The Society for the Teaching of Psychology: Stats Resources

It occurred to me that I haven't shared my absolute most precious professional development and stats teaching resource in the blog.

That resource is the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. Non-psychologists reading this post, don't stop now. Keep going.

1. There are multiple free e-books available from STP. Some are about teaching, broadly. Some of them have a chapter or two devoted to the teaching of statistics. But there is at least one exclusively devoted to the teaching of statistics, For the Love of Teaching Undergraduate Statistics. I wrote a chapter in the book, so I'm partial.

2. The STP journal, Teaching of Statistics, includes pedagogy research about the teaching of statistics. Full disclosure: I'm a consulting editor at this journal.

3. If you are a member of STP and come up with an excellent teaching idea or study idea related to teaching statistics to psychology majors, STP has got some money for you. They have several grants, reviewed by members of STP who share your enthusiasm for teaching psychology majors.

4. STP sponsors/is affiliated with several excellent teaching conferences. The big one is ACT, but STP also has pre-conferences/featured portions at all of the big regional conferences and at APA and APS. This is a good place to learn more about teaching stats (and all of the other topics in psychology), as well as a good audience for sharing your own SoTL.

If you read this far, I have a request: Join STP. It is an APA organization. It is a bargain at $25/year. And with your membership, you will gain access to the journal and become eligible for $1000s of dollars in small teaching grants. I received several such grants early on in my career, grants that, effectively, paid the annual membership fee several times over.

Also, don't just join. Volunteer with the organization. Meet other people who aren't just psychology teachers but also share your passion for your niche area.

STP has become my academic home. It has introduced me to new friends and co-authors. It has provided me with numerous, very valuable professional opportunities. In a field that can be appallingly arrogant and out of touch when it comes to teaching undergraduates, STP has shown me that you can be a Full and Grownup Academic who adores teaching.

Comments

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If your students get the joke, they get statistics.

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