T.E.A.C.U.P…and why I don’t use it.

Travis DixonRevision and Exam Preparation, Studies and Theories, Teaching Ideas

Yesterday I posted about how to evaluate psychological theories in three simple steps. I mentioned John Crane’s popular acronym T.E.A.C.U.P, which stands for: testable, evidence, applications, construct validity, unbiased and predictive validity. (It can be found on John’s website, too). This is an alternative to my “Let’s make a DEAL” framework for evaluating theories. You can see that my DEAL framework …

Let’s make a D.E.A.L – evaluating theories in three simple steps

Travis DixonRevision and Exam Preparation, Studies and Theories, Teaching Ideas

I teach my students to look for three things when evaluating theories: Evidence Applications Limitations Let’s make a D.E.A.L Most students are capable of independently explaining these three things. When teaching essay writing on theories I teach students to use my own “Let’s make a D.E.A.L” strategy and not TEACUP. D.E.A.L Describe the theory Explain the Evidence Applications of the theory …

Lesson Idea: Hot Seat – Group Edition

Travis DixonTeaching Ideas

I often lament that I don’t have more time in my class to allow students to develop their presentation skills. This basic consolidation activity is just one small way I can get… Students to review previous content Collaboration and co-operation A sample of student understanding from previous lessons A chance to hear students speak and verbalize their learning Students out …

To prove or not to prove, that is the question.

Travis DixonAssessment (IB), General Interest

This is a follow-up to the popular post, “why we rarely use the word ‘prove’ in psychology.” In their first months of studying psychology students love to use the word “prove” when explaining studies. This drives teachers and examiners nuts! But instead of making a blanket rule in class like “you’re never to use the word prove!” I like to …

It’s so easy to get a 7 in Paper One…

Travis DixonAssessment (IB), Revision and Exam Preparation, Teaching Ideas

….or at least, it should be. Note: This is for the old syllabus, exams 2011 – 2018 Let’s crunch some numbers… 70% is the mark to get a 7 (approximately). 4% of IB Psych’ students get 7s. 46 marks are available in Paper One. 32/46 will get you 70%. So by looking at the above numbers, let’s see one possible …

Flipping the lesson in a whole new way!

Travis DixonTeaching Ideas

This post is for teachers using the CHACER framework for lessons. With anything we have to be careful of things going stale. At the moment I’m into Topic 2.7 in Criminology and I’m thinking, “I need to change it up a bit.” While my kids are loving the unit, I think mixing it up couldn’t hurt. If you’re using the …

Exam Tip: How to explain an etiology of a disorder…

Travis DixonAbnormal Psychology, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Revision and Exam Preparation, Teaching Ideas

Explaining an etiology of a disorder can be quite tricky for some students because they focus on the disorder in general. But in order to have a really effective explanation you’re better to focus on specific symptoms. A three step approach to explaining an etiology When learning an etiology or planning an exam answer, you can follow these three simple …

Lesson Idea: Psychology in Popular Media

Travis DixonResearch Methodology

This would be a particularly good TOK lesson.  Activity One: Watch a TED Talk Watch this TED Talk by Molly Crockett, one of the researchers in the Passamonti et al.’s experiment on trytophan depletion and its effects on the prefrontal cortex. In this talk she explains why we should be wary of “neurobunk.” [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b64qvG2Jgro&w=560&h=315] After the video, discuss what …

Take the stress out of teacher evaluation observations

Travis DixonCurriculum, Teaching Ideas, Themantics

This post will be most helpful for teachers who see the value in Themantic Education’s teaching principles and practices, especially those already using our teacher support packs. Having an administrator or even a peer observe your lessons can be a stressful time, even for the most experienced teachers. The practical applications of our themantic model of curriculum design™ can give …

For Teachers: PT Conferences Made-Easy

Travis DixonUncategorized

Yesterday we had Parent-Teacher (PT) conferences at school and I thought I’d share a few things that made for smooth sailing and an enjoyable day for me. We only have ten minutes per interview, so I’ll share how I managed to communicate a whole lot in that short time. New teachers will probably find this a lot more helpful than …

Key Study: Cortisol and Memory (Buchanan and Lovallo, 2001)

Travis DixonBiological Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

This study can be found in Chapter 4 of the Student’s Guide. Background Studies conducted before this experiment in 2001 showed that cortisol can have a detrimental effect on memory. Animal studies, however, had shown the opposite: stress can improve memory.  This was the first study (at the time) that investigated the influence of cortisol on emotional memory in humans. …

What is an “experiment?”

Travis DixonResearch Methodology

If you’re reading this it’s probably because your teacher has assigned this as homework because you’ve called a study an “experiment” when it wasn’t an experiment at all. So this post is to help you know exactly when to use the term “experiment”, and when it’s safe just to say “study.” But before we get to that, let’s first clarify …

Lesson Idea: Neuroplasticity

Travis DixonBiological Psychology, Criminology

This activity is designed to accompany the Criminology lesson 2.7b: Childhood and Brain Development. A good way to learn about neuroplasticity is to compare your performance on something you’re a master at, with something with which you’re a novice. Find someone in your class with whom you can share talents – they’ll try to teach you something you’ve never tried …

How does testosterone influence aggression?

Travis DixonBiological Psychology, Criminology, Revision and Exam Preparation

Understanding how testosterone can influence aggression can be a little tricky, so this post is designed to provide extra help. This post is designed to support the materials in Topic 2.4 of our textbook, IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide. Common Errors Here is what an over-simplified (and incorrect) explanation for testosterone and aggression might look like: So in writing, this …

Working Memory Games

Travis DixonCognitive Psychology, Teaching Ideas

Before diving in to the study of Baddeley and Hitch’s working memory model, it’s important that you first comprehend what “working memory” is. I’ve found that playing some of these games is a fun way to comprehend the concept of working memory and it will make your it easier to understand your teacher’s explanations of things like the central executive, …

If you’re interested: Clive Wearing

Travis DixonCognitive Psychology

There’s never enough time to cover everything in our IB Psychology course, so here are a few resources that might not fit in normal classes, but you might find interesting nonetheless. Clive Wearing is very similar to the famous case of HM (Henry Molaison). However, whereas HM’s hippocampus was damaged due to surgery, Wearing’s was damaged due to an illness. …

5 Types of Exam Questions in IB Psychology

Travis DixonAssessment (IB), Curriculum, Revision and Exam Preparation, Teaching Ideas

There are 5 types of exam questions in IB Psychology, Papers One and Two. While the general structures that we recommend for exam answers can be applied to all of these types of questions, they do have their own sets of pitfalls that students should be aware of. And as with anything, there are some exceptions and special cases of …

Criminology Support Pack: Now Available

Travis DixonCriminology, Curriculum, Teaching Ideas, Themantics

BUY YOURSELF SOME TIME WITH OUR TEACHER SUPPORT PACK. You can get your full teacher support pack HERE! This pack for Criminology contains: Complete unit plan with learning outcomes, key terms and lesson overviews 9 x topic plans with learning outcomes 25 x individual lesson plans following our C.H.A.C.E.R framework 10 x individual activity handouts Links to complete online resources …

The Top Ten Most Valuable Studies from the Criminology Unit

Travis DixonCurriculum, Revision and Exam Preparation, Teaching Ideas

Personally, I think the most useful studies to know in-depth in order of appearance are: Bechara et al.’s study on the vmPFC, Iowa Gambling task and decision making (2.2)(link) Feinstein et al.’s case study on SM (2.3)(workbook) Radke et al.’s experiment on testosterone and the brain (2.4)(textbook) Cohen’s culture of honor experiments (2.5)(in workbook) Passamonti et al’s experiment on serotonin …

Teaching Tip: What if my lessons aren’t 60 minutes long?

Travis DixonCurriculum, Teaching Ideas

The textbook for the new course (IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide) is laid out in a lesson-by-lesson structure. There’s a very good reason for this – to make teacher’s lives easier. The book also follows the themantic model of curriculum design, which is a very particular model of structuring how we deliver content for maximum results. Each “lesson” in the book …

Quizlet: Love and Marriage Review (Chapter 5)

Travis DixonLove and Marriage, Revision and Exam Preparation

Along with other fun review activities like Jeopardies and Kahoots, making Quizlet class sets is a quick and easy way to build a resource that students can use to study with, either in class or in their own time. Love and Marriage Quizlet: Chapter Five Review – Available HERE! If your students enjoy Kahoots, they might also like quizlet-live, which …