Integrating Psychology Disciplinary Knowledge with Teaching Practice in Psychology

This paper is based on work conducted as part of the 'Integrating Pedagogic Research Into Teaching Practice in Psychology' project currently being conducted at the Learning and Teaching Support Network Subject Centre for Psychology (LTSN Psychology), based at the University of York in the United Kingdom. The aim of this project is to encourage wider application of psychology research knowledge and skills to the development and evaluation of good teaching practice in psychology.

This will be done by demonstrating the success of applying psychological research in up to four problem areas of educational practice in psychology, identified in consultation with the psychology communication. Our approach is to promote the development of application models based on sound psychological principles but contextualised around the specifics of particular problem areas. Demonstrator projects will be thoroughly documented and evaluated in order to serve as models for subsequent initiatives in applying research findings. Full details of the problem areas, projects, their evaluation, the application models developed, and more general lessons learned in the project will be disseminated to academic staff in psychology, as well as to the broader academic community through the LTSN as a whole. The paper to be presented will outline a number of ways in which psychology disciplinary knowledge has been utilised in the development of psychology teaching innovations to date. These examples will then be used to illustrate a number of broader issues that must be considered when contemplating the application of research-based knowledge to teaching practice.