FRQ Preparation Activity by Jen Schlicht

Jen Schlicht is a fellow AP Psych teacher in Olathe Kansas as well as a friend of the blog. This past weekend, she shared a method she uses for FRQ preparation with her students. Below is her excellent contribution.

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One of my favorite activities to do once my students have quite a few FRQ's under their belt is "Build your own FRQ." I come up with a bunch of really generic scenarios that give them just enough information to build a real prompt. Here are a few of my favorites:

• your dog gets sprayed by a skunk 
• possum trapping 
• babysitting 
• a surprise party 
• meeting your celebrity crush 
• teaching your grandparent how to text 
• oversleeping on your ACT test date 

I usually put 15 or so in each round. I have a little bucket where I place the scenarios. Then I choose about 50 vocabulary terms and put those on separate slips of paper. Examples would be:

• amygdala 
• avoidance-avoidance conflict 
• encoding 
• punishment 
• Big Five trait of openness 
• fundamental attribution error 

or just include terms that maybe your students need more practice with.

The beauty of this is that it takes very little prep time and you can tailor it to your classroom needs.

My students are in families of 5-6 students so each family is divided into 2 groups and would draw a scenario and then 3-5 terms. In some cases I have them draw one more term than they would be using so they have one term they can toss out. I have them write a prompt and then a rubric to define and apply their terms.

Then each group shares their prompt and we answer come up with our responses as a class. I love this activity because it provides them an opportunity to think critically about how to apply terms to a prompt and allows for quite a bit of laughter because they get pretty creative with their prompts!

Thank you Jen!

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

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New Book by Michael Britt: Psych Experiments

Recently, a friend of the blog and creator of The Psych Files podcast/educational website, Michael Britt, published a book called, Psych Experiments. In short, for those teachers who want the learning of research methods to come alive, this is the book we've been waiting for. This is a book written with high school students in mind--no unnecessary complications and attempts to bulk up the academic language for publication. Just old-fashioned direct language that is highly understandable.

After piquing the curiosity of the reader with some psych history and a couple cool stories, Britt lays out the thinking behind the book. He explains that the replications will not be exact, but rather "conceptual replications" by examining the key ideas behind the famous and infamous experiments.

In preparation for the research to be carried out, Britt emphasizes respecting the participants, using informed consent and ability to withdraw. He examines the ethics, risks, and benefits. Britt points out that he also avoids using technical terms like independent and dependent variable, operational definitions, etc. in order to make the book accessible to non-academics. Teachers can use this intentional omission as a tool to use with students.

With his signature style, Michael Britt takes classic research studies and breaks them down into understandable bits in a way that is highly readable and informative. The primary and basic information for each research study covered in a way that students will find very helpful.

Here is one example:

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Noticing a Face in the Crowd
I NEVER FORGET A FACE

Psych Concept: Identifying Emotions
Name of Experiment: Constants Across Cultures in the Face and Emotion
Original Scientist/Research: Paul Ekman and Wallace V. Friesen (1971)
Name of Replication/Extension: Finding the Face in the Crowd: An Anger Superiority Effect
Replication Scientist/Research: Christine H. Hansen and Ranald D. Hansen (1988)

Overview of the topic
Original experiment/research described
"Let's Try It" section
"What to Do" section to carry out one's own version of the research with step by step instructions
The Results section
Why It Matters section

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So what kinds of research does Britt put into the book? Well, the book is less than 300 pages but manages to deal with 50 research studies. Here are some of the topics he deals with:

• classical conditioning
• manipulation and money
• memory
• creativity
• method of loci
• getting workers to be more productive
• mental sets
• psychiatric labels
• ergonomics and design
• roles and how they impact behavior
• romance and partner choice
• conformity
• happiness
• persuasion
• cognitive dissonance
• inkblots
• false memories
• attractiveness
• brain imaging
• curiosity
• superstitions
• discrimination
• and so much more!

So I give my strongest recommendation for purchasing this book. Go out to a bookstore and get it. Go on Amazon and get it. Just get it! It will likely become an integral tool in your teaching tool belt.






posted by Chuck Schallhorn

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