----

##  Standards for the High School Psychology Course. ERIC Digest.                

The latest contribution to the content standards boom that began in             the 1990s comes from the American Psychological Association (APA),              which recently published "National Standards for the Teaching of                High School Psychology."  This Digest discusses (1) the origin and              purposes of the project to develop standards for high school                    psychology courses, (2) the presentation and organization of the                standards, (3) teaching for active learning of psychology, and (4)              resources for psychology teachers. ORIGIN AND PURPOSES OF THE                 STANDARDS.The nationwide content standards movement plus the                growing popularity of high school psychology courses (over 800,000              high school students annually enroll in psychology courses) prompted            the American Psychological Association in 1995 to commission the                Task Force for the Development of National High School Psychology               Standards.  The task force was composed of experienced psychologists            and secondary and university psychology educators selected by the               APA Education and Science directorates.  The final                              product, "National Standards for the Teaching of High School                    Psychology," was published in August 1999. 
These standards are                intended to help teachers improve the quality of teaching and                   learning in psychology courses. The standards are advisory only and             will be used voluntarily by interested curriculum developers and                teachers.  Used appropriately,  these new psychology standards can              be a valuable tool to help both new and experienced high school                 psychology teachers become more effective in their teaching.  People            who make decisions about the teaching of psychology also will                   benefit from having a resource that provides an overall organization            and approach for teaching psychology. 
The standards for high                  school psychology stress student development of skills necessary for            living in a rapidly changing world.  The authors recommend that                 students learn to "think critically and synthesize large quantities             of new information, show sensitivity to diversity, and develop                  attitudes and skills that promote lifelong learning" (APA 1999,                 7). ORGANIZATION OF THE STANDARDS.The following key terms are             used in the presentation and organization of the psychology                     standards. "Domain" refers to a cluster of related content areas.               A "Standard Area" pertains to a major topic or unit representing a              subdivision of psychology. "Content Standard" refers to what                    students should comprehend after completing a specific unit in the              psychology course. A "Performance Standard" refers to what students             should be able to do in relation to the "Content Standard."                     A "Performance Indicator" provides different ways students may                  demonstrate that they have achieved the standard.  Using these five             key terms we can examine how the task force organized the content of            psychology for teaching purposes. 
Five domains exemplify the usual            content areas of psychology:  the Methods Domain, Biopsychological              Domain, Cognitive Domain, Developmental Domain, and the                         Sociocultural Domain.  Within each Domain are specific Standard                 Areas, 15 across the five Domains.  Each Standard Area comprises                various Content Standards, 70 across the 15 Standard Areas.  Each               Content Standard is further divided into specific Performance                   Standards.  Finally, each Performance Standard offers various                   possible performance indicators, ways students can demonstrate their            knowledge and understanding of each Performance Standard. 
The                 Performance Indicators are only suggestions.  Teachers may develop              their own Performance Indicators if they wish.  For example, the                Cognitive Domain includes the Standard Areas of learning, memory,               thinking and language, and states of consciousness.  Content                    Standards for the Standard Area of Learning pertain to                          characteristics of learning, principles of classical conditioning,              principles of operant conditioning, components of cognitive                     learning, and roles of biology and culture in determining learning.             Under the Content Standard category of characteristics of learning              are the Performance Standards: discuss learning from a psychological            viewpoint, and recognize learning as a vehicle to promote adaptation            through experience.  Four possible performance indicators are listed            under this Performance Standard: Discuss learning from a                        psychological viewpoint.  They are: 
*  Listing the important                  historical figures in learning. 
*  Defining learning as relatively            permanent changes in behavior resulting from experience. 
*                    Distinguishing learning from performance. 
*  Demonstrating the use            of theories of learning in  applied examples (APA 1999, 53). 
This             presentation and organization of the standards can help psychology              teachers gain an overview or structure for teaching psychology and              break down the teaching task into smaller, more manageable units and            lessons. TEACHING FOR ACTIVE LEARNING.To encourage students to            become lifelong learners, the psychology standards stress teaching              for active learning.  The following design principles promote active            learning. 
1.  Active learning should involve the entire class. For            example, demonstrations that involve only a few students may                    constitute active learning for the students engaged in the activity,            but not for the class as a whole. 
2.  Active learning is most                 effective when students understand the relevance of the exercise to             the subject at hand, the content of their course work, or the                   students' everyday lives. 
3.  Active learning stimulates learning             at higher cognitive levels. These methods not only require students             to know and comprehend, they also prompt them to apply, analyze,                synthesize, and evaluate. 
4.  Active learning methods vary in the             time they require in class and out of class.  An instructor can                 design short activities for a few minutes of class time or design an            entire course with active learning as the sole method. 
5.  Active             learning exercises involve feedback to students, but not necessarily            in the form of grades.  Such feedback may come from the instructor              or from other students in the class; either way it should be planned            into the activity, ideally during or soon after the learning                    experience. 
6.  Active learning approaches must allow for student             reluctance to participate.  Teachers must respect students' right to            privacy and not compel them to participate in activities that would             have negative social consequences (APA 1999, 7-8). RESOURCES FOR              TEACHERS."National Standards for the Teaching of High School                Psychology" includes suggested sample outlines for five-unit,                   seven-unit, and ten-unit psychology courses.  A sample lesson plan              format based on the organization provided in the Psychology                     Standards includes example lessons.  Also, the "National Standards"             reference list is a valuable resource for psychology                            teachers. 
Section five of the book features a list of recommended             popular books organized by the five domains.  The section on                    technology discusses uses of computer software and the Internet.                The section on the Internet addresses using electronic mail,                    electronic mailing lists or listservs, and the World Wide Web.  Also            included are Internet sites for psychology teachers as well as                  computer software and the names and addresses for obtaining the                 software. 
The following Internet sites are recommended for                    secondary-level psychology teachers: 
*  American Psychological                Association http://www.apa.org 
*  American Psychological Society              http://psych.hanover.edu/aps 
*  Office of Teaching Resources in               Psychology http://www.lemoyne.edu/otrp 
*  Society for the Teaching            of Psychology http://teachpsych.lemoyne.edu/ 
*  Teachers of                   Psychology in Secondary Schools                                                 http://www.apa.org/ed/topsshomepage.html 
To obtain a copy of                  the "National Standards for the Teaching of High School Psychology,"            contact the American Psychological Association, Sherrill Simons,                Education Directorate, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC                     20002; (202) 336-6076; e-mail address: [email protected].  A copy of              the standards can be obtained on the World Wide Web at:                         http://www.apa.org/ed/natlstandards.html.  Hard copies of the                   psychology standards are available at no cost by writing to Sherrill            Simons at the address above. REFERENCES AND ERIC RESOURCES.The            following list of resources includes references used to prepare this            Digest.  The items followed by an ED number are available in                    microfiche and/or paper copies from the ERIC Document Reproduction              Service (EDRS).  For information about prices, contact EDRS, 7420               Fullerton Road, Suite 110, Springfield, Virginia 22153-2852;                    telephone numbers are (703) 440-1400 and (800) 443-3742.  Entries               followed by an EJ number, annotated monthly in CURRENT INDEX TO                 JOURNALS IN EDUCATION (CIJE), are not available through EDRS.                   However, they can be located in the journal section of most larger              libraries by using the bibliographic information provided, requested            through Interlibrary Loan, or ordered from commercial reprint                   services. 
American Psychological Association.  NATIONAL STANDARDS             FOR THE TEACHING OF HIGH SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY.  Washington, DC:                    American Psychological Association, 1999. 
Johnson, David E., and              Simone L. Schroder.  "Annotated Bibliography on the Teaching of                 Psychology."  TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY 25 (November 1998): 307-314. EJ            584 744. 
Puente, Antonio E.  TEACHING PSYCHOLOGY IN AMERICA: A                HISTORY. Washington, DC: American  Psychological Association, 1992.             ED 362 087. 
Rileigh, Kathryn K.  "Teaching Communication Skills in            Psychology." TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY 25  (November 1998): 279-282. EJ            584 735. 
Stomfay-Stitz, Aline M.  EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY, AND                  SOCIAL SCIENCE. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the                    American Psychological Association (New York, NY, August 12, 1995).             ED 407 307. 
Wittrock, M. C.  "Generative Teaching of                          Comprehension."  ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL 92 (November 1999):                  169-184.  EJ 438 170. 
----- 
This project has been funded at                 least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of                    Education under contract number ED-99-CO-0016.  The content of this             publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of               the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names,               commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S.             Government.  ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely            reproduced and disseminated. 
----- 
L. Lee Morganett is a                    Professor of Social Studies Education and Educational Psychology at             Indiana University Southeast.  He teaches social studies methods and            educational and adolescent psychology courses.  He has conducted                research and written articles and presented workshops and papers on             social studies education, the teaching of psychology, and classroom             motivation and management.                                                   **Title:** Standards for the High School Psychology Course. ERIC Digest.                **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education, 2805            East Tenth Street, Suite 120, Bloomington, IN 47408. Tel:                       800-266-3815 (Toll Free).                                                    **Descriptors:**  Academic Standards,  Active Learning, High Schools,  Psychology             **Identifiers:**  American Psychological Association, ERIC Digests                            
###
[Return to ERIC Digest Search Page]