Teaching Psychology Online

Tips and Strategies for Success

Kelly S. Neff, Stewart I. Donaldson

• Publisher: Psychology Press
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781848729230
• eBook ISBN: 9781135106485
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Intended as a resource for psychology educators ranging from teaching assistants to experienced faculty, this book shows readers how to effectively create and manage an online psychology course. Guidelines for preparing courses, facilitating communication, and assigning grades are provided along with activities and assessments geared specifically towards psychology. Pedagogical theories and research are fused with the authors' teaching experiences to help maximize the reader's abilities as an online psychology instructor. The book focuses on psychology education at the undergraduate level but it also includes material appropriate for graduate students and professionals. Readers will find helpful examples from all the major content areas including introductory, social, developmental, biological, abnormal, and positive psychology, and human sexuality.

Every chapter is organized around 3 sections. The Purpose part introduces the key concepts, theory, and research. The Implementation section reviews the 'nuts and bolts' of online teaching, and the Troubleshooting section addresses key problems and potential solutions. 'Text boxes' highlight important tips. The website http://www.TeachingPsychologyOnline.com provides additional tips, links to related articles and other resources, and examples of online psychology assignments from across the discipline. The book addresses: launching your online course; enhancing student/instructor communication; modes of multimedia and how to integrate them into your course including lecture videos, podcasting, blogging, wikis, and social networking sites; creating activities for online courses; assessment and grading; and online education trend including doctoral level education.

Ideal for instructors teaching ANY psychology course, from introductory to upper-level undergraduate to graduate courses, this text can be used for developing on line courses in applied areas such as counseling, health, and industrial psychology as well as for courses in social, cognitive, and developmental psychology. Instructors of any technical skill level can use this book, including those familiar with Blackboard to those who are just getting started. Whether you are a seasoned pro or new to teaching psychology online, the tips in this book can help improve your instruction, reduce your prep time, and enhance your students' success.

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO TEACHING
PSYCHOLOGY ONLINE

WELCOME!

Welcome to the future of psychology training and education! By deciding to read this book, you have embraced the reality that psychology education is in the process of expanding beyond the traditional classroom-based setting into the great digital universe. Classroom-based instruction is likely to always be an important component of higher education, but new teaching modalities are emerging that are pushing psychology instruction at all levels into a new realm that is unique to the 21st century and to our current context. Consider that in the mid-1990s, the notion of online education was almost unheard of. The proposition that an individual could obtain a college degree, or at least complete part of his or her coursework, by sitting at a computer terminal probably seemed absurd. In 2012, we are undergoing one of the largest transitions in education, with far-reaching implications for the delivery of not only undergraduate psychology education, but also for K-12 education, graduate education, professional development and lifelong learning, as well as workplace development and training. Perhaps in 2025, a time without online education will seem as equally preposterous as the idea of online education would have done in the mid-1990s. Quite simply, we are in the midst of one of the greatest transformational periods in the history of education. The tips, tricks, and advice featured in this book will help you more easily navigate this new virtual landscape, and guide you to create, launch, and succeed as an online psychology educator.

WHY WE WROTE THIS BOOK

The authors of this book have diverse but complementary experiences as psychology educators. Dr. Kelly Neff has spent several years teaching undergraduate psychology online, and has developed, created, and launched her own courses. She possesses insights into the process of combining online components into traditional course formats, and has witnessed first-hand how learning online can boost student achievement. As a doctoral student and first-time online educator, Neff learned quickly that excellent online instruction requires a deeper understanding than simply posting course materials online. Using techniques to motivate student achievement through mentoring and communication, Neff has developed highly successful courses which attract hundreds of students per year across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Neff hopes that new online instructors who use this book can avoid many of the first-time glitches and problems that she experienced. In fact, this is the one book that Neff wished she could have read when she started teaching online!

Dr. Stewart Donaldson has taught psychology at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional training levels for more than 25 years. Five years ago, Donaldson developed a distance education certificate program and a wide range of online courses, online workshops, online professional talks, and online conferences for graduate students and working professionals. Donaldson's distance education offerings in applied psychology have been attended by thousands of participants from all across the globe. He and his online support team have learned many valuable lessons about how to teach psychology online. He is thrilled to join forces with Dr. Neff to share what he has learned about teaching psychology to students distributed across time and space.

The authors developed this book project not only out of a need experienced in our own teaching careers, but also in response to the surprising absence of a peer-reviewed literature on how to best train and educate online psychology instructors. The available materials are of en fragmented, and not targeted specifically at our discipline of psychology. One reviewer of online faculty training argues that “online faculty development is still in its infancy” (Lowenthal, 2008, p. 351). Others have noted that due to the growth in the number of online students, some institutions offer online instruction “without necessarily having staf competent in all aspects of online pedagogy” (Sims, Dobbs, & Hand, 2002, p. 136). This type of “sink or swim” philosophy can create unwarranted pressure for instructors who are seeking to enhance their traditional course offerings using online components, or for those who are looking to create brand new online courses. This book provides accessible and insightful guidance for those instructors looking to launch their best possible online course. Our goal is to mitigate and reduce the pressures and anxieties of online teaching by taking a positive, hands-on approach. We embrace the values of online education, and strongly believe that anyone who teaches psychology can also teach psychology online, using the guidance and tips presented in this book.

This book best prepares online psychology educators because, unlike nearly all available online teacher training materials, it is specific to our discipline. Not only does this book feature important guidelines for preparing courses, facilitating communication, and using technology, but it also provides activities and assessments geared specifically toward the teaching of psychology. As the only online teaching book focused exclusively on psychology, this book will guide you through the entire process of online teaching, and will help suggest content and activities that will facilitate a successful psychology course. Because, let's face it, psychology is a special discipline, and teaching it well usually involves a unique set of skills and a comprehensive knowledge base.

PSYCHOLOGY IS FUN AND IMPORTANT TO TEACH!

For a variety of reasons, psychology courses are some of the most fun, engaging, and valuable courses to teach. First, psychology has been extraordinarily successful at attracting the next generation of social scientists into the discipline. The growth of interest in psychology during the past three decades is striking, as psychology has become one of the most popular majors on college campuses across the United States (Donaldson, Berger, & Pezdek, 2006). Second, psychology is relevant to everyone's lives, from undergraduates, to graduates, to professionals, to instructors. With a broad range of topics, including human sexuality, political change, happiness, organizational leadership, power dynamics, health and wellness, persuasion, and financial decision making, the discipline is extremely appealing and exciting to learn about. For example, at Harvard University, positive psychology has overtaken economics as the most popular course on campus. It is hardly surprising then, that many career opportunities are afforded to students who are trained in psychology (Donaldson et al., 2006). Knowledge and application of the latest psychological findings can benefit a wide variety of professionals across disciplines and lead to improved workplace performance.

WHY TEACH PSYCHOLOGY ONLINE?

There are a number of benefits to transitioning psychology courses to the online classroom, or to using online materials to supplement your traditional courses. First, teaching online provides access to a larger, more diverse student population. A traditional classroom is limited to only those people who reside within a reasonable commuting distance from the institution, who can also afford to pay for transportation and arrange for childcare/time away from work. Individuals who share the same geographical location may also share similar attitudes and cultural/social norms. Given that teaching psychology of en involves critical analysis of culture, society, and ideas, when all students in the class are from roughly the same background it can sometimes limit the depth and breadth of in-class discourse. However, an online class provides access to a larger, more diverse student population than could be possible with a face-to-face lecture. Online education therefore levels the playing field in terms of socioeconomic status, where students can join the course without sac-rificing work hours, childcare responsibilities, and transportation costs. The online teaching of psychology also eliminates the requirements for geographic proximity, broadening the student body to include students across state lines, in Different cultures, and even from Different countries. In the authors’ experiences, the integration of students from across the world into a single psychology course adds tremendous insight and excitement for students.

Furthermore, online courses enable instructors to facilitate student interaction at a much more competent and comprehensive level than evidenced in the classroom. Imagine a large lecture hall with 100 students. In your experience, how many of these students will raise their hand and speak out during your lectures? If your experience is anything like that of the authors, then probably not many students will engage in an active way. Face-to-face lecture courses do not always enable student interaction in a comfortable, stress-free setting. Of en, only certain extraverted, confident, secure students will elect to participate and share their views in front of so many of their peers, leaving the shy or insecure students with little opportunity to create discourse. The online learning environment removes the social pressure and anxiety from classroom interactions. On the online discussion board, it is almost impossible to distinguish the shy “back row” students from the talkative “front row” students. Suddenly, all students have equal opportunities to voice their thoughts in an open forum without embarrassment or fear of reprisal. This is one of the most common positive features for students of online courses: They appear to enjoy chatting online about the course material! And why wouldn't they, considering that this current generation of college students (and all those after it) have grown up utilizing online communication as their premier source of social interaction? Suddenly, psychology courses can transition from a faculty member delivering a lecture, to a large group of students creating new ideas, analyzing theory, thinking critically, and developing their own conclusions.

Online courses are not only great for stimulating growth in psychology students, but they are also wonderful for an academic psychologist's schedule. If your online course is implemented using some of the tips in this book, then you should have more time to yourself to focus on publications, presentations, and other academic projects. You may spend less time in an office, less time in a car/bus/train commuting, and save money on your transportation costs. Just thinking about that extra time to yourself probably makes you giddy with excitement. However, it is important to remember that online teaching can be a process of trial and error, and over time, you will probably figure out the strategies that work best for you!

Finally, teaching online is not only time and cost effective for you, but it is also very effcient for your academic institution. During these times of massive budget crises, particularly at public universities and community colleges, this argument alone should be suffcient to prompt administrators to provide online course options. Online courses require no facilities and maintenance services; they do not require electricity; nor do they require any infrastructure at all other than what is afforded by the registrar and the technology services that support the online interface. It is possible to enroll many more students into a single online class than is possible with a single face-to-face lecture. This phenomenon reflects supply and demand. An online course in California can appeal to not only those students who live close to the university, but also to students across the nation and world. Suddenly, many more students can be accommodated into a single classroom, at minimal additional cost to the institution. A highly rated online psychology instructor can become a successful, marketable brand, bringing in a variety of students from multiple institutions.

THE DIFFERENT ONLINE APPLICATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY
EDUCATION

While the majority of attention in the online teaching literature has focused on courses delivered to college undergraduates, psychology can also be taught online at any level or age range. Many opportunities are arising, including K-12 education, graduate education, and professional training initiatives. Psychology and its related components are taught across a variety of contexts extending far beyond college undergraduate education, and thus there are benefits to transitioning these to online education as well. Consider the following avenues for application (chapter 7 of this book will focus on advanced applications to professional training and beyond).

K-12 EDUCATION: MOVING ONLINE?

A burgeoning trend in K-12 education involves the integration of online education components. A February 2010 report published by Simba Information and Market Data Retrieval shows that about one-third of public K-12 schools in the United States already have some kind of online education program, and an additional 20% will offer these programs during the 2011–2012 school year. This means that by 2012, over half of all public schools in the United States will feature online learning components. In New York City, for example, a project known as Innovation Zone, or I-Zone was proposed for the Fall 2010 school year that would see nearly 80 public schools deliver a large amount of formerly classroom-based instruction online (Gonen, 2010). This type of instruction takes many Different forms, including using online instruction for independent study and Advanced Placement courses in high schools, a blended learning model where online instruction will be delivered in the classroom, and elementary and middle schools piloting software that enables teachers to tailor math and reading lessons to the educational needs of each student.

ONLINE GRADUATE EDUCATION

Online graduate programs are currently on the rise, with over 600 online graduate degree programs currently offered in the social sciences alone (according to the website www.Gradschools.com). These programs include courses offered by some of the most prestigious universities in the United States, such as Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. Online graduate degrees in psychology exhibit the same depth and breadth as traditional offerings, including programs dedicated to clinical psychology, sex therapy, organizational psychology, educational and school psychology, developmental psychology, social and personality psychology, applied behavior analysis, sports psychology, and psychoanalysis. While the majority of online psychology degrees feature master's programs (around 400), there are also nearly 200 online doctoral programs in psychology, including those offered by Philadelphia University and Arizona State University. Instructors working with online graduate programs in psychology can definitely benefit from the many tips and tricks in this book, with a particular focus on the advanced applications chapter.

PSYCHOLOGY AND ORGANIZATIONAL TRAINING

Psychological principles are also of en utilized in workplace training initiatives meant to open up dialogue, promote respect and tolerance, and educate employees about harassment or other policies. As educators, it is important that we do not overlook these training sessions as an arena to provide high quality online education. For example, Zembylas (2008) argues that an online program to reduce cultural discrimination and increase diversity can utilize online communication and engagement to promote the reframing of previous beliefs and stereotypes. The creation of an online learning community is especially important for these types of training programs as a means of encouraging support, shared goals, and dialogue about the issues at hand.

Likewise, universities that offer professional development or certificate training in psychology can also benefit from offering these online. From an applied online course in grant writing, to an online certificate in hypnosis, advanced training in psychology has certainly made the jump to the online arena. Based upon this discussion then, it is clear that online psychology education can extend far beyond the undergraduate Psych 101 realm to include K-12 participants, graduate degree programs, and diversity/career training sessions.

ROADMAP OF THIS BOOK

This book features a synthesis of theory, research, and anecdotes designed to maximize your abilities as an online psychology instructor. Whether you are a seasoned pro in the online arena, or a newbie just dipping your feet in, there are tips and tricks in this book that can help improve your instruction, reduce your preparation time, and enhance your s...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Full Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Chapter 1 Introduction to Teaching Psychology Online
• Chapter 2 Planning, Preparing, and Launching Your Course
• Chapter 3 Communication is KEY
• Chapter 4 The Multimedia Bonanza
• Chapter 5 Online Activities: Higher Order Thinking Through Discourse
• Chapter 6 Online Assessment and Learning Outcomes in Psychology
• Chapter 7 Advanced Applications and Future Directions in Online Psychology
• References
• Author Index
• Subject Index