Thanks, Annette. I appreciate your taking the time to respond.
The program uses a second book in its intro class "Thinker's Guide to Analytic Thinking: How to Take Thinking Apart and What to Look for When You Do" by Elder & Paul to cover critical thinking. But, I see how a text that integrates critical thinking as part of the introductory material would be valuable. I see my challenge of engaging the students with the text I finally choose. I owe you for pointing it out to me. Happy and safe holiday. Edgar Johns --------- International Consultants for Educational Excellence (734) 564-4964 www.intl-education.com From: Annette Taylor [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 9:32 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Intro Psych Textbooks I just finished looking over intro texts again because I tie my research to my intro text and want to be sure that it meets some important criteria for me. The books you mention did not even make my final list after I browsed them--two of them pretty closely, one not so much. They did NOT have a theme of critical thinking--see the Lilienfeld, et al book to see what I mean. They did NOT have ANY refutation of misconceptions--see Lilienfeld, et al, Myers short text and E-Z Psych The texts you are being asked to pick from are ALL encyclopedias. Students cannot possibly learn all of that information in one semester and remember even a fraction of it. Let alone learn to THINK about psychological information in the midst of all that rote memorization. That is unrealistic based on all the current research. After all, most of them have 3 of 4 other classes and jobs and a life, etc. It's 10-15 weeks, depending on your school, 2 or 3 days a week and the rest on their own. They don't know the field, they can't tell what is primary and what is secondary in importance. The good students will try to learn it all, the less than good ones will give up right about the time you hit biopsych. My finalists were the more "essentials" editions, including Myers, Lilienfeld et al and EZ Psych. I then supplement on my own with primary readings from journals and "magazines" and book chapters. (My favorites books for short but sweet chapters right now are 50 myths and Mind Hacks and McBurney's little book.) I know you probably can't go beyond the three you've been given, but if you could convince someone, you might look at Myers and Lilienfeld, et al. I think that of the 20 or so books my collaborator and I looked at we agreed that those two stood up head and shoulders above the rest in terms of readability, accuracy, what we really want students to get out of an intro psych class (how to separate psych science from psych fiction for the rest of their lives for all the new things that come along), and how to stay motivated to be a life long learner about psychology. Encyclopedias are great for some people, heck, I'm writing one this summer...and fall...and winter...well, that's another story, and I'm NOT your average intro psych student and probably wasn't back then either. Annette ps: that said, I'd rank them Plotnik, Coon and Ciccarelli in that order, apologies to those authors from my opinion. It's hard to be an author. Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D. Professor, Psychological Sciences University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 [email protected] _____ From: Edgar Johns [[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, July 03, 2011 7:40 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Intro Psych Textbooks This fall, I will be teaching Introductory Psychology. The department requires one of three texts: 1. Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian (2011) "Introduction to Psychology (9th Ed.)" Wadsworth. 2. Coon & Mitterer (2011) "Psychology: Modules for Active Learning (12th Ed.)" Wadsworth. 3. Ciccarelli & White "Psychology (3rd Ed.)" Prentice Hall. I'm leaning toward Plotnik but was wondering if I could get some opinions about any of these texts. I'll be teaching at an urban/suburban community college. Thanks. Edgar Johns --------- International Consultants for Educational Excellence (734) 564-4964 www.intl-education.com <http://www.intl-education.com/> --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. 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