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…
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 …
Take the stress out of teacher evaluation observations
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 …
Working Memory Games
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, …
5 Types of Exam Questions in IB Psychology
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
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
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?
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 …
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 …