New ToPIX Content: 5/1/2011

Aaron Richmond has added some new stuff to the Educational Psych in the Classroom page.  (Thanks Aaron!)

How to increase student engagement through cultural diversity
Using picture books to illustrate psychology concepts
How to use student artifacts as case studies in your class

Xin Zhao continues to do some amazing stuff with the books and films section.  First, this section has been moved to the top row of ToPIX’s first page, making it more prominent.  Click on the Thinking/Language/Intelligence category to see how this area is shaping up.  In addition to book descriptions, he includes links to reviews, and embedded video of the authors when available.  Good stuff!

New ToPIX Content: 4/18/2011

ToPIX welcomes Xin Zhao from Utah State University!  (And a special thank you to Scott Bates for the recommendation!) He has started working on organizing and adding content to the recommended psychology-related books.  Once the book titles are sorted, the plan is to move them into a categorized column on the main ToPIX page, next to the video clips. Look for that in the coming weeks.  

NPR news featured a short (4-min) segment last week by gerontologist Mark Lachs on adaptive competence, the apparent key to living a long life: Development-in-the-News.

The NPR health blog featured some new research on the impact of meditation on pain: Sensation-in-the-News. 

 

NOVA aired an episode on February 2, 2011 titled “How Does the Brain Work?”  It’s divided into 4 segments.  One of the segments, Magic and the Brain (12 mins), can be found on the Perception Video page.  The other 3 segments are coming soon.

New ToPIX Content: 4/10/2011

It's the beginning of a new quarter for many of us here in the Pacific Northwest.  It usually takes me about 3 weeks to get my bearings.  Tomorrow begins Week 3, so I'm declaring myself ahead of schedule.

Aaron Richmond has added a couple new resources to the Educational Psych in the Classroom page. (Thanks Aaron!)

• How to use instructional and assessment vignettes in your educational psychology class
• Constructivism taught constructively

In Neuroscience in the News is a story on soldiers who returned home with traumatic brain injury and PTSD.  The story opens with one soldier's failed attempt at suicide-by-cop.


On a lighter note, NPR reported last week on research on the benefits of being bilingual.  You can find a link to that story on the Language in the News page.
 

Research/Writing Workshop on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Call for Participation

The Society for the Teaching of Psychology announces the first STP writing workshop for faculty who would like to learn more about the process of developing and/or writing a scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) project. SoTL is defined as methodologically rigorous scholarly work conducted to enhance teaching and advance learning, ideally resulting in peer-reviewed products made public.

The workshop will allow a small select group of faculty members to receive guidance on SoTL research from an experienced mentor and consult with both statistical and publication experts.  Each participant will be placed with a mentor and a team of 3-4 peers.  The mentor will support participants through the research process, which may include discussing ideas or analyzing, outlining, and writing a final product.  The ultimate goal is to generate a complete manuscript.

This workshop will be held in conjunction with the STP Best Practices Conference on October 14-15, 2011, in Atlanta, GA.  The cost of the workshop is $100 in addition to the conference registration fee which is heavily discounted for you as you will use some conference session time for your project work.  Mentors will work with their team before the conference to prepare for the workshop as well as Friday morning and Saturday afternoon.

Please complete an application; no payment is required at this time. Applications are due by May 30th, 2011.  For questions or more information/details please contact the Chair of the writing workshop, Janie Wilson (jhwilson@georgiasouthern.edujhwilson@georgiasouthern.edu).

New ToPIX Content: 3/23/2011

Out of curiosity, I thought I’d check in on ToPIX stats.  Since the first of the year, there have been 10,866 page views from 3,743 visitors.  Since ToPIX opened for business last March, there have 39,373 page views from 13,783 visitors.  About half of those visitors have been back more than once.  It’s good to see you!
 

Now for what’s new.

A few weeks ago Jordon Troisi asked the PsychTeach denizens for any end-of-course activities they might employ.  Last week he submitted that compilation to PsychTeacher. (Thanks Jordan!)  It is now available on ToPIX.  On the main page, at the bottom of the In-Class-Activities section is a new link: Last Day Activities.  Would anyone like to repeat this process for first day activities?  =)

In my last update I noted that Comparative Psych made its debut in the “In the News” category.  Today I announce that it has made its debut in the “Videos” category, courtesy of primatologist Isabel Behncke Izquierdo’s TED talk on bonobos at play.

While I’m on a TED kick, new in Video: Language is Patricia Kuhl’s talk on the development of language in babies.  Also in this section is Susan Savage-Rumbaugh’s TED talk on bonobos and language.  I’ve copied this into the Video: Comparative Psych page so it’s available in both places.

Madeleine Albright, the first woman to be U.S. Secretary of State, made a TED appearance to discuss her views on women’s issues (Video: Gender & Sexuality).  My favorite quote comes in her telling the story of her 7 year old granddaughter who said to her mom, Albright’s daughter, “so what’s the big deal about Grandma Maddie being Secretary of State? Only girls are Secretary of State.” 

I had been having some trouble embedding TED talk videos into ToPIX pages, but I think I have that solved now.  You can watch the videos without leaving the page, or you can follow the link to watch it on the TED site.  Or if it appeared on TED in the last 5 months, you can watch it on your Roku player. =)

I see also that Ron Shapiro updated some of the games information on the In-the-Classroom: Human Factors page.  Thanks Ron!

One last update.  On the main ToPIX page, in the bottom row of the grid, there is a section titled STP resources.  I’ve added a link to the STP web browser toolbar.  Download this toolbar to gain quick access to any STP resource or see new STP-related content, including this blog, via the embedded RSS feeds.    

New ToPIX Content: 3/21/2011

A few weeks ago many of you contributed your examples of positive and negative correlations.  If you have additional examples, you’re welcome to edit the page or add your comments at the bottom of the page.

Steve Jones pointed out that the bobo doll video on the Video: Learning page was no longer available.  He was kind enough to find another one for us.  If you were looking for that video, it’s back.  Thanks Steve!

In digging through some old emails, I found the April 2010 Dateline episode, “What Were You Thinking?”  Dateline recreates some classic social psych experiments.

Not long ago we got a Roku box in preparation for ditching satellite and going internet only.  Last night I discovered that TED now has a Roku channel.  The first video I watched was Deb Roy of MIT.  He wired his house to record video and audio, beginning the day he and his wife brought home their newborn son. He is able to track when his son was exposed to language, for example ‘water,’ and where, for example in the kitchen.  You can find his talk under Video: Language.

There have been a number of psychology-related news stories lately.  Here are some that I’ve added. 

In the News:

Consciousness:  There’s a new robotic surgery for sleep apnea.

Psychological Disorders:  A journalist and his son talk about the son’s schizophrenia diagnosis.

Comparative Psych:  This category debuts with an elephant intelligence test.

New ToPIX Content: 3/6/11

Two weeks ago I asked for examples of positive and negative reinforcement you use in class.  Those are now available in the learning section of “In the Classroom.”  Thanks to everyone who contributed!

Here’s what’s new in the “In the News” section: 

I/O:  An article in Wired Magazine discusses the factory work in China.  It raises a number of issues relevant to I/O psychology.  (Thanks to Michael Britt for adding this!)

Therapy:  This New York Times article discusses how psychiatry is moving from psychotherapy to drug management.  

Cognition: A recent article in the newspaper, The Oregonian, reports results from a survey that shows that most Oregonians think that crime is on the rise when in fact it is not. This is an easy class demonstration.  Ask your students if they think crime is increasing or decreasing.  There are two more examples you can use in class here.

One new video has been added in the Therapy category.  It’s 5 minutes from Walter Freeman’s original lobotomy footage.