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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
C.H.A.C.E.R: The Themantic Lesson Plan
Our goal at TE is to make teachers lives better by making them simpler. Do less and do it better, getting back to basics, yadda, yadda. If we can help you reduce stress, it will have positive impacts on your kids (see this article about the correlation between teacher burnout and cortisol in students). Get all your lesson plans and …
Relationship Chains: The Framework of the Themantic Model
In an earlier post I outlined one of the core concepts of the themantic model of curriculum design: the building block. If a building block is an individual unit of information, a relationship chain is what is created when it’s significantly connected to another building block. Psychology is the study of relationships. Primarily, it’s the study of relationships between variables and behaviour. …
Building Blocks: The Foundation of the Themantic Model
Now that we’re beginning to launch the themantic model of teaching and learning, it’s probably a good idea to begin elucidating what the model is all about. But before you think that this will just be another bunch of edujargon or abstract pedagogical theory, it’s important to note that at Themantic Education we realise that any theory is only as …
SAQ Writing Guide
Updated Jan 25th, 2021 I’ve spent over ten years trying to devise good advice for students about how to write exam answers. You’ll see below an original post I wrote a few years ago (in 2017) with an attached “SAQ Writing Guide” as a word.doc that I thought would revolutionize teaching of SAQs. I was wrong. I’ve learned that specific …
Paper Three Questions 1a,b,c: Details
NOTE: THIS IS FOR THE NEW SYLLABUS! Remember that all three questions from Question 1 will be asked, so you need to be prepared to answer all three. There are 9 possible marks available for Question 1, which accounts for 37.5% of Paper One. The following is an overview of these three questions. 1a. Identify the method used and outline …