The involuntary removal of a passenger on a United Airlines flight has justifiably garnered a lot of attention. And as teachers we certainly want to capture students’ attention. But how do we create a discussion among students that goes beyond the simple shock value of showing the video? In this episode I talk both about the connections to psychology and … Read More
Ep 265: How To Make Study Groups Effective
In a previous episode I talked about the kinds of dynamics that can occur in groups (social loafing, diffusion of responsibility) that can make them ineffective learning experiences as well as just not fun. In this episode I interview Dr. Karen Christian who has watched how many study groups in action and she has uncovered quite a few things that … Read More
Ep 250: How I Use Snapchat In My Class
Snapchat got a pretty bad rap over the past few years, but did you know that you actually can use this video messaging app in ways that really do help students see the applications of what their teachers are learning in their everyday lives. In this episode I share my experiences using Snapchat with my psychology class. Yes it has … Read More
Ep 213: Leveraging Our Natural Curiosity for Learning (and for Blog and Video Clicks)
How do we motivate you to click online? Well, we don’t necessarily have to pay you to get you to do things (extrinsic motivation) because you’re already a curious person. We also don’t necessarily have to find things you’re already interested in (intrinsic motivation) we just have to find things that are naturally interesting to all of us to get … Read More
Ep 207: The Psychology of Vine
Would you believe there’s a lot of psychology you can fit into a 6 second vine? Well there is. In this video episode I show you a few of there vines I like and which are also good (unintended) demonstrates of a variety of psychological concepts. I think you’ll have fun with this one. Consider following these folks on Vine! … Read More
Ep 198: What’s it Like to Work in Psychology?
A lot of people find psychology interesting. But what is it really like to work in psychology? A tough question to answer because the field is so broad. In this episode of The Psych Files podcast I’ll share my thoughts on the difference between learning about psychology and actually doing psychology as a career. It’s a tough thing to capture … Read More
Ep 191: What Was B. F. Skinner Really Like?
Would you be surprised to learn that B.F. Skinner was a very likable guy and that you may actually be very much in agreement with his ideas? Many people who study psychology have a negative impression of Skinner. Well, I’m about to challenge those impressions by presenting a side of Skinner you probably haven’t been exposed to. In these sound … Read More
Ep 187: I’d Like to Have an Argument Please (critical thinking part 3)
How would you like to have an argument? Turns out that learning how to have a good argument might just be the best way to learn to think critically. In this episode I discuss a neat piece of research in which 7 and 8 year olds are taught how to effectively argue. And they do a darn good job of … Read More
Ep 184: Critical Thinking (Part 2) – Important? Yes. But Can We Teach It? Well….
In episode 183 I talked about what critical thinking is and why it’s important. Now we talk about why it’s so darn hard to teach and to use critical thinking in our everyday lives. In this episode I’ll discuss Dr. Daniel Willingham‘s advice to teachers on what they can do to effectively teach critical thinking – something that couldn’t be … Read More
Ep 173: An Interactive Neuron and Map Using ThingLink
Every once in a while a really cool tool comes along and I like to show everyone the fun I had with it. In this video episode I show how I easily made an interactive image of a neuron and an interactive map containing videos and locations for some of the major studies in psychology. Do you know where, for … Read More
