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In the new SAQs students can use real world examples or studies. I thought I’d use an episode of The Simpsons to show how cognitive dissonance can explain divorce. However, my editor Tara Hasan wisely advised me that kids today wouldn’t get the reference. So thankfully I have this website for just such an occasion. In this post I’ll explain …

The 3Cs are confusing at first, but brush away the smoke and mirrors and you’ll see that if you teach psychology like you always have, your students will be well-prepared. In this post, I’ll show how one simple word could be used to evaluate research methods and linked to all six concepts. The Paper One essay in IB Psych will …

All prices in USD. VISIT OUR ONLINE STORE. The below guide has been made to help with budget proposals. Textbooks $59* per copy IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide (2nd edition – print) (Link) $39 per individual license to full eBook via issu.com $49* per copy IB Psychology: A Revision Guide (2nd edition – print) $39 eBook access to IB Psychology …

If you’re not sure where to begin planning for the new course, this post might help.  Those of us used to teaching with the approaches and options combined, have a bit of a conceptual head start. However, it’s made incredibly easy by this new course which appears to be designed to be taught this way. #1. Start with the contexts, …

The following is adapted from one lesson in my new course. I love this example of unity between ancient and modern ways of knowing, so I wanted to share it.  Herbal Remedies  From the topic “Cultural Differences” in the chapter “Depression” In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners believe depression is caused by a lack of vital energy (qi) which is …

The following is adapted from our latest book for IB Health Psychology about Stress. Social status is correlated with numerous physical and mental health problems, including stress. Socioeconomic status (SES) is the most commonly studied and it’s a type of social status measured by income, education, and employment. However, when studying stress and teenagers subjective social status might be more relevant. This …

Looking for FREE IB Psychology resources? Follow the steps below or watch the video here. (1)Go to our online store and click the ‘Rewards Program’ button in the bottom right of the screen. (2) If you already have an account on our online store click the ‘Sign in here’ link, otherwise you’ll need to create an account on our online …

I’m sure this idea has probably been around for years, but I’ve never seen it so here’s what I came up the other day as I spied a jenga set in a classroom. This review idea would work well at the end of the course before exams. It might be an idea to give to students to do for themselves …

Last year I published a number of resources to support teaching Chapter 1 of IB Psychology, A Student’s Guide. Twelve months later and our website has developed so we can now offer the complete set of resources completely free. Find the Intro TSP and more HERE!  Like all our TSPs, this one comes with: Lesson plans Complete unit plan (ready to be …

I have to apologize for being a bit slow on blog posts these days – I’ve been busy getting Grade 12s ready for upcoming exams. But I’ve also been busy with our brand new youtube channel. I love creating materials that make life a little easier for teachers and students, so it’s great now I can make video tutorials that …

Yesterday we had Parent-Teacher (PT) conferences at school and I thought I’d share a few things that made for smooth sailing and an enjoyable day for me. We only have ten minutes per interview, so I’ll share how I managed to communicate a whole lot in that short time. New teachers will probably find this a lot more helpful than …

I love Kahoot, as most teachers do. It’s a great way to review “knowledge,” especially key terms. One of the features I like about Kahoot is that it actually lets you gather some good formative data. If you make sure students use real names (or some other identification so that you know who is who), you can save the results …

I like to take my introduction to psychology quite slowly. On the very first lesson I get students to think about the definition of psychology and what they actually study by doing the following activity. There is space for students to write notes on this activity in their workbooks. Step One: Students begin working with a partner and write as …

I began for the first time last year trialing and creating student workbooks for each of my units. The feedback from students was positive, so I’m in the process of making workbooks that accompany all my units available for teachers. What I like about hard copy workbooks for students is that all their notes and key information is in the …

If you like the CHACER lesson structure, or even if you’re just after a new recapping idea for the start of lessons, I like this activity because like all of my favourites: it takes minimal preparation has maximum student engagement it’s differentiated and relevant and it gives me some basic data on student progress The basic premise is that in …

Credit for  the “Key Term Tennis” activity (originally called “Verbal Tennis” goes to the late, great Paul Ginnis. I highly recommend his book, “The Teacher’s Toolkit” (Find it on amazon here). It’s filled with excellent activity ideas. At ThemEd we’re all about the practicalities of teaching, as the last thing education needs is more theory. I’ve always been a fan …

One of the biggest challenges for many IB Psychology students is the massive amount of new vocabulary. At ThemED we’ve tried to help with this by having a full, 10 page-400+ key term glossary in our student guide textbook. But this alone won’t be enough, so one basic idea I like is to use what I call a “key terms …

This activity works well with lesson (b) (Studying Individuals) in the first topic in the introduction in IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide. It will be part of the second lesson in my course. Aim One of the aims of this lesson is to introduce students to the idea of how psychological studies need to make generalizations across groups of people, …

Overview This lesson works well in the introductory unit after students have been introduced to the idea of the scientific approach in psychology (see other lesson idea here). Aim The aim of this lesson is to introduce students to the process of thinking critically about research methodology and how researcher bias may influence “research.” Hook The following video produced by …

The scientific method is rather intuitive, so in one of my first lessons in the course I like to pose a problem to students and get them to see how they would solve it. Here’s the problem: I’m trying to grow tomatoes in my garden and there are two types of fertilizer for sale. I want to know which one …

In the new course students need to be able to discuss how and why research methods are used for every topic. They might, therefore, get exam questions that look like this: Outline the use of one research method used to study the link between genes and behaviour. The most common method used in studies on genetics and behaviour in my …

The IB has published the new subject guide, teacher support material and specimen exam papers. You can find all this information on the OCC. In my mind, here are the big changes: Learning Outcomes removed (Read more…) Options time reduced to 20 hours SL and HL now do the same Internal Assessment Paper 3 includes quantitative possibility HL have extensions …