I’m a simple man. This is why I love the motto: “keep it simple, stupid!” I especially love keeping it simple when it comes to exam preparation. The more complex, intricate and nuanced we make our instructions on how to do well in exams, the less time there is to spend on developing the skills necessary for success in the …
Lesson Idea: “The Love Lab”
This lesson idea works well with the lesson “Positive Communication” in 5.3 of Love and Marriage (Chapter 5). I used to hate role plays as a student. I loathe them now when I’m on a Pro-D workshop. So naturally, as a big mean teacher, I love to get my students to do them! 🙂 The activity… In groups of three, …
The best teaching activity, ever!
It’s a bold post title, I know. But this basic teaching idea is by far my favourite and for so many reasons. The Traffic Lights In an earlier post I shared a key terms traffic lights lesson idea that is based on the three colours representing different levels of knowledge. That idea evolved from this original one of having students …
For love or honour? The case of arranged marriages.
The idea of arranged marriages is an inherently interesting topic and one that hits close to home in many cultures. Would (or will) you marry someone you weren’t in love with? This is the same question Levine et al. (1995) asked their participants when comparing across cultures the role of love in forming a relationship. Teaching Tip: I like to …
Lesson Idea: Murder Mystery – Who killed the marriage?
The Murder Mystery activity is another one credited to a workshop with the late Paul Ginnis some years back. The details can be found in his book. This idea goes along with the lesson “Negative Communication” in the Love and Marriage chapter. However, the murder mystery is an excellent problem-solving and collaboration activity that can be applied to any content. …
Lesson Idea: Reviewing Studies
I came up with this basic idea yesterday as I was putting together my student workbook for the Love and Marriage unit. In this entire unit (Chapter 5 of the student’s guide) there are four key studies applicable to the following topics: Hormones and behaviour (Bio) Evolution and behaviour (Bio) Methods and Ethics (Evolution – Bio) Methods and Ethics (Hormones …
The Evolution of Attraction: Extra Resources
The study of attraction is definitely one of my favourite topics. Because there’s so much interesting research in this field, I thought I’d create this post to “dump” some extra resources that you might find interesting. WARNING FOR STUDENTS: Many of the “studies” in the videos below have been replicated for the purposes of TV entertainment. They are to be used …
Experiment Results: Is an evaluation distinguishable from a discussion?
After writing and sharing a recent post, I got some questions regarding the validity of my claim that a good evaluation and discussion are indistinguishable. So I decided to put it to the test by writing an example essay following the essay structure I advise for students and seeing if it was obvious which command term was being used. I gathered …
What is “an evolutionary explanation of behaviour?”
Offering an evolutionary explanation of behaviour can be more difficult than it first appears, so I want to show two ways to do this. I don’t teach evolution and behaviour as an individual topic in my course, as there are multiple behaviours that are applicable including fear, aggression (both in Criminology), attraction (Love and Marriage) and fear conditioning (PTSD). This …
Introduction to Psychology: Powerpoint (Chapter 1)
This powerpoint is designed to accompany the introduction unit plan and the student workbook. Feel free to amend or adapt as you wish. You can download the powerpoint HERE!! I added some comments to the slides as well to hopefully make it easier to see how to use them. For those teachers using IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide, you will hopefully …