Review of ToP Teaching Strategies: Links to Students' Scientific Inquiry Skills Development

Abstract

A major function of instruction in psychology is to convey complex phenomena in a manner accessible to students. Instructors using well-designed teaching activities can help to make complex material accessible. We content analyzed teaching activities reported in the first 33 years of Teaching of Psychology. We identified 15 general teaching strategies in 681 teaching activity articles and coded strategies' potential impact on student development of scientific inquiry skills. We found that ToP authors have consistently used learner-centered strategies and have significantly increased their use of active evaluation strategies. We discuss implications of instructor use of the most frequently encountered strategies. © 2008, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved.