Symposium 2. Preparing Students and Faculty to Become Effective Teachers of Psychology: Symposium Sponsored by NITOP

Symposium Abstract

Perhaps more so than most academic disciplines, psychology has taken its teaching seriously. Starting with William James’ (1899) now classic Talks to Teachers and continuing to the present day (e.g., Goss Lucas & Bernstein, 2005; Buskist & Davis, 2006), psychologists have been long concerned with teaching their subject matter well (indeed, the sole purpose of the International Conference on the Teaching of Psychology is to discuss and promote the effective teaching of psychology in all corners of the world). Such concern with effective teaching of psychology has led many institutions of higher education to develop specific training programs and activities to teach undergraduate and graduate students to become effective teachers of the discipline. The purpose of this symposium is to showcase such efforts from four different countries: England, France, Russia, and the United States. In particular, Bernstein describes a vertical model of teacher training in the UK that stresses effective teaching across all levels of instruction: faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates; Pereira-Fradin offers insights into particular obstacles that stand in the way of promoting effective teaching in France; Karandashev presents a model for preparing students to teach psychology in Russia; Lantz examines support for the teaching of psychology in the UK with a particular emphasis on the development of a community of teachers that promotes effective teaching practices; and finally, Henderson details a problem-based mentoring program in the US whereby experienced faculty provide valuable insight and advice to new faculty.

Individual Paper Abstracts

A VERTICAL MODEL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHING SKILLS
Douglas J. Bernstein, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA

TRAINING OF THE TEACHERS IN PSYCHOLOGY IN FRANCE
Maria Pereira-Fradin, Paris Descartes University, Paris, France

PREPARING STUDENTS TO TEACH PSYCHOLOGY IN RUSSIA
Victor Karandashev, Leningrad State University, Russia, Grand Valley State University, USA

UK PSYCHOLOGY ACADEMICS: THE NEXT GENERATION
Caprice Lantz, University of York, York, England

PROBLEM-BASED MENTORING FOR NEW FACULTY MEMBERS
Robert W. Hendersen, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan, USA