As the subject specialist for psychology in the library, I am always willing to help instructors and students with any aspect of the research and writing process. This help may take many forms, such as:

• Bringing your class into the library so I can teach database searching, topic development, etc.
• Coming to your class to do this same instruction or some component of it.
• Meeting with individuals or groups about a specific need or assignment.
• Developing teaching resources to address a specific need (e.g., handout, worksheet, video tutorial)

This guide provides useful resources for instructors teaching academic writing in psychology or a related discipline. This includes instructors teaching Psychology 307, the advanced writing course for the psychology major, but also instructors teaching any course that has a writing component.  The hope is that you will find some resource to incorporate inside or outside of class so that students learn a critical research and writing skill.

Here is a brief description of the types of resources under each tab:

Online Course: Psychology 307 was transformed into an online course in 2017. This tab outlines the content for each module in the course, including assignments. Instructors can use this to generate ideas and adapt the organization of their own course. 

Syllabi: This tab has links to several Psychology 307 syllabi. Instructors can use them to determine how to structure their own 307 course or pull relevant pieces into other courses.

Scientific Writing: This tab provides resources that teach students how to read scientific writing. There are also video interviews with several psychology professionals who describe their writing process and how to get published.

Importance of Writing: This tab includes assignments about the writing process and different types of writing (e.g., professional emails). It also offers student and instructor testimonials about the importance of developing writing skills.

Writing Mechanics: This tab offers handouts and videos to help teach APA style and the importance of avoiding plagiarism.

Writing Processes: This tab offers teaching resources related to the following topics: understanding the research and writing process, finding articles, developing a topic and a thesis, and synthesizing across research articles.

Presenting: This tab offers teaching resources about creating effective oral and slide presentations. There are also many sample student literature review presentations. 

The 5 learning goals outlined for psychology majors are the following:

1. Knowledge base in psychology
2. Scientific inquiry and critical thinking
3. Ethical and social responsibility in a diverse world
4. Communication
5. Professional development

Effective communication (both written and oral) is critically important for psychology majors because it facilitates development towards the other learning goals. So much of what academics do revolves around the ongoing scholarly conversation and the ability to engage in that conversation. Students will become more prepared to enter that conversation themselves as they understand how to read scholarly literature, develop ideas about that literature, and then communicate those ideas through writing and presenting.