Excelling Psychology

I have often heard discussions in the staff room about how some students seem to be so bright about topics, but fail to answer the paper well. I have experienced this with my students as well, and have come to understand that though some of them understand the matter of the subject very well, they fail to acquire the skills required to answer in an examination. Why is good understanding not enough to answer the paper well? Though students and even teachers often believe that good understanding automatically translates into good answer writing, this is seldom the case. This is because good understanding implies that the student has grasped well whatever has been put across in the text, and this understanding can go above and beyond what has been presented. The student understands text through the filters of his own previous knowledge, learning style and language. However, while answering a paper, the student must keep many external constraints in mind. The question paper di...

(I am discussing this topic from IGNOU MPC-001-02-01 , the official notes for which are easily available, both online and offline) Students are often seen to have a strange mindset. They postpone studying theory till the very end, thinking its no big deal. They begin with practical, find it too difficult and throw it aside as well. Then, before the exam, they look at theory, and come across something like this: which throws them aback. Though I've begun on a note of poor study habits, I intend to continue this post with a discussion of a topic that is seemingly difficult - 'Theories of Intelligence'; and is a part of a seemingly difficult subject - ' Cognitive Psychology .' I bring forward the ease in the topic, and simultaneously discuss why it seems to be such a challenge in learning. I am discussing from an understanding point-of-view in this part, and not an answer-writing one, for learning is not all about...

You can get an understanding of what role research studies play in the IGCSE A level in my earlier post . I am writing this post to illustrate what I meant by a 'complete synopsis.' Psychology and abnormality is a popular A level option, and looking at the A level syllabus , the first study the student comes across is ' Freeman, 2008 ,' under the subtopic 'symptom assessment using virtual reality.' The original paper for the study is available in the public domain here . A look at that five-page paper, and I am sure that even the AS level champion is left confused with what from that entirety is relevant to his/her syllabus. That is why, a complete synopsis is key, not for quick learning but for relevant, adaptive learning. Besides the student has developed a certain method of looking at studies at the AS level, which now needs to be dropped, and a new method of looking at studies needs to be learnt. This new method is best understood if the type of...

Perhaps the most frequent complaint I've encountered as a teacher is, "I wrote such a long answer for the question! For so and so pages. Still, I got only so and so marks!" I used to tire of questioning the logic of such an argument, and so decided to ask these students to generate their own answer to this question, so that they remember what makes an answer a good answer. I give them an exercise of comparing poor and good quality answers (like in the IGCSE candidate's booklet), and list out to me what the differences are between the answers. If you are a student, you can try this 'find the differences' exercise: Question: What is Psychology? What are the major sub-fields of Psychology? (10 marks) A typical 'D' grade (fail) answer :          Psychology is study of mind. When we want to see what is in mind of a person, we use psychology. We see thinking of mind in psychology.          Psychology has many sub...

Report writing is a necessary skill and one that easily contributes to the student's final marks if learnt correctly. I've already given an orientation to this subject here . It's time to get practical now. Keep in mind that I am discussing the report written after psychological tests and experiments, and not a dissertation or full-fledged paper. Let's look at how the report is written in the APA format, looking step-by-step at the different sections : Introduction What this section is not meant for: Giving lengthy explanations of theories Increasing the length of the report Covering up for lack of knowledge of how to write the other sections What this section is meant for: Explaining why the experiment/test was conducted A succinct review of theories relevant to the present experiment Making evidence-based predictions of expected results from the conduct How this section should be organized (in general): Introduction of the research problem in t...