CHAPTER
Pedagogical Strategies
Emphasizing Linkages
The “Linkages” program of Psychology is designed to help instructors and students who seek an integrated view of psychology.
The program has four main elements. First, photographs, cross-references, and discussions throughout the text point out how topics in one chapter are related to discussions in other chapters. Second, a special diagram near the end of each chapter indicates some of the ways in which a topic of that chapter is linked to other aspects of psychology, other areas of psychological research, and other chapters in the textbook. Each of these “Linkages” diagrams consist of questions that link the current chapter with the topics of other chapters, which are labeled on the diagram. Page numbers indicate where the questions are discussed in the text. Although the diagrams include only a sampling of linkages, they do suggest to students the network of relationships among the subfields of psychology. Third, in each chapter, there is a “Linkages” section that discusses one particularly provocative or interesting question from that chapter’s corresponding diagram. Fourth, the annotated instructor’s edition of the textbook contains references to relevant supplements from other chapters.
Also, the Study Guide contains a discussion called “Studying Linkages” that guides and encourages students in the use of this textbook feature.
If you wish to emphasize linkages in your classroom, you might do any of the following:
· Begin the unit by using the “Linkages” diagram, perhaps displaying its transparency. Highlight one or two questions tied to topics recently covered in your course, invite discussion of them, and identify related concepts or issues that have not yet been explored but are connected to the current topic.
· Use the “Linkages” diagram to conclude a unit. Review those questions in the diagram that have been discussed in the unit. Alternatively, you can focus on one or two questions still to be addressed in the course (as indicated by the page numbers in the diagram) by identifying what has been said about the question in the course to date and what follow-up questions must be considered before the question can be fully addressed.
· Use the “Linkages” diagram as a study aid. Encourage students to use the diagram as a pretest or posttest on a chapter. Encourage students to test themselves on several “Linkages” diagrams or to compile a new diagram for a topic.
· If you prefer to give lectures that do not follow the textbook, the “Linkages” diagrams can suggest jumping-off points and can help students integrate the lectures and the textbook.
· For class discussions and student assignments, encourage the students to think of their own “Linkages” questions. On the other hand, you can ask them to create diagrams based on issues discussed in several chapters.
As teachers we hope that our students will leave our classrooms able not only to analyze and think critically, but also to see coherent wholes in complicated pieces of information. If students achieve these goals, then we should be justly proud of our teaching.