you have never submitted, please do not think ACT is cliquish. We focus on teaching and while I may be biased, I think it is the most welcoming conference on the national level. If you do not want to submit, please consider joining us this October in Portland or virtually next year.

Our Resources area offers a wealth of teaching resources including eBooks, blogs, journals, and more. I plan to spend some time this summer exploring both new (and older) resources to update my courses for the fall term.

All of the above treasures are due to so many individuals whom I have no space to name. Their dedication to teaching is awe-inspiring and STP would not be the organization we are without all these volunteers. I thank them for their time, energy, and vision.

This brings me to an invitation to check the Get Involved page regularly. All positions within STP are open to everyone to apply. We really want to include everyone, and I encourage you to take the leap and apply for open positions. It can be a bit intimidating, but we really do want everyone to feel welcome and included.

I hope you have a smooth end to the term and a reinvigorating summer. Please take some time to explore what STP offers and join us. We look forward to getting to know everyone.

Updates from APA Council, STP Instagram Account, ACT News, and Column from STP’s VP for Membership

Mon, 03 Apr 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Updates from APA Council, STP Instagram Account, ACT News, and Column from STP’s VP for Membership

April – the start of baseball season which for me always signals Spring! I hope you have something that gives you those same feelings of hope, beginning again, and starting anew!

Updates from APA Council

I want to share some updates from the recent American Psychological Association Council of Representatives (COR) meetings that have direct relevance for us at STP. For those newer to STP and APA, COR is the governing body for APA. Everything must go before them for a vote. Each division, state association and APA committee has representatives who gather twice a year to discuss APA business. Several items are of particular interest to teachers of psychology.

The Council unanimously adopted revised APA’s Principles for Quality Undergraduate Education in psychology and approved December 2032 as the expiration date. These principles offer best practices that faculty members, programs, and departments can adopt to facilitate student learning and development, in ways that fit their institutional needs and missions. This document is designed to complement, and to be used in conjunction with, the APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major. (The third revision of the Guidelines was recently approved by the Board of Educational Affairs and has been forwarded to the COR for approval).

The Council voted 151–4, with one abstention, to adopt Educational Guidelines for Equitable and Respectful Treatment of Students in Graduate Psychology Training Programs. These guidelines encourage graduate psychology programs to promote the equitable and respectful treatment of graduate students throughout their education and training so that students may fully benefit from their graduate education and maximize their potential within and beyond their graduate programs.

For those members who may also do some work in applied areas, the Council voted 144-13, with one abstention, to amend the Association Rules to establish a Committee for the Advancement of General Applied Psychology. The Committee’s purpose will be to promote, in settings outside the direct delivery of health care services, the utilization, application and advancement of science where psychologists work to enhance performance, learning, and well-being of individuals, groups, organizations, and society as a whole.

APA declared that the third week in April is Psychology Week. The United Nations participates in this endeavor. The theme for this year’s webinar is Psychological Contributions to Global Peace, Conflict Resolution, and Equity. If you would like to register for the Psychology Day at the United Nations webinar, organized by the Psychology Coalition at the United Nations (PCUN; https://psychologycoalitionun.org/), you may register online for the webinar, which is scheduled for April 27, 11:00am-2:00pm Eastern.

STP Instagram Account

Did you know that STP now has an Instagram account? If you are on Instagram, check us out at https://www.instagram.com/stpteachpsych/.

Annual Conference on Teaching

Finally, the call for submissions for our Annual Conference on Teaching will be available soon. Please consider submitting and joining us in Portland (OR) or online. Director Lindsay Masland is planning some wonderful things for the West Coast!

This month, I am pleased to introduce Dr. Danae Hudson, VP for Membership, as my guest columnist. Danae is working diligently with her committees to increase membership and make membership attractive. They are also working to expand membership to underrepresented groups within the teaching of psychology. Danae is the Coordinator of the Clinical Graduate Program at Missouri State University where she also teaches at the undergraduate level.

The Age of Disengagement?

Danae Hudson, Vice President for Membership

As teaching during a global pandemic shifted back from Zoom to the classroom, many of us were excited to “get back to normal.” Unfortunately, like many other areas of life, teaching and learning felt different. Now three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become clear that students are different. Hallway, Twitter, and STP Facebook group conversations have a similar theme. A recent poster wrote, “This is the first time in nearly 20 years that I've had [exam] scores this bad. I've also taught this course multiple times and have never seen anything like this before. In general, there is something going on with this class where I'm seeing multiple students just being really out of it. Not paying attention, missing deadlines, not participating at all...” The gift of our STP Facebook group is this poster quickly realized they were not alone, and that this overwhelmed and exasperated sentiment is commonplace.

We have experienced the same thing at my institution, Missouri State University, where my three colleagues and I teach over 1300 Introductory Psychology students each fall. Between us, we have over 80 years of teaching experience and none of us had ever experienced a semester like we did in the fall of 2022. We were faced with underprepared and seemingly unmotivated students. We had more academic integrity violations than we had ever issued in the past 10 years (this was confounded because we naïvely thought using video proctoring to monitor students taking exams was a good idea --- it was not, but that is another column for another day.) It was an exhausting and demoralizing semester for all of us. With so many of us having similar experiences, the question becomes: what do we do?

There does seem to be some consensus that students appear disengaged, and it can be tempting to fall back into a defensive position where we claim that our teaching has not changed, our courses have not changed, and therefore the students just need to get the message. But I have always seen myself as an instructor who solves classroom problems, and this problem is one that may need a novel approach.

As with any scientific question, we need to start by generating hypotheses. And in this case, there are many:

· Traditionally aged college students spent most of their high school years during the height of the pandemic. As a result, they did not learn many of the skills needed to be successful in college (e.g., how to read a text, how to study, how to participate and contribute to group work).

· Many students were given the message during COVID of “do what you have to do to get through.” There was nothing inherently wrong with this message, but unfortunately it resulted in many students cheating to complete assignments and exams. Repeatedly engaging in this behavior with few consequences has changed how some students view academic integrity.

· Many of our students have had COVID at least once and therefore there will be a proportion of our students experiencing long COVID symptoms that are undoubtedly affecting their ability to concentrate on their studies.

· Mental health issues have reached extremely high and concerning levels. As Jean Twenge recently reported in Time, close to one in three high school girls seriously considered suicide in 2021, which is a 60% increase from 2011. These are the students in our classes.

· The APA’s Stress in America report from 2022 indicated that approximately 75% of Americans reported experiencing physical or mental symptoms of stress. The majority of adults reported feeling disheartened by government and political divisiveness, plagued by historic inflation levels, and overwhelmed by widespread violence. These are the topics on our students’ minds while attempting to take numerous classes and likely working many hours to pay for their education.

There are likely many more hypotheses we could generate. But even just looking at these, we can appreciate why our students are struggling. The problem is multifaceted, and therefore our solutions must also be diverse and tailored to specific student needs. For example, Wake Forest University uses academic coaches to teach students how to develop a comprehensive syllabus (the term WFU uses) --- a detailed spreadsheet that includes all assignments and assessments for all classes. Academic coaches woven into first year classes may be an answer for underprepared students. However, they are most likely not the answer for our students who are experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety that are interfering with their ability to complete assignments. In a time of shrinking budgets for higher education coupled with concerns about enrollment, increased funding for mental health services on campus (although desperately needed) is unlikely to occur. Perhaps there is a way for those institutions with graduate programs in clinical psychology, counseling, and social work, to work together to develop assessment, triage, and mental health services for our students who are seeking help.

Maybe it is time for us to rethink some of the content we teach in our classes. Introductory Psychology is a perfect course to address some of the issues we are facing. We know students are unlikely to remember the specifics of classical conditioning much past the end of the course. And, thanks to the APA’s Introductory Psychology Initiative, we now have student learning outcomes for Introductory Psychology that include integrative themes. Theme F states “applying psychological principles can change our lives, organizations, and communities in positive ways.” Could we redesign Introductory Psychology to use the content and skills ingrained in this course to help our “disengaged” students? This transformation would not be quick or easy, but I am convinced that as teachers of psychology, we are in a unique position to help address these issues that are plaguing our students and clouding our educational landscape.

References

American Psychological Association. (2022). Stress in America. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/

Gurung, A. R. & Neufeld, G. (2019). The Introductory Psychology Initiative. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/undergrad/introductory-psychology-initiative/pilot

Twenge, J. (2023. February 14). Teen girls are facing a mental health epidemic. We are doing nothing about it. Time. https://time.com/6255448/teen-girls-mental-health-epidemic-causes/

Celebrating and Supporting High School Teachers of Psychology

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 05:00:00 GMT

I hope your March has not come in like the proverbial lion although I am seeing a lot of unpleasant weather around! Please don’t let that dampen your enthusiasm for teaching and your students.

This month I want to talk a bit about our high school colleagues. Kristin Whitlock, our VP for Programming is my guest columnist. (The link brings you to more information about Kristin’s accomplishments). I want to give some history and context of high school psychology for those who may not be familiar with it.

High school psychology did not really exist when I was in high school, lo these many years ago. I first encountered it when I became a reader for the Advanced Placement Psychology exam. I started as a Reader in the early years when we really got to know all of the readers. As I became acquainted with the high school teachers participating in the Reading, I was gobsmacked! (One of my favorite British terms). They knew so much more than I did about the breadth of psychology plus they could read any handwriting when we, college faculty, were struggling to read essays.

High school psychology has existed in some form, albeit with various names, for over 150 years (Benjamin, 2001). In 1992, Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) was formed by APA. Since then they have published National Standards, adopted by APA and also have published multiple lessons on common topics in Introductory psychology. I have used their lessons many times and point new faculty to these for ready-made activities. TOPSS has been working to move psychology into the science curriculum, rather than the social science area. They are now sponsoring annual workshops at Clark University and at Oregon State University. There are about 840,000 high school students who take psychology each year and Advanced Placement Psychology is the 6th most popular AP course. I could go on with more high school teacher accomplishments but I want space for Kristin’s thoughts. (Thanks to Emily Chesnes of APA for some of this information; you can read more information here).

When I really look at all that is required of high school teachers, I am exhausted. They generally teach five or six sections of courses every day with 30 or more students in each. They are expected to help with extracurricular activities as well as tutor students. They serve on committees and help prepare students for AP and other college exams. As society expects them to be social workers, financial literacy teachers, counselors, surrogate parents, and many other roles, I marvel that they have the time needed to plan lessons and actually teach. I hear a lot of complaints on social media about how unprepared high school students are when they come to college but that has not really been my experience when students have completed high school psychology. STP is fortunate to have so many high school teachers willing to give time and energy to our endeavors. So, the next time you run into a high school teacher, thank them!

My Connection to Psychology

Kristin Whitlock

Lately I’ve been reflecting on the events and people that have influenced the development of my teaching identity. I am not sure why I’ve been feeling this so keenly lately, but it might be due to being in my 33^rd year in the classroom. I feel so blessed to be surrounded with so many wonderful psychology instructors and to have so many resources within my easy reach. But when I began teaching it was a much different story. I felt the lack of a community intensely despite being in a large school. For much of my career, I’ve been the only psychology teacher in a social studies department filled with history teachers. My colleagues have been, and continue to be, wonderful, but they didn’t have the background to help me establish my identity as a psychology teacher. I was so unprepared to teach the science of psychology.

My first introduction to a larger psychology community was as a participant at the National Science Foundation Psychology Institute at Texas A & M University in 1994. With Dr. Ludy Benjamin, and a group of incredibly talented high school and college faculty, I found exactly what I needed. I learned the content of psychology, as well as creative and pedagogically sound ways to engage students. It was also here that I learned about the APA’s Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools. I couldn’t believe there actually existed an organization that was just for me. The resources available, such as lesson plans and the National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula, were absolutely invaluable. To this day, TOPSS is still a vital resource for me. When I left Texas A & M, Dr. Benjamin challenged all of us to “go home, and do something” to help build psychology education.

My first opportunity to give back came when Dr. Irwin Altman, at the University of Utah, contacted me about starting a grass-roots organization for high school psychology teachers in our state. Along with other passionate educators, we established the Utah-Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (UTOPSS) in 1997. We have held our annual fall teaching conference every year, minus 2020, growing from about a dozen participants in 1997 to over 70 in 2022. In a unique partnership, Westminster College, in Salt Lake City, and UTOPSS collaborate to improve the teaching of scientific psychology at the high school level. This conference provides opportunities for teachers to learn new content, obtain new teaching resources, and build professional networks. We’ve hosted amazing high school and college faculty presenters. It is the only professional development offered to all high school psychology teachers in our state and surrounding areas. As a group, we look forward each year to reconnecting and learning together.

My professional learning community has continued to grow with my membership and involvement in the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP). I’m deeply appreciative of the many wonderful colleagues that I have worked with and learned from in this incredible group. Along with quality conference programming, it is a deep dive into the many resources STP has to offer, including the journal Teaching of Psychology, free eBooks, Project Syllabus, and more. When I began teaching this course, the challenge was finding solid resources; today, it’s almost overwhelming how many peer-reviewed resources are so readily available.

Yet, there is still work to be done! There are still too many instructors that are working in isolation that would deeply benefit from the work of both TOPSS and STP. It’s time for each of us to “do something” to improve the teaching of scientific psychology. Help us get the word out to new colleagues in your departments and local schools. Resources exist to help you develop regional teaching networks, such as UTOPSS. TOPSS publishes a guide to the process called Building, Guiding, and Sustaining Regional Networks For Psychology Teachers, that is easily available online. If you are interested, but concerned about starting from scratch, look on the TOPSS webpage to see what networks might currently exist in your area. You’ll find contact information for those who are currently involved. There are so many ways that you can give back and express the gratitude you feel for the benefits you have received as a member of our community.

References and Resources

APA (2018). Building, Guiding, and Sustaining Regional Networks For Psychology Teachers. regional-networks-guide.pdf (apa.org)

APA (2019, March) Report of High School Psychology

Benjamin, L. T. (2001). A brief history of the psychology course in American high schools. American Psychologist 56(11):951-60. Doi: 10.1037/0003-066x.56.11.951

National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula

Professional Development for High School Psychology Teachers

Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools

Happy February!

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 05:00:00 GMT

Happy February! Did you know that the word February comes from the Latin “februa” which means to cleanse? The month was named after the Roman festival of Februalia which was a month of atonement and purification. I have always found this interesting since we in the United States do not view February in this fashion. We tend to focus on Valentine’s Day and all that holiday represents in current society. As I learned about the actual history of the day, the connections began to make more sense. (Check history.com for information). How do these two views of the month reconcile? Some experts think the emphasis on love is an attempt to Christianize the pagan festival which had overtones of fertility. I do not think we will ever know, and I think that having time dedicated to love is sorely needed in today’s world. Throughout the year, I will be having guest columnists since I do want to “invite everyone in” (my Presidential theme).

This month, Dr. Stephanie Afful, from Lindenwood University, is sharing her thoughts. She is currently the Secretary for STP. She does an amazing job of taking minutes and keeping the Executive Committee on track with to-do lists and past votes. I have known Stephanie for a long time since she served as the first Chair for the Early Career Psychologists Committee which was started during my tenure as VP for Membership. I have always been awed by her dedication to teaching and by her energy. I know you will enjoy her ideas and I am sure she will welcome comments and discussion.

The Month of Love

Dr. Stephanie Afful

February is the month of love, the month where we can celebrate our love of football, of boxed chocolates, of Galantines, and maybe even our love of teaching! One of the reasons I love teaching is that the classroom (both physical and virtual) is a sacred space where we can practice social justice, one in which we can lean into difficult discussions, widen our perspectives, gain empathy and awareness. bell hooks (1994) said of transformational pedagogy "the classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy" (p. 12). And as discussion of Black history should last all year (not just for these 28 days), we might think about how to introduce, continue, or even reignite our passion for social justice and its pedagogical implications.

There are many opportunities to model activism and advocacy in your courses. In my social psychology course, each semester the students pick a non-profit organization for which we fundraise using different compliance strategies (modeled after this Action Teaching award winner). It has been wildly successful in terms of not only funds raised but also in the agency instilled in the students. If you have not checked out this website on Action Teaching, treat yo self (also wondering how many Parks and Rec references I can work into this newsletter).

My colleague, Dr. Sara Bagley, designed a service-learning project where students engaged with aging adults in the community as part of her Learning and Memory course (see examples here). The LU Memory Makers project had students develop events with engaging activities for mental stimulation and opportunities for intergenerational socialization throughout the semester. Not only did the events bring smiles to faces (like decorating gingerbread houses), but it allowed students’ knowledge enhancement through community connections and the community members the opportunity to interact in different ways.

If you are wondering how your courses may fit into this, I have the answer! STP recently published an e-book on Empowering students as change agents (Forner & Katzarska-Miller, 2022). This book details how to build skills with your students as they engage in community partnerships and practice advocacy. And we still have much to learn from each other. You may also consider sharing an activity from your courses in the new proposed e-book Applying Psychology Beyond the Classroom: Social Justice Activities for Intro and Upper-Level Courses.

I hope you take a few moments this month to savor your love for teaching, to also give yourself grace and self-compassion, and to think about ways to integrate advocacy in your courses—so that we may be engaged and critically conscious in the spaces we occupy.

References

Fortner, M., & Katzarska-Miller, I. (Eds.). (2022). Empowering students as change agents in psychology courses. Society for the Teaching of Psychology. https://teachpsych.org/ebooks/empoweringstudents

hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Taylor & Francis.

Inviting Everyone In

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 05:00:00 GMT

by Diane Finley, STP President

Happy 2023! I hope that everyone was able to find some time to recharge over the traditional winter break. We have all seen how important such self-care can be. Even if you are still teaching or doing other work, do try and find a few moments to sit and do nothing. I know that can be difficult for many of us. I know it is for me, but research (during, after, and before the pandemic) shows that it is important to take time for ourselves. I discovered that email was still there, and the world kept turning even though I was offline and not working.

I want to reshare some super news that Executive Director Tom Pusateri shared via the DIV2PSYCHTEACHER Listserv:

First: STP (APA Division 2) received enough votes on the apportionment ballot to provide us with a third representative to APA Council! This will give teachers of psychology a greater voice on the Council. We will be holding an election for our additional representative to APA Council early in 2023.

Second: All three bylaws’ amendments passed! The bylaws will be amended (a) to update the mission of the membership board to align with current practices at APA, (b) to grant voting privileges to APA Associate Members after one year (instead of five years), and (c) to add a graduate student member to several APA governance boards.

On behalf of the STP Executive Committee, thank you to all APA members of Division 2 who voted in the elections. We appreciate your support for STP and for teachers of psychology.

Now, back to my thoughts. I would like to thank you again for the opportunity to serve STP as President. STP has been my professional home for teaching since I found it at an APA convention right after I graduated. It is hard to process the fact that I am now President – this seemed so far away when I became President-Elect eighteen months ago! I look forward to serving STP. Please let me know if you have questions, concerns, or ideas on how we can better serve and involve everyone. Let me know if there are topics you want to see addressed in these monthly columns. My STP email is president@teachpsych.org.

My Presidential theme is “Inviting Everyone In.” As a community college instructor for over 20 years, I have not always felt welcome at gatherings of psychology professionals. I have been told by other psychology faculty that my school (a community college) could not have a psychology program because we are only a two-year school. In STP, I found colleagues and an organization who welcomed me and did not put such artificial barriers on the teaching of psychology. I have noticed, however, that many other faculty at community colleges are still not participating in STP.

To try and figure out why, I have two taskforces that complement my Presidential theme. One will work with community college faculty and the other will work with Historically Black College and Universities, Minority Serving Institutions and Tribal Colleges and Universities. My community college serves these constituencies and as I work with four-year faculty at schools with these designators, I have seen faculty at these institutions are also not involved. The goal of the taskforces is to figure out why these faculty do not participate with STP, why they are not joining STP and how we can invite them to become active. What can STP do to facilitate that engagement? I suspect many of the issues will be the same, but I want to give each group its own voice. I do want to see STP expand in membership and involvement. Speaking of involvement, please do a regular check of the Get Involved link on the STP homepage under Membership. https://teachpsych.org/getinvolved.php

We often have multiple opportunities to serve. Please do not think you are not “good enough” or “experienced enough.” Everyone has something to offer.

Writing these monthly columns is one of my challenges. The last three Presidents, Amy Fineburg, Susan Nolan, and Linda Woolf have guided the Society through some really challenging times and their columns have been inspiring. I know I will lean heavily on their counsel as I move into this position. They have already been incredibly helpful and supportive as I prepared for my term.

I do want to thank the entire Executive Committee (EC) for welcoming me to the EC and for their encouragement as I developed my theme and taskforces. The EC is focused on making STP the best organization it can be, and their energy is formidable. I want to give a special thank you to Keli Braitman and Susan Nolan as they rotate off the EC. They will be missed. However, as always happens with STP, others have stepped up to continue their work. I want to welcome President-Elect Loretta McGregor and Vice President for Grants and Awards Morton Gernsbacher to the EC. I look forward to working with them.

I also want to welcome new Chairs to some of our committees. I thank them and their committee members for all their work. I wish I had enough space so I could list all the committee members who work tirelessly on behalf of STP. Some committees even ask for more work! Welcome to Skye Mendes (Graduate Student Teaching Association) and Courtney Gosnell (Early Career Psychologists Committee) from the area of Membership. Resources has six new chairs: Elizabeth Shobe (Departmental Consulting Services), Amy Hunter (Professional Development Mentoring Network), Eleni Pinnow (Project Syllabus Editor), Ashley Waggoner Denton (Best Practices in Teaching and Learning Editor), Barney Beins (Today in the History of Psychology Wiki Editor) and Ellen Carpenter (SOTL Workshop). Cobi Michael is assuming the Chair position for the International Relations Committee which falls under the Diversity and International Relations area. Welcome to STP leadership and thank you for your willingness to share your time and talents. As you can see, we have a wealth of talent and a wide range of areas where you can also serve. To view the entire list of STP leaders, visit https://teachpsych.org/STPLeaders.

It may sound as though I am a broken record, but I do want to encourage involvement by all STP members, and I am here to facilitate that. Have a wonderful start (or continuation) to your academic year. I look forward to hearing from you and serving you.

Gratitude: Taking a Look Back . . . Way Back

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Gratitude: Taking a Look Back . . . Way Back

“When eating fruit, remember the one who planted the tree.” – Vietnamese Proverb

As I write my last Presidential column, I am experiencing a mix of emotions—emotions that mirror those sentiments that often swirl at the end of a semester: relief, pride, sadness, and accomplishment. I am sure that everyone reading that brief list can relate and add to the list, as we say goodbye to students and start to look forward to a new semester. Although many of us have experienced the ebb and flow of semesters across the years, these past two-and-a-half years have been unique. Many of us have lost family, students, friends, colleagues, and mentors during this time. Many of us have experienced our own physical difficulties. The pandemic has challenged and changed us as individuals, teachers, and communities. It has been an emotional rollercoaster. Nonetheless, as I sit here and reflect today, the primary emotion that I feel is one of gratitude.

We all know that there is a growing literature related to the power of gratitude to help us shape and find meaning in our lives. As I reflect on this past year, I am grateful to all of our members within STP. It has been an honor and privilege to meet and work with you—teachers committed to both psychological science and our students. I am extremely grateful to have been able to serve as your STP President and to build on the work of so many others who have served in this role over the decades.

Looking Back a Few Decades

If you look at STP today, it would be easy to assume that as a Society and a Division of APA (Division 2), we have always been a thriving and successful organization. We also might assume that early in our history, that teachers would have flocked to Division 2 and the mission of the organization would have been clear. Yet, that is not the case.

In the years following World War II, APA put forth the idea of creating “divisions,“ which focused on specialty areas. Interest in psychology was growing in large measure due to the growth and success of applied areas of psychology, including clinical, child, personality, and educational psychology. In total, APA initially created 19 divisions and decided to assign Division 1 to General Psychology and Division 2 to Teaching of Psychology, as both cut across specialty areas. At one point, there was discussion of combining the two divisions but a vote of the involved members kept the two divisions as distinct.

Division 2 (Teaching) was slow to draft bylaws and develop membership categories. Indeed, I think I can safely say that for many psychologists, enthusiasm for the division was lacking. As noted by Wight and Davis (1992), it was a “division in search of self” (p. 365). Early membership figures are unclear but the numbers were small. Moreover, in 1948, Helen Wolfle, Secretary of APA, noted that the Teaching Division had one of the largest numbers of resignations—21% of the membership had resigned leaving only 184 members. In 1951, the Division President Claude E. Buxton surveyed the membership about “whether the division should continue to exist” (Buxton, cited in Wight & Davis, 1992).

Part of the challenge for psychology was the growing divide between specialty areas of practice and teaching. Buxton (1952) stated, “Once we were all teachers” (p. 111). However, with increasing areas of specialty practice, Buxton noted a growing divide and conflict between those who focused on teaching and those he defined as subject matter specialists. Certainly, subject matter specialists were instrumental in the growth of divisions based on areas of practice and research interests (e.g., clinical, measurement). Teaching was often secondary to many of these areas of practice and as noted by Buxton (1952), “undergraduate teaching has assumed a subordinate role among us” (p. 111). Buxton further wrote that undergraduate teachers often were overloaded with too many responsibilities, stretched in too many directions, and focused on helping students. He wrote, “As we all know, very few of our undergraduates in psychology are going to become psychologists. Psychology teachers are accountable, then, for attempting to help their students live more advantageous private lives” (p. 112).

With these challenges, it was hard to muster broad support for the division. Fortunately, in that 1951 membership survey, a slim majority of individuals leaned towards keeping Division 2 with renewed focus on ways to build the division and expand its mandate. According to Wight and Davis (1992), Buxton articulated the following objectives for the division: “(a) communicate research or experience in teaching, (b) facilitate studies of the teaching process and situation, and (c) symbolize the teaching profession itself” (p. 373).

Membership was lean through the 1950s but began to grow dramatically in the 1960s as Division 2 added affiliate membership categories (e.g., student, international, high school). In the decades that followed, Division 2 expanded to become the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP) creating parity between members of all backgrounds.

Certainly, those basic objectives outlined by Buxton have flourished, and today our Mission Statement reads:

The Society for the Teaching of Psychology promotes excellence in the teaching and learning of psychology. The Society provides resources and services, access to a global collaborative community, and opportunities for professional development. It endeavors to promote equity and social justice for teachers and students of psychology with marginalized, racially minoritized, and intersecting identities. The Society also strives to advance the scholarship of teaching and learning; advocate for the needs of teachers of psychology; promote diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within the teaching and learning of psychology; foster partnerships across academic settings; and increase recognition of the value of the teaching profession.

From a struggling division in search of an identity, STP has grown into a thriving organization with a top-tiered Teaching of Psychology journal, an array of programming (e.g., the amazing Annual Conference on Teaching), numerous awards and grant programs, resources, eBooks, social media, professional services, and the list goes on.

So, today I am filled with gratitude for all of those early teachers who struggled to keep Division 2 alive—individuals who envisioned a dynamic and creative home for teachers of psychology. Division 2 could have easily become one of these division numbers with no name and no membership. Instead, early teachers of psychology kept working and refining the mission of Division 2 until it began to flourish. I am grateful for all the teachers who sustained Division 2 and then transformed it into STP, all the while growing the resources and opportunities for teachers. I am grateful for the work of all within STP over the past couple of decades, who have been dedicated to fostering ongoing development of a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive society with a global reach.

Additionally, for today, I am grateful to and want to thank all of the leaders within STP, including Susan Nolan (Past-President); Diane Finley (President-Elect); Stephanie Afful (Secretary); Jeffrey Holmes (Treasurer); Bill Altman (Vice President for Resources); Keli Braitman (Vice President for Grants and Awards); Danae Hudson (Vice President for Membership); Teceta Tormala (Vice President for Diversity and International Relations); Kristin H. Whitlock (Vice President for Programming); Thomas Pusateri (Executive Director); Maureen McCarthy (Representative to APA Council); Jodie B. Ullman (Representative to APA Council); and Amy Fineburg (Chair, Elections and Appointments Committee). Of course, this list is just the tip of the iceberg! STP functions because of the myriad of individuals who serve as leaders (e.g., committee chairs, editors, directors). The STP leadership page highlights these impressive individuals who form the foundation of STP.

I am also deeply grateful to all of who worked on the presidential task forces this year and will continue to work on their various projects over the coming months. These projects will expand our knowledge related to the teaching of psychology and bring additional resources to teachers. I am in awe of all who have worked so diligently on these projects.

Task Force for “Teaching to Make a Difference”: Neda Moinolmolki, Leslie Berntsen, Joan Bihun, Mike Corcoran, Jessica Simon, Maaly Younis

Task Force on Teaching Ethics: Literacy, Thinking, and Reasoning: Karen Nauful, Rachel Besing, Elizabeth Pantesco, Vishal Thakkar

Task Force on “Decolonizing Psychology” in Introductory Psychology: Teceta Tormala, Gabi Martorell, Leslie Berntsen, Ashley Morris Biddle, Vishal Thakkar, Angela Farris Watkins

Task Force on Teaching Psychology and Climate Change: Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges, J. Michael Friedline, Danielle Fynczak, Alexandria (Ali) Hadd, Christopher Holland, Jessica (Jess) Nolan, Amy E. Sibulkin,

Continuation of the work of the Task Force on Integration of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and International Initiatives Across STP: Jerry Mize, Neda Moinolmolki, Ranjana Dutta

I encourage all of you to become involved in STP. It is an opportunity for professional development as well as service. It is also incredibly rewarding—you will never find a better group of people with whom to work and it is a wonderful and open community.

I began this column with a Vietnamese proverb: “When eating fruit, remember the one who planted the tree.” I know that I am grateful for all who planted the tree of Division 2. I am even more grateful to all who over the decades through today have continued to plant and nurture the orchard that is STP.

References

Buxton, C. E. (1951). Teaching: have your cake and eat it too? American Psychologist, 6(4), 111–118. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0057978

Wight, R. D., & Davis, S. F. (1992). Division in search of self: A history of APA Division 2, the Division of the Teaching of Psychology. In A. E. Puente, J. R. Matthews, & C.L. Brewer (Eds.). Teaching psychology in America: A history (pp. 365-384). American Psychological Association.

Wolfle, H. (1948). Across the Secretary’s desk: A comparison of the strength and weakness of APA Divisions. American Psychologist, 3(8), 378–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054683

Transformational or Transactional: Different Views of the World

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Transformational or Transactional: Different Views of the World

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe

Early in my career, I bumped into one of my former graduate school professors and we did the “What are you doing now?” dance. Now to be quite honest, I remember very little of the conversation. However, I clearly recall that he asked if I was a member of APA or a Division. As I recall I somewhat smirked and remarked, “APA is for clinicians—I’m not a clinician. What is the point of joining? What would APA ever do for me?” I will admit—not my best moment. Fortunately, my former professor was quite kind and endeavored to teach me again. I do not recall all that he said but he mentioned the Education Directorate, the importance of APA in lobbying efforts, resource development within Divisions, and APA’s role in advocacy on legal issues, including influence of the Federal Government and Supreme Court.

What I have come to realize over the years is that my cultural upbringing clearly shaped my view of the world as transactional. Essentially, with this view, we determine the worth of our relationships with others, organizations, and communities based on elements of exchange. With this view, I value my job in large measure because I am paid. I evaluate organizations I join based on what services/resources that they provide to me. I appreciate friends based on what emotional, financial, or other support that they may offer. With this worldview, life is about transactions with the underlying idea of “What is in it for me or my family?”

Today, I see the world as more interconnected and inclusive of persons and peoples around the globe, animal life, and the planet. I value human rights and social justice as fundamental elements of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are all valuable and interdependent. Within this context, I think I take a much more transformational view of the world—how can I make a difference in the world and how can I inspire others? Essentially, it is the same contrast provided by President John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address, when he asked, “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

So how does all of this relate to the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP)?

I think all too often, many of us think about our connections with our professional organizations as a transaction. I pay my dues and here is what I get in return. And “yes,” with STP you do get a lot, such as access to our excellent journal, Teaching of Psychology. However, STP also offers all sorts of resources and opportunities for “free.” Anyone—regardless of membership status—can access almost all of the STP resources (e.g., eBooks, syllabi, teaching resources) and all are welcome to join our listserv and social media pages. We want to be a welcoming and open community of psychology teachers, at all levels.

Additionally, the STP Executive Committee is committed to its Mission Statement and, as such, we are intentional in our decisions. The Mission Statement reads:

The Society for the Teaching of Psychology promotes excellence in the teaching and learning of psychology. The Society provides resources and services, access to a global collaborative community, and opportunities for professional development. It endeavors to promote equity and social justice for teachers and students of psychology with marginalized, racially minoritized, and intersecting identities. The Society also strives to advance the scholarship of teaching and learning; advocate for the needs of teachers of psychology; promote diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within the teaching and learning of psychology; foster partnerships across academic settings; and increase recognition of the value of the teaching profession.

The Mission Statement is transformational in its goals and ideals. We can see evidence of that vision, as well as our intentionality in recent decisions grounded in the ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion (e.g., creation of the new affinity groups; reduced dues for teachers living in low income countries as defined by the World Bank; leadership diversity training). STP endeavors not just to have a Mission Statement but to also to live that mission.

Throughout this past year, I have often referenced, what STP can do for you in terms of programming or resources. Now I want to open the door for you to become involved. We need your voices and efforts as part of STP in our endeavors aimed at “excellence in the teaching and learning of psychology.” And there are so many opportunities for involvement. For example:

The gift of your knowledge: If you look back at recent issues of STPNews, you will find a range of Calls for Chapters, Papers, Submissions, Grants, and more. You can submit your research and articles to Teaching of Psychologyor share your ideas through the E-xellence in Teachingblog. Explore the STP webpage for other opportunities to contribute to the teaching of psychology.

Involvement: You do not need to wait for someone to reach out to you to become involved in STP’s range of leadership positions, committees, task forces, and work groups. Check out Get Involved in STP! and explore all of the different opportunities where you can share your expertise and enthusiasm. STP is an amazing community of educators and you are welcome to become involved. Make sure you check out STP’s President-Elect Diane Finley’s 2023 Task Forces: Community College Involvement with STP Taskforce and HBCU/MSI/TCU Involvement with STP Taskforce. These are important opportunities where you can make a difference.

Membership: Many of us are juggling teaching, family, community engagement, and a host of other responsibilities. You may not be at a point in your life to add one more commitment to your professional life. Regardless, your membership in STP is contributes significantly to the work of the Society. Your dues open doors for other teachers and expand the ability of STP to offer grants, awards, expanded programming. In addition to membership, your votes within STP as well as APA, if you are also an APA member, are essential. For example, the APA apportionment and bylaws ballot would have arrived in your email inbox, if you are an APA member. This ballot is really important! We encourage APA members to cast all or some of their 10 allotted apportionment votes for Division 2 and to vote “yes” on all three bylaws amendments. Indeed, always remember that seemingly small actions are a key contribution.

There are so many ways that you can give back, make a difference, or engage in transformational efforts within STP. If you have new ideas, reach out. We are always looking for ways to inform and transform the profession. If nothing else, please remember that all are welcome in STP! We value and need your voice!

“To make a difference is not a matter of accident, a matter of casual occurrence of the tides. People choose to make a difference.” ― Maya Angelou

Time to ACT

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 04:00:00 GMT

Time to ACT

“There cannot be a stressful crisis next week. My schedule is already full.” Henry Kissinger

For a while, there was a meme circulating that had a heading, such as “Teacher,” and then some picture boxes labeled, “What society thinks I do,” “What my friends think I do,” “What I think I do,” and other questions until the last box highlighted “What I really do.” Of course, that last box has little resemblance to the previous characterizations. Now I am sure we could have a long discussion relating this meme to psychological concepts such as attribution, stereotypes, self-serving bias, and more. However, I am not going to engage in such an analysis. Rather, I want to talk about this meme in the context of the STP Annual Conference on Teaching.

Now if you do a quick search for the meme with “Teacher” as the heading, you will find a great deal of similarity between options to share on your Facebook page. Apparently, what society thinks that we do is largely hang out on the beach relaxing in a hammock or on lounge chairs—umbrella adorned adult beverage is optional. Yes, you may find many psychology teachers doing exactly that bliss while attending the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology (NITOP) in January. Generally, however, the closest most of us get to the beach is our screensaver. In response to the prompt, “What I think I do,” you will find an array of images from movies with teachers inspiring minds and transforming the world. And yes, that is what I like to think that I do. Regardless, the last box entitled, “What I really do” contains a host of disturbing images: teachers passed out from overwork, desks lost in a sea of paper, and images of weary human beings exhibiting stress and crying.

One specific take on the teacher meme takes a more humorous approach to the “What I really do” characterization. In that box, you will find the “balancing act” from the Cat in the Hat. The famous cat dances precariously atop a ball while balancing a rake, umbrella, books, tea cup, cake, tray with milk jug and cup, fishbowl, fan, model ship, and a tiny toy figurine. Nonetheless, that famous Cat adorned in a red and white Hat is still quite joyous. Indeed, I think this image is a fairly good representation of all that we do as we juggle our responsibilities. So, what are those responsibilities and how can STP and the Annual Conference on Teachinghelp? Let’s start with a look at all that we juggle while dancing atop a moving ball, in no particular order.

Service: We engage in professional service to our schools, the profession, and our communities. This service can take many forms such as assessment, faculty committees, student event coordination, or coaching the volleyball team. The number of opportunities for service is seemingly endless. Without teachers engaged in service, many of our schools would cease to effectively function. Such work is largely unpaid but a key component of our daily work lives.

Professional development: Professional development is an umbrella term that ranges from research, publication, and presentations to improving our own skills related to teaching and the discipline. The value placed on professional development may vary by institution but without involvement in the discipline of psychology and the practice of teaching, we would stagnate as educators.

Advising: Advising often falls under the radar but our ability to mentor our students is essential. Most of us engage in academic advising, career planning, letter of recommendation writing, answering student emails, and a host of other tasks on a daily basis to meet the needs of our students. We may also engage in crisis referral and support for our students as they struggle with the challenges of life.

Teaching: Teaching also takes many forms from being in the classroom to grading to developing curricular materials. As we all know, teaching is most visible in the classroom but we build that brief time in the classroom on a foundation of continuing education and study:

Across the range of psychological science;
Related to best practices in all aspects of teaching such as assessment or methods of teaching specific courses;
Regarding the latest research related to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL);
Concerning new course development based on programmatic needs and the evolution of the field;
To facilitate integration of the latest materials and practices related to equity, diversity, inclusion, and liberation into our courses, curriculum, and programs.

Is it any wonder that the meme portrays “What I really do” as an overwhelming juggling of tasks and responsibilities? Of course, as you look at the list above, you probably thought to yourself, “But she forgot to include . . .” Teachers are some of the hardest working people that I know.

So how can STP help lighten the load? Certainly, STP is here to assist with a host of resources and I have mentioned these on several occasions. So, go explore the STP webpage and all that it has to offer. If you teach high school or Intro Psych, check out the TOPSS webpage. Certainly, STP resources, our journal, Teaching of Psychology, and our vibrant social media are all available at a moments notice. Lots of good stuff!

Regardless, the point of my comments today is to give a shout-out to the STP Annual Conference on Teaching or ACT. It truly is a one-stop-shop for the best in learning about all aspects of our work experience. This month, you can attend ACT either in person or virtually. STP has designed the programming to address the broad areas described above such as professional development, SOTL, best practices, and equity, diversity, and liberation. Explore the schedule to see what fits your interests. In addition to the concurrent sessions (which are not available virtually), there are several keynote addresses, award sessions, participant idea exchanges, poster sessions, and more! And should you be tired of juggling while tap dancing on a ball? There is a session on academic burnout as well as a “game night” for a bit of fun.

Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention that there is a special Early Career Psychologists Committee Speed Mentoring! As described in the schedule:

Join the Early Career Psychologist (ECP) Committee as we host an event to bring together seasoned and new teachers of psychology. This session will allow you to meet with several mentors for a few minutes each to pick their brains and receive candid answers to your most pressing career questions. This event is geared towards both ECPs and graduate students, but all are welcome to step into the mentee role for this informal but structured mentoring event. Note that pre-registration required. Sign up today!

One of the advantages of a conference as opposed to resources is that you have the opportunity to socialize, network, commiserate, and we can learn from each other.

So please check out STP’s Annual Conference on Teaching. It is an excellent place not only to advance your work as a teacher but also to reinvigorate your spirit. Let us make that box labeled “What I really do” look a bit more like that “What I think I do.” STP can help you juggle less and teach/inspire more.

Thanks to Dr. Lindsay Masland, Director of the Annual Conference on Teaching, for coordinating all of the events and programming! She has put together an amazing program!! Of course, as with any conference this size, many individuals contributed to what will be an exciting program both in-person and virtually. Thanks to all involved in making ACT a success!

Let’s Talk About Advocacy

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 04:00:00 GMT

When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something. -John Lewis

Early in my career, I remember being told that as teachers, we should never use the classroom for advocacy. Rather, as an educator, my responsibility is to teach my students the fundamentals of our science but not to stray from “the research.” I often felt as if I was in an episode of Dragnet, hearing Sgt. Joe Friday utter, “Just the facts, Ma’am” (For those of you unfamiliar with that 1950s drama, it is still in reruns). Similarly, I heard that advocacy is antithetical to the basic assumptions underlying research and professional scholarship. Science should be about a search for truth as opposed to confirming our particular advocacy beliefs—too political. Today, we hear a lot in the press or on social media about the dangers of teachers pushing “agendas” on students, whether it is in the form of “critical race theory” or LGBTQ+ rights. Essentially, we are being told to “stay in our lane.”

Well, today I want to say that education is at its core about advocacy in many forms and we should embrace that role. Note that I am not arguing against our science—we should teach the fundamentals of psychology and we should engage in quality research and professional scholarship. In addition, within that context, we can use our science and our skills as educators to advocate for our students, advocate for our science, and advocate for social justice based on psychological knowledge. Moreover, we can teach our students to be advocates for themselves, their friends and families, and their communities.

Part of the challenge of advocacy is that the word has many different definitions. Just a quick Google search garnered a host of definitions:

Advocacy is defined as any action that speaks in favor of, recommends, argues for a cause, supports or defends, or pleads on behalf of others (Alliance for Justice).
Advocacy is the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal (Merriam-Webster).
Advocacy means getting support from another person to help you express your views and wishes, and help you stand up for your rights (Mind.Org.UK).
Advocacy is an activity by an individual or group that aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social institutions (Wikipedia.org).
Advocacy means taking action to create change (Theirworld.org).

And here are two definitions, which speak particularly to me:

On-going process of building partnerships so that others will act for and with you, turning passive support into educated action (American Association of School Librarians).

Advocating includes any activity that attempts to educate (Coalition for Juvenile Justice).

What I like about these two definitions is the focus on partnership and learning. First, advocacy occurs in relationship, dialogue, and actions of individuals working together towards change. Second, advocacy cannot exist without a process of educating others—individuals, groups, and communities. We teach and learn to improve not only our lives and the lives of our students but also to facilitate the development of more effective global citizenship grounded in psychological science.

To engage in advocacy, one must be knowledgeable, know their goals, have a plan, be committed to action, and then exhibit a high degree of persistence. Certainly, that sounds a lot like teaching! So in what arenas, do we as teachers engage in advocacy?

Advocacy for our students. All of us have advocated for our students at one time or another. We often step in to advocate as they struggle to maneuver the labyrinth of high school, college, or university policies and procedures related to financial aid, registration, or other stumbling blocks. When we have students with disabilities, we may advocate for services to insure that the student has equal and equitable access to needed services, as well as learning. We advocate for students when we write letters of recommendation, opening doors to future opportunities. And many schools operate food banks, host professional clothing drives, maintain emergency housing funds, offer scholarships, and a host of other products/services—all of which were most likely driven by individuals engaged in advocacy.

Advocacy in the classroom. As we teach psychological science, I would urge us all to understand the necessity of advocating for science. Sadly, as I wrote in my March column, there is a strong anti-science movement often driven by conspiracy theories occurring in many countries around the globe. All opinions are being treated equally, as if any random idea is equivalent to empirically grounded knowledge: The world is round or potentially quite flat; the Holocaust happened or it is a myth; racism exits or we live in a post-racist society. We should not only teach critical thinking skills but also advocate for why these skills are essential to learning, quality of life, and citizenship. Additionally, the various topics that we teach all have relevance to the lives if individuals, peoples, communities, and global concerns. There are social justice implications embedded in almost everything we teach from neurobiology to learning to developmental to mental health/wellness to social psychology. Our science is not a dry subject to be solely discussed in the context of research but rather we can advocate for students to explore its use to tackle real world issues. We can also teach advocacy skills!

Advocacy within our institutions. Regardless of where one teaches, we can advocate for change within those schools to create even better learning environments. Certainly, we know a lot about the scholarship of teaching and learning and we can bring that knowledge to our institutions. The STP Annual Conference on Teachingwill soon be upon us and I urge everyone to attend either in person or virtually (not all programming will be virtual). I have yet to attend an STP event where I didn’t bring back information to share with my colleagues on all sorts of topics such as building more inclusive classrooms, mentoring, teaching metacognitive skills, diversity initiatives, ethical reasoning, and more. Alas and perhaps, our persistence at some point will yield results, and all schools will stop teaching the myth of fixed learning styles.

Advocacy in the community. We can all use what we know from psychological science to engage in advocacy beyond the academy. Social justice and work on local to global issues extends well beyond the classroom. However, it is important that one clearly communicate that they are advocating as individuals and not as representatives of their institution, unless it is part of one’s position. Regardless, with a bit of advocacy training—offered by many groups including APA—you too can become an effective change-maker. Explore APA’s Advocacy Office website to learn about APA’s advocacy priorities and how you can become involved. You can also visit, Be an Advocate for Psychology, which includes a brief advocacy training.

STP and Advocacy. There are many opportunities for advocacy and advancing the teaching of psychology within STP. Explore the “Current Service Opportunities in STP” listed in each month’s STP News and check out the STP Get Involvedpage. Additionally, last year’s STP President Susan Nolan wrote, Presidential Task Force Round-Up and a Focus on Advocacyand announced a new Advocacy Committee. She wrote, “The Advocacy Committee will vet requests for STP to sign various statements; bring public policy and position statements to the Executive Committee; monitor our previous statements and suggest further action; communicate with our members to identify areas where our advocacy might be needed; and publicize our advocacy work.” Let me know if you are interested in working or consulting with this committee.

Don’t forget to explore all that STP has to offer in the way of resources (e.g., syllabi, eBooks, and so much more!) addressing a host of topics related to advocacy concerns. Explore these resources! Moreover, you can contribute to these resources. Make sure you receive our email announcements via our listserv (e.g., PsychTeacher) or follow us on Facebook/Twitter. Periodically, you will see a “Call for e-Book chapters” or “STP grant proposals.” For example, Jessica Cerniak, Editor for STP e-books, recently announced a call for chapter proposals for a new e-book project headed by members of STP’s “Teaching to Make a Difference” Presidential task force, tentatively titled “Applying Psychology Beyond the Classroom: Social Justice Activities for Intro and Upper-Level Courses.” Let me know if you want more information about this exciting project. Want to keep up-to-date on new opportunities? All of the info concerning how to subscribe to the Listservs or social media can be found under the News tab on the STP page.

So, let’s remove “advocacy” from the list of things we are to avoid when we teach. Indeed, let us begin to think of advocacy as a tool of education—a tool that must be used responsibly. We can use this tool for the benefit of our students, our classes, our science, and the betterment of our communities. If as teachers we don’t engage in advocacy for our students, our science, or the application of psychology to real-world issues, who will?

Convention & Conferences!

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 04:00:00 GMT

Convention & Conferences!

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh

Alas, the summer months—at least the summer months as defined by teachers—are soon coming to end. For some of us, the APA Convention marks the beginning of that transition, as classes start just a week or two following the closing presentation, the fond farewell to friends seen too infrequently, and that last flight home. And of course, all sorts of great ideas often come together at Convention and other conferences! So all sorts of possibilities for new beginnings! Despite my fond feelings today, I remember my first APA Convention many years ago. After I got home, I vowed to never attend another convention or conference again!

Let me describe that first trip. The Convention was being held in Atlanta and I drove by myself in an old VW bus that I had purchased for $200. Fortunately, it made it there and back but I needed that old van, as it was also my lodging! I didn’t know anyone at the Convention and as I registered I was handed a schedule the size of a phone book (i.e., the size of a textbook for those of you who are younger). The schedule was overwhelming but I found some “big names” I wanted to see, sat in the back, and was in awe but also overwhelmed. I never spoke to anyone and I think I only stayed for a day or two. Home was a welcome sight!

Over the years, I have learned a lot about how to maximize the benefit of a good conference but also how to have a fun and enjoyable experience. Note that my second conference was NITOP—National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology. What was not to like? Small, totally focused on teaching, lots of good food, and did I mention, it was totally focused on teaching psychology! So, here is what I have learned over the years.

First, different conferences have different goals and benefits. APA Convention is amazing for the vast array of topics. You are a kid in a psychology candy store including just about any topic you want to explore, a diverse impressive array of presenters, a gift shop, and tons of venders with books and bling. Of course, if APA Convention is too overwhelming, you can just focus on Division 2 (STP) programming – a conference within the Convention! Check out STP’s full program! Many of us will just focus on STP programming and events.

In September, I’ll write more about STP’s Annual Conference on Teaching. It is an excellent forum to become connected with psychology teachers across the country and internationally. Of course, STP also pairs up with other international/national/regional/local conferences. To see the full list of STP-involved programming from regional to international, go to the STP webpage and explore the Programming tab.

Second, to really benefit from the APA Convention, you need to do a bit of planning, which includes strategizing on how to meet people for conversation, mentoring, networking, and friendships. Jumping into an old van and winging it is not a good strategy. Note that APA has a nice Convention app, which includes all the programming, a list of attendees, a scheduling feature, and so much more. Want to hear something from APA President Frank Worrell or learn about pivot teaching – just search the app! Want to see an interview with Noam Chomsky or Steven Pinker—search the app. Want to find all the social hours or roundtable discussions, “yes,” search the app.

Now here are some of my additional tips to maximize your APA Convention experience! Talk with others for their suggestions.

Socialize! I’m an introvert so I often struggle with meeting people. However, the friendships that I have developed over the years couldn’t have happened without meeting a lot of these folks at conferences and convention. Don’t know anyone who is attending convention? Not to worry—send a note out via social media and plan to meet some folks who share interests. On the first day of Convention, following my Presidential Address—Psychology and Eugenics: Why this History Matters to Teaching Today—there is an event titled, “Old and New Faces of STP" in the same room. Melissa Maffeo, Director of STP at the APA Convention describes this session: “The goals of this session are to bring some new faces to STP (teaching of psychology should be relevant to most APA attendees, right?), sharing resources that STP has to offer, advertising ways to get involved in STP, and finally, starting conversations about what the future directions of STP might look like. This will be an inclusive and interactive, and fun! session.” This session will be followed by the social hour. This is a good place to meet people, plan some lunches, dinners, or sightseeing together. Note that almost every division or group will have a social hour, which translates into free food and beverages!

Poster sessions – Don’t miss out on the poster sessions. Have a few conversation starters tucked away in your back pocket. So many great ideas related to teaching or almost any other psychology topic (again, take a look at a few other Divisions). Posters sessions tend to be informal so a good place to start a conversation and begin some networking.

Listen – Some of the best mentoring advice I’ve gotten through the years has been in informal conversations with colleagues I just met at a conference. One of the things I value most about STP is everyone’s willingness to share what they know, how they teach, what questions they have . . . So be open to listening as well as sharing what you know!

Pick a few sessions on topics about which you know nothing! What a gift to be able to bring your new learning back to the classroom and, if you are anything like me, you never get bored when learning something new!

Thanks to Dr. Melissa Maffeo for coordinating all of the STP Convention events and programming! She has put together an amazing program!! Check out the full program!

Note that it is not too late to register! Airfares are still remarkably cheap. Go to the APA Convention website for more information. There is a virtual option available for Continuing Education and also main event programming. However, most divisional programming is not being recorded for virtual access. If you are attending in-person, you will receive information about vaccine verification and masking during the Convention. Important to have fun and learn in a safe environment! I hope to see you there!

STP Presidential Citations!

Fri, 08 Jul 2022 21:42:36 GMT

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Anne Frank

I am a firm believer that teachers hold in their hands the ability to improve the world. We inform, inspire, model, motivate, challenge—we teach. Of course, when I arrive in the classroom, I never arrive alone. Behind me are all of my colleagues, former teachers, and former students who have taught, supported, and inspired me through the years. I am grateful. Additionally, I arrive in the classroom carrying a backpack full of scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) research, resources provided by organizations such as STP, and a wealth of knowledge learned over the years. That backpack is pretty hefty but I could not effectively teach without it. Often, I think I take that backpack for granted, as it is always there when I need it.

Every year, the STP President has the honor of selecting up to two individuals for special recognition—the STP Presidential Citation. This citation recognizes “individuals who have made extraordinary life-time contributions to the Society and/or to the teaching of psychology.” This citation recognizes those who have spent their lives helping to stitch and fill the backpack so that we all can continue to excel as teachers. If there is a common thread between this year’s recipients, it is that they are kind, respectful, humble, and unwavering in their commitment to the teaching of psychology. With all of that in mind, I am honored to announce the 2022 recipients of the STP Presidential Citation: Emily Leary Chesnes and David Kreiner.

Emily Leary Chesnes, MBA, is the Assistant Director of Precollege and Undergraduate Education at the American Psychological Association (APA). She has also served as Precollege Psychology Program Officer and State Advocacy Assistant at APA and Membership Coordinator with the Council on Undergraduate Research. Most importantly, during her years at APA, she has served as staff support for the APA Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) committee and their various projects and initiatives.

Psychology has become a common course offered by many high schools around the globe, and high school psychology teachers have no better friend than Emily Leary Chesnes. As noted by former TOPSS Chair Alison Shaver, “Everything she does is because of the passion she has for high school teachers and her/their love of psychology.” TOPSS is one of the most active and productive committees within APA producing extensive and invaluable resources for teachers of psychology and Emily’s efforts have made all of that work possible. For example, in 2017, Emily provided support and helped organize the APA Summit on High School Psychology Educationat Weber State University. She worked tirelessly with the steering committee and seven summit working groups (e.g., science, technology, credentialing, diversity), and assisted with the publication of all summit deliverables such as an introductory psychology video, an assessment guide and exemplars, a diversity self-reflection tool, lab templates, sample lesson plans, and a starter course. These materials are all available on the Summit website.

Emily also helps to plan and organize the annual APA/Clark University Workshop for High School, an essential program particularly for new teachers of high school psychology. Former TOPSS Chair Maria Vita wrote: “I first met Emily at the Clark Conference in 2010. The APA has provided this conference to high school teachers and it was one of the first times I felt truly respected and honored as a teacher. And yes, part of that was the amazing staff at Clark, but I know another part of that was Emily. She made sure that each person felt cared for. I remember eating lunch with her one day and she mentioned grants for the classroom. She was always trying to communicate opportunities for teachers to improve the classroom.” In additional to the APA/Clark Workshop, Emily helped organize and plan the 2019 and 2022 three-day workshop at Oregon State University as well as other numerous pre-convention workshops and one-day workshops for high school teachers as well as online webinars for teachers. It should be noted that Emily has worked with Dr. Lee Gurel and Dr. David and Mrs. Carol Myers on their remarkable gifts to the American Psychological Foundation to support high school psychology teachers and assist with the management of the grant funding.

Former TOPSS Chair Maria Vita writes of Emily: “While her conscientiousness is something to admire, her kindness is even more impressive. She is thoughtful of the needs of others and she will wait patiently before giving her concerns. She listens to people. Which is a rarity today.” Today, we honor Emily’s conscientiousness, kindness, and indefatigable commitment to the teaching of high school psychology with this 2022 STP Presidential Citation.

David Kreiner, PhD, is a Professor of Psychological Science at the University of Central Missouri. David earned his PhD in Human Experimental Psychology at the University of Texas-Austin. He teaches a range of courses such as General Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, History of Psychology, and Advanced Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. In addition to being an exemplary teacher, David has been actively engaged in research and contributions to the SoTL literature and unflagging support for STP. He is part of the foundation upon which STP stands.

STP could not survive without all of the individuals who freely give of their time, expertise, energy, and commitment to the organization. Dave’s contributions extend across the breadth of the organization and highlight his commitment to service and teaching. Dave has served a number of leadership capacities such as STP Treasurer, Coordinator of the Departmental Consulting Service, Chair of the STP Fellows Committee, and Chair of the Midcareer Mentoring Work Group. Of course, his service extends beyond these leadership positions as Dave has served on the STP Fund for Excellence Board and as a consulting editor for STP’s journal Teaching of Psychology. He has also regularly served as an ad hoc reviewer for Teaching of Psychology, the Office of Teaching Resources in Psychology and for STP/APA convention programming. Regardless of role, David has made a lasting contribution to the growth and success of STP. He has done it quietly, humbly, and with great care to the benefit of all of STP.

Although David’s STP work alone would be enough to honor him with this citation, his SoTL work is also exemplary and noteworthy. His extensive publications and presentations focus on a breadth of topics ranging from reading comprehension to statistics online education to problem-based teaching approaches to computer-based activities. David is definitely a teacher’s teacher and I know we have all learned much from his scholarship over the years. He has published in flagship journals such as Journal of General Psychology, Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, and STP’s own Teaching of Psychology. Moreover, if you have ever attended the APA Annual Convention, the Midwest Psychological Association Annual Meeting, or the STP Annual Conference on Teaching, you may have been privileged to see one of David’s presentations. It is a joy to see, experience, and learn from David.

STP Past-President Susan Nolan writes of David: “He is the epitome of the quiet, behind-the-scenes force who gets so much done. While getting stuff done, he has also touched so many teachers’ lives with his kindness, humor, and support. He does it all on the grand scale – policies—and on the small scale – friendships.” Today, we honor David’s unwavering dedication to STP, commitment to the teaching of psychology, and impressive SoTL contributions with this 2022 STP Presidential Citation.

Promoting Peaceful Classrooms

Tue, 31 May 2022 22:24:17 GMT

In the aftermath of World War II, Eleanor Roosevelt traveled to Paris and in a Voice of America radio address (November 11, 1951) stated, “I think that what you want to know—especially you, the women of past-war Europe—is whether you shall be able, tomorrow, to tell your children that peace is at long last, a reality. For it isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” I’ve thought a lot about this quote over the past few weeks, as the United States (US) has once again experienced a wave of mass shootings including the Tops grocery store in Buffalo and the Uvalde elementary school massacres. Certainly, there is very little that I can say here that hasn’t already been said in other forums (I’ve added some links below to my writings on this topic, a column by Dr. Dave Myers, and APA resources). These deaths are horrific, are difficult to predict, and should never happen. Our hearts bleed for the victims, their families, and communities. All of us want to be able to tell our students, our families, that maybe tomorrow, “peace is at long last, a reality.”

All of us want an end to this war of violence, the pandemic of hate, and domestic terror. I think all of us would agree that there is much work to be done culturally and politically.

Now please realize that I in no way want to diminish the atrocities of mass killings. Regardless, when it comes to my teaching and my classroom, I know that the odds of a lone gunman coming into my classroom or even my campus are small—not impossible but low in probability. Most schools and colleges provide training for faculty, staff, and students to spot issues and have increased security measures. Yet every day, I most likely have untold numbers of students entering my classroom who have experienced violence and trauma. Whether victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, muggings, a friend’s suicide, or gun violence within their neighborhoods, violence is not new to their lives but rarely makes a headline. The focus largely on school shootings is an all too sad example of the availability heuristic. Although, we may be relatively helpless to address mass shootings, we can be there for our students who experience violence as part of their everyday lives. We can know the resources at our institutions and communities so as to provide support for these students.

Promoting Peaceful Classrooms

In 1999, following the school shootings at Columbine, STP President Jane Halonen put together a task force entitled, “Promoting Peaceful Classrooms.” The task force members included Christopher M. Hakala, PhD, Gail Matthews, PhD, Virginia Ryan, MS, Michael Van Slyk, PhD, Janie Wilson, PhD, and me (Chair). I went back and reviewed the materials we put together for a presentation at the APA Convention in 2000, which included: a discussion of the research concerning building cooperative and positive classroom environments; specific strategies that professors can use to facilitate a positive learning environment; and an introduction to programs and methods of conflict management and violence prevention. We just began to scratch the surface of how we can make our classrooms safe and inclusive. So, let’s explore a little further how promoting peaceful classrooms relates to the topic of school violence.

Peace scholar John Galtung (1969, 1996) differentiated between positive peace and negative peace. Too often, individuals conceptualize peace as an absence of direct violence or conflict. For example, a teacher may assume that they have a peaceful classroom simply if the classroom is orderly and no one is bullying or hitting another student. However, this characterization only defines the concept of negative peace and does not encompass the equally important concept of positive peace (Shields, 2017). Negative peace addresses interventions during times of violence—interventions designed to prevent destructive actions such as bullying, harassment, physical fighting, or school shootings. Such interventions are important and necessary components in an effort to build safe schools.

In contrast, the aims of positive peace focus on reducing structural and cultural forms of violence and enhancing social equality and opportunity. Positive peace focuses on building schools and classrooms characterized by conditions of enablement, social equality, justice, and respect for human rights. Positive peace in schools cannot be attained unless we address issues of racism, sexism, ageism, anti-LGBTQ+ bias, ableism, classism, Euro-ethnocentrism, and other forms of bias and discrimination within what we teach, how we teach, and the classroom environment. Additionally, positive peace involves addressing social, political, economic, and ecological injustices within our educational systems. The ramifications of educational disparities and differential availability of services in the US are not insignificant. For example, a clear connection exists between crime—and most likely violence—and literacy. According to the Literacy Project (2022), “85% of juvenile offenders have problems reading; 3 out of 5 people in American prisons can’t read.”

Eleanor Roosevelt speaking at a luncheon in Stuttgart stated, “More than ending war, we must put an end to the conditions that cause war,” to which I would add that we must also put an end to conditions that inherently cause destructive harm. All of us want our students to be in classrooms and schools where they feel safe. A key component of that sense of safety is that they feel valued, respected, and included. There is a lot in the world for which we have little control. However, we can work to create classrooms characterized as peaceful. Although not a definitive list, here are some important elements that I think are important.

· Build an inclusive classroom and curriculum

· Recognize the importance of teacher immediacy

· Model respect, empathy, and kindness

· Engage in difficult dialogues

· Teach conflict resolution skills

· Teach and model restorative justice

· Service learning

· Teach collaborative work skills

It is important to recognize that how we interact with the students in the classroom is just as important as what we teach in the classroom. As you can see from the above, the list focuses on promoting peaceful classrooms through the development of positive peace. If our focus solely is on addressing negative peace, we may only sow fear, helplessness, and a sense of despair.

Now you may look at this list and think, “what now?” Good ideas, but how do I go about taking these ideas and transforming them into practice within the classroom? Fortunately, there are many within STP who have been researching and writing on these topics for many years. Simply, log into your STP membership and begin your search through our STP journal, Teaching of Psychology, which is available on our website. But wait—there’s more! Look under the Resources tab and you will find a range of eBooks and other teaching resources related to the topic or included as chapters (e.g., in the Compendium of Conference Presentations). Also, come to Minneapolis and learn at the APA Convention this August, as STP has a full schedule of relevant programming. Also, at Convention there are programs from other Divisions related to topics such as peace and school shootings. And don’t forget to check out STP’s Annual Conference on Teaching—more information will be coming soon!

In the meantime, remember that although we cannot control all that is happening in the US related to increases in mass shootings, we can have a daily positive impact in the lives of our students. We can engage in promoting peaceful classrooms that are havens of learning, discovery, relationship, and excitement—all in an inclusive and safe space for everyone. And let’s remember, “For it isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” Let’s all get to work for peace.

References

American Psychological Association. (2022). APA resources for coping with mass shootings, understanding gun violence. https://www.apa.org/topics/gun-violence-crime/mass-shooting-resources

Galtung, J. (1969). Violence, peace and peace research. Journal of Peace Research, 3, 176–191. doi:10.1177/002234336900600301

Galtung, J. (1996). Peace by peaceful means: Peace and conflict, development and civilization. Sage.

Literacy Project. (2022). Illiteracy by the numbers. https://literacyproj.org/

Myers, D. (2019). Do something! Stop mass shootings and prevent suicides! But what can psychology contribute? Macmillan Learning. https://community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/talk-psych-blog/do-something-stop-mass-shootings-and-prevent-suicides-but-what/ba-p/6090?fbclid=IwAR0-6y4gA8TDYo2SfEDlRmLNhgvyegbtQZPIjRzofF2zXrnbs32I9AwMT04

Shields, P. M. (2017). Limits of negative peace, face of positive peace. Parameters, 47(3), 5-12.

Woolf, L. M. (2018, February 15). Mass shootings: What role do guns play. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-fight-against-hate/201802/mass-shootings-what-role-do-guns-play

Woolf, L. M. (2018, March 4). Arming teachers: Good or bad idea? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-fight-against-hate/201803/arming-teachers-good-or-bad-idea

Woolf, L. M. (2019, August 4). Mass shooting: Shifting blame and shifting focus. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-fight-against-hate/201908/mass-shooting-shifting-blame-and-shifting-focus

May: A Time for Reflection and Appreciating Yourself as a Teacher

Tue, 10 May 2022 04:00:00 GMT

May: A Time for Reflection and Appreciating Yourself as a Teacher

Linda Woolf, STP President

May 8, 2022

The duties of a teacher are neither few nor small, but they elevate the mind and give energy to the character." –Dorothea Dix

For teachers, the months of May and June always bring forth a mix of emotions—joy, hope, dread, anxiety, regret . . . The academic year is grinding to a halt, with firm deadlines—the administration is not going to accommodate a request for “just two more weeks.” Graduation, students moving out of dorms, advanced placement (AP) tests, summer jobs, and a host of other events mark the transition from one school year to a break before the beginning of a new year months away. You may have even gotten a small token of “teacher appreciation” (i.e., a plant) with the operative word being “small.” Some of us may still teach during the summer but it always feels a bit different than during the “regular” academic year. Nonetheless, the end of the year is a time for reflection and even a bit of future planning. And, yes, for teachers, the end of the year is often not marked on December 31—that is just a time to party during “winter break” or pack for NITOP.

Looking Back: A Time for Reflection

Each semester, many of us assign self-reflection papers or student journals as part of our courses. We want our students to think deeply and critically about the concepts learned in class and the application of ideas to their everyday lives. As we finish another academic year, I hope that all of us will similarly look back over the past year and critically reflect on our teaching. However, I also hope that we can connect that reflection to our values as teachers.

As some of you know, I am on Facebook and periodically post on the STP Facebook page but I also follow other teaching and psychology related groups on Facebook. It is this time of year when we see so many posts about the AP exam, inclusive of teachers questioning whether they taught the right things, whether they gave bad advice about how to take the test, and concerns about not compromising the test. Every AP teacher wants to do everything right, so that their students have the best chance at success. For all teachers, we see questions/posts about handling instances of academic dishonesty, running out of time to meet all the teaching goals we set for ourselves, stories of challenged grades, questions about rubrics, as well as stories of success. These are all reflections but often reactive rather than proactive, situational rather than sustainable.

For many teachers, these past two years have been the most challenging of their entire careers. So I hope as your first reflection, you will pause and give yourself credit for all of your accomplishments. You have made a difference in the very stress-filled lives of your students and their families, as well as your colleagues and communities. The pandemic forced many of us to try all sorts of new pedagogical and learning strategies and modalities. Take a moment to sit down and congratulate yourself, for handling all of the new challenges and for being adaptive and innovative. You not only survived but also grew as a teacher.

Second, I hope you will examine all that you did right and where you fell short in your teaching. Sit down and focus on all that you did right. Think about what you did that was successful and how you can carry those practices into the future. If you had some failures along the way, reflect on what you can learn from those experiences but do not define the past two years by those missteps. Yes, take a look at your course evaluations but look for the constructive comments. If you are like me, you make a beeline to the most negative comment and dwell on that feedback. Well, sometimes these comments are the most instructive and can help you grow as a teacher. So, pause and critically examine the content of that comment. Of course, there are times, when a student may state that they don’t like your shoes (yes, I got that comment) and you can ignore such feedback. Also, look at the positive comments separating out the unhelpful (“Best professor ever!” Feels good doesn’t it!) from the instructive (“I really liked this assignment because . . .”) comments. Such information will help you plan for the future. Of course, I am a big fan of mid-semester course evaluations or conversations as a tool for reflection and possible course change during each semester (e.g., Keutzer, 1993). I’ve done it both formally and informally depending on the class size and level of the course. Each class is unique and such evaluations are helpful to learn if you are meeting these students’ particular needs and interests, as well as demonstrates respect for your students. It highlights that they are partners in the learning process.

Third, you can evaluate all sorts of other markers of whether you feel you were successful in the past year or not. For example, I like to look at whether I successfully met the learning outcomes for the course using the results of various assessments as a measure for each of these goals. Or you can examine overall grades for each of your courses, comparing these grades to previous semesters. Or you can evaluate your time management if you finished the material early or, more likely, ran out of time at the end of the term. There are lots of ways you can assess your own endeavors as a teacher.

Further Reflection on Values

Further, I really want you to reflect on your values as a teacher. Obviously, we want our students to learn and apply psychology to their everyday lives. But, what else do you value? You might reflect first on those teachers who stood out both positively and negatively in your life and what they did that was important. For me, it was whether the teacher exhibited respect for me and value for me as a human being. Hopefully, the days are gone when it was considered acceptable for a teacher to be disrespectful based on power and status or worse, based on differences in gender, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, national origin, LGBTQ+ identity, disability, and other elements of personal/cultural identity. I want students to see that I care about them as human beings and know that I will treat them with respect and dignity. I want students to see me as accessible if they are experiencing difficulties. I may not be able to fix their problems but I can listen and point them to appropriate resources for help. So, throughout the year, but particularly at the year’s end, I reflect on whether I treated students with fairness, kindness, support, and respect.

Some other values for me are communication, alternate views of success for students, and cultural humility. I am grateful to students for their openness in discussions and all the feedback they provide me through the year. I’ve reframed “success” being tied to stellar academic achievement—it comes easy to some students—but rather tied to individual growth. I recall the 60+-year old student who never took a math class during her time in an inner-city high school. She worked like crazy, was incredibly stressed, had to learn new skills but ultimately she passed statistics with a C grade. I also remember the parent at graduation who came up profusely thanking the psychology faculty, as her son struggled throughout college. Mom never thought he would ever finish but he walked across the stage and got his diploma. These are the sorts of accomplishments that do not make it on any marketing posters but make a tangible difference in the lives of individual students, their families, and communities. I’ve also come to know that my cultural values and traditions, many of which are grounded in mainstream psychology, are not universal and there is so much that I do not know about other peoples and cultures. Hence, I have a commitment to work aimed at anti-bias education and decolonizing my courses, recognizing that I too have much to learn.

So, take a moment. Grab a cup of coffee, tea, or perhaps an adult beverage. Find a quiet place and reflect on your values as a teacher. How do these values shape your courses and teaching? I’m sure that some of your values and goals may be different than mine. And such differences make for great diverse educational environments and opportunities for students. Regardless, think about what is important to you and then examine how you translated those values into your courses this past year. Chances are—despite COVID, despite the stresses of the world—you will have much to celebrate as you reflect on how your values informed your accomplishments during the past year.

And as a final thought: Know that I am grateful for all of you amazing teachers and your work is truly

Reference

Keutzer, C. S. (1993). Midterm evaluation of teaching provides helpful feedback to instructors. Teaching of Psychology, 20(4), 238-240. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328023top2004_12

The Power of Teaching

Sat, 09 Apr 2022 01:34:30 GMT

The Power of Teaching

Linda Woolf, STP President

April 8, 2022

Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.

Kofi Annan, Former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, 1997

Kofi Annan (1997) was not only the 7^th Secretary-General to lead the UN but also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who’s worked tirelessly for human rights, sustainable economic development, and international peace and freedom. Originally from Ghana, Annan worked his way up through the ranks of the UN to become a powerful voice—a voice aimed at lifting up those living in fear, conflict, and deep poverty. When given the opportunity to speak before the World Bank Conference on “Global Knowledge,” held in Toronto in 1997, he spoke about the power of information and education, as key to addressing local and global problems. He stated:

We at the United Nations are convinced that information has a great democratizing power waiting to be harnessed to our global struggle for peace and development. We believe this because we are convinced that it is ignorance, not knowledge, that makes enemies of men. It is ignorance, not knowledge, that makes fighters of children. It is ignorance, not knowledge, that leads some to advocate tyranny over democracy. It is ignorance, not knowledge, that makes some think that human misery is inevitable. It is ignorance, not knowledge, that make others say that there are many worlds, when we know that there is one. Ours.

With these words in mind, I celebrate that I am a teacher. I love teaching and I am passionate about what I teach. I love psychology and appreciate all of its underlying theoretical and philosophical ambiguities, its methodologies, and its concern for individuals, organizations, communities, and the planet. Psychology is a complex, challenging, and important discipline—a discipline interconnected with numerous other fields of study and practice. Fundamental to my passion for teaching is the belief that what I teach is important—it has value to people’s lives individually and collectively within a multi-cultural global community. What we teach and what our students learn make a tangible difference in their lives and the lives of others.

Sadly, teaching is often undervalued. We see this marginalization of teachers in many forums within the United States (US). Indeed, we too often see a perceived hierarchy of value within psychology related to who teaches what kind of students and in what type of setting. In meetings, I have seen celebrations and congratulations when a colleague’s university has moved “up” the rankings of the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The intention of these rankings is purely classification and based on number and types of degrees awarded (e.g., Doctorates) and amount of research. It is not designed to imply that one school necessarily is better than another but rather just documents differences in institutional focus. Yet, movement from an R2 to an R1 is often celebrated because it is perceived as an increase in status, prestige, and overall worth of an institution and the individuals who study/teach at such institutions. The rankings imply a hierarchy of worth.

Occasionally, I will meet someone, and they will ask the proverbial, “What do you do?” question. I answer that I am a teacher. Occasionally, the person will get excited and comment that they are also a teacher. The conversation is off to a good start! Then they ask, “Where do you teach?” and I name my university. It saddens my heart, when on occasion they reply, “Oh, I only teach . . .” adding high school, junior high or at some other level. Why the modifier of “only”? Of course, I experience the flip side when I meet a person and I hear the disappointed “Oh” and loss of eye contact when they learn I do not teach at an R1/2 university.

Now I personally think that high school teachers of psychology are absolute heroes! They represent the front line of bringing psychology to hundreds of thousands of students each year across the US. These students may never attend a college of any sort, but they will bring what they have learned in their psychology classes into their future careers and lives. And it is not just content (i.e., psychological literacy), but these students also have learned the fundamentals of scientific thinking and reasoning—skills aimed at making them better consumers of information and better citizens. They learn about the diversity of the human experience and ethical reasoning. High school teachers are the front line in the fight against ignorance, as described by Kofi Annan (1997). High school teachers of psychology are some of the best-prepared and most knowledgeable teachers of introductory psychology that I have ever met. And while I am at it—I can say the same thing about community college teachers. Our community college colleagues are excellent teachers, who are focused on providing high quality educational experiences to students across a range of psychology courses. Remember that First Lady Jill Biden is a proud community college teacher!

Although, within some circles, a hierarchy of worth exists based on where one teaches, I think it is important to know that this belief is NOT supported within the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP). We are all teachers, and all of our voices are valued. Regardless of who you are and where you teach, your voice is welcome and heard. Everyone can join in discussions, ask questions, engage in professional scholarship (e.g., conference presentations; eBook chapters), apply for grants/awards, participate in committees and task forces, and run for office! There are many opportunities and resources, some of which are focused specifically for high school and community college teachers (e.g., High School Teacher Travel Grants; Wayne Weiten Teaching Excellence Award—2-year colleges; Mary Margaret Moffett Memorial Teaching Excellence Award—high school). Regardless, we are all teachers, and we share that common bond.

I should add that I had the privilege of working with APA Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) a few years back. What an amazing group of individuals and indeed, many within STP have been involved in TOPSS over the years, such as Kristin Whitlock, current STP Vice President for Programming, who teaches at Davis High School in Kaysville, Utah. If you haven’t checked out the TOPSS webpage, run and take a look at all the resources, which you too can use in your courses!

Kofi Annan (1997) spoke of “What can we do, what can you do” in relation to education on a global, as a key element of international peace, sustainable development, and human security. Some of his key points involved global access/reduced censorship, with a focus on shared information between countries across a range of technologies with improved infrastructure supports. Certainly, STP’s international initiatives and partnerships fit within this vision. But Annan also included the following:

Initiate innovative approaches to education and learning at all levels, understanding the cultural contexts in order to ensure the greatest achievement of knowledge.
Ensure that the young will be the first to gain this knowledge and to make it their partner in the pursuit of a better, richer life for themselves and for their peoples.

Recognizing the value of K-12 teachers, community college teachers, teachers on tribal lands, teachers at HBCUs, online teachers, programs aimed at first generation college students, teachers in prisons, and others reaching out to make education inclusive and accessible for all students fulfills the vision of Kofi Annan. Eliminating our beliefs, both implicit and explicit, about not just a hierarchy of what students are worthy but also the value of different educational contexts is essential. We need to change the hierarchical narrative to a vision that values diversity, equity, and inclusion for students, for teachers, and across educational contexts and opportunities.

Certainly, these ideas are mirrored in the STP Mission Statement (just in case you haven’t seen it!):

The Society for the Teaching of Psychology promotes excellence in the teaching and learning of psychology. The Society provides resources and services, access to a global collaborative community, and opportunities for professional development. It endeavors to promote equity and social justice for teachers and students of psychology with marginalized, racially minoritized, and intersecting identities. The Society also strives to advance the scholarship of teaching and learning; advocate for the needs of teachers of psychology; promote diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within the teaching and learning of psychology; foster partnerships across academic settings; and increase recognition of the value of the teaching profession.

Reference

Annan, K. (1997, June 23). Press release: 'If information and knowledge are central to democracy, they are conditions for development', says Secretary-General. https://www.un.org/press/en/1997/19970623.sgsm6268.html

Teaching When the World Turns Political

Wed, 09 Mar 2022 05:00:00 GMT

by Linda Woolf, 2022 STP President

Early in my career, I began attending teaching conferences. As a confirmed introvert, I was really nervous—these conferences tend to be small and include some big names in the teaching of psychology (STP’s Annual Conference on Teaching is an excellent example and opportunity). Nonetheless, I knew I needed to learn more about the fundamentals of teaching and I wanted an opportunity to share my own professional scholarship. One year, I put together a poster about teaching the Holocaust to psychology students and a year later, another poster entitled, “Genocide, mass violence, and human rights.” These posters sparked a lot of interest and conversation. However, I also got the occasional comment: “What does this have to do with psychology?” and “This is too political!”

Such comments are still present today and pop up in many forums. Someone will raise an issue concerning a current event on Facebook and someone else will chime in with comments that this page is about teaching and not politics. At conferences when policies are being debated or presentations involve current world events, someone will invariably state that the pendulum has moved too far towards the political spectrum and we need to move back to the science. Those statements, generally very well-meaning, are grounded in assumptions about our discipline and science.

When I was first faced with such comments, I responded with a nervous, “We study all kinds of human behavior. Why not study people killing other people in large numbers?” Today my responses are more nuanced and specific. For example, I have a passion for human rights, particularly for those persons and peoples who have been routinely denied such rights in the United States and around the globe. A political topic? Absolutely. Unrelated to science? Absolutely not. Science and human rights do not exist as opposite ends of the spectrum but rather respect for human rights is a fundamental ethical principle underlying science. Indeed, when human rights have been ignored, we have examples of bad science (e.g., Tuskegee, Tearoom Trade, Fernald School radiation studies). We can make the same case about the interrelatedness of issues such as social justice and diversity to science and discuss the historic use of science as a tool for political oppression when justice/diversity concerns and populations are ignored.

Sadly, today the reality of science itself has become designated as a political topic Science is being uniformly dismissed, denied, and devalued—essentially equated with political opinion. I doubt that many of us would challenge the importance of critical thinking and skepticism when reviewing scientific findings. Indeed, those are fundamental components of the scientific process. However, the current trend of anti-science or scientific denial is a completely different creature. Lewandowsky and colleagues (2016) document that those who deny scientific research often rely on conspiracy theories and engage in personal attacks on researchers. Of course, it is important to note that such scientific denialism can come from all ends of the political spectrum (Lobato & Zimmerman, 2018). Regardless, if used ethically, science, inclusive of both qualitative and quantitative research, can help to provide answers to issues, which impact us personally, locally, and globally.

So can we as teachers ignore events in the world around us today because the issue may be deemed “political”? Over the past two years, our students have been exposed to and are concerned about a host of world events, which are increasingly being defined as largely political: COVID, the attack on Ukraine, Supreme Court cases related to the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals and Indigenous rights, #Me Too movement, challenged elections, and the death of George Floyd and countless others translating into the Black Lives Matter movement, the impact climate change, and the list goes on. Psychology has a lot to say and offer about all of these topics and more. For some of these topics (e.g., diversity), you can find teaching resources on the STP webpage –just explore!

Regardless, in some states within the US, laws are being passed prohibiting the teaching of topics deemed too political. For example, laws against teaching critical race theory could severally impact the ability of psychology teachers to address not only topics of prejudice and discrimination but most importantly, systemic and structural foundations of oppression based on race and ethnicity, as defined in the US. Or how can teachers, particularly our amazing colleagues who teach high school psychology address topics of human sexuality and gender diversity if such topics are prohibited in the classroom? Indeed, the College Board has issued a set of principles, which includes the following:

AP opposes censorship. AP is animated by a deep respect for the intellectual freedom of teachers and students alike. If a school bans required topics from their AP courses, the AP Program removes the AP designation from that course and its inclusion in the AP Course Ledger provided to colleges and universities. For example, the concepts of evolution are at the heart of college biology, and a course that neglects such concepts does not pass muster as AP Biology.

At first glance, it might seem “easier” to just avoid topics, which might be deemed “too political” or lead to difficult dialogues in the classroom. And, I should note that the risks are real for teachers in some educational contexts. Regardless, I would encourage you not to avoid these topics, if you can. Such avoidance may lead students to see psychology as irrelevant or out of touch with the world they face every day. Moreover, we want our students to come to understand our science, the contributions it can make to the world, and for them to learn the skills and knowledge needed to be effective citizens in a rapidly changing global environment. Additionally, these topics affect many of our students in a personal way. For example, to ignore current issues related to the rights of LGBTQ+ students, the rights of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian-Pacific Islander, and other students of color, the reproductive rights of women, etc. sends a message that somehow our students may be unworthy because of who they are—they should be ignored. Of course, that is not true and we need to recognize that our science is not only political but it is also personal.

I would be remiss if I didn’t provide a few suggestions so you can keep yourself out of trouble.

Stay grounded in research and scholarship. Use the resources provided by United Nations, APA, the research literature, etc., and when in class, always come back to a critical evaluation of these sources. There are a significant number of materials on the APA website, particularly the Public Interest website. There you will find a host of policies, resources, and publications, all extensively referenced. You will also find information to help students who may themselves be struggling to survive due to the stresses of marginalization, war, COVID, poverty, and more. For example, just this week, APA published, “How to handle the trauma of war from afar” (Abrams, 2022).

Draw on history for examples. Current topics may spark great discussions but may also lead to emotional thinking and arguments. Have students search for and draw connections to the past and review the research on those topics.

Model respectful dialogue. Establish and model what you expect of your students and the critical thinking skills necessary for evaluating psychological research on “political” topics. It is both what you say and how you say it that can either promote or inhibit respectful dialogue. Note that there are numerous resources online about effectively navigating controversial conversations (e.g., DifficultDialogues.org).

Reach out for support. When in doubt, reach out to your colleagues, your administration, and your STP friends. STP is active on social media, so drop by and have a conversation.

Throughout my career, I have often reflected on the words of Dr. Carolyn Payton, a psychologist who was also the first woman and first African-American to serve as Director of the United States Peace Corps. In her address to the APA Convention, upon receiving a life-time achievement award, she asked, “Who must do the hard things?” She then gave the answer, “Those who can.” She further referenced a colleague who expanded the query with, “Who must do the impossible things? Those who care” (Payton, 1984, p. 397). As teachers of psychology, we not only can do the hard things because we care, we can teach our students to follow a similar path. We can highlight that what they learn matters and they too can go out, exhibit care, and make a difference in the world.

References

Abrams, Z. (2022, February 28). How to handle the trauma of war from afar. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/news/apa/2022/trauma-war-afar

Lewandowsky, S., Mann, M. E., Brown, N. J. L., & Friedman H. (2016). Science and the public: Debate, denial, and skepticism. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 4, 537–553. doi:10.5964/jspp.v4i2.604

Lobato, E. J. C., & Zimmerman, C. (2018). The Psychology of (pseudo)science: Cognitive, social, and cultural factors. In A. B. Kaufman & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.) Pseudoscience: The conspiracy against science (pp. 21-44). MIT Press.

Payton, C. R. (1984). Who must do the hard things? American Psychologist, 39, 391-397. doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.39.4.391

February: Let’s Celebrate Black History Month!

Sat, 05 Feb 2022 05:00:00 GMT

February: Let’s Celebrate Black History Month!

Linda Woolf, STP President

"Won't it be wonderful when Black history and Native American history and Jewish history and all of US history is taught from one book. Just US history. I am trying to work myself out of a job by being so active extolling the virtues of African Americans." Maya Angelou (cited in Muir, 2012)

Often discussions of the history of Blacks in the United States (US) have focused on the destructive harms committed by privileged Whites against Africans forcibly brought to this country and enslaved. It is an essential history to learn, as is learning about the far-reaching legacies left behind from the eras of enslavement and racist eugenic ideas of human hierarchies to today with the ongoing fight for social justice. Certainly, the American Psychological Association (APA) has been grappling with this history and has begun the processes of apology, reconciliation, and reparative justice. STP also has been wrestling with its own history and legacies, issuing the Statement on Addressing Systemic Racism and Inequity in STP and looking at structural processes affecting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Moreover, STP is working actively to increase diversity related resources, blog posts, publications, conference offerings, and more. Important work but is there anything else we should be reflecting on during Black History Month? The answer is “Yes!”

What is often omitted from Black history discussions are the legacies of resilience, accomplishments/triumphs, inspired communities, rich cultural tapestries, and soaring spirits of African-Americans, who not only survived but also thrived under systems of exclusion. I think it is this history that forms the basis for celebrating Black History Month, which sets the stage for greater inclusion throughout the year.

I’m sure that many of you are like me, and when psychology was first introduced to you, you were taught about the “fathers of psychology”—a bunch of White men. Gradually, over the years, I was introduced to women pioneers in the field, who previously had been written out of history. However, I still was not exposed to the breadth of Black pioneering psychologists, who have shaped our discipline. There is an amazing history for us to explore, learn, and celebrate. So for this Black History Month, I want to recognize the work of a few of these Black pioneer psychologists and call on everyone to learn more.

Many psychology textbooks today include the story of Kenneth Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark. Kenneth Clark became the first African-American President of APA and both are remembered for their pivotal work before and during the Civil Rights Movement. Most notably, they are recognized for their groundbreaking Doll Study research, which paved the way for their expert testimony before the Supreme Court in 1954 with Brown vs. Board of Education, ending mandated segregation of schools.

However, how many of us have learned about Inez Beverly Prosser, PhD, “the first Black women to earn a doctorate in psychology”? Her dissertation, “The Non-Academic Development of Negro Children in Mixed and Segregated Schools,” helped form the basis for early arguments against school segregation and was also cited in that 1954 Supreme Court case. Of course, I should also mention Ruth Winifred Howard, PhD, “the first African-American women to earn a doctorate in psychology,” who worked with troubled girls as well as students with special needs. As to who really was “the first,” it appears to depend on whom you read and your definition of what should count as a psychology doctoral degree at the time.

Of course, we know that desegregation did not simply end segregation. Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD. in her book, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria And Other Conversations About Race, wrote, “Our public schools are more segregated today than they were in 1980, as measured by the percentage of all Black students who are attending schools that are ’90-100% non-White” (2017; Prologue). Dr. Tatum’s examination of the effects of racism on Black children’s identities in school and problems with the educational system earned her the 2014 APA Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology.

Some other early educational leaders:

Francis Cecil Sumner, PhD, is often referred to as the “Father of Black Psychology.” He was the first African-American to earn a doctorate in psychology. He helped found the Psychology Department at Howard University and served as a teacher and mentor to individuals such as the Clarks.

Albert Sidney Beckham, PhD, is often cited as the first Black school psychologist. He also worked to found the first psychology laboratory at Howard University. His research examined a range of topics such as artistic and musical abilities in Black children, IQ testing, the role of the environment in juvenile delinquency, and racial attitudes of Black adolescents.

George Canady, PhD. was the first psychologist to study bias in IQ tests by examining the role and effect of the test administrator on the IQ results for non-White children.

Robert Lee Williams, II, PhD, challenged the idea that IQ test results were equitable and is remembered as the creator of the Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity. He demonstrated that differences in IQ often cited by eugenicists to falsely claim White superiority failed to address differences in the environment and culture.

Joseph White, PhD, wrote and advocated for the creation of Black Psychology. He argued that the application of White psychology defined as normal created the illusion of an inferior Black Psychology. In his writing he focused on a strength-based approach and description of Black psychology and culture. He is one of the founders of the Association of Black Psychologists. As such, he also has been described as the “Father of Black Psychology.”

Of course, there are too many individuals to celebrate in this short column! I do want to mention two others as their work and legacies are remarkable beyond the university and are just personal favorites of mine.

Carolyn Robertson Payton, EdD, was the first psychologist, first female, and first African-American Director of the US Peace Corps. A pioneer in the field of multi-cultural psychology, Payton (1984) asked, “Who must do the hard things?” (p. 391). She stressed that psychology has an important role to play in understanding and addressing social issues. As an educator, leader, mentor, scholar, and policy-maker, Payton confronted issues of social inequality and justice exemplifying her belief that psychology is not just about research but also direct action to improve the lives of others.

Olivia Hooker, PhD was originally rejected by the Navy but challenged the Navy’s decision and won. Nevertheless, she decided not to join the Navy and went on to become the first African-American woman to enter the U.S. Coast Guard and served towards the end of and after WWII. Later, Dr. Hooker became a school psychologist. It also is important to highlight that she was a survivor of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.

Of course, I could write about so many other Black psychologists who have shaped our discipline and our understanding of psychology. But more importantly, how can we help our students learn this history and include Black psychology into our work today?

One of the projects that I do with my History of Psychology class is something I call the “Lost in History” project. I give them a basic instruction: “You will be responsible for creating a one-page infographic highlighting the works of an early psychologist who has been lost in history due to their status within a marginalized group.” I also tell them that they cannot select a person who is already presented in their textbook. I provide them some basic resources such as APA’s I Am Psyched and Ethnicity, Race, and Cultural Affairs Portfolio (ERCA) Featured Psychologists. I have these students provide each other feedback about their work with opportunities for revision. Then (during non-COVID times), we place these infographics around the department as a way to celebrate these psychologists’ accomplishments through the entire year.

In my Introduction to Psychology class, I open the class by highlighting the work of a range of psychologists with various intersectional identities. I want my students to see individuals who look and identify similar to themselves—individuals who have gone on to amazing careers in psychology and related fields. A quick look at recent Black APA Presidents includes: Jessica Henderson Daniel, PhD., first Black woman President of the Association, Rosie Phillips Davis, PhD, Jennifer F. Kelly, PhD, and current APA President Frank Worrell, PhD. You can read about Dr. Worrell and then explore links to previous Presidents on the governance webpage. You will find brief biographies but also links to videos and publications. In addition, I like to have my students look online for research and publications by Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) psychologists, neuroscientists, etc. related to the various topics we cover in class. I want them to not only learn about the research and accomplishments but also to see their own possible futures.

As we progress through Black History Month, let us work with our students to highlight the work of Black Psychologists and other leaders, celebrating their lives and accomplishments. If you learn about a BIPOC scholar that got “lost in history” or someone who everyone should know about today, share what you have learned on the STP Facebook page, via Twitter, or other social media. Let us all learn and celebrate together.

For more information about Black History Month, see:

ASALH’s Origins of Black History Month
Black History Month
Franklin, J. (2022, February 1). Here's the story behind Black History Month — and why it's celebrated in February. PBS.

References

Muir, H. (2012, February 15). Maya Angelou: 'Barack Obama has done a remarkable job.’ The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/feb/15/maya-angelou-barack-obama-remarkable-job

Payton, C. R. (1984). Who must do the hard things? American Psychologist, 39, 391-397.

Tatum, B. D. (2017). Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria and other conversations about race (Kindle edition). Basic Books.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Legacy and Call to Action

Mon, 17 Jan 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Legacy and Call to Action

By Linda M. Woolf, STP President

I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education, and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today we celebrate and honor the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a day of remembrance but also a day of action. In 1994, Congress passed legislation designating the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal holiday as a Day of Service—"a day on, not a day off." Around the country, individuals are engaged in endeavors designed to improve the lives of others, build communities, break down barriers, and spread the message of Dr. King. It is a day of kindness grounded in a message of social justice.

In 1967, Dr. King addressed the American Psychological Association (APA) at the annual convention. If you have not read his speech or if you have not read it recently, please take a moment to read and reflect: The Role of the Behavioral Scientist in the Civil Rights Movement. Although the language used today may be different, the concerns and challenges raised by Dr. King are just as real and profound as over a half-century ago—protest, political division, voting, war, discrimination, unemployment, vast disparities built into the structures of society, and daily injustices directed against individuals based on the color of their skin. As stated by Dr. King, “It is my deep conviction that justice is indivisible, that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The work and vision of Dr. King is unfinished.

In his address to convention, Dr. King spoke about a common psychological concept—maladjustment. However, he argued against “adjustment” to what long has been defined as “normal”—a historically-defined “normal,” which includes not only deeply rooted prejudice and discrimination within society but also cultural, structural, and systemic barriers oppressing Black individuals and communities in the United States. As noted by Dr. King, “discrimination explains a great deal, but not everything.”

Today, we recognize that many of our beliefs and social structures were created with the idea of White European ancestry and culture as “normal” and all others defined as “different” and in need of adjustment, assimilation, or civilization. We recognize many of these biases remain within our society, as to what is defined as “normal” and hence “correct” based on ethnicity, gender identity and sexual orientation, religion, economic status, age, language, immigration status, physical and mental abilities, and so many other expressions of humanity. Within psychology, simply the term “abnormal psychology” carries with it a host of beliefs and attributions about individuals who experience “disorder.” Should we resist change to our beliefs and our actions simply because we have adjusted to ideas of what is “normal” or more often, “We have always done it this way”? Dr. King spoke to those of us in psychology:

I am sure that we will recognize that there are some things in our society, some things in our world, to which we should never be adjusted. There are some things concerning which we must always be maladjusted if we are to be people of good will. We must never adjust ourselves to racial discrimination and racial segregation. We must never adjust ourselves to religious bigotry. We must never adjust ourselves to economic conditions that take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few. We must never adjust ourselves to the madness of militarism, and the self-defeating effects of physical violence.

This past October, APA passed two historic resolutions, which not only apologized for its role in past and ongoing racism against Peoples of Color (PoC) but also set forth a call for action and a plan to address the continuing harms caused by the discipline and practice of psychology against PoC. I wrote about these Resolutions in a column entitled, “APA Passes Historic Apology To People of Color.” Take a look at this column. You will find additional information about these Resolutions, teaching, and resources from Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP) and from APA.

Certainly, as teachers, we are intimately aware of our call to service and we daily engage in productive action through teaching, research, scholarship, and advocacy. Our work is important. Nonetheless, as I wrote, “I encourage us all to work to "decolonize" our courses, syllabi, research, etc. to make our classes and our disciplinary understanding more inclusive. Within our departments or collegial groups, we can have conversations about what we can do to learn from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts related to the teaching of psychology and how to translate that information into our respective courses.” As noted, this column includes links to resources that you can explore related to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts of both STP and APA. Take some time to explore these teaching materials.

Today on MLK day, I urge us all again to reflect on not just what we teach but also how we teach so as to meet the needs of students, particularly Black, Indigenous, Pacific-Islander-Asian, Latinx, and other students of color. I encourage us to work within our neighborhoods to reduce educational barriers and create more inclusive and welcoming learning environments for all within our diverse student communities. Certainly, change is never easy and there will be those who challenge efforts to be more inclusive in our courses and teaching. However, in the words of Dr. King, ““The time is always right to do what is right.”

Welcome to . . . what year is it?

Sun, 09 Jan 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Linda Woolf, STP President

I have a rescue dog, Ozzie, who came into my life not that long ago. Unfortunately, it turned out he was heartworm positive. We caught it early, so treatment has a very high chance of success. Nonetheless, for the past 14 weeks, Ozzie has been confined to “bed rest.” That translates as very short walks, no steps, no jumping or running, and lots of confinement to a crate. I bought him lots of toys and showered him with affection. He was content but seemed to carry a sadness. Well, this week, his treatment protocol and confinement came to an end. We walked outside—no leash. It took him a few confused moments but then he took off running and jumping around the yard. He spent his time sniffing, exploring, and chasing the birds. His experience seems an apt metaphor for the past two years. With COVID once again dominating many of our lives, how many of us not only feel confined but less content—sadness, stress, and a sense of unpredictability. We look towards the day when we can walk about through our lives and into our classrooms unencumbered.

We have all had to change the way we teach in response to COVID. Most of us made the mad dash to a virtual classroom in 2020 and may still be teaching primarily synchronously online or in an asynchronous format. Today, some of us may be teaching face-to-face in socially distanced settings wearing facemasks, while others may be teaching in situations with few protections. We certainly know that these unpredictable times are challenging for our students. Much has been written for teachers to help us provide support for our students. For example, APA has put together modules, Building Student Resilience, which teachers can use at 4-8 grades and high school levels. Certainly, these materials can be used at the college level as well. Many resources have been developed related to teaching online and under these new conditions. Indeed, Past-President Susan Nolan formed a task force aimed at Pivot Teaching last year and you can read Chair Jenel Cavazos’ update about their work in Susan’s last column. There is also a new STP eBook, which focuses on Teaching Psychology Online.

But what about meeting the needs of teachers themselves? Any one of us who have spent any time on social media has read our colleagues’ requests for support and resources to ensure that we are all providing the best educational opportunities for our students. We care about our students and their learning. However, we have also witnessed colleagues and friends exhibit stress and pain, as they struggle with an array of situations from massive burnout to concerns about their health and safety to the loss of colleagues, students, and loved ones. What can we do to take care of ourselves?

I’m not a clinician, so being an academic, the first thing I did was go to PsycInfo and put in the terms “teacher stress or teacher burnout” and “COVID.” I got very few hits but was gratified to see that half of the results were dissertations. In a few years, we will have more research on this topic! Regardless, here are my thoughts based on extrapolations from materials aimed at students but also positive psychology.

Reflection, Resilience, and Reframing: Look back over the past year and examine those moments of challenge. Do not focus solely on where you faltered or what you should have done better—these are often my first instincts! Self-reflection is a positive strategy but not if it is drowned out by the drumbeat of self-criticism. Frame your thinking to examine your growth as a teacher, your new coping and reliance strategies, and your myriad of successes. Do not focus largely on the losses due to COVID, which are real, but rather, on all that has been gained. Yes, there are things I really miss about my “old teaching life” but most of it is still there. Moreover, the pandemic has really stretched my skills as an educator and I think I am a much better teacher than I was two years ago. Do your own reflection and be kind to yourself!

Health: Negative and chronic stress has an impact on all of us physically. Unfortunately, it is all too easy to reach for that bag of Cheetos when feeling stressed! I know that I am preaching to the informed, however, all of us may need a reminder to at times, just breathe. Take time to listen to your body, breathe, perhaps meditate, be mindful, eat a bit healthier, sleep, and exercise. Plan time to step away from the stress by whatever way works for you whether reading, taking a walk, a hobby, pickleball, or watching British mysteries. Make a time commitment to yourself, to your health, and to your well-being.

Gratitude: Certainly, positive psychology teaches us the value of gratitude. Each day look for those elements in life for which you are grateful. Guy Boysen wrote a wonderful E-xcellence in Teaching post this week entitled, “Teachers’ Intense Dislike for Students.” Great discussion of a difficult topic, which we often just converse behind closed doors. Interestingly, one of the ways I have found to cope with those students is to look for things that I do like about them even if obscure and why I am grateful that they are in my classroom. Usually if my attitude changes, they respond—even if just a little. Of course, if one has a threatening or dangerous student, then other measures may need to be taken. Regardless, look for elements in your life for which you are grateful and nurture those elements.

Meaningfulness: Well-being has been linked to finding meaning in life. Many of you may find that connection through family, spiritual or cultural beliefs, or social activism. I’m sure that many of us also find meaning through our teaching and other professional activities. And, yes, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in STP! I know, some of you may be thinking, “I’m feeling burnt out and she thinks I should add something to my schedule!??” To which I would respond, “I get that.” Take the time to evaluate what is important to you, what brings you the most meaning, and balance your efforts. I’m reminded of the following quote by Betty White, “I’m the luckiest person in the world. My life is divided in absolute half: half animals, half show business. They’re the two things I love the most and I have to stay in show business to pay for my animal work!” I’m sure that Ms. White had lots of demands for her time but she focused on the two things she loved most, spreading joy throughout her 99 years. Find meaning and balance.

Use STP Resources: You do not need to do everything yourself! Are you taking over a class at the last minute? Did the activity you always used in the past not translate well into the online environment? Are there new topics that you really want to add to your courses based on world events or a new understanding of the discipline? We grow, we learn, but we do not need to always reinvent the wheel. Our time is valuable, and we are part of an STP community with a wealth of resources and knowledge. For example, browse the STP website for eBooks on all sorts of topics ranging from lab projects for classes to diversity materials. Check out Project Syllabus, Resources by Topics or Course, the various teaching blogs, and the list goes on! Of course, the STP programming is second to none and we hope that the Annual Conference on Teaching will be in person this year. Of course, you will find STP programming as part of a range of national as well international conferences—all listed on our webpage. STP is also on social media forums such as Facebook. The Facebook page, as well as the STP listservs, PsychTeacher and Div2GSTA (graduate student), are excellent avenues for support, help, and networking. And, of course, do not forget Teaching of Psychology (ToP), our amazing journal filled with evidence-based best practices, activities, articles, and other materials. If you are not already a member of STP, supporting the work of psychology teachers at all levels, then JOIN—if for no other reason than to get ToP!

Finally, I cannot end this first column of the year without thanking Susan Nolan and Amy Fineburg. Amy is ending her term as Past-President and Susan is rotating into that role. Both have been instrumental in leading STP through the past two challenging years. As noted previously, Susan is leaving a legacy through the work of her various task forces. I would also add that both Susan and Amy have a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and internationalization (DEII) and that commitment is reflected in their work within STP and the discipline over the past two years. I hope to continue that work and I know whenever I have a question about what I should do, I’ll ask myself, “What would Susan or Amy do?” I thank them for their leadership.

In closing, I would comment that there have been times in my life when I viewed the proverbial glass as half empty; other times as half full. During COVID, I am learning that the glass is refillable. There are strategies that I can engage in to make me a better teacher and more accessible to my students. There are also strategies that I can use to refill my glass to avoid burnout and maintain the joy in what I do. My pup Ozzie needed to wait till the end of his illness to run, explore, jump, and feel the joy. We do not need to wait till the end of COVID to refuel, reignite our passion for teaching, and experience the joy! STP is here to help and here’s to a good new year!

P.S. Make sure you keep your dogs on heartworm prevention!

APA Passes Historic Apology To People of Color

Mon, 06 Dec 2021 05:00:00 GMT

APA Passes Historic Apology To People of Color

by Linda M. Woolf, STP President-Elect

During the early days of our discipline, psychological “research,” theory, and practice was central to the eugenics movement with destructive ideological beliefs grounded in social Darwinism. Psychologists involved in this movement helped craft policies, which led to forced sterilizations of “inferiors,” immigration quotas, race laws, and charted a path to genocide supported by “research” differentiating between those of White northwest European-based stock and “primitive man.” Psychologists endeavored to reify racist and colonialist beliefs through collections of invalid data, such as intelligence measures, based on anthropomorphic measures. Sadly, these ideas are not simply obscure elements of the past but have resurfaced regularly within the history of psychology.

In this brief article, I want to highlight the recent work of APA to address this history of harm and briefly discuss how we can use this work in our teaching of psychology. At the forefront of APA’s efforts is a historic apology of APA to Black, Indigenous, and other Peoples of Color.

APA Resolutions

The Council of Representatives (CoR) for the American Psychological Association (APA) met on October 29, 2021 and formally apologized for its role in past and ongoing racism against Peoples of Color (PoC). APA acknowledged that it “failed in its role leading the discipline of psychology, was complicit in contributing to systemic inequities, and hurt many through racism, racial discrimination, and denigration of communities of color, thereby falling short on its mission to benefit society and improve lives.” For many individuals, this apology was long overdue. Nonetheless, it represents a beginning; it outlines many of the historic harms, the importance of an apology, the apology, and potential next steps.

You can read the full text of the Apology to People of Color for APA’s Role in Promoting, Perpetuating, and Failing to Challenge Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Human Hierarchy in U.S.

This Apology Resolution does not stand alone as a finished product but rather represents a first step toward restorative justice. For example, the Resolution commits to future APA actions, which “could include targeted apologies and restorative processes for specific communities of color that extend beyond the content, format, and style of this formal Council resolution to be responsive to, and respectful of, the unique cultures and traditions of a given group, such as by the inclusion of elements respectful of the cultural traditions of Indigenous peoples."

Additionally, the Resolution includes the following, "Therefore, be it resolved that future APA actions could also include targeted interventions to benefit other groups that have experienced systems of oppression, including those based on religion, sex, class, sexual orientation and gender diversity, and disability identity."

As such, the Resolution acknowledges that more work needs to be done to address specific harms against the diversity of groups identified as PoC. Additionally, the Resolution recognizes that harms have occurred within psychology against other persons and peoples, which have been systematically marginalized by the discipline and profession.

At the October meeting, CoR passed two additional anti-racism resolutions. The second Resolution outlined a commitment and steps aimed at dismantling racism within the Association, the discipline of psychology, and within the United States. The third Resolution focused on a commitment to health equity for all persons and peoples of the United States and the role psychology will play in eliminating inequities. Together, these three Resolutions signal APA's and all of psychology's commitment to human rights and social justice for all both within the U.S. and as part of APA's global mission. The Resolutions build upon a February 2021 CoR Resolution, Harnessing Psychology to Combat Racism: Adopting a Uniform Definition and Understanding. This Resolution began efforts to define and address four levels of racism—internalized, interpersonal, institutional, and structural—and how APA can work to address these harms within the Association but also in the broader society.

It is important to note that the Association of Black Psychologists issued a response to the Apology Resolution. I urge everyone to read this letter as it highlights the pain, depth, and complexity of issues as APA begins this process.

Teaching

So, what does this mean for our teaching and our students? I encourage us all to work to "decolonize" our courses, syllabi, research, etc. to make our classes and our disciplinary understanding more inclusive. Within our departments or collegial groups, we can have conversations about what we can do to learn from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts related to the teaching of psychology and how to translate that information into our respective courses.

For more about STP’s work and DEI resources, see http://teachpsych.org and click on the Diversity tab. But don’t stop there! Throughout the website you will find eBooks, conference presentations, and a host of other resources aimed at not just creating more inclusive classrooms but integrating DEI materials into your courses. Check STP News for ongoing updates regarding the Task Force on Integration of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and International Initiatives Across STP. This DEI task force began work under the initiative of Past-President Amy Fineburg and has continued under the guidance of President Susan Nolan. These efforts will continue in 2022. The STP Diversity Committee chaired by Teceta Thomas Tormala with members, Jennifer L. Lovell, Viji Sathy, Sasha Cervantes, Leslie Berntsen, and Dina Gohar, supports and expands upon this work. You can find out more about this important committee here. at http://teachpsych.org/page-1537443. I also urge you to explore the APA Public Interest Directorate for more DEI materials for use in your courses.

What I like in particular about any of APA’s policy resolutions is that these documents contain a fountain of information and references you can use in your courses. For example, you not only can share and discuss these anti-Racism Resolutions with your students but you also can dig deeper to explore specific elements of these Resolutions and the materials cited. You also may want to share APA President Jennifer Kelly's opening video to CoR, which highlights the anti-Racism work of APA this past year.

I would be remiss if I did not tell you that part of the process of drafting the anti-Racism Resolutions, APA commissioned a historic review by the Cummings Center, the Psychology Archives/Museum in Akron. The Center put together a Historical Chronology examining Psychology’s Contributions to the Belief in Racial Hierarchy and Perpetuation of Inequality for People of Color in U.S. As noted in the Chronology, the document is incomplete, as the voices of oppressed victims rarely get to record their history and stories. Nonetheless, it is a concise overview not only of harms but also significant moments of DEI progress made by APA over the decades. And again, the references are a goldmine.

Finally, as we know, psychology has a diversity problem in relation to the pipeline from high school to undergraduate programs to graduate school and beyond. What can we do to help our students see themselves as future members of the psychology workforce or as psychologists and leaders in the field? From the Resolution:

APA will prioritize efforts in training, opening pathways, and workforce development, such as those that expand opportunities for students of color to pursue careers in psychology; promote mentorship of psychologists of color; improve psychology graduate education and training to include diverse, non-Western cultural perspectives; increase mechanisms, strategies, and practices to raise participation and success rates for psychologists of color in academia, publishing, and governmental licensing; increase representation of communities of color throughout APA’s elected and appointed leadership; expand opportunities for leadership and leadership training for psychologists of color; and enhance the visibility of psychologists of diverse backgrounds.

The Education Directorate as well as STP have been and will continue to be involved in such efforts.

I want to thank STP’s Council Representatives Maureen McCarthy and Jodie B. Ullman for their diligent efforts on Council. These are positions are often not visible to most STP members. Yet their work is essential for promoting educational interests within APA as well as broader policies such as these anti-Racism resolutions. Their leadership on CoR has been exemplary.

Presidential Task Force Round-Up, and a Focus on Advocacy

Fri, 03 Dec 2021 05:00:00 GMT

by Susan Nolan, STP President

Just a year ago, I lamented in one of my presidential letters that this was not the year I would have chosen to be STP President. I will readily admit that it’s still not the year I would have chosen; yet, serving STP in this way during such a challenging year has been professionally and personally rewarding. And it has showcased the deep wells of talent, experience, creativity, and empathy among our leaders and members. It has been an honor to work with and for all of you, and to benefit from the uncountable contributions you have made to our community and to our students.

In my final presidential letter, I want to thank my colleagues on the Executive Committee from whom I learned so much in our monthly meetings and ongoing email threads, and (just as importantly this year) who made me laugh. A lot.

I also want to recognize the many members of STP’s leadership and committees. STP is so fortunate that you have chosen to share your talents with us, and I am grateful to have worked directly with so many of you. I also want to express thanks to all the members who have contributed to the success of STP in so many different ways – from editing e-books to moderating social media to reviewing award nominations to presenting as part of our conference programming. I am lucky to count so many of you as colleagues and friends.

In spite of the pandemic and other challenges and because of the dedication of so many talented volunteers, STP accomplished a great deal this year. (See below, for example, for the accomplishments of our task forces!) But one of the initiatives I’m most excited about is our newly created Advocacy Committee. This past summer, I worked with Executive Director Tom Pusateri, Past President Amy Fineburg, and President-Elect Linda Woolf to develop a proposal for a committee that would explicitly seek out ways for STP to make a difference, rather than simply waiting for opportunities to arise. The Advocacy Committee will vet requests for STP to sign various statements; bring public policy and position statements to the Executive Committee; monitor our previous statements and suggest further action; communicate with our members to identify areas where our advocacy might be needed; and publicize our advocacy work.

The committee will include the Past President, Past-Past President, Vice President for Diversity and International Relations (or their designee), our APA Council Members, and several additional members, including a committee chair, whom we will recruit via a broad call for involvement. We will soon issue this call: Watch for it on our website! Or email me at susan.nolan@shu.edu and I will send you the call once it goes out. I, for one, am delighted to be able to serve ex officio on this committee in 2022 and 2023.

In line with this focus on advocacy, STP recently applied and was accepted to join the Divisions for Social Justice, a consortium of APA divisions who work together with the goal of “pursuing social justice issues both within APA governance (e.g., working together to appoint social-justice oriented individuals to APA committees; working with the Public Interest Directorate), and in terms of ongoing social justice related research, action, and public policy.” Our Advocacy Committee will serve as the face of STP within the Divisions for Social Justice.

And finally, I specifically want to call out the dedicated leaders and members of the three 2021 presidential task forces. The chairs of the task forces wrote brief overviews of their impressive work – see below. I thank them for their initiative and leadership! Outcomes include a soon-to-submitted manuscript on pivot teaching, a color paper on EDI and internationalization, a series of statistics mini-lessons for introductory psychology, and a curriculum study of statistics. All will be publicized through STP channels, and when appropriate, will live on our website. These outcomes are sure to have a lasting impact on STP. I am deeply grateful to all of the task force leaders and members.

Task Force for Resources for “Pivot Teaching”

Chair: Jenel Cavazos

Faced with the unprecedented complications surrounding Covid-19, the Task Force on Pivot Teaching was charged with gathering resources to aid instructors in proactively addressing the challenges associated with changing modalities in response to potential disruptions, both currently and in the future, by accommodating students and integrating flexibility and agility into instruction. The committee’s work centered on four unique areas of focus: teaching modalities (various modes of instruction and their application for pivot teaching); methods and assessment (the use of evidence-based teaching methods and forms of assessment that are both flexible and adaptive); personal and professional development (best practices to promote the wellbeing of instructors); and lessons learned and future directions (insights from pandemic teaching that may influence the future educational landscape). The committee presented its findings during a symposium at the APA Annual Conference during the summer of 2021. A smaller subset of committee members is currently in the final stages of manuscript development for a publication that will be submitted early next year.

Task Force on Integration of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and International Initiatives Across STP

Chair: Arlen Garcia

Inspired by The Warrior’s Path (Color Paper) from Division 45, the 2021 Task Force drafted their end-of-year report in a hybrid format weaving the proposals with a backdrop of activism. Overall, we acknowledged the previous work, especially the Statement on Addressing Systemic Racism and Inequity in STP as well as the Diversity Survey. We also included APA’s latest EDI framework and relevant articles. Specifically, three committees were formed in January 2021 composed of ~3-4 members each and a volunteer lead. Committee #1 focused on infrastructure; Committee #2 focused on affinity groups and other surveys; Committee #3 focused on internationalization across STP areas. Working teams coordinated and presented asynchronous sessions highlighting the Task Force efforts at APA’s Annual Conference in August 2021 as well as at our Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT) in October 2021. Infrastructure recommendations included but not limited to embedding a diversity consultant in each VP area as well as creating a new VP area just for international affairs. Affinity groups recommendations based on the Diversity survey results were outlined including logistical aspects of joining/membership. Additionally, a Travel Award was proposed. Ultimately, the Task Force hopes the Color Paper draft becomes a living document for the next phases.

Task Force on Statistical Literacy, Reasoning, and Thinking

Chair: Jessica Hartnett

The task force approached statistical education on two fronts and in two subcommittees: Statistics in Introduction to Psychology (IP) and Statistics Across the UG Psychology Curriculum.

Dr. Garth Neufeld chaired the IP subcommittee. The subcommittee decided that the best way to address statistics in IP was to create a series of statistics mini-lessons. These lessons correspond to the main topics typically taught in IP and align with teaching guidelines created by both the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education.

Dr. Erin Freeman chaired the Curriculum subcommittee. They were interested in understanding how psychology instructors teach statistics, both in statistics courses and across the curriculum. They worked together to create a wide-ranging survey, completed by psychology professors across the country, that sheds light on when and how statistics are integrated into the psychology curriculum.

These resources, both the mini-lessons and the curriculum study, will be available via the Society for the Teaching of Psychology website in early 2021.

President-Elect Linda Woolf's 2022 Presidential Initiatives

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 04:30:00 GMT

I’m excited to announce the 2022 Presidential Initiatives and Task Forces! Please email me, Linda M. Woolf, if you are interested in serving on any of these task forces or if you have any questions.

Presidential Theme

Teaching to Make a Difference: A Social Justice Approach

Task Force for “Teaching to Make a Difference”

As teachers, we recognize that psychology has value to people’s lives individually and collectively within a multi-cultural global community. Human rights, social justice, and global citizenship are not just buzzwords but are grounded in psychological principles and essential to the wellbeing of persons, peoples, organizations, and communities. This task force will solicit, gather, and highlight resources related to a) activities/projects used by teachers to teach and promote human rights, social justice, and global citizenship (e.g., unique service learning projects; global psychology activities); b) integration of theories and research concerning these constructs into existing psychology courses; and c) identification of unique courses/programs aimed at promoting human rights, social justice, and global citizenship within a psychology framework.

Task Force on Teaching Ethics: Literacy, Thinking, and Reasoning

Both the APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major and the recent APA Introductory Psychology Initiative identify ethics as a core learning theme. Yet, very little guidance is provided to high school and undergraduate psychology teachers concerning the teaching of ethics or ethical principles beyond ethical standards related to research methods. At the graduate level, U.S. psychology students are taught the breadth of the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. However, many of our students continue in social work, counseling, nursing, other graduate programs, or international programs with their own unique ethics codes. Additionally, a rule-based approach may enhance ethical literacy but be of little use in teaching students ethical reasoning and thinking. This task force will solicit, develop, gather, and promote resources related to the teaching of ethics on the high school and undergraduate level, including guidelines related to best practices in teaching ethics.

Task Force on “Decolonizing Psychology” in Introductory Psychology

STP has many resources aimed at incorporating diversity issues into the classroom and making classrooms more inclusive. However, these materials are not focused on the teaching of introductory psychology from a perspective grounded in research/materials related to decolonization, liberation psychology, or critical psychology. This task force will solicit, gather, and promote articles, activities, lecture materials, and projects aimed at both typical chapters within an introductory psychology course as well as materials aimed at more general decolonizing approaches to teaching the class.

Task Force on Teaching Psychology and Climate Change

For many of our students, climate change is an abstract concept with seemingly little significance to their daily lives. Yet, it represents an existential threat to the lives of many around the globe, with immediate ramifications in terms of economics, displacement of persons and peoples, increased risk for global violence, and future pandemics. Psychology plays a vital role related to climate on many fronts from beliefs and attitudes about climate change to behavior change regarding conservation to psychosocial and mental health consequences of the climate crisis. This task force with solicit, gather, and promote resources related to integrating issues of climate into psychology courses; promotion of psychological research related to climate/sustainability; and teaching about human rights, social justice aspects (e.g., structural and institutional aspects of climate policy), and the mitigation and human adaptation of individuals and communities to climate change. The task force also will make sustainability recommendations to STP.

Continuation of the work of the Task Force on Integration of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and International Initiatives Across STP
In 2020, the DEI task force began work under the initiative of Amy Fineburg and continued under the guidance of Susan Nolan. Much work has been completed but it is an ongoing endeavor. The task force is exploring a variety of recommendations based on assessment of structural issues within STP, such as integration of DEI and internationalization across the organizational structure as opposed to the current siloed approach, as well as the creation of affinity groups. A Color Paper will be issued soon, which will articulate current task force findings and recommendations. As such, much of the work of the task force in the next year will relate to implementation of proposed actions.

I hope many of you will get involved!

Best,

Linda Woolf

STP President-Elect

Stealing Back Joy: A Renewed Focus on Student Mental Health

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 04:00:00 GMT

by Susan Nolan, STP President

Stealing Back Joy: A Renewed Focus on Student Mental Health

“How COVID-19 Stole ‘Children’s Joy,’ a recent headline offered. And we’ve all heard stories of stolen joy. The student who gave up their waning-summer weekend at the shore in an overcrowded shared rental because a sibling is immunocompromised. The ones who struggle to maintain fitness and social networks now that the indoor volleyball habit seems, well, treacherous. Or the ones who are saddened that limited tickets to indoor commencement exercises means they can’t include the family cheering squad they always imagined.

But for some students, “stolen joy” may represent more than just a sad moment. Rising rates of mental illness among our secondary and higher education students have long been a concern. But these trends are even more concerning during the pandemic. This is true broadly; about half of university students in the U.S. report moderate-to-severe stress and about 25% report that they have considered suicide. Similar patterns have been reported around the world. These trends are even more pronounced for historically marginalized groups. In the U.S., for example, university students who are American Indian or Black, are particularly at risk for psychological disorders, and although Asian American students do not seem to be at higher risk for mental illness, they do seem to be less likely than their peers to seek treatment. In other examples, university students from lower castes in India are at higher risk, as are indigenous students in Canada.

There may be a silver lining, though. I suspect – and I’m not alone in my suspicion – that the pandemic has made many more people aware of the acute need for accessible psychological interventions and perhaps even reduced the stigma associated with seeking mental healthcare. Whether because rates of mental illness are higher or because students are more open to treatment, rates of help-seeking at university counseling centers are higher than ever.

With that preamble, I want to showcase one important resource, published recently by the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Titled Supporting Child and Student Social, Emotional, Behavioral, and Mental Health Needs, this comprehensive report outlines seven challenges related to offering mental health support – as well as seven recommendations – across all levels of education, including secondary and higher education. Admittedly, this is a U.S.-centric report; however, existing research suggests that the conclusions may be relevant at least in some international contexts.

The challenges include: 1) disparities, including based on race, in both vulnerabilities and access to treatment; 2) the enduring obstacle that is stigma; 3) a lack of (or lack of awareness of) evidence-based interventions; 4) the unfortunate “silo-ing” of mental healthcare; 5) a lack of funding and relevant policies; 6) limited mental-health resources in school settings; and 7) limited data to drive decision-making. The report’s recommendations directly address these challenges and offer a blueprint to identifying and addressing mental health in our students, as well as to increasing resources, developing policy, and (hopefully!) reducing stigma.

As psychology educators, we are uniquely positioned to forward these goals. Many of us are trained as clinicians. Many of us are not. Regardless, our training situates us to understand human emotions, behavior, and/or cognitions. And, as STP members, we all love to teach and support students! We can all forward an agenda, similar to the one in this report, in our own classrooms, programs, and institutions. Or even with a single student. My own institution’s slogan is Hazard Zet Forward, which loosely translates to “whatever the obstacles, keep on fighting.” In the context of stealing back our student’s joy, it’s a fitting slogan. Hazard Zet Forward.

The latest introduction in my ongoing series of “meet the EC” features Kristin Whitlock, our new Vice President for Programming. Kristin has been active within STP and other psychology professional organizations for quite some time, and we’re excited for her to bring her talents and experiences within the secondary school psychology teaching world to the STP Executive Committee. Among (many, many) other contributions, Kristin has served as a committee chair for the development of APA’s National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula and as a steering committee member for the APA National Summit for High School Psychology. In recognition of her work on behalf of psychology instructors, Kristin was awarded one of just two STP presidential citations in 2020. Below, Kristin writes about her position and what she most values about STP. As always, check out STP’s Get Involved page to see where you might fit within our organization!

What would you like STP members to know about your position?

STP programming is among the most visible of STP initiatives. For many instructors it is the place where many first realize the existence of our organization. Currently there are nine directors and programming chairs working year-round planning for the many conferences, preconferences, and teaching institutes available to STP members. Along with STP’s own Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT) we also team up to provide teaching programming with other organizations, such as the Society for Research on Child Development and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. STP’s presence is also felt at regional and international conferences, as well as at the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Sciences annual conferences. I’m excited to be a part of this effort and look forward to supporting STP and the Programming Division. Recent years have brought new challenges to conference planning, and I look forward to the future as we continue to find ways to make what we offer more accessible to more psychology instructors.

What do you most value about STP?

It’s hard for me to pick just one thing I value about STP. I am amazed at the incredible resources available for teachers of psychology across all levels of instruction. STP is like a safety net for those instructors new to the classroom, as well as seasoned veterans. I always come away from STP events energized by what I learn and inspired by the incredible members of our community.

STP’s 2022 Presidential Initiatives and Task Forces

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 20:00:00 GMT

by Linda M. Woolf, STP President-Elect

I’m excited to announce the 2022 Presidential Initiatives and Task Forces! Please email me at president-elect@teachpsych.org if you are interested in serving on any of these task forces or if you have any questions.

Presidential Theme

Teaching to Make a Difference: A Social Justice Approach

Task Forces

Task Force for “Teaching to Make a Difference”
As teachers, we recognize that psychology has value to people’s lives individually and collectively within a multi-cultural global community. Human rights, social justice, and global citizenship are not just buzzwords but are grounded in psychological principles and essential to the wellbeing of persons, peoples, organizations, and communities. This task force will solicit, gather, and highlight resources related to a) activities/projects used by teachers to teach and promote human rights, social justice, and global citizenship (e.g., unique service learning projects; global psychology activities); b) integration of theories and research concerning these constructs into existing psychology courses; and c) identification of unique courses/programs aimed at promoting human rights, social justice, and global citizenship within a psychology framework.

Task Force on Teaching Ethics: Literacy, Thinking, and Reasoning
Both the APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major and the recent APA Introductory Psychology Initiative identify ethics as a core learning theme. Yet, very little guidance is provided to high school and undergraduate psychology teachers concerning the teaching of ethics or ethical principles beyond ethical standards related to research methods. At the graduate level, U.S. psychology students are taught the breadth of the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. However, many of our students continue in social work, counseling, nursing, other graduate programs, or international programs with their own unique ethics codes. Additionally, a rule-based approach may enhance ethical literacy but be of little use in teaching students ethical reasoning and thinking. This task force will solicit, develop, gather, and promote resources related to the teaching of ethics on the high school and undergraduate level, including guidelines related to best practices in teaching ethics.

Task Force on “Decolonizing Psychology” in Introductory Psychology
STP has many resources aimed at incorporating diversity issues into the classroom and making classrooms more inclusive. However, these materials are not focused on the teaching of introductory psychology from a perspective grounded in research/materials related to decolonization, liberation psychology, or critical psychology. This task force will solicit, gather, and promote articles, activities, lecture materials, and projects aimed at both typical chapters within an introductory psychology course as well as materials aimed at more general decolonizing approaches to teaching the class.

Task Force on Teaching Psychology and Climate Change
For many of our students, climate change is an abstract concept with seemingly little significance to their daily lives. Yet, it represents an existential threat to the lives of many around the globe, with immediate ramifications in terms of economics, displacement of persons and peoples, increased risk for global violence, and future pandemics. Psychology plays a vital role related to climate on many fronts from beliefs and attitudes about climate change to behavior change regarding conservation to psychosocial and mental health consequences of the climate crisis. This task force with solicit, gather, and promote resources related to integrating issues of climate into psychology courses; promotion of psychological research related to climate/sustainability; and teaching about human rights, social justice aspects (e.g., structural and institutional aspects of climate policy), and the mitigation and human adaptation of individuals and communities to climate change. The task force also will make sustainability recommendations to STP.

I hope many of you will get involved!

Pandemic Burnout Is Real

Wed, 06 Oct 2021 04:00:00 GMT

by Susan Nolan, STP President

Is anyone else feeling burned out as we enter the 20^th month since most of our world went into lockdown? University instructors have always been at high risk for getting burned out, as documented, for example, in a review of the literature between 2005 and 2020 (Fernández-Suárez et al. 2021). Other studies show similar trends among secondary school instructors (Molero et al., 2019). And burnout among instructors has been exacerbated during the pandemic. The World Health Organization defines burnout as a combination of three factors – exhaustion, job-related cynicism, and decreased effectiveness at work. Teaching during the pandemic? Check, check, and check.

I know I’m not alone. Beth McMurtrie (2020) wrote the aptly titled article, “The pandemic is dragging on. Professors are burning out” for the Chronicle of Higher Education. As she describes it, “the problem [for some] has been a crushing workload combined with child-care challenges. For others, it’s a feeling that their institution expects them to be counselors and ed-tech experts on top of their regular responsibilities, even if it means working seven days a week.” She also highlights the additional challenges faced by Black and Latino professors who are often expected to support students of color, join committees on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and take on other similar roles. And she notes the added stress faced by contingent faculty members whose already precarious positions might be even more threatened by pandemic cost-cutting measures.

And there are distinct stressors for those teaching online, particularly if we had not done so before the pandemic. We have had to learn new technology at record speed, continually adapt to changes in technology, and then teach our students what we just learned (e.g., Mheidly et al., 2020). One professor colorfully described these challenges: “I needed a motor scooter, and they gave me a 747 without an instruction manual” (McMurtry, 2020). In line with the WHO definition of burnout, these challenges can be exhausting, cynicism-inducing, and productivity-sapping.

Research on preventing burnout, which is easier than recovering once you have slammed against the proverbial burnout wall, suggests that awareness of the risk of burnout is a first step (Mheidly et al., 2020). A number of suggestions relate to actions that an institution can take to increase awareness and implement interventions. But there also are steps we can take on our own. Notice when exhaustion and cynicism are setting in, and work to break the cycle. Take breaks, especially if you’re working online. Engage in exercise, meditation, and other healthful practices. McMurtrie (2020) and Mheidly and colleagues (2020) both strongly recommend actively seeking social support. Create virtual networks of supportive colleagues, even if it means one more Zoom meeting; elicit support on social media by sharing your struggles; and check in on each other even if it’s just a quick email to see if a colleague is doing OK. (May I also suggest writing a blog post on burnout? It’s been surprisingly therapeutic!)

Or maybe fight your burnout by joining me and our supportive network of STP colleagues at the virtual Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT), coming up on October 14 and 15! It will be the largest ACT yet, with several hundred attendees, live programming on both days, and dozens of asynchronous offerings available starting on October 14. And just $25 USD for members. (The $50 cost for nonmembers includes membership.) See you there?

The latest introduction in my ongoing series of “meet the EC” features Gabrielle Smith, our Interim Vice President for Diversity and International Relations. When our previous VP, Kelley Haynes-Mendez, took a full-time position at APA this past spring, Gabrielle applied to take on the role, and we have been lucky to have someone with her talents and experience shepherding STP’s work in diversity, equity, inclusion, and internationalization. Gabrielle had been serving on (and continues to serve on) the 2021 presidential task force on diversity, equity, inclusion, and internationalization, so was already involved in this important work for STP. We look forward to her continued contributions in the years to come! As always, check out STP’s Get Involved page to see where you might fit within our organization!

What would you like STP members to know about your position?

I serve as The Interim Vice President for Diversity and International Relations. The Vice President for Diversity and International Relations is responsible for collaborating and consulting with the other four VPs, the Chairs of the Diversity Committee and the International Relations Committee, the Task Force on the Integration of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and International Initiatives across STP, and other Executive Committee members to ensure that diversity, equity, inclusion, and international relations are considered in all Society’s activities. The Vice President oversees and works closely with the chairs of the Diversity Committee, International Relations Committee, the Task Force on the Integration of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and International Initiatives across STP, and International Twitter Poster Conference Committee to advance diversity and international issues within STP. Additionally, I consult with Presidential task forces and our journal editor to address diversity, equity, and inclusion issues. As an interim VP, I am also charged with maintaining the position, continuing the work of the previous VP, and ensuring that the incoming VP has a solid base to start her term. Presently, I am continuing the work of Kelley Haynes-Mendez in coordinating an organizational self-assessment for diversity, equity, and inclusion. I am also consulting with the current Presidential task force on diversity, equity, and inclusion alongside chairs and members of the Diversity and International Relations committees. I hope to spend the remainder of my time in the VP role engaging communities that have traditionally not been as visible at STP, set the foundation for the next VP to conduct a DEI related needs assessment, and enhance access to DEI related resources.

What do you most value about STP?

As someone who is still reasonably new to STP, I value the community feel of STP. I appreciate how quickly I was welcomed into the fold and put to work! The sense of community that exists in STP is present because when you enter the space you are not a spectator for long! STP is a community, and your mere presence will ensure that you will get integrated into the fabric of the community at some level. My process of becoming involved with the organization has been an interesting whirlwind, and I can attest to the meaningfulness of the extra layer of engagement with STP. I fell into STP during the virtual ACT conference of 2020. Many of my graduate school colleagues from the University of Alabama (ROLL TIDE!) always raved about STP and told me to join. I finally decided to listen, and in 2020 I decided to submit a presentation on faculty identity and teaching. I titled the presentation Teaching While Black, and it was well-received, and I thought, “Great. That was fun!”, not expecting anything beyond that talk. Afterward, so many people contacted me about the presentation. Many presentation attendees directed me to seek a position with the Task Force on the Integration of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and International Initiatives across STP to address the issues explored in my talk. I was also contacted to write an essay related to my STP talk for the STP E-xcellence in Teaching blog (it should be live sometime in October). I was enjoying my taskforce position and working diligently with the committee on several meaningful initiatives when Kelley Hayes-Mendez announced that she was transitioning to a role at APA. I was then contacted as a possible candidate to serve as interim VP of Diversity and International Relations, and the rest, as they say, is history. STP has many opportunities for leadership and meaningful engagement, and it is easy to connect and get involved with the organization in a meaningful way. Once my interim term ends, I am sure that I will stay involved with the STP community for years to come.

References

Fernández-Suárez, I., García-González, M. A., Torrano, F., & García-González, G. (2021). Study of the prevalence of burnout in university professors in the period 2005–2020. Education Research International, 2021, Article ID 7810659. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/7810659

Mheidly, N., Fares, M. Y., & Fares, J. (2020). Coping with stress and burnout associated with telecommunication and online learning. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 672. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.574969

Molero Jurado, M. D. M., Pérez-Fuentes, M. D. C., Atria, L., Oropesa Ruiz, N. F., & Gázquez Linares, J. J. (2019). Burnout, perceived efficacy, and job satisfaction: Perception of the educational context in high school teachers. BioMed Research International, 2019, Article ID 1021408. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/1021408

An International Dialog: ESPLAT, AusPLAT, and ACT

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 04:00:00 GMT

It’s teaching conference season! The European Society for Psychology Learning and Teaching (ESPLAT ) conference took place virtually on September 2-3. Under conference director Birgit Spinath, who is also the recipient of one of two 2021 STP presidential citations, the conference was shifted online from its original Heidelberg University venue in Germany. The ESPLAT conference included a live, synchronous discussion among leaders of several regional professional psychology learning and teaching organizations.

· Dawn Albertson of Bath Spa University in the United Kingdom and I represented STP;

· Susanne Narciss of Technische Universität in Germany represented ESPLAT;

· Tony Machin of the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, represented Australian Psychology Learning and Teaching (AusPLAT); and

· Lenka Sokolová of the Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave in Slovakia represented the European Federation of Psychology Teachers’ Associations.

The members of our panel discussed changes in psychological science and psychology learning and teaching; trends in international cooperation; and ways to expand the conversation beyond our own regions – especially to regions with fewer resources. We recorded our one-hour Zoom conversation and it will be available both at the upcoming virtual AusPLAT conference on September 16-17, as well as asynchronously at our own Annual Conference on Teaching on October 16-17. Whether or not you get a chance to watch our discussion, please reach out to me with at susan.nolan@shu.edu with any feedback on ways that STP can be more inclusive from an international perspective (or in other ways)!

In related conference news, and as you likely will have heard by now, we have made the difficult decision to shift ACT from in person to virtual. (You can read more about the shift on the STP website and in the September edition of STP News.) It was an incredibly sad decision, as so many of us were eager to gather in person with our friends and colleagues who value teaching as much as we do. I want to give a shout out to Executive Director Tom Pusateri, Past President Amy Fineburg, and ACT Director Lindsay Masland, all of whom were part of discussions about the shift. In particular, Lindsay has done an enormous amount of work to gather and communicate data, thoughtfully lay out our various options, and facilitate the move to a virtual conference at this late date. I am certain that in Lindsay’s hands, the virtual version of ACT will be both fun and professionally rewarding – enabling us to learn from, share ideas with, and connect with each other. I’ll “see” you there!

= = = = =

The latest introductions in my ongoing series of “meet the EC” include two of the hardest working and most important people in the organization, the secretary and treasurer of our Executive Committee (EC). Our secretary, Stephanie Afful, keeps us on track during and outside of meetings, including managing and recording our endless email threads, mostly about business but occasionally about zoom-bombing pets or bizarre dreams! Her patience, professionalism, and sense of humor make the engine that is STP run. Our treasurer, Jeff Holmes, juggles our complicated budget, myriad reimbursements, dealings with various APA personnel and protocols, and more – the apparent ease with which he does his job belying the complexity of his position. And both the secretary and treasurer are full voting members of the EC. As always, check out STP’s Get Involved page to see where you might fit within our organization!

Stephanie Afful, STP Secretary

What would you like STP members to know about your position?

Can I get a witness? (Raising my hand) I think I might have the best role in the EC! As secretary, my job is to witness all the hard work that happens within our organization. From organizing and recording our committee meetings and on-line discussions, calling all votes, and communicating that hard work with the EC and STP members. The secretary also keeps us organized and on task – which is actually not that hard to do when we all value each other's service and perspective. This is the hardest working and most generous group of faculty I have ever served with. In addition to the current tasks of the Executive Committee, the secretary also updates our Bylaws and Policies & Procedures which requires some organizational memory. I absolutely could not perform this role as secretary without our fearless Executive Director, Tom Pusateri.

What do you most value about STP?

As many of my colleagues have mentioned, I found my professional home in STP. I started attending STP programming in graduate school, knowing pretty early on that I was more comfortable as a teacher than a researcher. STP helped me solidify my professional identity, that I could be both! I started my service in STP as the chair of our newly formed Early Career Psychologists Committee, made some amazing friends/colleagues along the way, and am now starting my second term as secretary to the Executive Committee. I think if you read our newsletter, participated in the Facebook page, or attended ACT, you know how generous and welcoming this group of faculty are – and I am a better teacher and human because of it!

Jeff Holmes, STP Treasurer

What would you like STP members to know about your position?

When I took over as STP Treasurer in 2018, I knew very little about what to expect. I am not an accountant, so my primary concerns were that funds would pass through my hands or that I might be responsible for spending or investment decisions. I was relieved to learn that these concerns were unfounded. What few people may realize is that the treasurer of STP does not make spending decisions or directly manage accounts. Instead, the treasurer is a critical conduit between the executive committee (which makes decisions based on votes by committee members) and the APA (where the organization’s accounts are held). Although there are many aspects to the position, the treasurer does not decide where money goes—the treasurer carries out the directives of the executive committee.

What do you most value about STP?

I became involved with STP at the beginning of my career due to the sheer luck of landing a job where, as it turned out, the famous Barney Beins also worked. Based on his mentorship, I began presenting at STP conferences and participating in associated events. My connections with members of STP have been exceptionally impactful and enjoyable. A shared love of teaching and dedication to teaching well—often coupled with a shared sense of good humor—has rewarded me with many professional associations that have evolved into true friendships. I prefer not to imagine what my professional and personal life would be like without STP.

Expanding Access to Resources: A New International Dues Structure

Mon, 02 Aug 2021 04:00:00 GMT

STP’s Executive Committee continues to explore ways to make our organization more inclusive and access to our resources more equitable. Some changes to our processes are opening up new ways to expand our reach. Thanks to Executive Director, Tom Pusateri, psychology educators can now join or renew their memberships in STP directly on our website. Members may continue to join or renew through the American Psychological Association or the Association for Psychological Science, but now you will have a third way to join us!

As we use the STP website as a membership portal, we gain more control over the process. For example, we will be able to gather more data about our members. And, as an added benefit to the organization and for the planet, those who join directly via STP’s website will be able to opt in to receive a hardcopy of our journal, Teaching of Psychology, by mail, but the default will now be electronic only. Of course, if you prefer the print journal, please do make that choice. But we fully admit to taking advantage of a behavioral nudge (Carlsson et al., 2021) to make the environmentally friendlier decision the easier one!

Perhaps most importantly is a new policy aimed at expanding access to STP and its resources. Beginning soon, STP will use the World Bank classification of countries by income to determine dues. For those living or working in high-income countries, including the U.S., Canada, many European countries, and Australia, annual dues will remain at $25; however, annual dues will now be $5 for those living or working in all other countries. For those who are eligible and who choose the lower dues, access to our journal will be electronic only. While acknowledging that $5 is still prohibitive for some and that lower dues doesn’t solve inequities related to lack of access to the internet, we hope that this new initiative will expand access to STP and to our resources, including grants and awards.

These new developments in access to resources lead to the latest in my ongoing series of introductions of the Vice Presidents of STP. Meet Bill Altman, our VP for Resources! As you’ll see from his description of his position, Bill oversees a wide-ranging portfolio of STP resources. Bill and his team make it look easy, but there’s a ton of behind-the-scenes work in the development of the STP resources on which many of you rely. Here, Bill discusses his role within STP, the opportunities within his area, and why he so values her involvement in STP. As always, check out STP’s Get Involved page to see where you might fit within our organization!

What would you like STP members to know about your position?

This is going to sound a bit circular, but I guess that’s the nature of the beast. As STP’s Vice President for Resources, I’m responsible for overseeing the development, maintenance, and functioning of our resources and some of our support services. But it’s important to note that I have the honor and pleasure of working with dedicated and wonderful colleagues who are in charge of each of these areas. Without them, very little would actually get done. So, my real function is to serve them in whatever ways they require. Sometimes that means advocating for resources; occasionally it’s helping to solve technical problems; and in other circumstances it may mean brainstorming about new programs, resources, or ways to serve our members.

Perhaps the most obvious area in my portfolio, though totally in the background, is STP’s online presence. That includes pretty much everything with which our membership can interact (except each other, of course–so I hope I’ll see you all at ACT in October). One very large area is publications, which includes the journal Teaching of Psychology, STP E-Books, STP Book Notes, and the E-xcellence in Teaching essays. Another big area deals with teaching resources, including our Best Practices in Teaching and Learning resources, Project Syllabus, and three very different wikis: Today in the History of Psychology, Psychology in Communities, and the Teaching of Psychology Idea eXchange (ToPIX). I also oversee the Professional Development Mentoring Program and SoTL Workshop, which are both very popular with our members (incidentally, I’ve served as a mentor for several years, and encourage you all to join either as mentors or mentees). And not to be forgotten is our extremely valuable Department Consulting Service, which can provide help for any psychology department looking at overall evaluation, curriculum planning, faculty development, or any of a host of other things.

And of course, if you have ideas for new resources, or for helping to make our resources better, I’d love to hear from you!

What do you most value about STP?

The people and our sense of community. I am, and have long been a member of several other professional organizations, all of which provide great resources and terrific colleagues. But when I first joined STP, it was like finding my way home. It’s one of the few places where I can find a group of people who share my passion for teaching, as well as for doing and appreciating research on teaching and learning. More than that, it’s a group of colleagues that are as welcoming and kind to new members as to those who’ve been involved for years.

Reference

Carlsson, F., Gravert, C., Johansson-Stenman, O., & Kurz, V. (2021). The use of green nudges as an environmental policy instrument. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.1086/715524

Celebrating Excellence in Psychology Learning and Teaching: Kelley Haynes-Mendez and Birgit Spinath

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Celebrating Excellence in Psychology Learning and Teaching: Kelley Haynes-Mendez and Birgit Spinath

In my years as a psychology educator, I have been inspired by so many talented and imaginative colleagues. Organizations like STP, as well as our sister organizations like the European Society for Psychology Learning and Teaching (ESPLAT), attract members who exhibit dedication to their students and their craft, a willingness to follow the evidence, a penchant for creativity and innovation, and a deep generosity in sharing their work with their colleagues and the discipline. It is my privilege, as STP President, to honor two such inspirational colleagues with Presidential Citations. These prestigious awards are intended to recognize “individuals who have made extraordinary life-time contributions to the Society and/or to the teaching of psychology.” I am pleased to announce that Drs. Kelley Haynes-Mendez and Birgit Spinath will join an illustrious list of Presidential Citation honorees dating back to the award’s 2004 inception.

Kelley Haynes-Mendez

Kelley D. Haynes-Mendez, Psy.D., is the Director of the Ethnicity, Race, and Cultural Affairs Portfolio at the American Psychological Association. Kelley earned her Psy.D. in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology (USA). She is a licensed psychologist in Texas and was previously an associate professor at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Kelley also earned a Diploma in Social Innovation with the United Nations-mandated University for Peace (UPEACE) in Costa Rica. Kelley’s scholarship focuses on multiculturalism, as well as the teaching of global citizenship in higher education.

Within STP, Kelley has been an innovative and forward-thinking leader, serving most recently as the Vice President for Diversity and International Relations. Prior to holding that position, Kelley served as Chair of the International Relations Committee. She also previously served on STP’s Diversity Committee. Kelley’s leadership within STP has been consequential for the organization, and her work has led to lasting and ongoing change, particularly with respect to diversity, equity, inclusion, and internationalization. Among her many contributions, Kelley was central to the development of STP’s Statement on Addressing Systemic Racism and Inequity; she initiated an organizational DEI assessment process; she championed partnerships with UPEACE, ESPLAT, and other international organizations; and she has published and presented related to DEI and internationalization within psychology learning and teaching organizations, including STP. Her contributions to STP will reverberate beyond her leadership within the organization, and I have no doubt she will continue to contribute to psychology learning and teaching in her new role at APA.

Birgit Spinath

Prof. Dr. Birgit Spinath is a professor of Educational Psychology at Heidelberg University (Germany). She earned her Dr. phil. at the University of Bielefeld, and studies learning and teaching at multiple levels, including in higher education; motivation as a prerequisite for and an outcome of education; and teacher education and self-regulation. Birgit has published widely in top international journals and has served as an Associate Editor at several international journals as well. She is a past president of the German Psychological Society and the current Editor-in-Chief of the international journal, Psychology Learning and Teaching (PLAT).

Birgit is a true international leader in psychology learning and teaching, forging connections among people and organizations across borders. For example, as editor of PLAT, Birgit has recruited an international roster of associate editors and editorial board members representing eight countries and three continents. As a member of the Executive Committee of the European Society for Psychology Learning and Teaching (ESPLAT), Birgit has been influential in fostering connections with other psychology learning and teaching organizations, including STP. Beyond developing connections, Birgit has published in our journal (Teaching of Psychology) and presented at our conference (the Annual Conference on Teaching) in 2014 as STP’s first international keynote speaker. Birgit readily extends and accepts invitations for collaborations with psychology educators around the world. STP in particular, and psychology learning and teaching more generally, have benefited from her expansive and generous leadership. The impact of her work will endure through the alliances that she has created and the networks that she will continue to develop.

Annual Conference on Teaching

Typically, Presidential Citations are bestowed on the honorees at the Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT) or another psychology teaching conference. I am honored to present Kelley with her citation in person during the upcoming ACT in Louisville, KY, from October 14-16, and I look forward to presenting Birgit with her citation in person when international travel has returned to some semblance of normality. Congratulations to these inspiring leaders in our field!

Conferencing in a Pandemic: Spreading Our (Virtual) Wings!

Fri, 04 Jun 2021 04:00:00 GMT

As many of us enter a break from teaching, conferences beckon – with new and old friends, cutting-edge research, and exciting pedagogical ideas. Since widespread lockdowns in March of 2020, some conferences were canceled but many others were held virtually for the first time ever. Some live conferences are returning, such as STP’s Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT) in October which will have virtual components, but also live ones in Louisville, KY! But many conferences in upcoming months remain fully virtual. And many of us will experience the perhaps-unexpected benefits of remotely learning from and connecting with each other!

First, it’s exciting that geography need not constrain our conference-going. Depending on where you live, you may have to log on at odd hours to attend the fully virtual European Society for Psychology Learning and Teaching conference (ESPLAT) in early September, the fully virtual Australian Psychology Learning and Teaching conference (AusPLAT) conference in mid-September, or the virtual parts of the ACT in October. I plan to attend all three (and there will be panel discussions among leaders from all three organizations at all three conferences), but I could not possibly travel to Australia, Germany, and then Louisville over the course of a month and a half – unless someone wants to loan me their private jet. I’ll be at ACT in Louisville for sure, but am grateful for the virtual option for the others!

Or consider the STP-sponsored Global Citizenship Education professional development workshop series for educators this July, conducted by the Center for Executive Education at the University for Peace (UPEACE), established by the General Assembly of the United Nations. I participated in last year’s virtual workshop series, and found it exhilarating to engage with educators from around the world as I workshopped one of my courses to integrate the lessons from the session leaders and my colleagues. The series is typically held in Costa Rica, so jump at this opportunity to join in from your home! [I should add that the reduction in conference travel is more environmentally friendly, too (Price, 2020).]

Conference organizers and the folks who design online conference platforms have learned so many lessons from their experiences over the past year, and virtual conferences are increasingly engaging. [For more info, read the helpful review of best practices for online conferences by a Canadian and UK team headed by Luc Rubinger (2020).] Perhaps because of these innovations, there’s evidence that attendees can forge new social connections virtually (Dunn et al., 2021). In recent months, I’ve enjoyed connections with new colleagues in various online social settings, the opportunity to watch talks after the conference on my own time, and even the fun of bantering in the chat with audience members during my own prerecorded talk.

I’ve also witnessed increasing accessibility with subtitles and transcripts of talks or live sign language translation. And I’ve heard about folks with hearing impairments using their own specialized headphones. In line with this, a review of best practices for online conferences recommended designating an Accessibility Chair and emphasized the importance of “auditory, visual, economic and technological accessibility” (Rubinger et al., 2020). I’ve also witnessed increasing diversity at some conferences because speakers can present regardless of geographical location, childcare or other duties, or travel funds. Indeed, one article noted that virtual meetings can offer “[a] high-quality conference experience that is often more egalitarian, equitable, and diverse than inperson [sic] conferences” (Price, 2020).

I’m hopeful that these innovations will lead to similar changes when in-person conferences resume. Can we have more creative social events that foster new collaborations? Can we increase accessibility in inventive ways? Can we keep some virtual elements to allow people more flexibility in presenting and attending talks? Can we increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and a sense of belonging through these measures?

These questions lead to the latest in my ongoing series of introductions of the Vice Presidents of STP. Meet Angela Legg, our VP for Programming! The resourceful work of Angela and her dedicated team is addressing many of these questions as we look to make ACT and our other programming more inclusive and engaging in a range of ways. Here, Angela discusses her role within STP, the opportunities within her area, and why she so values her involvement in STP. As always, check out STP’s Get Involved page to see where you might fit within our organization!

What would you like STP members to know about your position?

There’s a common narrative when you start asking people why they became involved with STP – many will tell you it was because they had a positive experience at one of the many conferences, preconferences, or teaching institutes organized by STP! I’m one of those people who “found my community” of like-minded teacher-scholars at an STP conference and now I am honored to be the VP of Programming, a position that facilitates continued excellence in teaching programming. The Programming division in STP currently houses nine conference directors and programming chairs who work tirelessly year-round to plan numerous conferences and programming events. Programming is unique in that we have our flagship, standalone conference – the Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT) – but we also collaborate with other organizations such as the Society for Personality and Social Psychology and the Society for Research on Child Development to offer top notch teaching programming at discipline-specific conferences. Our programming directors also plan STP content for our largest psychology conferences such as the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Sciences and also support regional conferences across the US and internationally to promote the very best in teaching of psychology programming.

The VP of Programming supports the existing teaching programming outlets while also working to develop new programming partnerships across other psychology organizations. The position also assists with the needs of the directors within the ever-changing landscape of conference planning. During the pandemic, our directors went above and beyond to quickly pivot into the world of virtual conferencing. Many of them have been programming in-person conferences for years but in 2020 they were suddenly challenged with the task of reimagining teaching programming in a virtual format. For anyone who attended the 2020 Virtual ACT, APA, and other conferences, you may have seen the incredible work of STP’s programming division. If 2020 taught us anything, STP’s programming can extend far beyond just traditional, in-person mediums and I look forward to seeing the future programming innovations yet to come in our amazing society.

What do you most value about STP?

The members! My first exposure to STP was during grad school in 2008 when I first attended the Best Practices conference (now the Annual Conference for Teaching) in Atlanta, GA. Even as a newcomer to the conference, I immediately felt included in the community and loved the genuine passion so many attendees had for honing their teaching craft. What I learned about STP is that there are always opportunities for people to get involved, become connected, meet new people, and learn new teaching tricks.

References

Dunn, E., Lok, I., & Zhao, J. (2021). Can virtual conferences promote social connection? https://psyarxiv.com/37n6u/

Price, M. (2020). Scientists discover upsides of virtual meetings. Science, 368(6490), 457-458. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.368.6490.457

Rubinger, L., Gazendam, A., Ekhtiari, S., Nucci, N., Payne, A., Johal, H., Khanduja, V., & Bhandari, M. (2020). Maximizing virtual meetings and conferences: A review of best practices. International Orthopaedics, 44, 1461-1466. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-020-04615-9

Endings, Beginnings, Misinformation, and Membership

Fri, 07 May 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Endings, Beginnings, Misinformation, and Membership

As we near final exams and the arrival of vaccines in many countries (although not nearly enough!), we might imagine an end – to teaching via Zoom, to social isolation, and hopefully to the terrible suffering and loss experienced by so many. We might imagine new beginnings – from in-person classes to reunions with loved ones.

But multiple challenges remain, including one that we, as psychology instructors, can help overcome. Rampant misinformation has been responsible, in part, for the spread of the virus and for vaccine hesitancy (e.g., Hotez et al., 2021; Su, 2021). The resurgence of the virus in so many places in the world – most notably India and Brazil – has resulted in part from misinformation (e.g., Al-Zaman, 2021). We can work with our students at all levels – from secondary through graduate – to emphasize critical thinking and scientific literacy. And we can give students experience explicitly challenging misinformation (i.e., unintentional) and disinformation (i.e., purposeful). Here’s a great lesson plan related to that.

One study, for example, found that people who were able to detect disinformation and were higher in health literacy were more likely to get vaccinated against COVID-19 (Montagni et al. 2021). The authors define health literacy as “the extent to which people can access, understand, appraise and apply health-related information through all communication channels.” Replace “health-related” with “psychology-related” and this is what we do! In my own writing and teaching, I have increasingly focused on scientific literacy broadly. I find that students are engaged by the relevance of current examples, and, of course, many of these examples directly relate to psychology – for example, there is no evidence that crystals heal depression, that brain games reduce dementia, or that people learn better if lessons fit their “learning style.”

I have been steered toward great misinformation-related pedagogy and research by my STP colleagues, often on the STP Facebook page. (I particularly like checkology.org and firstdraftnews.org for classroom ideas and resources.) Hopefully, we’ll soon have these types of conversations in person at STP’s Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT), which will be both virtual and in person in Louisville, KY, in October – thanks to the great work of Lindsay Masland, our new Conference Director. And that is not fake news!

Finally, in my ongoing series of introductions of the Vice Presidents of STP, meet Meera Komarraju, our VP for Membership! The work of Meera and her team is essential to recruiting and supporting the members of STP who make us what we are as an organization – the members I turn to when I want to address misinformation in my classes, and much more. Below, Meera discusses her role within STP, the opportunities within her area, and why she so values her involvement in STP. As always, check out STP’s Get Involved page if you decide you would like to, well, get involved!

What would you like STP members to know about your position?

As Vice President of Membership, I interact with the following committees situated within this portfolio: STP Fellows, Early Career Psychologists, Graduate Student Teaching Association, Membership, Membership Communication and the This is how I teach Blog. Each of these committees works fairly independently and helps STP welcome new members, stay connected with continuing members, share important resources and provide opportunities for professional development. In particular, membership in STP offers a direct mechanism for getting networked with others who have an interest in the teaching of psychology. You can find mentors, peers, and gain knowledge that is passed along through informal conversations that is rarely taught in a classroom. This position gives you a chance to open doors for others seeking access to these resources.

What do you most value about STP?

My connection with STP goes back over a period of about twelve years. During this time, I have enjoyed a sense of belonging within a warm and welcoming community of colleagues. We share a passion for the Teaching of Psychology and this common interest as well as the friendship that has surrounded me represent my fondest professional experiences. STP is a society that welcomes teachers of psychology from a variety of backgrounds. These are psychology teachers in high schools, community colleges, or universities and could be tenure-track, adjunct, or graduate student instructors. Irrespective of backgrounds, the connecting link is our love of teaching. My interactions with my colleagues have been energizing and uplifting. So what I value the most is this bonding over the teaching of psychology!

References

Al-Zaman, M. S. (2021). COVID-19-related social media fake news in India. Journalism and Media, 2, 100–114. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia2010007

Hotez, P., Batista, C., Ergonul, O., Figueroa, J. P., Gilbert, S., Gursel, M., ... & Bottazzi, M. E. (2021). Correcting COVID-19 vaccine misinformation: Lancet Commission on COVID-19 Vaccines and Therapeutics Task Force Members. EClinicalMedicine, 33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100780

Montagni, I., Ouazzani-Touhami, K., Mebarki, A., Texier, N., Schück, S., Tzourio, C., & CONFINS group (2021). Acceptance of a Covid-19 vaccine is associated with ability to detect fake news and health literacy. Journal of Public Health, fdab028. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdab028

Su, Y. (2021). It doesn’t take a village to fall for misinformation: Social media use, discussion heterogeneity preference, worry of the virus, faith in scientists, and COVID-19-related misinformation beliefs. Telematics and Informatics, 58, 101547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2020.101547

The Essential Role of Mentors, Including in the Life of STP’s VP for Grants and Awards

Fri, 02 Apr 2021 13:07:46 GMT

During the pandemic, many of us have turned to our mentors for advice and support or sought out new mentors who could guide us through unexpected circumstances – such as a switch to remote teaching or a change in employment status. Other times mentors and mentees swapped roles, with the mentee sharing skills their mentor suddenly needs – whether creating video lectures for classes or practicing mindfulness medication for self care.

As I thought about this post over the past month, the theme of mentoring has been inescapable. First, as I continue to highlight members of the STP Executive Committee with the goal of increasing awareness of the many arenas in which STP operates, I learned that Keli Braitman, STP’s Vice President for Grants and Awards, credits a mentor for her involvement in STP. (You’ll read more about Keli and her VP role later in this post!) Then, on March 13, I was invited to attend a Zoom social hour of STP’s Early Career Psychology Committee and mentoring network. It was wonderful to hear about the relationships formed between mentors and mentees paired through STP’s Professional Development Mentoring Network, directed by Diane Finely. I also worked this month on a soon-to-be-launched podcast project with colleagues Yinka Akinsulure-Smith, Eric Landrum, and Asani Seawell. Our podcast, Beyond Teaching, is part of the STP-sponsored PsychSessions series, and will focus on non-classroom issues that psychology instructors face. It’s perhaps not surprising that the first topic we tackled was finding a mentor!

(Want to join STP’s Mentoring Network as a mentor or mentee next academic year? Apply through May 31 here. Director Diane Finley personally makes matches based on shared interests and experiences, and she encourages folks to apply. Diane hopes to increase diversity in the program, particularly among mentors! She asks you to be sure to check that your STP membership is up to date before applying.)

Finally, our featured VP, Keli Braitman, who holds all the answers for how you can get STP money! We are eager to recognize and support the amazing work of our members, and Keli works both tirelessly and enthusiastically to oversee the many committees that carefully review applications. I am so often amazed at the breadth and value of the work that our members do, and I’m grateful to Keli and the awards chairs and committees for highlighting these accomplishments.

What would you like STP members to know about your position? VP for Grants and Awards is arguably one of the best roles in STP – who doesn’t love giving grants and awards? Kidding aside, supporting the work of our members through awards recognizing excellence in teaching, mentorship of teachers, civic engagement, and promotion of work to expand diversity, equity and inclusion; through travel grants for early career psychologists, high school teachers, and for international travel; and grants for scholarship of teaching and learning, instructional resources, and partnerships across organizations, is incredibly gratifying.

The person in this role collaborates with chairs of 11 different grant and award committees, which is an enriching way to get to know others in STP. Another benefit is in learning more about the important work that our members are doing to support the mission of the Society. It is both humbling and gratifying to see the breadth and depth of these endeavors. In addition to overseeing the development, maintenance, and functioning of STP’s grants and awards programs, the VP for Grants and Awards considers new areas for recognition and support. Most recently I worked with the VP for Diversity and International Relations and the chair of the Diversity Committee to develop our latest award to recognize instructors who promote and prioritize the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion in their teaching and mentoring. Lastly, serving with other members of the Executive Committee is an excellent way to learn more about the various areas of STP, including programming, resources, membership, and international relations.

What do you most value about STP? I returned to teaching at the age of 38 after working in non-profit research for several years. Having been away from the classroom, one of my mentors suggested I become involved in STP as a way of connecting with others with a passion for teaching. She directed me to the ‘Get Involved’ page and my first touchpoint was serving on the Partnership Small Grants committee. I began taking advantage of STP’s varied resources, networking, and professional development opportunities. The more I leaned in, the more connected I felt. I teach in a small 3-person department, and so developing networks with teachers outside of my institution became so rewarding, and has led to opportunities that have enhanced my teaching, scholarship, and service. In short, my professional (and social) life would not be the same without STP. What I most want others to know is that there are a variety of grant and award programs to support and recognize our members’ work. Please take a look!

One Year (and Hopefully Only One Year) of Solitude

Mon, 08 Mar 2021 02:11:17 GMT

Just a year ago, most of us had no idea that in about a week, our lives would change in ways enormous and tiny. (I’m writing this on March 7.) My personal shut-down day was March 15, the first day that Seton Hall University, where I teach, went fully remote. My last non-take-out restaurant meal was a few days before that. I wish I had known! I had a veggie sausage at a local beer hall, which was delicious, but my mediocre cooking skills mean that I can grill the heck out of a Beyond Sausage at home. In retrospect, I would have opted for the spectacle of a sushi bar or a sizzling skillet of fajitas!

I won’t lie. It’s been hard, and I hit (and pushed through) my own personal pandemic wall in December. But I also recognize the enormous disparities in the ways in which the pandemic has affected us, with people like me – white, childfree, employed, working remotely – faring far better than others. Women, especially those with children, have disproportionately lost their jobs and disproportionately taken on increased childcare obligations, including monitoring online learning from home (Thibaut & van Wijngaarden, 2020). Young people who identify as LGBTQ have faced the difficulty of isolation from supportive communities and, in some cases, the challenges of moving back to intolerant family homes (Gonzales et al., 2020). People living in certain counties (e.g., rural vs. urban), states, and countries have suffered more than others, often because of socioeconomic status or governmental policies (e.g., Moreno et al., 2020). And our BIPOC friends, neighbors, and colleagues have faced particular difficulties, due in large part to the structural inequities, including overrepresentation in essential jobs and decreased access to healthcare, that have only been exacerbated during the pandemic (Loeb et al., 2020).

Many parts of the world are also experiencing rising rates of xenophobia and anti-Asian racism (Misra et al., 2020). As an instructor, I start each class by sharing articles that I, or the students in the class, have found that relate to topics in the course. I recently flagged a New York Times article titled “What This Anti-Asian Violence Reveals About America” to share with my students. Not long after, I heard from Molly Metz, a member of STP’s Early Career Committee and until recently the head moderator of STP’s Facebook page. She shared a powerful Twitter thread by psychology professor Jin X. Goh who asked “has your university/ department/ organization said anything about the wave of violence against Asians and Asian Americans?” And anti-Asian racism isn’t limited to the United States; it affects many of our STP members around the globe.

Molly’s message and Goh’s tweets are important reminders of the work that STP needs to keep doing. I want to again call attention to STP’s Statement on Addressing Systemic Racism and Inequity in STP and encourage all of us to keep talking about racism and antiracism – with each other and with our students. And to keep finding ways to incorporate these topics into our classes both to support our Asian, Black, and other BIPOC students and to educate all students. I also want to encourage us to support and speak out on behalf of our Asian colleagues and students. (There are many helpful resources related to anti-Asian racism, including this compilation from Northwestern University and more general resources related to racial trauma from STP.)

As I indicated in my last post, one of my goals for this platform is to introduce STP members to the sprawling organizational structure of the organization in the hopes of helping anyone who is interested to find your niche within our organization. STP has five Vice Presidents, so starting with this post, I’ll introduce you to each of them. Appropriately, given the topic of this post, I’m starting with the Vice President for Diversity and International Relations, Kelley Haynes-Mendez. Kelley was an essential part of the development of the statement and resources on racial trauma I describe above, and has also spearheaded an organizational initiative to assess STP’s current status on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Below, she discusses her role within STP, the opportunities within her area, and why she so values her involvement in STP.

Kelley particularly wants to highlight STP’s Get Involved page, and she encourages STP members who are BIPOC or who represent marginalized and underrepresented communities to join us! Please do!

What would you like STP members to know about your position?

The Vice President for Diversity and International Relations is responsible for collaborating and consulting with the other four VPs, the Chairs of the Diversity Committee and the International Relations Committee, and other Executive Committee members to ensure that diversity and international issues are infused in all Society’s activities. The Vice President oversees and works closely with the chairs of the Diversity Committee, International Relations Committee, and International Twitter Poster Conference Committee in order to advance diversity and international issues within STP. Additionally, I consult with Presidential task forces and our journal editor in order to address diversity, equity, and inclusion issues. Presently, I am helping to coordinate an organizational self-assessment for diversity, equity, and inclusion. I am also consulting with the current Presidential task force on diversity, equity, and inclusion alongside chairs and members of both the Diversity and International Relations committees.

What do you most value about STP?

I found a home in STP after presenting at its Best Practices conference for teaching diversity. After that conference I was invited to be member of the Diversity Committee. After serving there for several years I became a liaison between the Diversity and International Relations Committees and later chair of the International Relations Committee. While serving as chair of the International Relations Committee I was also invited to be a part of a Presidential Task Force on internationalization. There are a number of opportunities to plug in and get involved within STP. Having so many opportunities available usually means that anyone who is interested can find a good fit. This is what I value most about STP – the opportunity to get involved with various committees, task forces, and other projects and initiatives.

References

Gonzales, G., de Mola, E. L., Gavulic, K. A., McKay, T., & Purcell, C. (2020). Mental health needs among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender college students during the COVID-19 pandemic, Journal of Adolescent Health, 67(5), 645-648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.08.006

Loeb, T. B., Ebor, M. T., Smith, A. M., Chin, D., Novacek, D. M., Hampton-Anderson, J. N., Norwood-Scott, E., Hamilton, A. B., Brown, A. F., & Wyatt, G. E. (2020). How mental health professionals can address disparities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Traumatology. https://doi-org.jpllnet.sfsu.edu/10.1037/trm0000292

Misra, S., Le, P. D., Goldmann, E., & Yang, L. H. (2020). Psychological impact of anti-Asian stigma due to the COVID-19 pandemic: A call for research, practice, and policy responses. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(5), 461-464. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tra0000821

Moreno, C., Wyles, T., Galderisi, S., Nordentoft, M., Crossley, N., Jones, N. Cannon, M., Correll, C. U., Byrne, L., Carr, S. Chen, E. Y. H., Gorwood, P., Johnson, S., Kärkkäinen, H., Krystal, J. H., Lee, J., Lieberman, J., López-Jaramillo, C., Männikkö, M., … Arango, C. (2020). How mental health care should change as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancet, 7(9), 813-824. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30307-2

Thibaut, F., & van WIjngaarden-Cremers, P. J. M. (2020). Women’s mental health in the time of COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, 1. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2020.588372

Groundhog Semester

Wed, 03 Feb 2021 05:00:00 GMT

Groundhog Semester

For many of us, a new academic term has begun, just in time for Groundhog Day, when those of us in the U.S. and Canada anxiously wait for a rodent to emerge from the ground. We hope it won’t see its shadow, which would mean an early spring. (Of course, it saw its shadow this year.) The holiday was featured in the 1993 film, Groundhog Day, in which the protagonist had to live the same day over and over and over until he got it right. I’m beginning to feel like we’re all in a film called Groundhog Semester. Fortunately, engagement with STP colleagues is a reminder that while we have mastered a lot of the art of pandemic teaching, we continue to learn and to teach each other. Maybe we’ll get this term “right” and return to a semblance of pre-pandemic normal.

I plan to use this opportunity to address STP members monthly by highlighting the leaders of the organization, the work that they do, and ways for you to get involved within various STP units. The STP Executive Committee has actively developed policies, such as term limits and open calls for opportunities, in an effort to draw new people into STP service and leadership and to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within STP. I hope that a deeper understanding of the range of what STP does will help you to target areas in which you might contribute. Or you can simply regularly check our Get Involved page on the STP website where current opportunities are posted until a position seems right for you!

This month, I’m going to feature our Executive Director, Tom Pusateri, and Internet Editor, Jon Westfall. You’ll hear a little from each of them later in this post, including their roles at STP, how they support all of us within STP, and why they value their STP involvement. As you’ll see, they each are responsible for a number of essential roles without which our organization would fall apart. But first, I will highlight the tagging project that Tom and Jon are heading up and for which they’re looking for volunteers. (In coming months, I’ll highlight each of the five Vice Presidential areas – Diversity and International Relations, Grants and Awards, Membership, Programming, and Resources – as well as the important roles of Secretary and Treasurer. I hope it will help you understand STP better as an organization as well as help you find your place within STP.

The STP website tagging project:

No, this is not a call for graffiti artists! As Jon explains in the call for tagging volunteers, “Ever wish that you could find all of STP’s resources on a given topic in one easy, unified way? So do we! That’s why we’ve been working on a project to tag our resources (teaching materials, eBooks, syllabi, blog posts, you name it) with common words such as “statistics”, “development”, “social”, and of course, “engagement”!” If you want to learn more, email Jon at ie@teachpsych.org. To apply, send your CV by March 31. If you’re new to STP, the tagging project is a great way to get involved and learn more about what we offer!

Executive Director Tom Pusateri, in his own words:

What would you like STP members to know about your position? The Executive Director serves as support staff for members of STP’s Executive Committee (presidential trio, secretary, treasurer, and five vice presidents), for those in STP leadership positions (e.g., editors, programming directors, chairs), for STP members seeking information or assistance, and for nonmembers and representatives from other organizations seeking to join or collaborate with STP. Some of the main responsibilities of the position include managing the STP membership database; sharing timely announcements via STP’s website, newsletter, social media platforms; developing and sharing resources that support STP leaders (e.g., Gmail accounts; shared Dropbox accounts, maintaining updated bylaws, policies, and procedures); responding to requests for assistance via STP’s primary Gmail account (stp@teachpsych.org); and consulting with APA’s staff on issues pertaining to STP’s identity as Division 2 of APA.

What do you most value about STP? I have been fortunate to work with an incredible group of talented people who have been elected or appointed to leadership positions in STP and the many others who contribute to STP’s committee work, task forces, programming, web-based resources, social media, etc. Most of these individuals are volunteers who receive no or little compensation for their work, but who serve because they are genuinely committed to supporting fellow teachers of psychology and their students. This is truly a collaborative group who share a vision, who treat each other with respect, and who feel comfortable sharing differences of opinion with the goal of finding common ground to further STP’s mission.

Internet Editor Jon Westfall, in his own words:

What would you like STP members to know about your position? The Internet Editor is responsible for overseeing STP’s internet properties, from the website to having advisory or oversight roles on the Wikis and the mailing lists while others handle day to day operations. Each time a new resource is posted, a new eBook is published, or pages are modified or created, the Internet Editor or one of my associate editors is involved. Serving as Executive Director, Tom and I also have shared access and oversight on all properties, setting up a redundancy so that if either of us is unavailable, the other has access to take care of pressing matters such as password resets or looking up discrepancies in membership dues or other member information. Finally, the IE also serves as the resident tech advisor anytime someone in STP wants to take on a new project and needs some tech support or investigation. For example, when the tagging project first launched, I scouted options before we eventually settled on the Diigo platform to allow for flexible bookmarking that also would integrate into our web infrastructure. It’s not uncommon for me to get random questions about the best way to create something online, or requests for help in troubleshooting a particularly annoying computer glitch.

What do you most value about STP? As a graduate student who had taught continuing education courses prior to entering grad school, I was shocked to find so many of my colleagues disliked teaching. When I worked in the Ivy League space as a postdoc, I was further shocked at how many treated teaching as a “time suck” that prevented them from doing what they “really wanted” to do. I value STP because everyone in STP values good, innovative, and immersive teaching. We are psychology educators that do not value ourselves solely on the research we do, but on the impact factor only measurable on one student at a time.

2021 Presidential Task Forces

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 05:01:00 GMT

2021 STP Presidential Task Forces

Susan A. Nolan, STP President (Seton Hall University)

Task Force on Integration of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and International Initiatives Across STP: The task force will continue the work on DEI that 2020 President Amy Fineburg initiated. The task force will explore how to more fully integrate STP’s DEI and international initiatives in all we do, including membership, programming, awards, and resources. The task force will examine the structure of the organization, including whether there might be more explicit connections across the five Vice-Presidential areas or whether a new structure would help STP move away from the siloed nature of our current structure. The task force will use information from the newly implemented DEI assessments as well as any assessments that they implement. The task force also will offer suggestions to increase inclusion and equity, including with respect to internationalization, in all areas, including with respect to our membership, leadership, award/grant applicants, and invited speakers. For questions about this Task Force, please email: TF2021Diversity@teachpsych.org

Name	Affiliation
Arlen Garcia (Task Force Chair)	Miami Dade College
Alex Borgella	Fort Lewis College
Ellen Carpenter	Virginia Commonwealth University
Millie Cordaro	Texas State University
Lindsay Masland	Appalachian State University
Molly Metz	University of Toronto
Jerry Mize	George Mason University
Judith Pena-Shaff	Ithaca College
Manisha Sawhney	University of Mary
Jaclyn Siegel	University of Western Ontario
Gabrielle Smith	Texas Woman’s University
Maaly Younis	University of Northern Colorado
Ali Ziegler	University of Alaska Southeast
Liaisons from Diversity Committee
Dina Gohar	University of Michigan
Jennifer Lovell	California State University Monterey Bay
Teceta Tormala (Chair, STP Diversity Committee)	Palo Alto University

Task Force for Resources for “Pivot Teaching”: The task force will gather, solicit, and publicize resources for “pivot teaching” – e.g., changing modalities mid-semester, accommodating individual students whose situation has changed, integrating more flexibility into courses generally. The resources might include information on shifting to online, hybrid, or HyFlex modalities, for providing online resources for students in a face-to-face course, and for communicating with students in flexible, creative, and inclusive ways. The task force will prioritize top-notch, evidence-based, student-centered teaching and learning as modalities and other conditions shift. For questions about this Task Force, please email: tf2021pivotteaching@teachpsych.org

Name	Affiliation
Jenel Cavazos (Task Force Chair)	University of Oklahoma
Bob DuBois	University of Tennessee
Jameice DeCoster	The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Morton Ann Gernsbacher	University of Wisconsin-Madison
Chris Hakala	Springfield College
Kelli Johnson	The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Alison Melley	George Mason University
Richard Niolon	The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Larry (Lawrence) Rudiger	University of Vermont
Wendy Schiff	The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Inga Schowengerdt	Boston University
Asani Seawell	Pacific University – Oregon

Task Force on Statistical Literacy, Reasoning, and Thinking: Guidelines 2.0: STP’s initial peer-reviewed statistical literacy guidelines were published on the STP website in 2014 (see below for links). Since then, there have been far-reaching changes in the ways in which statistics are taught, and the ways in which changes in best practices for research methodology have driven how statistical analyses are approached. The task force will create updated STP guidelines for statistical literacy, reasoning, and thinking to incorporate what we have learned from the open science movement, data ethics initiatives, and new analytical approaches. For questions about this task force, please email: TF2021Statistics@teachpsych.org

· Statistical Literacy in the Introductory Psychology Course

· Statistical Literacy in the Undergraduate Psychology Curriculum

· Statistical Literacy in Psychology: Resources, Activities, and Assessment Methods

Name	Affiliation
Jess Hartnett (Task Force Chair)	Gannon University
Erin Freeman (Chair, Psych Majors Subcommittee)	University of Oklahoma
Garth Neufeld (Chair, Intro to Psych Subcommittee)	Cascadia College
Samantha Estrada Aguilera	University of Texas at Tyler
Kelly Goedert	Seton Hall University
Bryan Karazsia	The College of Wooster
Karen Naufel	Georgia Southern University
Janet Peters	Washington State University
Vimal Rao	University of Minnesota
Alison Young Reusser	Houghton College
Viji Sathy	University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Raymond Shaw	Merrimack College
Raechel Soicher	Oregon State University
Tamarah Smith	Gwynedd Mercy University
Jodie Ullman	California State University-San Bernardino
Amanda Woodward	University of California, Riverside

Greetings from the President

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 05:00:00 GMT

2020 is over! At last!

A year ago, I celebrated New Year’s Eve at home in Jersey City, NJ, cooking dinner with my husband (and falling asleep well before midnight). We had flown back that day from a week’s vacation in Colombia, where we had joined dear friends for a holiday visit with their family, whom we were meeting for the first time. With the benefit of hindsight, it all sounds so daring. There was hugging, dancing, and crowding on public transportation. We even shared food!

I was a bit anxious upon my return about getting all my prep done for my spring courses. At that point, it hadn’t even crossed my mind to describe my spring courses as “face-to-face.” Based on my usual teaching load, that would have been like describing mail as “snail mail.” Fast forward to March…

Who could have guessed that travel would soon grind to a halt? That hugging or meeting strangers – your friends’ parents even – would be forbidden? That we would be socially isolating for months and months (and months)? Reading preprints from disciplines far from our own, trying to understand how to thwart a dangerous virus? Developing strategies to combat misinformation? Teaching remotely, while scrambling to develop creative ways to engage and assess? Supporting our students not just in their studies but in their lives (even more than usual) as they faced illness, family difficulties, financial strains, and emotional distress? And all of this compounded by growing awareness of a second longstanding pandemic of racism? Not me.

A year later, we have all learned so much. I have learned from friends, family, colleagues, and students, but also from STP. STP’s resources, new and old, have served as encyclopedic reservoirs of helpful information, including about how to be better at teaching online, increasing student engagement, and practicing anti-racism. And our members have reached out to share resources and insights through STP’s social media. Our Facebook page, in particular, which has more than 16,000 members, has been a source of information, solace, and more than one meme that made me laugh out loud!

It was against this backdrop that I planned my presidential task forces, in the hopes that their work would better situate us for future challenges. I put out a call for task force members months ago, and I am thrilled that so many experienced instructors and scholars volunteered to participate. The members of the task forces are diverse demographically, institutionally, and in terms of their roles; we are lucky to have graduate students and early career psychologists among their numbers, as well as very experienced instructors. And so many task force members are new to service to STP, or in several cases, new even to STP!

We also are fortunate to have experts in each of these areas agree to serve as chairs. I am excited to follow the work of these task forces as these strong and experienced leaders guide their talented colleagues. I hope that many of you will reach out to these task forces if you have ideas or suggestions. You can see rosters of the task forces here .

Task Force on Integration of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and International Initiatives Across STP: The DEI/International task force, chaired by Arlen Garcia, will continue the work on DEI that 2020 President Amy Fineburg initiated. The task force will explore how to more fully integrate STP’s DEI and international initiatives in all we do, including membership, programming, awards, and resources. The task force will examine the structure of the organization, including whether there might be more explicit connections across the five Vice-Presidential areas or whether a new structure would help STP move away from the siloed nature of our current structure. The task force also will offer suggestions to increase inclusion and equity, including with respect to internationalization, in all areas, including with respect to our membership, leadership, award/grant applicants, and invited speakers. To provide input related to this Task Force, please email: TF2021Diversity@teachpsych.org.

Task Force for Resources for “Pivot Teaching”: The task force, chaired by Jenel Cavazos, will gather, solicit, and publicize resources for “pivot teaching” – e.g., changing modalities mid-semester, accommodating individual students whose situation has changed, integrating more flexibility into courses generally. The resources might include information on shifting to online, hybrid, or HyFlex modalities, for providing online resources for students in a face-to-face course, and for communicating with students in flexible, creative, and inclusive ways. The task force will prioritize top-notch, evidence-based, student-centered teaching and learning as modalities and other conditions shift. For questions related to this Task Force, please email: tf2021pivotteaching@teachpsych.org.

Task Force on Statistical Literacy, Reasoning, and Thinking: Guidelines 2.0: This task force is particularly close to my heart because I chaired the first iteration of this task force in 2012. The outcomes of our peer-reviewed statistical literacy guidelines were published on the STP website in 2014. Since then, there have been far-reaching changes in the ways in which statistics is taught, and the ways in which changes in best practices for research methodology have driven how statistical analyses are approached. The task force will create updated STP guidelines for statistical literacy, reasoning, and thinking to incorporate what we have learned from the open science movement, data ethics initiatives, and new analytical approaches. The task force will be chaired by Jess Hartnett, with Garth Neufeld chairing the subcommittee targeting the introductory psychology course and Erin Freeman chairing the subcommittee targeting the psychology major. For any questions related to this Task Force, please email: TF2021Statistics@teachpsych.org.

I look forward to serving as STP President this year, as we (hopefully) emerge from pandemic restrictions. STP is made up of a remarkable group of people who care deeply about teaching and about the scholarship of teaching and learning. I have two new year’s resolutions. Most importantly, to emerge from this pandemic, with support from the STP community, as a better instructor and scholar and ally to members of marginalized groups. And secondly, to travel again, ideally with locals, and hopefully back to Colombia where I will dance and hug and crowd onto public transportation with abandon!

Greetings from the President

Thu, 03 Dec 2020 05:00:00 GMT

When I taught high school, I noticed students often seemed to be wishing their lives away. They wished time would pass quickly because only in the future would they be able to do what they wanted to do. They would wish for homecoming festivities to get here. They would wish it were winter holidays or spring break. They would wish it were graduation or even just Friday. As an adult in their lives, it seemed to be my job to quash these wishes and remind them that they only have the time they have now. I would admonish them not to wish their lives away and live in the moment, seizing the day and counting the rosebuds while they may. I wasn’t trying to be a party pooper. Seizing the day can be a lot of fun, and rosebuds do smell nice.

But, honestly, these days, I’m finding myself wishing this year away. I am wishing for a day when any or all of the various vaccines are widely available and effective. I’m wishing for the day I can travel again – anywhere, please. I wish for a time when my children can be back in school full-time with their amazing teachers and friends. I wish the future to be here now because I am tired of all this. I know you are as well. 2020 has been a year for the history books, and it will get the asterisk designation every single time it is mentioned going forward. We will qualify what we did this year with prepositional phrases like “for a pandemic,” “amidst racial violence and trauma,” and “during a stressful election year.” Whatever we did or did not accomplish, it was the best that could happen for a pandemic amidst racial violence and trauma during a stressful election year. Whew.

Even as I wish for this time to pass, I am grateful for my time as president of STP in 2020.

· The Executive Committee is one of the best groups of people I’ve worked with. I’ve been a member of the EC as a VP and as President for five years now, and no matter who has been elected to serve, they were dedicated, professional, interesting, and sharp people. I am honored to be among the people you members of STP have chosen for leadership. I am the first president of STP to have taught high school psychology as my primary teaching experience, and our community is the only one I am aware of that welcomes high school teachers as peers. I will always be grateful to the members and leaders of STP who have set that standard for our community.

· I am honored to be a part of diversity, equity, and inclusion work for STP this year. I chose to make diversification of our membership my top presidential priority this year, and the work became even more urgent as the year progressed. I am honored that leaders in STP shared their expertise and experience to craft our diversity statement, to participate in my APA Presidential Hour panel, to edit and contribute to diversity initiatives with our journal, and to develop recommendations for diversifying our membership. This work has inspired and challenged me, and I hope that STP can be an example for how an organization can make real systemic change for the better.

· I am so sad we could not gather in person for our annual conference, but I am grateful that we were able to offer a virtual conference – and we’re continuing to offer it! All members can still access presentations from virtual ACT, so I encourage you to login or to join and login as soon as you can. If you need a little uplift as this year winds down, experiencing the quality presentations and conversations from virtual ACT 2020 may be just what you need.

· These blog posts have been surprisingly fulfilling to write. As I shared from the beginning, I haven’t really found success being a blogger on my own. I overthink and overedit myself, making it hard to be timely and, well, concise. I am grateful to Tom Pusateri, Kelley Haynes-Mendez, and Susan Nolan for giving their input off and on this year to make these posts readable. And thank you for reading them.

I am leaving this presidency grateful for my time even though it wasn’t at all what I was hoping for.

I am grateful that STP is financially sound and was poised to weather this challenging year.

I am grateful that you all have shared your experiences throughout this year with each other in the effort to make even a moment of this uncomfortable time a little less uncomfortable.

I am grateful that I get to be a little part of the history of this organization, standing on the shoulders of the giants who have come before me and hopefully being a solid perch for future leaders to stand on.

May you find something to be grateful for in this pandemic amidst racial violence and trauma during a stressful election year. If you can find gratitude, may it carry you through the rest of this year and into that future we wish was already here.

Thanks for letting me lead you this year.

Take good care, all.

Amy Fineburg

STP President 2020

Greetings from the President

Sat, 07 Nov 2020 05:00:00 GMT

It’s November, and like everyone in the US, I’m reflecting on the presidency – MY presidency of STP, of course (that’s what y’all are reflecting on, too, right?!?). My presidential year is winding down, and what a year it’s been. I’m trying to focus on the positives, like our successful virtually delivered conference; the amazing collaborations about remote emergency instruction and online teaching; and the open, honest, and reflective discussions about diversity, equity, and inclusion within STP. I’m so glad you got to hear from Susan Nolan last month in the Presidential blog! Susan is going to be a great leader for STP in 2021, and I will be so excited to see her presidential initiatives come to fruition! And congratulations to Linda Woolf, our incoming president-elect! I’m looking forward to more strong leadership from both of these excellent colleagues and friends in the years to come.

I want to give a huge shout out to Jordan Triosi, our ACT Director, for leading the work to convert our in-person gathering into a virtual one. He and his committee along with Lindsay Masland (incoming ACT Director) made a huge jug of sweet lemonade out of the COVID lemons we were dealt and gave us all a fabulous experience. The speakers were spot on. The tech worked well. The good times were had. And you can enjoy all the talks on our YouTube channel for the near future (or until the internet changes, which could be next week)!

Good has come from this extraordinary year, but I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the pain and sadness this year has brought as well. Teaching has never been as hard as it has been this year. I’ve always believed teachers to be superstars, but this year’s efforts have convinced me that teachers are superheroes. Typically, teachers have it hard trying to convince people that what they have to teach is both interesting and important. Being successful at that is harder than it looks! But this year has shown us that interesting and important are often the least of our concerns. People are sick. People are exhausted. People are overwhelmed. People are afraid. People are traumatized. But every day, many of those people – you teachers – are waking up, breathing deeply, digging in, and teaching. You’re learning new modalities of delivery and presentation. You are figuring out how to ease concerns and soothe anxiety. And the job is getting done. It may not be the job you were hoping to accomplish. It may not be the best work you’ve ever done. But it’s the best work you’ve ever done in a pandemic year full of racial trauma and re-reckoning, societal uncertainty, and toilet paper shortages. So, please, slap your favorite superhero brand on your chest and call yourself proud of what you’ve been able to do.

In the last few weeks of this tumultuous year, I’ll be reflecting on what I’ve been through, what I’ve overcome, what I’ve wished I’d done better, what I hope for the future. I’ve seen people lose loved ones. I’ve worried for myself and those I care about. I’ve been outraged by injustice, incompetence, and cruelty. I’ve tried to adapt to challenge and change. I wish I had more time to learn and plan. I hope we will find a way to cure or at least live successfully with this virus. I hope we can see and smile with our students again someday very, very soon.

Take care, all. You’re not alone.

Amy Fineburg

STP President 2020

STP's 2021 Presidential Task Forces

Sat, 10 Oct 2020 04:00:00 GMT

by Susan Nolan, STP President-Elect

I’m excited to announce the 2021 Presidential Task Forces! Please email me at susan.nolan@shu.edu if you are interested in serving on any of these task forces, or if you have any questions.

Task Force on Integration of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and International Initiatives Across STP

The task force will continue the work on DEI that 2020 President Amy Fineburg initiated. The task force will explore how to integrate STP’s DEI and international initiatives more fully in all we do, including membership, programming, awards, and resources. The task force will examine the structure of the organization, including whether there might be more explicit connections across the five Vice-Presidential areas or whether a new structure would help STP move away from the siloed nature of our current structure. The task force will use information from the newly implemented DEI assessments as well as any assessments that they implement. The task force also will offer suggestions to increase inclusion and equity, including with respect to internationalization, in all areas, including with respect to our membership, leadership, award/grant applicants, and invited speakers.

Task Force for Resources for “Pivot Teaching”

The task force will gather, solicit, and publicize resources for “pivot teaching” – e.g., changing modalities mid-semester, accommodating individual students whose situation has changed, integrating more flexibility into courses generally. The resources might include information on shifting to online, hybrid, or HyFlex modalities, for providing online resources for students in a face-to-face course, and for communicating with students in flexible, creative, and inclusive ways. The task force will prioritize top-notch, evidence-based, student-centered teaching and learning as modalities and other conditions shift.

Task Force on Statistical Literacy, Reasoning, and Thinking: Guidelines 2.0

STP’s initial peer-reviewed statistical literacy guidelines were published on the STP website in 2014 (see below for links). Since then, there have been far-reaching changes in the ways in which statistics are taught, and the ways in which changes in best practices for research methodology have driven how statistical analyses are approached. The task force will create updated STP guidelines for statistical literacy, reasoning, and thinking to incorporate what we have learned from the open science movement, data ethics initiatives, and new analytical approaches.

· Statistical Literacy in the Introductory Psychology Course

· Statistical Literacy in the Undergraduate Psychology Curriculum

· Statistical Literacy in Psychology: Resources, Activities, and Assessment Methods

I hope many of you will get involved!

Greetings from the President

Tue, 01 Sep 2020 04:00:00 GMT

It’s September of 2020, so it’s been 3 months since the murder of George Floyd and roughly two weeks since the murder of Jacob Blake. Protests are ongoing as people mobilize to speak out against racism and to proclaim that Black Lives Matter. In this time of protest and calls for justice, many organizations have put out diversity statements that seek to affirm commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. After much work by member leaders of STP, we now bring you this Statement on Addressing Systemic Racism and Inequity in STP and our commitment to critical reflection and assessment, representation, equity, and inclusivity.

This statement is the product of pursuing those values. I worked with three members of the Executive Committee to draft and edit this statement – special thanks to VP for Diversity and International Relations Kelley Haynes-Mendez, Secretary Stephanie Afful, and President-Elect Susan Nolan for their work on this statement. Our first attempt at a statement was clumsy, at best. It came across as defensive and performative, even though our intention from the beginning was to avoid such things. STP’s Diversity Committee, led by Teceta Tormala, reviewed the first draft, and they responded with honesty, clarity, and appropriate frustration. Their critical reflection took us back to the drawing board, and we revised the statement to present to the Diversity Committee and the Executive Committee for review. With some minor edits from the EC, we sent the statement to APA for review (as is required for all APA Divisions seeking to put out such a statement). APA responded favorably to the statement, calling it “strong and compelling” and “a model for our association-wide efforts.” This positive feedback from APA would not have happened without the work of the Diversity Committee, specifically Teceta Tormala, Dina Gohar, and Leslie Berntsen. My deepest gratitude to each of them for helping us communicate the values of STP in ways that will help drive our work moving forward.

This statement is STP’s public commitment to all current and future teachers of psychology to pursue the values we outline in the document. The Executive Committee is openly and publicly asking that we be held accountable about how we can make these values a reality in the work of the Society. By being a member of this Society, we call on each of you to uphold these values in your classrooms and work contexts. Recognizing inequity and pursuing the values of critical reflection and assessment, representation, equity, and inclusivity allows us create systems that are antiracist, benefiting everyone and not just a few.

Read STP’s Statement on Addressing Systemic Racism and Inequity in STP here.

Provide feedback on diversity issues and accountability concerns to president@teachpsych.org.

Amy C. Fineburg, PhD

President, 2020

Greetings from the President

Thu, 06 Aug 2020 20:00:10 GMT

Ok, so, the pandemic is not getting better and the plans for this academic year probably won’t work. I’m predicting that, at some point, we will have stretches of time where every day will be like a snow day – will we meet today or not? So, let’s take a detour from the angst and worry over Academic Year 2020-2021 and celebrate some truly wonderful psychology educators.

One of my privileges as STP President is to bestow Presidential Citations to two colleagues “who have made extraordinary life-time contributions to the Society and/or to the teaching of psychology.” The two people that I have honored this year are among the best teachers and people I know.

Loretta Neal McGregor, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology at Arkansas State University and is President of the Faculty Senate. Loretta earned her bachelor’s degree from Ouachita Baptist University, her master’s degree from Emporia State University, and her doctorate from Wichita State University in Human Factors Psychology. She has taught in higher education for almost 30 years. She served for 8 years as department chair at Arkansas State in the Psychology and Counseling Department. Prior to her tenure at ASU, she was an assistant professor at Southern Arkansas University and her alma mater, Ouachita Baptist University.

Loretta has served the teaching of psychology for many years as an advocate for quality undergraduate education for all students. She has taught courses across the undergraduate psychology curriculum, including research methods, statistics, and introduction to psychology. She has been a member of APA’s Board of Educational Affairs and served as Division 2’s (STP’s) Associate Director for Society Programming for the APA Convention. She was a long-time Advanced Placement (AP) Reader and Table Leader, helping to ensure quality scoring of AP Exams for students around the world. Loretta is one of the most preeminent scholars of the life of fellow Arkansan Mamie Phipps Clark, the pioneering social psychologist who, along with her husband Kenneth Clark, conducted the “Black Doll/White Doll” studies that ultimately influenced the 1955 Brown v. Board of Education decision from the United States Supreme Court. Loretta is a sought-after speaker on teaching, learning, and Dr. Clark’s contributions to the field. She is an alumnae of the Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology (LIWP). She is the first African American awarded a Presidential Citation from Division 2.

Kristin Habashi Whitlock is the AP Psychology teacher at Davis High School in Bountiful, Utah. She also teaches courses at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Kristin has been teaching AP Psychology at Davis since the course’s inception in 1992, and she has been involved with the AP Reading since 2001. She has been a Question Leader, Rubric Master, Table Leader, and Reader at the Reading and has served as an Advisor to the College Board and on the AP Psychology Development Committee, which is charged with developing questions for the AP Psychology Exam.

Kristin has been active in promoting quality high school psychology instruction for most of her career. She helped found and directs the Utah Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (U-TOPSS) Fall Conference and is a member of the APA’s Introductory Psychology Initiative group. She served with me on the Steering Committee for the APA National Summit for High School Psychology, co-chairing the “Psychology is a Science” strand. She has served as chair of TOPSS and has presented at just about every major psychology and psychology-affiliated conference that exists, including NITOP, ACT, NCSS, and Psychology One. Kristin is generous in sharing good psychology instruction with others, including being a co-author of such resources as the Barron’s AP Q & A Psychology book and presenting at AP Summer Institutes each year. Kristin is the first high school psychology teacher awarded a Presidential Citation from Division 2.

I am sad that I won’t be able to see them in person this year at our Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT) since we had to move that event to an online experience. So, I made some lemonade out of those lemons and recorded a Zoom-cast with Loretta and Kristin to explore some of their perspectives on teaching and to show you all what amazing, caring, excellent teachers and people they are. Please enjoy our friendly chat.

Speaking of ACT and going virtual, please take a moment to listen to me, Tom Pusateri (our Executive Director) and Jordan Triosi (Director of ACT Programming) discuss our decision making process for going virtual and what we are looking forward to for this year. Thanks to Eric Landrum and the PsychSessions podcast team for taking the time to interview us and share how much we will miss seeing everyone in person this fall. (And take some time to browse around the PsychSessions site to find interviews with amazing psychologists and psychology teachers!).

Amy Fineburg

2020 STP President

Greetings from the President

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 13:29:09 GMT

I had hoped that, by now – July 2020 – we would be in a different place. I had hoped that, seeing the relative success of “flattening the curve” and social distancing from April and early May, we would have a better handle on how to live while waiting for a vaccine or reliable treatment for COVID-19. We needed to have a handle on all this as the fall semester looms large at summer’s end. As each day goes by, it often feels like any hope we have had for a full resumption of normalcy is fading fast.

The more I reflect on this time in our history, the more I wonder if getting back to “normal” is really what we should strive to do. The last month has shown us that “normal” for some is oppression for others. We are reminded that inequities in the systems and in ourselves erode the very goals we as teachers strive to achieve. For as long as I’ve been a teacher (since late last century), I have heard calls to change from the “industrial age” school model to one that feels more modern. I’ve heard calls to change everything from the way academic years are structured to how classrooms are managed to how curriculum is developed. As I think about what I would want for my children – a first-year college student and a rising fourth grader – I want a new normal for schooling, one that may upend some cherished traditions but that might just, in the end, help my children see equity in a system that often promises more than it delivers. Here are some ways I’d like to see schooling change as a result of our modern and difficult times:

Learning is the constant, but time is variable. Learning and time don’t always go in sync. Some people learn some things very quickly. Others take longer. Usually, the speed at which learning happens differs within the person. For instance, a person who might learn a language quickly might take longer to learn how to play an instrument. Someone decided at some point that learning calculus in high school should take an academic term (anywhere from 6 weeks to nine months). Someone else decided that earning a degree in calculus should take four years.

Many teaching practices are designed to manipulate this learning-time dynamic to make learning happen within the time limit. We make students sit through an entire course to earn credits even if they can demonstrate already acquired knowledge. We give extra time and offer incompletes (which must be changed by a certain time) to help students who need more time to learn. What if these time factors – length of academic terms, scheduling of the school day/week, when learning assessments occur – could be more flexible? What if the learning was the main goal instead of completing things “on time?”

At no time in educational history have we had available the technological tools needed to reach students when they are not right in front of us. We can communicate and interact with students virtually like never before. How can we capitalize on this to be able to make learning the focus? How can we reclaim time for ourselves and our students by being flexible about it? I’d like to see more schools consider how to rethink daily and term schedules that allow for flexibility with time without sacrificing – and in fact, encouraging – learning.

This type of change, though, would require our general culture to get on board. Our school day and week are based on when parents need childcare to work most jobs. The timeline for finishing the associate’s or bachelor’s degree is based on when we believe people should be living and working on their own as adults. There is little, if any, good exploration of whether an 8am-3pm, Monday through Friday schedule is ideal for learning with children. And, as we’ve seen with this season of COVID-19, I would argue that there is little real evidence that work must be done on a 9am-5pm, Monday through Friday schedule, either. As we consider reopening schools this fall, why can’t we explore how a more fluid school schedule can help students learn better? We know distributed practice is better. We know that cognitive load is important to consider. We know playtime/free time for students contributes to greater social-emotional learning. Could we adapt to a school schedule that allows for more flexibility of when learning happens? COVID-19 is giving us an opportunity to give it a try in a way that might just save lives in the process.

Inclusive teaching must be the norm, not the exception. If we can adopt the idea that learning should be the focus, not time, then why would anyone NOT try to make teaching inclusive? Inclusive teaching centers on making sure students feel welcome to learn. By providing structure, checking our biases, and meeting students where they are, we can remove so many barriers to learning, and the results will likely amaze us. Students aren’t coming to us from a cookie-cutter factory model of learning. They bring an amazingly complex dynamic of personal and societal variables along with them, making it the ultimate exciting challenge to figure out how to help that students learn best. For most students, turning the learning light on isn’t difficult. It may take learning to pronounce their name correctly or explaining a procedure again patiently. It may take believing their story of hardship, even if it seems incredible. Or it may take not asking them to explain at all, but giving help anyway.

COVID-19 is affecting all of us in ways we only imagined before. How many times during this time have we felt the need to apologize for interruptions by our children or our pets or our roommates or partners during our Zoom calls? Do we blur our backgrounds or turn the books on our shelves around to avoid people’s curiosity (at best) or critiquing (at worst) our lived experiences? We hope our work colleagues will understand when we can’t meet a deadline during COVID or have an errant cat show affection during a video call. Let’s learn from COVID that inclusive teaching allows us to have that understanding for our students.

The power of education must extend beyond our classroom doors. I became a teacher because I wanted to “pay it forward.” I grew up in poverty (although I credit my parents for making our home feel richer than it was), and my educational attainment has allowed me the provide my family the financially comfortable life I didn’t have then. Because of my experiences, I have long been a champion for the power of education for my students. Yet, I realize that the level playing field I work daily to build isn’t guaranteed beyond my classroom door. BIPOC students, students with disabilities, students without documentation, students who speak other languages better than English, students from poverty, LGBTQIA students, etc., could be as educated as I am but are not given respect, deference, justice, or even life in the world.

We cannot continue to sell students on a dream. If we want to see the promise of education fulfilled, we need to work in our own communities to be sure that students can realize the promise. They must not be denied housing or loans or jobs or access. They must be treated fairly and equitably. We must work to make space for our students in the world and not just in our classrooms. We must fight for systems and procedures that bring equity, not just hope for it. We must look at results and data and be willing to see when and why things aren’t working – and then change them. We must speak up. We should also be willing to step aside and make space. Our advocacy for students must extend to the world in which we all share together if we are ever to see the dream we are giving students realized.

We can be the change we need right now. You might not have any control or say over what your institution decides about school and work in the fall. The lack of voice and choice in the larger scope of things will be frustrating and frightening in this time where these issues can have life-or-death consequences. I hope that your principal or provost is considering how to keep people safe.

As you wait to find out, consider using some of these resources to help as you plan for whatever the fall may hold:

A host of resources from STP , from e-books to syllabi to teaching activities.
The APA Guide to College Teaching , brought to us by the APA’s Committee on Baccalaureate and Undergraduate Education (CABE) – and this work is headed up by our VP of Resources Bill Altman and STP member Megan Sumeracki.
A Guide to Inclusive Teaching , headed up by STP member Viji Sathy and her collaborator, Kelly Hogan
The APA’s Top 20 Principles of Teaching and Learning in K-12 Schools (which applies to all levels of teaching, I think).
Find voices that are supporting quality teaching, maybe starting with STP’s This is How I Teach blog, the PsychTeacher Listserv, and STP’s social media accounts (STP’s Facebook group and Twitter )

I had wished that, by now, we would’ve been able to see the end of this COVID-19 tunnel. I had wished that we could see each other at the APA Convention in Washington, but thanks to Missy Beers (our APA Convention Chair) and Jamie McMinn (our outgoing APA Convention Chair), we have a lineup of great virtual speakers . My presidential “hour” will be a Zoom panel discussion with five BIPOC STP members discussing their work and how we can build a more inclusive STP moving forward. Thanks in advance to EC VPs Meera Komarraju and Kelley Haynes-Mendez ; Diversity chair Teceta Tormala ; Membership Chair Rita Obeid ; and Diversity committee member Dina Gohar for serving on this panel and sharing their work.

I had wished that it would’ve been possible for us to hold our Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT) in person in Pittsburgh in October. Unfortunately, we aren’t seeing the end yet, and we can’t gather in person in October. I’m proud of Jordan Triosi (our ACT Director) and Lindsay Masland (our incoming ACT Director) who have worked hard to come up with a new plan for a virtual ACT that will be available FOR FREE to all members of STP. I look forward to this opportunity, and I look even more forward to seeing you all in person again when we can be safe together.

Wear a mask. Keep your physical distance. Look out for each other.

Take care,

Amy Fineburg

2020 STP President

Greetings from the President

Wed, 03 Jun 2020 04:00:00 GMT

In August of 2019, journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones spearheaded a special issue of the New York Times Magazine entitled The 1619 Project, "a commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country's history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative." The magazine showcased historians, writers, and artists to reflect on the impact slavery has had on the American – and the African American – consciousness. As Ibram X. Kendi points out in his book How to Be an Antiracist, racism didn’t start with the arrival of 20 or so Angolans on a Virginia beach. A Portuguese scholar invented a hierarchy of skin color conflated with generalized personal qualities to honor his patron, Prince Henry the Navigator (who, incidentally, never really navigated himself outside of Portugal). This invention not only took hold as justification for chattel slavery of Black people, it persists as justification for continued personal and societal racism long after slavery-as-America-has-known-it was legally abolished.

Once again, the United States is confronting its racism. Social media, for good and for ill, is amplifying the tragedies of the day and the responses to them. We have watched people being killed. We have watched protesters march. We have watched anger being displayed. We have watched monuments come down. We have watched all of it in real time. Social media is allowing us to replay events on demand, unlike how those before us were able to consume the news of the day. It is exposing even more brightly the consequences of racism for all to see. Non-White people have been telling about the effects of racism all along, though.

I hope people listen. I hope people listen to Black and Brown voices about what needs to be done. I hope people act on what needs to be done. I hope psychologists continue to tease out the mechanisms of racism so we can more effectively combat it in our society and in ourselves. I hope we all continue the long march toward freedom and equity.

For those of you who identify as a psychology teacher of color, I hope you are receiving the care and support you need in these traumatizing times. For those of you who teach students of color, I hope you are finding words and actions that care for and support your students in these traumatizing times. For those of you who do not identify as a psychology teacher of color, I hope you are listening and following the guidance of Black and Brown colleagues and friends who want you as an ally and advocate.

As we journey onward, I am asking what the Society for the Teaching of Psychology can do to move us all along the path toward freedom and equity. How can we as teachers be antiracist? How can we teach students to be antiracist? What do teachers need to be better at identifying and responding to racism? What can we as teachers do to help the discipline of psychology be a more inclusive science? I have written before about my presidential initiative to diversify our membership, and a task force is working this year to develop a process for becoming a more inclusive Society. An inclusive STP, though, is only as effective as the people who participate. I hope you bring your voice, expertise, and skills – and listen to the voices, expertise, and skills of others – to help continue building an STP that helps all teachers of psychology gives psychology away to all students.

Take care, fellow teachers.

Amy C. Fineburg, PhD

2020 STP President

Greetings from the President

Mon, 04 May 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Welcome to May, which in my world doesn’t look like it will be much different than April. So, let’s call this season “Maypril.” Whether we get to have a distinct June, July, and August will depend on how well this reopening experiment goes. I’m in one of the experimental groups here in Alabama, but we’re getting a lower dose of the IV than our neighbors in Georgia…

Since the beginning of our isolation responses to this pandemic, people have been waxing philosophic about what might change as a result of our current “normal.” People have been predicting all sorts of societal improvements like a reversing of global climate change, the end of racism, more people getting exercise, a rejection of constant technology dependence, and more man buns. Consider that pollution seems to be clearing up in many places, gas prices are ridiculously low, and my husband’s hair is getting pretty long. Unfortunately, racism still seems alive and well, and my 8-year-old son lives for his 2 hours of entertainment screen time each day. Some things look like they are changing while others remain the same – which is pretty much the same as things have always been, come to think of it.

I think about how other momentous events in my lifetime have changed me and the world around me. I remember watching the Challenger launch live at school in 1986. Afterwards, we rarely watched live events in school. I remember being a new high school teacher the year of the Columbine tragedy. Afterwards, I would make plans in my head for how I could protect my students from an active shooter. I watched the 9-11 attacks unfold in real time. Afterwards, traveling by plane hasn’t been the same. COVID19 has thrown us all for a loop, and, on some levels, we will be forever changed because of it. For a long while, we might be wary of close contact with strangers. We might look askance at people coughing in public. We might be frustrated with people not wearing masks in public.

What will change about teaching and learning? Will more teachers be incorporating good practices in distance/online learning? Will teachers discuss what content or assignments to prioritize in case more closings happen? Will our grading practices and deadlines be better at considering student life circumstances? Will we balance work and life better?

We teach psychology, so we know that, in all likelihood, people will drift back to habits and preferences from before the pandemic faster than the predictions hope. We have spent – and probably will spend – a long time under these cautious conditions, and new habits surely will form. We might eat in more. We might spend more time talking to each other. We might do better at distance learning in the future. We might keep the daily walk ritual going. We will also get manicures and haircuts. We will eat out and shop in stores again. Our children will play with other children again.

I encourage you during this extraordinary season to reflect on what you want to return to and what you want to be different. What for you has been precious about this time? What has been unmanageable? What will you hope to regain? What will you never return to? Connect with me on our STP Facebook page and on Twitter (just tag me - @afineburg in your @teachpsych tweet) to share your visions of our future as people and as teachers of psychology.

Here’s hoping our post-COVID world learns lessons from pre- and thru-COVID that leave us better than before.

Amy C. Fineburg, PhD

2020 STP President

Greetings from the President

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 04:00:00 GMT

I hope that you are finding some semblance of rhythm in this uncertain time. I hope that you and yours are healthy, and if not, that you are able to find effective healthcare. I hope your online teaching and communications platform is working. I hope that you are finding joy seeing your students’ faces from time to time. I hope that your children are finding new and fun ways to play and learn. I hope your pets are loving every minute of you being home more. I hope that your cooking is better than mine. And if none of these things are happening for you, I hope you can reach out to someone in this community or another one near you for help. Even though we must maintain distance, we are not alone.

The Executive Committee met virtually on March 28, and we were able to get some important work done for the Society. Some of what we do in the spring meeting is to review what we did last year. We had a great 2019 under Rick Miller’s presidential leadership:

We instituted two new awards – the Mentorship of Teachers Award and the Civic Engagement Award.
Two new e-books are in the works.
The International Twitter Poster contest was a hit, and it has potential for more growth this year as people seek virtual outlets for presenting their research.
Plans are underway for ACT in October, and we’re hoping – so very much hoping – that we can all meet together in person in Pittsburgh this fall.

For 2020, we are planning some 75th anniversary celebrations at ACT (again, hope springs eternal for a conference this fall), and I will be formalizing work I’ve been doing with our Membership and Diversity Committees on further diversifying STP’s membership and work. Susan Nolan, our President-Elect, shared her vision for 2021, and I’m excited for you to hear more from her in the fall on what she has in store for STP.

While things feel cruel right now, there is goodness going on. People are helping each other. Pet photos are being shared. Silly things that kids say are making the rounds. John Krasinski (of The Office and Jack Ryan and Emily Blunt’s husband fame) shared Some Good News. We found some toilet paper in a store last week. Small victories in trying times are beacons of light in the darkness. Our STP community is a light in my world. Thanks to you all for your generosity and solidarity.

See you this fall, I hope.

Amy Fineburg

STP President 2020

Greetings from the President

Fri, 20 Mar 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Hello, my heroes! I have been completely impressed and humbled by the generosity of our teaching psychology community in the wake of this extraordinary time dealing with COVID-19. As this virus – such a tiny little thing – has such a big impact on everyone, I have seen so many ways that our community has reached out to be “all in” with helping everyone move to online or home learning.

The Facebook group has grown as people recognize the quality of the resources being shared there in the spirit of doing what is right for students. So many individual members – more than I can recognize specifically here – have given their time and expertise publicly and privately over the last couple of weeks to help those who are shifting to a totally new (to them) platform of teaching. I thank everyone so much for making that group a part of the “helper” community. Shout out to Lyra Stein, Chair of our Member Communication Committee and her colleagues on the committee for managing it so well!

It feels like STP has been preparing unknowingly for this kind of thing for a while now – we have people who not only teach online regularly but engage in the scholarship of teaching and learning about online teaching. Our members know how to set up and deliver instruction online, and we know some of the conditions and practices under which it works best. We all recognize that things will not all go smoothly as we go to full online instruction at our institutions, but we can feel confident that people are nearby (both physically and virtually) to lend a hand when things feel wrong. I am so proud to be a part of such an outstanding community!

Our Spring 2020 STP Executive Committee meeting, scheduled for March 27-29 in my city Birmingham, Alabama, has been canceled. We are working as a group to find time to meet virtually. Like many of us who are grieving missed opportunities and experiences, I am heartbroken not to be able to share my city with our fabulous EC. STP sponsors so many programs that involve travel and support for conferences, and we are so sad that people who were supported by our various programs and grants cannot use them this spring and early summer. The EC has voted on a set of policies regarding deferring awards and grants that hopefully will fulfill those in the coming year. If you have incurred travel expenses that were to be funded by STP, please review our new policiesso we can work with you on those expenses.

I truly hope that we can work together as a larger community to do our part to flatten the curve with this virus so that we can get back to meeting and learning together in person. Virtual meetings and learning certainly have their charm. As an introvert who works from home already and likes her personal space, I can’t say I’m struggling with social isolation and distance. But I do look forward to reducing the social distance I need to keep from other people and seeing y’all face-to-face, especially y’all in my cherished STP family.

Be safe and well with you and yours. Reach out when you need. Help where you can. We will persist!

Amy Fineburg

STP President 2020

Greetings from the President

Tue, 25 Feb 2020 05:00:00 GMT

I’ve discovered that I am a pretty horrible blogger. Instead of throwing my thoughts out into the marketplace of cyberideas, I overedit myself to the point of irrelevance. I’ve found that I’m too careful a writer to be good at posting frequent, insightful posts. Kudos to those of you out there who put out great posts with more frequency than I can usually manage.

Case in point: I’ve been working on this post for over a month! One of my presidential initiatives in 2020 is to explore – and hopefully implement – ways to diversify our Society’s membership. I am clearly not alone in this goal. Last January, I went to an APA-sponsored leadership retreat for incoming division leaders, and it seemed as though most, if not all, of the other divisions represented had the same goal. Some divisions were approaching their diversification efforts to attract younger/early career folks, and others were exploring attracting more diverse gender and race/ethnic representation. Diversity, widely defined, seems to be a recognized value for most of APA right now.

My struggle with this post is that I have been wrestling for some time now about how to use the word “diversity.” When I worked for a large, metropolitan school district in Alabama, we would talk about our “diverse” schools, but we were not really referring to those schools that had real diversity. The district has schools that range from 99% White to 99% Black, with almost every demographic breakdown in between. The 99% White school and the 99% Black school had the same problem – they were each not “diverse” in the true sense of the word. Yet, we spoke of the 99% Black school as our “diverse” school. We never referred to the majority White school as diverse. Using the word “diversity” in this way upholds a majority normative standard, and I don’t want to perpetuate that standard in my work. I’m working on better ways to talk about these issues.

Diversification efforts have been a goal for organizations like ours for a long time, yet we haven’t made the progress we all say we want. The psychology student population has been decidedly diverse for more than a decade, yet only 17% of psychology faculty identify as racial/ethnic minorities (APA Center for Workforce Studies, 2019). While women make up 56% of psychology faculty, women have outnumbered men in psychology graduate programs three to one for more than a decade (also from APA CWS). If we’ve been working on diversifying for this long, we should really be more frustrated that we haven’t figured out how to do it better than we do it. I know I have felt such frustration.

Often, diversity efforts become more about moving the metrics than truly creating spaces. Diversity efforts that merely move the metrics play diversity as a zero-sum game where room is made for some at the expense of others. Viewing diversity as a numbers game may explain why attempts generally fail to live up to the hype. If the spaces that we open up aren’t welcoming or empowering or supportive, the new people won’t stay in those spaces for very long. People who have been pushed out or aside to make the numbers work become resentful and often sabotage the work that’s been done.

In membership organizations like ours, we don’t have a finite number of membership slots to give out. We don’t have to push anyone aside or out the door to make room for new people. There aren’t a limited number of teaching ideas or resources to be had. We are only limited by our members’ capacity for ideas and work; if we need a bigger table to seat us all, let’s build it.

I am working with our membership and diversity committee chairs (Rita Obeid and Teceta Tormala) and their respective STP VPs (Meera Komarraju and Kelley Haynes-Mendez) for the last few months to discuss how to make room in STP. We are discussing not only ways to recruit new members, but also how to develop programming and resources people need. We are considering diversity needs related to where and who people teach. We are considering what people who teach about diversity need. We want to create spaces that allow people to be intersectional, affiliating with STP in all the ways they choose to identify. We are considering the types of funding the efforts will need. There is so much to consider to make sure the spaces are open, welcoming, empowering, and supportive.

I want to hear your thoughts about diversity in general and how to diversify what we do and who we serve in STP. Here’s a Google form to collect your thoughts.

Some questions asked include:

What are some of the ways in which you identify as a teacher of psychology? Consider personal, contextual, relational, and pedagogical affiliations (or others I've not thought of!).
If you could create your own sub-group (or groups) of STPers to connect with at a conference or develop programming and resources with and for, what would you create?
In what ways - formal and informal - do you teach about diversity?
Would you like for STP to explore creating programming and resources around teaching students who identify differently from you? If so, please consider telling me what types of programming/resources would be useful to you.

As always, comments are confidential. I will do my best to respond personally to anyone who provides contact information.

Thanks for this opportunity to serve you and your students.

Amy C. Fineburg, Ph.D.

STP President - 2020

Greetings from the President

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 14:51:25 GMT

As President of STP this year, my focus will be on exploring how well we are serving our members and psychology teaching and learning. As I think about these things, I am struck by how people affiliate with STP and whether that affiliation says something about the value of STP to psychology teachers and instructors. I wonder whether we as a Society are reaching anyone and everyone who teaches psychology, or if we are just reaching people who teach in certain contexts or from certain professional backgrounds. I wonder if what we are offering is compelling enough for people to identify with us in formal, overt ways (like paying for membership or volunteering to serve on committees). I think the act of formally joining a group like ours depends on many factors, not the least of which is how people choose to identify themselves professionally.

How I identify myself personally is something I get to think about often. When I got remarried in 2017, I didn’t legally change my name. For one, changing one’s name is a real hassle. For another, my husband is “Dr. Meadows,” and now my stepson is “Dr. Meadows,” so I didn’t think Birmingham was big enough for three “Dr. Meadowses.” And for another, my first married name is the one my children have, so I decided to retain my affiliation with them. My current husband and I just happily use our full names when we introduce each other to people, hoping to keep people from addressing me as “Dr. Meadows” and him as “Mr. Fineburg.”

But I did add my husband’s name to my Facebook profile name. I did the “Facebook-official” name change as a part of my exuberance over marrying my current husband, but it has created confusion with my Facebook friends. When they see me in real life, they stutter through what to call me, often referencing Facebook as the source of their confusion. Of course, now that the Facebook-official name change is there, I can’t go in and change it without people thinking something is terribly wrong with my current marriage. So, I live in real life with my legal name and in cyberlife with my husband’s name.

How does all this identity talk relate to STP? Consider this – we have over 10,000 people who are connected to our STP Facebook page. That’s over 10,000 people who, at some point, joined us in cyberlife. The act of joining a Facebook group, though, doesn’t involve paying a membership fee, so it’s a relatively low commitment to make compared to joining an organization formally. It’s an affiliation that matters, and the contributions people make to our Facebook group are vibrant and active. Yet, we only have a little over 3000 paid members in real life. It seems that around 7000 people see something valuable enough to affiliate with us on Facebook, but not enough to pay the $25 membership fee to join us formally. Our Society is experiencing a similar type of identity disconnect that I experience – we have one group identity in real life, but a different one in cyberlife.

We need to ask ourselves why this disconnect happens and what we can do to make joining us more attractive. Much of my focus this year is to explore why this disconnect exists. Is it too much of a hassle to join us in real life? Is what we offer in real life as vibrant as what people can get for free on Facebook? Do people feel there is space for them in STP in real life?

As I work with the Executive Committee to tackle these questions, I ask you to think about your identity as a psychology educator and how STP fits in. What do you hope your students gain from learning psychology from you? What do you need from STP to accomplish your psychology teaching and learning goals? What do you need from a professional network of psychology educators to improve your teaching life? Where and how do you need your voice to be heard in STP? What would you like to share with other members of STP?

Share your thoughts with me (confidentially, of course) by completing this online form.

Best,

Amy Fineburg

STP President - 2020

Greetings from the President

Tue, 31 Dec 2019 14:52:53 GMT

Happy Anniversary, Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP)! In 2020, STP turns 75 years old, and I am honored and excited to serve as the Society’s President for this historic year. STP was one of the original 19 divisions inaugurated by the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1945. In 2020, we will celebrate on our website, www.teachpsych.org, at the various conferences with STP-sponsored and STP-supported programming, and at our Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT) in Pittsburgh, PA, in October. Bill Hill, our Society’s archivist, is working on updating our history to reflect more recent events and milestones, and Jordan Troisi, who directs ACT, is working with me and the Executive Committee to incorporate some special events and recognitions. I’m excited to spend some time in 2020 to reflect on where we’ve been.

I hope that we can also take time to dream about our future. We need to ask what resources, programming, and grants are missing or what can be implemented better. We need to engage more people in conversations about what good teaching of psychology looks like in practice. We need to encourage more people to implement the scholarship of teaching and learning so we can be more confident that what we are sharing is effective. We need to gather and encourage more diverse voices. We need to foster graduate and early career teachers through training, mentoring, and partnering. Leaders and members throughout STP’s history have done so much to get us where we are now—financially healthy, respected, and generous with our work. Current and future leaders and members can both continue that legacy and chart a new path for STP that takes us farther than any of us can imagine.

My presidential initiatives for 2020 look to expand STP’s work to emerging and underrepresented groups. I am working with our Graduate Student Teaching Association to reorganize that group and develop a suite of training and mentoring opportunities for graduate students and faculty who work with them. According to APA’s Center for Workforce Studies, “one in five psychologists with a research doctorate primarily work as college or university professors,” with “35% of research and experimental psychology doctorate holders reporting themselves as postsecondary teachers in a science field” (retrieved from www.apa.or/monitor/2019/07-08/datapoint). We know that people in most doctoral programs often get minimal instruction or mentoring in how to teach well, yet they will likely get a job postdegree that involves at least some teaching. We as a Society are well positioned to offer in-person and virtual training and support, and our members have expertise, skill, and willingness to work with graduate and early career psychology teachers. I’m looking forward to crystallizing this work as the year progresses.

I am also working with our Membership and Diversity Committees to create meaningful spaces for underrepresented teachers in our Society’s structure. Our Society welcomes all teachers, from high school psychology teachers to graduate supervisors. Yet, our membership is skewed in many categories, from race/ethnicity to age to region of the country people live and work in to level of student taught. My personal goal is to work to create spaces for people who teach in different contexts to serve and lead the Society into the next 75 years. I want people who teach in high schools, community colleges, predominantly White institutions, historically Black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, parochial schools, and any other context to feel as though they have a home in STP. With more than 3,000 members, we can capitalize on our size to create spaces for people who teach in certain contexts to network and join together to develop resources, programming, and grant programs that serve people who teach in those contexts. Often, good teaching is good teaching, regardless of context or student. Yet, more often than not, what works in one context doesn’t always translate to other ones. STP’s members have the expertise and skill to explore when and how practices translate and when they do not. By creating places where people can network and collaborate, STP can foster the type of scholarship about teaching and learning that will help not only our members but all teachers everywhere. What a gift we could give to the world!

Our Society offers members not only the opportunity to explore ways to teach psychology better, but we offer members the ability to use psychology to teach psychology. Even if your area of expertise isn’t teaching and learning, at some point along your professional journey, you’ve learned about how people think and learn. While you may be teaching intro psychology, neuropsychology, geropsychology, or history of psychology, you can apply theories of learning and thinking and memory in your classes, helping students learn the content and, with purposeful planning, learn it better. My hope is that with every meeting or conference, psychology teachers, instructors, and professors can gather to share practices that make learning psychology better.

We have made a difference in our first 75 years. We offer a growing annual conference focused on teaching psychology each year. We offer over 10 different award and grant programs that recognize excellence in teaching and provide support to develop high-quality resources and programming. We support speakers and programming at regional psychological association and disciplinary conferences. We publish e-books and host social media accounts that boast thousands of members and followers. We will spend this next year celebrating those accomplishments and more. What will we accomplish next? What new doors will we open? What useful opportunities will we create? I’m excited to see what STP’s future holds.

Happy Diamond Anniversary, STP…can’t wait to see what you do with the next 75 years!

Amy C. Fineburg

President, STP

First published online October 31, 2019 in Teaching of Psychology: https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628319884488