Teaching About Psychological Disorders: A Case for Using Discussion Boards in the Classroom

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Teaching of Psychology

Publication Date

1-1-2017

Abstract

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. This study compares the traditional use of case studies against the novel use of discussion boards to teach naive students in the United Arab Emirates about anxiety disorders. Sixty-six female students from an abnormal psychology class were randomly assigned to either the case study condition (CSC) or the discussion board condition (DBC). Students read about anxiety disorders and at the end of the class rated their experience based on four learning outcomes. In each instance, students in the DBC rated their learning outcomes significantly higher than students in the CSC. This suggests that incorporating discussion boards as a pedagogical tool can add a new dimension for engaging student interest, fostering knowledge development, and increasing empathy.

ISSN

0098-6283

Publisher

SAGE Publications Inc.

Volume

44

Issue

1

First Page

74

Last Page

77

Disciplines

Education | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Keywords

online discussion boards, pedagogical tools, psychological disorders

Scopus ID

85003756274

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

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