This online student workbook has been designed to supplement college texts in the areas of sex and gender, gender-role development and socialization, and the psychology of women and men. This workbook is available to users of several McGraw-Hill texts. The table at the bottom of this page shows how each chapter of the workbook may be integrated with the material from each of these texts. Whereas this list is not exhaustive, it provides a starting point for instructors who wish to use this workbook to complement their primary text.

These exercises and activities have been designed with two purposes in mind. First, you may use the projects to form the foundation for in-class discussion of topics introduced in the text and lecture. Students might complete an entire activity in the classroom or download and complete materials before class. In either case, students would be engaged in active learning and critical thinking as they apply the concepts from the course to a specific learning situation. You also may use this workbook as a pool of assignments that could supplement exam grades and be incorporated into the grading criteria for the course.

I encourage you to customize this workbook to meet your course objectives and to reflect its focus. This workbook contains too many exercises to be used in a semester, so select the exercises that best meet your needs and illustrate the topics addressed in your course. I hope that the following suggestions will help you to integrate these exercises in your syllabus and use them in your classroom:

1. The projects involving data collection may be adapted in a number of ways. As they are written, each student collects data and summarizes the results in a short written form. A number of variations could be used to meet the goals and structure of your course, including the following:

•  If your course emphasizes research methodology and data analysis, have students collect and submit raw data. The aggregated data set could be analyzed by you or the class. With each student collecting data from one or more participants, a relatively large sample can be obtained.

•  Have students collect their data individually and complete exercises in small groups. Students can compare their data with other members of their group (and, ideally, see that not everyone's data look like theirs). Small groups then can collaborate on the summary questions and report their results to the class. This adaptation reduces the amount of time students spend on work outside of class and encourages cooperative learning.

•  Materials can be downloaded and brought to class (by you, your teaching assistant, or students) and the exercises can be completed by small groups. Activities involving content analyses (e.g., Project 1.1) or evaluation of written material (e.g., Project 2.4) are well suited to small group work. Other projects (e.g., Project 2.1 or Project 4.4) can be completed individually or in small groups. Small groups also are useful in brainstorming and preparing students for conducting their own work outside of class. These groups could identify operational definitions of variables used in analyses (e.g., Project 5.3) or generate ideas for individual activities (e.g., Project 1.4).

•  Another useful adaptation is helpful for instructors whose courses have a developmental approach or consider group differences. Encourage your class to increase the heterogeneity of respondents by assigning students to recruit participants from different groups. For example, ask students to collect data from respondents from specific age categories and compare results as a function of age.

•  Caution students about the tentativeness of any conclusions that they draw based upon a limited sample of respondents. Do encourage them to compare and contrast their findings with the primary text and class lecture and discussion. References to the research and theory on which these exercises are based are included to assist you in lecture and discussion preparation.

2. Each exercise can be used to support writing assignments that develop critical thinking skills. A portfolio of written work could be used in lieu of a longer term paper (a description of this method can be found in the paper referenced below). For example, have students complete the autobiographical assignments (e.g., Project 3.3 or Project 6.2) as individual “free writes” in class. After completing the exercise in class, assign a formal essay that requires students to reflect upon the in-class discussion.

3. Encourage students to go beyond their experience and consider a diversity of experiences and expressions. Most data sheets include a space to make note of demographic variables such as occupation, social class, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, etc. Ask students not to rely upon family members and friends and seek out participants that differ on these variables. Emphasize the comparison of diverse experiences to the results of research, much of which is based upon homogeneous samples.

4. Last, but not least, remind students to read and follow the guidelines given in the “To the Student” section. This section outlines some basic issues of research sampling, the ethical treatment of participants, and how to use this workbook to critically reflect upon the course material.

Reference: Rickabaugh, Cheryl A. (1993). The psychology portfolio: Promoting writing and critical thinking about psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 20, 170–172.