Teaching Psychology Online

Intended as a resource for psychology educators ranging from teaching assistants to experienced faculty, this book shows readers how to effectively create and manage an online psychology course. Guidelines for preparing courses, facilitating communication, and assigning grades are provided along with activities and assessments geared specifically towards psychology. Pedagogical theories and research are fused with the authors' teaching experiences to help maximize the reader's abilities as an online psychology instructor. The book focuses on psychology education at the undergraduate level but it also includes material appropriate for graduate students and professionals. Readers will find helpful examples from all the major content areas including introductory, social, developmental, biological, abnormal, and positive psychology, and human sexuality. Every chapter is organized around 3 sections. The Purpose part introduces the key concepts, theory, and research. The Implementation section reviews the 'nuts and bolts' of online teaching, and the Troubleshooting section addresses key problems and potential solutions. 'Text boxes' highlight important tips. The website http://www.TeachingPsychologyOnline.com provides additional tips, links to related articles and other resources, and examples of online psychology assignments from across the discipline. The book addresses: launching your online course; enhancing student/instructor communication; modes of multimedia and how to integrate them into your course including lecture videos, podcasting, blogging, wikis, and social networking sites; creating activities for online courses; assessment and grading; and online education trend including doctoral level education. Ideal for instructors teaching ANY psychology course, from introductory to upper-level undergraduate to graduate courses, this text can be used for developing on line courses in applied areas such as counseling, health, and industrial psychology as well as for courses in social, cognitive, and developmental psychology. Instructors of any technical skill level can use this book, including those familiar with Blackboard to those who are just getting started. Whether you are a seasoned pro or new to teaching psychology online, the tips in this book can help improve your instruction, reduce your prep time, and enhance your students' success.

Kelly S. Neff has taught psychology online to thousands of students, and has extensive experience with designing and launching online courses. Her online courses have attracted a global following and have enticed many people to try online learning. Stewart I. Donaldson is Dean and Professor of Psychology at Claremont Graduate University, USA. He has designed several distance education programs and has taught thousands of students and professionals participating in online courses and other e-learning experiences.

"Any teacher, mentor, or educational researcher would benefit by purchasing this text. ...The project ...contributes significantly to the fields of psychology and education. ...It is the first ...highly substantive (minimally theoretical) text I've seen on the subject. It is well organized and engaging. The scholarship ...is excellent. ...This will be a very valuable asset for anyone who teaches psychology. ... The tips are pragmatic and spot on in terms of decisions that instructors need to make." - Kenneth C. Elliott, University of Maine at Augusta, USA "Taking the step from the familiar classroom to online environment is a daunting step. This volume ...will make this transition easier especially for those new to online instruction. In addition, [it] will benefit experienced online instructors. ... I would certainly ... recommend [it] to a colleague. ...This volume has the potential to make a contribution to the field of teaching psychology." - Blaine Peden, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, USA "I have taught several courses online ...and can attest that there is a fairly steep learning curve for new online instructors. ... The book would be most useful for... both new instructors [and] old dogs needing to learn new tricks." - David W. Carroll, University of Wisconsin - Superior, USA "The authors are clearly very competent, experienced online teachers. In addition, they write clearly and effectively. ...The idea of [supporting] online resources is excellent." - David Fetterman, Fetterman & Associates, San Jose, CA, USA "Overall, I enjoyed the book. It is easy to read, the authors provide good examples to assist new online instructors in thinking through and developing their online courses, and the combination of research and practice provides a solid foundation to each of the chapters." -Matthew J. Grawitch, PsycCritiques "Good materials ... for beginning online instructors are often scattered among various sources. ... It is critically important that instructors have access to practical and helpful materia