Psychology 477
Ethics and Practice of Teaching Psychology at the College Level
Fall, 1996


Mary Allen, Ph.D.
Class Hours: Tuesday 8:45-10:25AM, DDH-G101
Office Hours:	Tu 10:30-noon, W 8:05-8:30PM, Th 8:05-8:30PM (until 10/8/96)
Office: DDH-D117, 664-2366

An exploration of ethical issues and strategies for effective teaching of psychology at the 
college level.  This course is appropriate for students planning to serve as teaching 
assistants in the Department of Psychology or who are planning a teaching career in higher 
education.  Prerequisite: Completion of at least 20 upper division units of Psychology 
coursework or permission of instructor.  Class attendance and participation are required, 
and class participation is a graded component in this class.  Assigned readings should be 
completed before the designated class meeting.  Late papers will not be accepted without 
prior instructor approval.


Required Readings:
Davis, B. G. (1993).  Tools for teaching.  Jossey-Bass: San Francisco.
Keith-Spiegel, et al. (1993).  The ethics of teaching: A casebook.  Muncie, Indiana: Ball 
State University.

Grading Components:
1. Big Ten Lists.  Each student will compile a list of their personal ten most important 
teaching hints, strategies, or ethical issues learned in this course.  The list should contain 
non-trivial items, and each of the ten items should be described in a paragraph with 
appropriate references to course components.  These lists will be handed in and preliminary 
lists will be shared and discussed in class.  The written assignment should be no more than 
four pages, double-spaced.
2. Psychology 100 Syllabus.  Each student will prepare an "ideal" Psychology 100 
syllabus.  It should include policies, grading criteria, assignments, and other needed 
information.  The syllabus cannot be longer than five typed pages and should incorporate 
ideas based on our readings and discussion.
3. Introductory Psychology Lecture.  Each student will develop one class presentation 
appropriate for an introductory psychology course, integrating course materials and 
relevant readings.  Teaching of Psychology issues, APA publications, and instructor 
guides from a variety of introductory texts will be made available.  The presentation will 
include an active learning component.  The presentation (in abbreviated form) will be role-
played in class with a brief discussion of possible ethical problems and how they would be 
handled, and related exam questions will be submitted. 
4. Class Facilitation.  Each student will facilitate one or two class discussions of required 
readings (depending on course enrollment).  Students are encouraged to be creative, as 
long as they remember that the purpose of the discussion is to highlight important and 
interesting aspects of the assigned readings and to discuss their implications.  Discussion 
facilitators should not read the books to us, nor should they dominate the discussion.  (This 
is not a monologue; this is discussion facilitation.)  Notecards, outlines, or other materials 
may be used to facilitate the presentation and discussion.  Discussions may involve 
structured active learning exercises, such as role playing or collaborative learning activities.  
Students facilitating discussions on the same day may work sequentially or as a team, but 
each student leader will be independently graded.  Students scheduled for the same day 
should coordinate activities to make efficient and non-redundant use of class time.
5. Structured Interview.  Students will develop, in class, a structured interview.  Each 
student will interview one teacher he/she believes is excellent.  The interview will cover 
teaching strategies, styles, and ideas.  Interview results will be presented in class (with 
permission of interviewed faculty).
6. Class Participation.  Students are expected to complete reading assignments before 
coming to class, to attend all class meetings, and to participate in class activities and 
discussions.  The class participation grade will be based on a subjective evaluation of these 
components and periodic in-class writing exercises.


Grading:
Grades will be based on the following weighted components.
	25% Big Ten Lists
	25% Psychology 100 Syllabus
	15% Introductory Psychology Lecture
	15% Class Facilitation
	  5% Structured Interview Results Presented in Class Discussion
	15% Class Participation

Grade Standards:
A   = 92 -100%	A- = 90 -  91%	B+ = 88 -  89%
B   = 82 -  87%	B- = 80 -  81%	C+ = 78 -  79%
C   = 70 -  77%	C- = 65 -  69%	D+ = 63 -  64%
D   = 53 -  62%	D- = 50 -  52%	F   = BELOW 50%


Tentative Schedule:
9/10	Introduction and Organization
9/17	Davis, Chapters 1-17
9/24	Davis, Chapters 18-34
10/1	Davis, Chapters 35-49
10/8	Keith-Spiegel, Parts 1-2
10/15	Keith-Spiegel, Parts 3-4
10/22	Keith-Spiegel, Parts 5-6
10/29	Discussion of Preliminary Big Ten Lists, Creation of Structured Interview, 
	Psychology 100 Syllabus Due
11/5	Discussion of Structured Interview Results, Teaching Demonstrations
11/12	No class.  Monday schedule
11/19	Teaching Demonstrations
11/26	Big Ten Lists Due, 8AM