Context Before reading about this study it’s important to recap the dual processing model of judgement and decision making. According to Kahneman (and others) we have two systems of processing information. System one is fast and unconscious, while system two is slower and considers more factors. The system of processing we use will affect our judgement, which in turn will …
“Is this a good EE question?”
There’s only way way we should be answering this question, in my opinion. And the answer should always be… “Well, it depends.” Let’s first assume that the question in question addresses some kind of relationship between one or more variables and individual human behaviour (or mental processes). If it does this, it’s suitable for psychology. If not, it needs amending. …
IB Psychology (HL) in less than 180 hours!
By teaching the course holistically and integrating the core and options, it’s possible to teach the IB Psychology course content in more depth and in less time. Below you can see how I intend on teaching my HL Psychology class in less than 180 hours with the help of my textbook, IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide. What I should point out …
IB Psychology (SL) in less than 125 Hours!
By teaching the course holistically and integrating the core and options it’s possible to teach the IB Psychology course in more depth and in less time. Here are two possible ways you could teach SL Psychology in less than 125 hours with the help of our textbook, IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide. Course Option #1 with Human Relationships …
Sample SAQs: Memory Reliability
Here are two versions of the same sample answer from this year’s (May, 2017) IB Psychology exam. The question was: Describe one study investigating memory reliability. The annotated short answer response (SAQ) shows you the answer, plus my comments as to why I think this is a mediocre response. Then we have this second excellent annotated example SAQ, which does a better …
When the IB asks the wrong question…
In the most recent IB Psychology exam the wrong question has been asked. And I’m not talking about the “etic” question, either. I’m referring to the SAQ from the cognitive level of analysis: Describe one study investigating the reliability of one cognitive process. This is obviously the wrong question to ask and may result in poor student performance, unless you’ve trained your …
Why teach themantically?
Why teach thematically? If you think about it, teaching by the core approaches (or levels of analysis) in a linear way IS a thematic approach – the themes are biology, cognition and socio-culture, and then the themes are abnormal psych, health, etc. These themes tie together topics so by the end of the unit students have a broad conceptual understanding. …
How to download the new IB Psychology Guide….2027 edition
Since it’s a common question, I thought I’d explain the steps to downloading the new course guide. I would publish it here, but that would be a copyright infringement. I will ask permission from IB if I can publish it, but for now it’s best to navigate through the new site for yourself. Step One: Log in to MyIB (Here) …
Sample course outlines
Here is a doc’ that I quickly put together to highlight some options for different course structures using the themantic approach. Please note these times are approximations. In fact, the time allocations are generous. For example, the Criminology unit has 27 “lessons” but allows for 35 hours. I’ve always allocated more hours than lessons, to allow for teaching writing skills, …
Alternative Essay Rubric
Here’s an alternative rubric that I use when marking my student’s work. At the core of the themantic approach to teaching is the recognition that learning moves from surface to deep learning. The three levels of learning (aka three levels of thinking) are descriptors that can lead to more objective marking and clearer feedback for students. These levels work at a …
The Story of Phineas Gage
Important Note: Phineas Gage is an interesting way to learn about the relationship between the frontal lobe and our behaviour. However, there are many other studies that we use in this course to demonstrate important concepts like localization of brain function. Therefore, Gage should not be used in exam answers. The story… Phineas Gage was a railroad worker who was …
Relating for Understanding
I’ve found that a good consolidation activity to start lessons is to use the following diagram to get students thinking about how things are related. This can help students understand significant relationships, but can also consolidate their comprehension of key terms and concepts. It take zero planning and is really effective at consolidating learning and developing understanding. You can simply …
Lesson one on how to “explain” a study…
This post is written to accompany the lesson on Phineas Gage and the frontal lobe in “IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide.” Unit: Criminology Topic 1: The Brain and Behaviour Lesson (a): “The Frontal Lobe The guiding question for this lesson is designed to give you some practice at explaining the results of a study. The question is: “How does Phineas Gage’s case suggest …
Why we rarely use the word “prove” in psychology…
If you’re reading this it’s probably because your teacher has sent you here after you’ve gone and written something like, “this study proves that…” in your psychology writing. While you may be able to use the word “prove” in the natural sciences and other subjects, this post will help you to understand why as a psychologist you may never use this word …
So you want to assess ecological validity?
If you’re reading this it’s probably because your teacher has sent you here after reading something in your essay along the lines of, “this experiment was a laboratory experiment and so it lacks ecological validity.” This throwaway sentence makes teachers and examiners groan (and not award you any marks, just so you know). So I’m here to help show you how to …
Tip for Cutting Content #3: Identities, Attitudes and Behaviours
Seeing as my last post about dealing with the cognitive extensions seemed to help, I thought I’d share this one. For some reason that I’m not too sure of, the new guide has got a trifecta of effects of cultural influences in the third topic: identities, attitudes and behaviours. On the surface this appears to be somewhat of a problem. …
Tip for Cutting Content #2: HL Extension – Cognitive Approach
Many people are worried about the amount of “content” in the IB Psychology course, but if you identify core concepts within the guide you can easily find overlaps, reduce content and enhance conceptual understanding in your students. Remember that all assessments will ask students about a core concept (i.e. a relationship between behaviour, variables, research or ethics). Let’s look at …
Biological Approach: Sample Exam Questions
With the new curriculum and the loss of the LOs, many teachers may be wondering about what the exam questions will be like. The answer is: much like the old ones. If you look at all the topics in the biological approach they are all related to the understanding of how variables can influence behaviour. The exam questions will reflect …
Social Identity Theory: A Brief Summary for Students
On the surface, Tajfel and Turner’s social identity theory can seem complex as there are multiple parts and some of the ideas are really abstract. In our themantic approach we try to break it down, lesson-by-lesson so each of the major concepts of social identity theory are introduced gradually. Remember that one of the first questions you should ask when trying to understand …
Critical Thinking in the New Course
The following is adapted from an extract in the introduction to IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide Critical Thinking The IB Psychology course is aimed at developing an understanding of relationships: relationships between variables, behaviour, ethics and research methods. But students also need to be able to develop the skills to go further than understanding and to be able to reflect critically upon …
Internal Validity: And why I don’t teach it…
I’d love to hear how you feel about my rationale for not teaching students how to evaluate studies based on internal validity. There is one exception, however: their IA. I only introduce the concept of internal validity during the analysis of their IA results and procedures, as this is the only study I expect them to be able to make …
Rememberol
I like to use a basic, fictional study when introducing students to the concepts behind research in psychology. For this purpose, I pretend that I’ve designed a drug called “Rememberol” and that it helps students increase what they remember after they study. It’s a basic concept and the fact that it’s a pill enables me to use it to demonstrate …
Maintaining Perspective: My 5% Rule
This post is adapted from an earlier post. At the start of the school year I like to remind myself about My 5% Rule: I should expect IB Psychology to make up less than 5% of my students’ lives. About 98% of the time that I see my kids is when they’re in my classroom. I’d love to reduce that % …
Lesson Idea: Inferential Statistics
With 20 hours allocated for the IA and a lot to get done, I only have time in my course to plan one lesson for inferential statistics. In this time I want students to get a basic understanding of: how inferential stats differ to descriptive ones how to choose which inferential statistical test to use and most importantly, why inferential statistical tests …
How to cope with the options in 20 hours..Tip #1
With the new syllabus I do like the concept of having extensions to the core approaches: this is a well thought-out practical solution to deal with the many different SL/HL scheduling issues that IB teachers face. It gives us more flexibility in planning how we differentiate between SL and HL courses in the many ways we all approach the course …