List of works
Report
Published 08/2023
Psychological science will be recognized as a high-impact undergraduate major that empowers people from all backgrounds to make a difference in their lives and communities.
To provide a comprehensive revision of the national recommendations regarding the knowledge and skills that undergraduate psychology majors should acquire at the associate and baccalaureate levels of study in undergraduate psychological science programs. The APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major 3.0 (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines 3.0) is designed to foster collaborative discussions in psychological science programs based on recommendations that reflect state-of-the-science curricular and assessment planning in psychology. Our charge from the American Psychological Association’s Board of Educational Affairs was to anticipate the ways that the Guidelines 3.0 revision needed to reflect changes in culture and context to prepare undergraduates who will function optimally prepared for contemporary life.
Report
Submitted 2022
Report
APA guidelines on core learning goals for master’s degree graduates in psychology
Published 2018
Task Force on Guidelines for Master’s Programs in Psychology
The Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) of the American Psychological Association (APA) appointed a task force to articulate what students should know and be able to do at the conclusion of a master’s program. Professional organizations such as APA have an obligation to lead the discipline in offering guidance about appropriate learning goals and outcomes at all levels of education. APA guidelines outline goals and outcomes at the high school and undergraduate level as well as competencies at the clinical, counseling, and school doctoral level. This document is intended to help bridge the sequence of education and training with core goals and outcomes for psychology master’s programs.
Report
Assessment Guide for Psychology Teachers
Published 2018
This guide was developed by the Working Group on Assessing Student Knowledge and Skills in Psychology from the APA Summit on High School Psychology Education (July 2017). This guide was specifically written for high school psychology teachers, but its content may be useful to all psychology teachers (K-12, undergraduate, and graduate) as well as to teachers from other disciplines.
Report
Are There Too Many Psychology Majors?
Submitted 02/05/2011
The following report represents a synthesis of opinions from chairs of psychology departments across the state of Florida in response to inquiries from the staff of the Board of Governors of the State University System regarding the current status of the undergraduate major in psychology. The primary issues under consideration include the popularity, utility, and rigor of the psychology major.
Report
Teaching, Learning and Assessing in a Developmentally Coherent Curriculum
Published 2008
APA Board of Educational Affairs Task Force on Strengthening the Teaching and Learning of Undergraduate Psychological Science
The Task Force Charge
This report presents the work of the American Psychological Association (APA) Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) Task Force on Strengthening the Teaching and Learning of Undergraduate Psychological Sciences. This task force, appointed in April 2005, was charged with bridging the gap between the National Standards for the Teaching of High School Psychology (National Standards; APA, 1999) and the APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major (Guidelines; APA, 2007). The National Standards established a set of benchmark learning objectives, designed initially for use in high schools, for teaching the first course in psychology, but it quickly became apparent that the these standards could apply to the first psychology course offered at any level. The Guidelines set a standard for the competencies that should be expected of students graduating from colleges and universities as undergraduate psychology majors.
The two documents provided guidance in designing the beginning of the academic study of psychology and establishing behavioral expectations for outcomes upon completion of undergraduate study, but they left unaddressed the elements of development that transpire between that first course and receipt of the baccalaureate degree. Accordingly, the charge of the current task force was to consider the development of the psychology student from the first course to the bachelor’s degree and to propose a set of intermediate outcomes or abilities that these students attain en route.