New ToPIX Content: 3/14/13

This update includes additions to the Research Methods in the Classroom, Neuroscience in the News, the Change Blindness page, Social in the News, Learning Video, Perception in the News, Perception in the Classroom, Statistics in the Classroom, Learning Video, Psychological Disorders Video, and the Movie List.

New ToPIX Content

Assistant ToPIX Editor, Jessica Hartnett, posted a link to a blog post and Dogbert comic on how NOT to collect phone survey data. This can be found on the Research Methods in the Classroom page.

A BBC News article on brain-to-brain communication in rats, an ABC News article on frontal lobe ablation, and a link to more mapping of Phineas Gage's brain, were posted to the Neuroscience in the News page courtesy of Mike Palij and Stephen Black (via the TIPS listserv), respectively.

The Change Blindness page now includes a recent Transport for London advertisement that can be used as an alternative to the "invisible gorilla" test. Thanks to Stephen Chew for passing this along!

Recent New York Times coverage of priming research and reproducibility was added to the Social in the News page. Thanks again, Mike Palij (via the TIPS listserv).

A news article and YouTube video of Mariska, the lock-picking horse, were both added to the Learning Video page. (Nice find Gary Peterson! -- via the TIPS listserv). This clip could be used to launch discussion or introduce shaping, observational learning, and related concepts.

An audio clip from NPR and article speaks to inattention, and attentional blindness in radiologists. This was added to the Perception in the News page courtesy of Miguel Roig (via the TIPS listserv).

If you are interested in discussing PTC detection and "supertasters," check out the Perception in the Classroom page for a link to the BBC's Supertaster questionnaire.

The Statistics in the Classroom page was reorganized by Jessica Hartnett, and now includes a number of updates: examples from the internet, humor, in-class activities, and statistics in the news. Check them out!

A new TED Education video was posted to the Learning Video page. It can serve as another way to help students differentiate between classical and operant conditioning. Thanks Amy Barth!

And last-- but definitely not least-- are a whole slew of updates to the Psychological Disorders Video page courtesy of Bob DuBois, Jeanie Kent Duncan, Steve Jones, Harry Pitsikalis, and Carol Furchner (via the STP Facebook Group). If you teach topics such as schizophrenia, incarceration of the mentally ill, and treatment for inmates, go ahead and visit this page on ToPIX. The ToPIX Movie List was also updated to reflect some of these additions.

If you have any suggestions for a new ToPIX resource, or any resources to share with colleagues, please send them to TOPIX@TeachPsych.org.

New ToPIX Content: 2/28/13

This update includes additions to the Change Blindness, Perception in the Classroom, Research Methods Video, Statistics Video, Statistics in the Classroom, Gender and Sexuality Video, and Gender and Sexuality in the Classroom pages.

New ToPIX Content

A couple of videos on change blindness were already on ToPIX. However, an HD version of the “Door” Study (Simons & Levin, 1998) replaced an old clip. A few videos on the nature of change blindness in film are now included because they can provide students another context for the phenomenon. See the clip from Star Wars and “the worst stunt double ever” on the Change Blindness page. A link to a related Psychology Today column on change blindness in Hollywood was also posted. (Thanks to Kyle Heller for these!)

Alexis McCall shared information on phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) strips that can be used for demonstrations on the sense of taste, and a springboard into genetics research, or PTC status and psychological outcomes. A general background, recommended sources, materials, and procedure are also provided on the Perception in the Classroom page. If anyone has used a similar activity, please do e-mail me or add to the ToPIX wiki. (A tip of the hat to Alexis!)

Satire finds its way onto ToPIX yet again on the Research Methods Video page and the Statistics Video page. Links to videos on the Onion News Network could spark students’ interest in research methods concepts and help make statistics even more fun. Continuing with the humor… comic strips relevant to statistics concepts were posted to the Statistics in the Classroom page. All laughs are courtesy of Jessica Hartnett. (Thanks Jessica!)

I should also credit contributors to the PSYCHTEACHER listserv for additions to the Gender and Sexuality Video page. Jeff Platt provided a number of commercials and a video that would all be useful for instructors looking to introduce gender roles and media representations. Justice Morath posted a link to a YouTube video, and related blog post on the Bechdel Test. This could be especially timely given Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony. (Thanks Jeff and Justice via PSYCHTEACHER!).

A link to Marianne Miserandino’s Personality Pedagogy wiki was posted to the ToPIX Gender and Sexuality in the Classroom page. (Thanks to Marianne for the reminder on the PSYCHTEACHER listserv!)

If you have any resources to share with your colleagues, please send them my way: TOPIX@TeachPsych.org.

New ToPIX Content: 1/10/13

This first update of 2013 includes additions to the Research Methods in the Classroom, Correlations, Ethics in the Classroom, I/O in the Classroom, Introductory Psychology in the Classroom, and Movie List.

New ToPIX Content

Sue Frantz posted a link to FreeIAT, an open-source program to create implicit association tests, to the Research Methods in the Classroom page. (Great find, Sue!) Also included on this page is a link to Alexis Grosofsky’s Instructor's Guide to Using Research Methods and Statistics Concept Maps from the Office of Teaching Resources in Psychology (OTRP)'s Teaching Resources.

A link to Jon Mueller’s Correlation or Causation? web page was posted to the ToPIX Correlations page. If you have yet to visit the page, it includes a vast collection of headlines that (incorrectly) suggest causal relationships. (Thanks to Jon for the reminder on the TIPS listserv!)

On the Ethics in the Classroom page you will now find a link to Ana Ruiz and Judith Warchal’s Activities Guide for Teaching Ethics in the Intro course from the Office of Teaching Resources in Psychology (OTRP)'s Teaching Resources.

Check out the I/O in the Classroom page for a set of Materials for Incorporating I/O into an Introductory Psychology course from the Office of Teaching Resources in Psychology (OTRP). The SIOP Education and Training committee developed ten modules with starter lectures, active learning exercises, and further reading. This resource makes it easy to expose Intro students to I/O concepts.

If you are teaching at an institution with a research pool, it is definitely worth checking out the Introductory Psychology in the Classroom page. Larissa Barber and Patricia Bagsby’s OTRP resource Beyond Milgram: Expanding Research Ethics Education to Participant Responsibilities was posted.

And last-- but definitely not least-- Nicole Bies-Hernandez added to the Movie List. (A big thanks to Nicole for her work on this!)

If you have any resources to share with your colleagues, please send them my way: TOPIX@TeachPsych.org.

New ToPIX Content: 11/29/12

This update includes additions to the Sensation Video, Developmental Video, and Intelligence Video pages.

New ToPIX Content

Sue Frantz posted two videos on the ear and hearing to the Sensation Video page, a video on identical twins on the Development Video page, and an excerpt of PBS's "How Smart Can We Get?" Intelligence Video page. A link to the entire episode can also be accessed online. Parts of the episode could serve as a good lecture launcher for those teaching Intro, Cognitive, or Neuroscience.

A big thanks to Sue for this round of ToPIX updates! 

As we get close to the end of the Fall term, please consider sharing any videos, songs, demonstrations, or activities for your colleagues to try in the Spring! Feel free to update the wiki yourself or email TOPIX@TeachPsych.org.

New ToPIX Content: 10/25/12

This update includes additions to the Movie List and the Social in the Classroom page.

New ToPIX Content

Nicole Bies-Hernandez added movies related to Ethics, Statistics, and Social Psychology to the Movie List page.

Sue Frantz shared a smartphone game, Social Knowledge, that could be used in a number of ways within the classroom or outside of class. More information on this game is available on the Social in the Classroom page.

Thanks Nicole and Sue!

If you have found ToPIX useful, please consider contributing your suggestions for content!  You are welcome to update the wiki yourself or simply shoot me an email: (TOPIX@TeachPsych.org). 

New ToPIX Content: 10/4/12

This update includes additions to the Movie List, Games in the Classroom, Taste Demos, Memory Video, Social Video, Research Methods in the Classroom, and a new page—Gender and Sexuality in the Classroom.

New ToPIX Content

Nicole Bies-Hernandez added three new movies to the Movie List page: Limitless, Fly Away, and The Final Cut. 

Sue Frantz provided another web-based Jeopardy game creator on the Games in the Classroom page, and posted an activity to investigate sour taste preferences, and a taste buds demonstration to the Taste Demos page.

Stephen Chew passed along an updated Think-Pair-Share (TPS) file and it was uploaded to the Memory Video page. Ruth Frickle also submitted her TPS matching items for Stephen’s third video.

Debbie Podwika had mentioned the AT&T U-Verse commercials and how they can demonstrate Social concepts. Two videos were posted to the Social Video page. 

Rachel Soicher posted links to four short videos she created with Jing. These include simple, systematic, stratified probability sampling, and cluster sampling and are available on the Research Methods in the Classroom page. If you find these useful, please provide Rachel feedback. Rachel also added a new page to ToPIX: the Gender and Sexuality in the Classroom page and posted a research analysis assignment she uses in her Human Sexuality course.

 

A big thanks to Nicole, Sue, Stephen, Ruth, Rachel, and Debbie for this installment of ToPIX updates!

New ToPIX Content: 9/20/12

This week we had a new page added to the In the Classroom section. 

New ToPIX Content

Stephen Wurst emailed a content suggestion, and I was excited to add a new page on ToPIX to accommodate future updates. What's more-- Stephen has made a number of his Psych Jeopardy games available to instructors. Check them out here on the Games in the Classroom page. If you find yourself inspired to create your own Flash-based Jeopardy boards for class, a link to do so is also included.  

Thanks Stephen!

ToPIX continues to grow thanks to our recent contributors. You are welcome to update the wiki yourself or simply shoot me an email and I will post for you: (TOPIX@TeachPsych.org).