Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

2009

Disciplines

Education | Higher Education | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social Psychology

Abstract

In past course evaluations, my social psychology students consistently reported that they started offering their roommates unsolicited social psychological interpretations of their behaviors and beliefs. I began to wonder if my students’ desire to educate others could be harnessed to help them review course material. I reasoned that elaborating on the material covered in the class would help them learn (Loyens, Rikers, & Schmidt, 2007) and finding a creative outlet for their desire to teach others might preserve some roommate relationships.

In an attempt to encourage students to build on past material, I turned to one of the most well-known Public Service Announcements (PSA): NBC’s The More You Know information campaign. The brief More You Know PSAs teach viewers important information related to such topics as health, education, and the environment. A number of humorous spoofs of NBC’s PSAs have also emerged, such as a series of fake PSAs using cast members from The Office, a popular television show. After spending 5 minutes watching some of the spoofs, my class was ready for the assignment.

Comments

This poster received the Frank Costin Memorial Award for Excellence at the 31st Annual National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, Jan. 3-6 in St. Pete Beach, Fla. The award was given to the poster judged by Institute faculty to be most outstanding in terms of contributing to excellence in teaching methods.

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