Controversy in the Psychology Classroom Using

One of the hallmarks of a quality liberal arts education is providing undergraduates the opportunity to wrestle with controversial issues. Yet many teachers feel ill-equipped when it comes to broaching disagreeable topics, managing the resulting heated debates, or helping students to separate their personal feelings from scientific evidence.

This book provides frameworks for teaching controversial topics and skills for handling disruptions, so teachers can help students evaluate evidence and develop testable questions.

Specific teaching topics covered include:

evolutionary psychology
childrearing
sexual orientation
animal experimentation
evil
diversity and social justice
gender and ethnicity
religion
disability
healthcare policy

Dana S. Dunn, PhD, is assistant dean for special projects and professor of psychology at Moravian College. He is the author or editor of 14 books and over 120 journal articles, chapters, and book reviews, his scholarship examines teaching, learning, and liberal education, as well as the social psychology of disability. Dr. Dunn served as president of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Division 2) in 2010.

Regan A. R. Gurung, PhD, is the Ben J. & Joyce Rosenberg Professor of Human Development and Psychology at the University of Wisconsin—Green Bay. He is the author or editor of 11 books and has a research program focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning. Dr. Gurung served as president of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Division 2) in 2011.

Karen Z. Naufel, PhD, is currently teaching at Georgia Southern University. Her research interests include ethics in science, motivation, and stigma. She is the 2010 winner of the Society of Teaching Psychology's Jane S. Halonen teaching award.

Janie H. Wilson, PhD, has been teaching at Georgia Southern University since 1994. Her research interests include rapport in teaching, social buffering, and ego depletion. Dr. Wilson currently serves as the program director for the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Division 2); she becomes vice president for programming in 2012.

Contributors

Foreword: Deciding Where to Stand
Jane S. Halonen

Preface

Teaching About Controversial Issues: An Introduction
Dana S. Dunn, Regan A. R. Gurung, Karen Z. Naufel, and Janie H. Wilson

I. Guiding Frameworks for Teaching About Controversial Issues

Frames of Reference: Social Psychological Perspectives for Teaching About Controversial Matters
Dana S. Dunn, Regan A. R. Gurung, and Karen Z. Naufel
Preventing and Handling Classroom Disruptions
Kristin M. Vespia and Tonya E. Filz
Treating Students as Early-Career Professionals: The Ethics of Teaching
Maureen A. McCarthy and R. Eric Landrum

II. Helping Students Arrive at an Empirically Based Conclusion

Seven Tools for Teaching Evolutionary Psychology
David M. Buss
Hitting Close to Home: Teaching About Spanking
Elizabeth T. Gershoff
Sexual Orientation, Marriage, and Students of Faith
David G. Myers
Addressing the Role of Animal Research in Psychology
Suzanne C. Baker and Sherry L. Serdikoff

III. Opening Consideration of Multiple Views

Overcoming Discomfort When Teaching About Evil and Immorality
Karen Z. Naufel
Anticipating and Working With Controversy in Diversity and Social Justice Topics
Cheryl B. Warner, Rosemary E. Phelps, Delishia M. Pittman, and Carla S. Moore
Gender Matters: Engaging Students in Controversial Issues
Elizabeth Yost Hammer and Eugenia M. Valentine
Teaching About Race and Ethnicity
Mary E. Kite
Spirituality and Religion: How Contexts, Developmental Processes, and Personal Experiences Influence Behavior
Dean D. VonDras
Disability as Diversity Rather Than (In)Difference: Understanding Others' Experiences Through One's Own
Dana S. Dunn, David J. Fisher, and Brittany M. Beard
Health Psychology and Policy: When Politics Infiltrates Science
Regan A. R. Gurung and Daniel Bruns

IV. Concluding Thoughts and Going Forward

Using Controversies to Teach Scientific Thinking in Psychology: Topics and Issues
Jeffrey D. Holmes

Index

About the Editors

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Controversy in the Psychology Classroom Using Hot Topics to Foster Critical Thinking

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials