Designing a Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology module through Active Learning

Abstract

In our experience, most colleagues understand the pedagogical value in teaching Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology (CHIP). However, few wish to be involved in teaching it, even in their sub-disciplines, because it is perceived as dry and dull, as well as void from everyday life. We present how we reinvigorated CHIP and its content within a new Psychology degree programme. We begin by outlining our experiences with CHIP and then describe several steps we took to redesign the module. Specifically, we outline how we utilised pedagogical literature that emphasises student-focussed Active Learning, and specifically Co-operative Learning, to inform our module redesign and delivery of content. We then outline how we engaged in a more considered approach to embedding employability strategies into our content, and then describe how we implement these approaches into a student-led module. Finally we summarise student feedback about the module and offer suggestions for embedding Active Learning into modules.‘to my boss who approached me one day and asked how I felt about the teaching the history of psychology’(dedication in Schultz & Schultz, 2011, p.2)