Title: Brain balloon

Topic: Physiological/neuro

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Understand

Description: Ask students to blow up a balloon and then draw an outline of the main brain structures onto the balloon.

Title: Role play

Topic: general

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Apply

Description: Divide students into small groups for a role-play activity that they present to the rest of group.

Title: Have a debate

Topic: general

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Synthesise

Description: This activity has been successfully used at the end of a seminar series. Split the group into two. Ask students to generate a list of points they want to make and then assign particular people to make these points at an appropriate moment in the debate. The lecturer can seed each group with ideas by telling them the other group is going to bring up a particular point and how would this group respond. The lecturer can then summarise the main points from the debate.

Title: Chain gang essays

Topic: introductory psychology

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Understand

Description: Students are given an essay title. One student suggests ideas for the essay. The listener then has to explain these ideas and add their own to another person (with the original person making sure their views are represented accurately).

Title: Using mini-scenarios

Topic: general

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Apply

Description: Students are presented with a scenario where as an expert psychologist they must give a presentation to a group with a particular interest in that area. For example, as forensic psychologists students are asked to give a presentation to the local police force. Students prepare the topic and then present the topic as if the class were the local police force.

Title: How was it for you?

Topic: general

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Apply

Description: One way to help make psychology more real to students is by inviting them to apply what they have learnt to their own experience. For example, addiction and giving up smoking or the fairness and validity of interview selection.

Title: Categorical illusions

Topic: Perception

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Understand

Description: Give students a number of visual illusions and get them to group them into categories and provide an explanation for their rationale. Carried out after a lecture on the visual system.

Title: Jigsaw Reports

Topic: introductory psychology

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Analyse

Description: Photocopy an example of a well-written report. Chop it up into numbered pieces. Students must decide which pieces go into the different sections of the report. This exercise also provides the opportunity to talk about the style of the report and to identify any errors.

Title: Media psychology

Topic: introductory psychology

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Evaluate

Description: When a topic is discussed on TV or in the newspaper by a popular psychologist give students the opportunity to critique the approach taken and the conclusions drawn.

Title: Facial expressions

Topic: Social

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Understand

Description: Provide students with seven circles on one sheet of paper. Ask them to put in expressions and then ask others in the group to identify the expressions. This can lead into a discussion of what features of the face contribute to the perception of emotion.

Title: Random groups

Topic: General

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective:

Description: For those occasions where you would like to randomise pairs or groups of students, but anticipate some awkwardness because you are separating friends who usually sit together, use a pack of playing cards. Hand out playing cards from a shuffled pack. Those with similar numbers work in the same group.

Title: Conflict role play

Topic: Social

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Analyse

Description: Set up a role play in which two older teachers actively resist a younger teacher's new teaching methods. Students analyse the verbal and non-verbal communication styles.

Submitted by: Humphrey Swann

Email: swann@lgu.ac.uk

Date: 10/1/2001

Title: Charity handout

Topic: Organisational

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Analyse

Description: Each group of students makes a presentation asking for money. The groups present to two charity committees. The presenters make the same arguments to both committees. However, Committee A and Committee B have different group characteristics and this results in different outcomes. After this exercise students can discuss a number of organisational issues including: conflict, training, decision-making, fairness, politics and context.

Title: Creating scenarios

Topic: Practicals

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Apply

Description: One way of creating realistic scenarios is to take a journal paper and remove the experiment. Students are then asked to create an experiment to test the scenario.

Title: The dysfunctional family

Topic: General

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Apply

Description: Students can describe dysfunctional families and the resulting discussions can lead to an exploration of many different areas of psychology.

Title: Tendering for an assessment centre

Topic: Organisational

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Apply

Description: Students work in groups to produce a tender for overseeing a selection process for eg. yacht instructors, policemen.

Title: Be as critical as you can

Topic: introductory psychology

Teaching Problem: Small groups

Learning Objective: Evaluate

Description: Students work in groups and are encouraged to be "as mean as possible" about a paper (this can be something of a surprise). They list their major criticisms of the paper on an ohp to the rest of the group.