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

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

1. Frames of Reference: Social Psychological Perspectives for Teaching About Controversial Matters
   Dana S. Dunn, Regan A. R. Gurung, and Karen Z. Naufel
2. Preventing and Handling Classroom Disruptions
   Kristin M. Vespia and Tonya E. Filz
3. 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

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

III. Opening Consideration of Multiple Views

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

IV. Concluding Thoughts and Going Forward

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

Index

About the Editors

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.