ESPLAT 2025 conference: Scientific thinking in challenging times

In your course, you might rely on expensive print textbooks which quickly become outdated or not cover your specific curriculum. Open educational materials allow you to write free content which directly target the needs of your students. For scholarship, they also have the added benefit for educators in being a valuable output to demonstrate the impact of your learning and teaching practice. In this workshop, I will provide a tutorial on writing online books using R/Quarto and hosting them using GitHub pages. You can develop anything from a course syllabus to technical content like research methods and statistics. If you can bring a laptop and follow the preparation instructions in Chapter 1 (https://bartlettje.github.io/dissemination_quarto/), the aim of the workshop is for everyone to create and host your initial book. You will then have the resources to continue developing your materials after the workshop.

In 2017, members of the EFPA Board of Educational Affairs edited a special issue in Psychology Learning and Teaching with the title “Evidence-based teaching – Examples from learning and teaching psychology” (DOI: 10.1177/1475725717701209). The basic idea was that psychological research provided theoretically sound and empirically tested principles of learning and teaching that could be applied to the teaching of psychology. The editors expected that teachers and students of psychology would particularly benefit from the application of such principles, as the basic ideas were derived from psychological research., i.e., from their own academic discipline. The articles published in the 2017 special issue demonstrated the wide range of different concepts associated with “evidence-based teaching”. In the meantime, scholars discussed different approaches to evidence-based teaching, their advantages and disadvantages, and the roles of evidence-based teaching in different academic disciplines. So, it is time to revisit this concept in the light of recent developments in learning research and modern approaches to the teaching of psychology. What exactly do we mean by “evidence-based”? What kind of evidence do we expect and accept? Does the emergence of artificially “intelligent” tools for teaching and the increasing proportion of online learning and distance teaching change our understanding of evidence-based teaching? And, surely, the question already asked in 2017 is worth to be reconsidered: Is it an over-optimistic position to expect that we apply our own research results to our own teaching? These and other questions will be discussed in a roundtable discussion.

Growing evidence suggests that myths about teaching and learning, such as “School kills Creativity” are pervasive, even among education professionals. This research analyzed the distribution of such myths across different populations. Therefore, within a quasi-experimental study, the prevalence of myths about teaching and learning, the certainty with which individuals believe in them, and the influence of professional ability self-concept were examined.
In total, 29 myths were selected based on a literature review about misconceptions related to teaching and learning. Participants indicated their level of agreement with the myth (presented as a statement) on a five-point Likert scale presented in an online survey. An additional rating scale for each statement assessed participants’ confidence in their judgement. As a covariate, professional ability self-concept was measured.
The sample consisted of 167 participants (43 male, 122 female, 2 diverse; mean age = 27.5 years; SD = 8.24). Of these, 55 participants were pre-service teachers, 49 were in-service teachers, and 63 were from professions outside teaching; except one student, all of them were employed in different fields.
Results reveal that the groups differed both in terms of agreement and confidence. Teachers were more critical than students in agreeing with learning myths, and students were more critical than lay people. Nevertheless, only in-service teachers differ significantly from lay people while other comparisons were not statistically significant. Descriptive data showed that the mean level of agreement with the myths was still very high for all groups (teachers: 3.30; students: 3.35; others: 3.46). While teachers did not differ from students in terms of certainty, both differed from lay people. Furthermore, ability self-concept has a positive influence on certainty, but not on agreement with the myths. Our findings suggest a continued need for training both pre- and in-service professionals in identifying teaching and learning myths as such.

Introduction: Psychological literacy refers to students' ability to adaptively apply psychology knowledge and skills, such as critical thinking, to personal, professional, and societal goals. Despite prominence of psychological literacy in UK accreditation standards , little empirical research has examined the prevalence of psychological literacy practices in undergraduate psychology programmes in UK psychology curricula. This study aimed to address this gap by exploring (1) educators’ understanding of psychological literacy, (2) where it features in psychology curricula, and (3) how it is integrated into teaching and learning practices.

Methods: This Registered Report involved a descriptive, exploratory survey targeting psychology educators across the UK. A total of 84 educators participated, responding to questions about their familiarity with psychological literacy, its presence in BSc Psychology programmes, and the methods they use to embed it in teaching and learning.

Results: Results indicated that UK psychology educators were generally unfamiliar with the term "psychological literacy." However, their conceptualisations extended existing definitions by highlighting reflection and employability as key components. Educators reported incorporating attributes of psychological literacy primarily through assessment and feedback, as well as teaching content. They achieved this by emphasising the real-world relevance of psychology, encouraging students to reflect on personal experiences, and employing authentic, applied evaluations of student knowledge and skills.

Discussion: The findings reveal that psychological literacy is implicitly embedded in UK psychology education, despite educators’ limited explicit awareness of the term. Educators linked psychological literacy to values such as interactivity, collaboration, and reflexivity, which shaped their teaching and assessment approaches. Psychological literacy can enhance student outcomes and align educational approaches with broader policy goals. Our findings have significant implications for policy, emphasising the need to explicitly integrate psychological literacy into curricula and support educators in its application, to realise the potential of a psychological literacy education. Implications for cross-cultural considerations of psychological literacy will be discussed.

Introduction

The concept of "psychological literacy" has emerged as a dominant framework for conceptualising psychology graduate attributes. Psychological literacy refers broadly to student’s ability to apply psychological principles, such as critical thinking, to personal, societal, and professional challenges. However, most of the scholarship in this field has focused on higher education contexts in the UK, US, and Australia. There is a growing need to explore how psychological literacy and broader undergraduate outcomes are conceptualised in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), where unique cultural and societal factors may shape educational priorities and practice.

Methods

A scoping review was conducted to identify and analyse existing literature on psychology undergraduate outcomes in LMICs. Peer-reviewed articles were collected and screened for relevance, focusing on studies discussing graduate attributes within local contexts. A total of 34 articles from countries including Argentina, South Africa, Indonesia, and Brazil were identified and reviewed systematically. Papers were synthesised to determine key themes and outcomes.

Results

Our review generated a framework of nine broad psychology undergraduate outcomes that were emphasised across the LMICs. These included interdisciplinarity, ethical engagement, foundational psychology knowledge, effective communication skills, and a commitment to addressing social issues. Each outcome was uniquely shaped by the local context, reflecting the need to adapt psychology education to societal priorities and global standards.

Discussion

The findings highlight the utility of aligning undergraduate outcomes with local contexts. That is, the nine outcomes from LMICs only partially overlap with the dominant conceptualisations of psychological literacy from Australia, the US, and the UK. This suggests that definitions of psychological literacy should be flexible to local needs, a perspective that is notably absent from the existing literature.

Introduction
Ethical conduct is a core component of psychological literacy and professional competency. Key ethical issues in undergraduate education include confidentiality, risk-benefit analysis, deception, and scientific integrity. These topics are essential in psychology curricula, ensuring students develop an understanding of professional integrity and responsible research practices. However, existing ethics codes may provide limited assistive in addressing the newly emerging ethical dilemmas such as those associated with the COVID 19 outbreak.
Methods
Ethics is integrated into psychology research courses through formal instruction and experiential learning. Completing institutional review board (IRB) applications helps students recognize ethical considerations in research. Additionally, undergraduate and graduate psychology programs expose students to professional ethical standards set by organizations such as the European Federation of Psychologists, the British Association of Counseling and Psychotherapy, and the American Psychological Association. However, these codes may be of limited value in addressing emerging morally complex dilemmas,
Results
Principles of moral reasoning are ideally included across the psychology may curriculum rather than confined to (a) specialized course(s). Moral principles and diversity may be addressed together, ensuring ongoing discussions about communitarianism em[hasixing the the socio-cultural influences on moral reasoning in courses such as introductory psychology, clinical psychology, and research methods. Professional ethical principles guide both faculty and students, emphasizing adherence to ethical standards in academic and professional settings.
Discussion
Ethical decision-making in psychology is rooted in philosophical traditions. While professional ethical codes serve as essential guidelines, ethics instruction should also include broader moral theories such as principlism, virtue ethics, deontology and utilitarianism. The assumption that moral choices are separate from personal behavior is challenged by a more comprehensive ethical framework, integrating ethical reasoning into both professional and personal spheres. Expanding ethics instruction to include moral theory enhances students’ understanding of ethical decision-making and strengthens connections between psychological ethics and broader philosophical principles.

Academic Delay of Gratification (ADOG) is essential for academic success, but its effectiveness among neurodivergent students compared to neurotypical peers remains underexplored. This study examined 82 first-year psychology students in the UK, comparing 41 neurodivergent individuals with 41 neurotypical peers, matched by age, gender, socioeconomic status, and anxiety. Participants completed assessments of ADOG and executive functions (EFs): inhibition, emotional regulation, and planning/organisation. Contrary to expectations, neurodivergent students demonstrated stronger ADOG abilities than their neurotypical counterparts. Furthermore, group membership was the only significant predictor of ADOG performance, even when executive functioning skills were considered. These findings suggest that lower academic achievement among neurodivergent students cannot be attributed solely to difficulties in delaying immediate gratification for future academic goals.

The self-regulated use of learning activities is crucial for academic success at university. However, many students engage in these activities less frequently than they originally intended at the start of the academic term (Bosch et al., 2021). This results in an intention-behavior gap. One possible explanation for this gap is a decline of intentions during the first half of the academic term, mirroring the motivational drop in the same period (Benden & Lauermann, 2022; Sander et al., 2024). Self-regulatory competences such as motivation-related competences might further explain individual differences in the size of the gap. Motivation-related competences can be divided in motivational competences, two types of volitional competences and evaluative competences (Schaller & Spinath, 2017; Spinath, 2005). We expected higher motivational competences to be associated with more stable intentions and higher volitional competences to predict greater engagement in self-regulated learning activities. Consequently, both motivational and volitional competences should contribute to a smaller intention-behavior gap.
The longitudinal study included three measurement points over the period of one academic term. The final sample comprised N = 945 pre-service teachers from 7 cohorts. We assessed intentions and behavior regarding six self-regulated learning activities: lecture attendance, reviewing slides, reviewing literature, practice essays, practice testing, and learning groups.
Results indicated a decline in intentions between the beginning and the middle of the academic term for all learning activities. Furthermore, we observed an intention-behavior gap across all learning activities. Regression analyses revealed that higher volitional competences of goal setting and action planning predicted a greater use of learning activities and a smaller intention-behavior gap.
The present study replicates earlier works reporting an intention-behavior gap in pre-service teachers‘ use of learning activities and extends existing research by offering initial explanatory approaches. Future research should explore additional contributing factors.

Introduction: Studying requires advanced self-regulation and learning strategies, yet many students begin their studies without sufficient knowledge or implementation of these techniques. This two-year-long project addresses this gap by developing a digital training program designed and delivered by BSc Psychology students. The program integrates synchronous (video conferencing) and asynchronous (forums, tasks, diaries) elements to enhance students’ self-regulation skills and learning strategies.
Methods: The program is structured around five key principles: (1) providing knowledge about effective strategies, (2) strengthening students’ belief in their effectiveness through experiential learning, (3) fostering commitment by engaging with peers, (4) formulating concrete if-then implementation plans, and (5) evaluating success to guide further development. These elements are embedded in a structured training curriculum that ensures sustainability by incorporating the program into a recurring exercise within the psychology curriculum. To implement the program, workshops are conducted with psychology students who develop and refine digital learning materials. A pilot study is conducted with a small cohort to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the program. The full implementation follows, reaching larger student groups across various universities, with iterative improvements based on feedback and evaluation data.
Results: Evaluations include self-efficacy assessments, performance tracking on application-related exam questions, and longitudinal surveys to assess the application of skills in academic and professional settings. The program is expected to reduce students’ uncertainty in applying learning psychology principles, increase their self-regulation competencies, and enhance academic success.
Discussion: By bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and applied learning, this project empowers students to take an active role in their educational development while simultaneously preparing psychology students for future roles as educators and facilitators of psychological interventions. The digital nature of the program ensures broad accessibility and long-term sustainability.

Introduction
The benefits of formative learning activities (FLAs) for students’ critical thinking skills and academic performance are well documented (Morris et al., 2021), yet student uptake of FLAs is often low (Wu & Jessop, 2018). Students are increasing their working hours due to rising costs of living and can struggle to engage meaningfully with FLAs in their limited study time (Office for Students, 2023). Working in partnership with students, this project aims to investigate student engagement with a range of formative learning activities, the relationship between engagement and academic performance, and elicit students’ views on the barriers to and enablers of engagement with FLAs.
Research questions:
How and why do students engage with formative learning activities?
What is the relationship between engagement in FLAs and academic performance?
What are the barriers to student engagement with FLAs?
What factors encourage student engagement in FLAs?
Methods
PGT psychology students (N = 86) registered on an online distance learning programme were asked to engage in FLAs such as progress trackers, quizzes, a formative blog post, and peer review. Using learner analytics, we analysed the relationship between students’ engagement in FLAs and final grades. A sample of students participated in student led focus groups, discussing challenges and enablers in relation to FLAs.
Results
Students’ engagement with FLAs predicted academic performance on the course assessment (all ps < =. 006). Qualitative analysis focused on the social, affective and motivational factors impacting engagement and students’ perceptions of how effective FLAs were for their learning.
Discussion
Findings will be discussed in relation to behavioural, cognitive, social and emotional dimensions of student engagement (Bergdahl et al., 2024) and design of interventions to increase engagement with FLAs. One implication is that providing students with insights into the impact of engagement on their learning can help foster self-regulation.

Introduction. The mental well-being of young people is deteriorating. They struggle with questions such as “Who am I?”, “What am I capable of?”, and “What do I want?”. Our new course, Street Psychology (based on the successful, international educational program “Street Law”), could provide a solution. In this course for the Bachelor of Psychology program at VU Amsterdam (The Netherlands), students conduct workshops on Psychology for high school pupils. During our presentation we will present the Street Psychology method and the results of the first pilot course that we taught in February and March 2025.
Methods. Fourteen 2nd and 3rd year Psychology bachelor students participated in Street Psychology. The course consisted of 2 training days and 6 tutorials over the course of 8 weeks, and students developed 3 or 4 new lesson plans that were taught at local high schools. During these lessons, students used interactive teaching methods to discuss and confront current psychological issues that high schoolers are struggling with. Lessons were aimed at improving the mental well-being and resilience of young people. At the end of the course, students hand in a portfolio consisting of preparatory assignments, their lesson plans with a scientific foundation, and personal reflections.
Results. The emphasis in this new, experiential educational program is on the students' learning process. They create their own learning goals and lesson plans. During the course, they develop essential skills in research, creative and solution-oriented thinking, collaboration, communication and presentation. Moreover, by teaching about Psychology, they master and deepen their own knowledge. The experiences and findings of the pilot course will be presented during the conference, as it is currently still ongoing.
Discussion. We will discuss the implications of our pilot and how the Street Psychology method can be implemented in other curricula.

Introduction: While there has been increasing attention to methodological rigour in disciplinary research in psychology, it is important that this same focus is extended to pedagogical research. Specifically, the clarity of constructs in pedagogical research should be continually assessed. One such construct that is increasingly studied in psychology pedagogy is imposter syndrome (or imposter phenomenon). Imposter syndrome is characterised by the belief that one’s success is due to luck rather than skill or effort. Although pedagogical studies frequently explore the prevalence of imposter syndrome, the conceptual robustness of the construct itself has received little scrutiny. Studies typically differ in their definition and measurement of it, and it is regularly conflated with related concepts, such as belonging. This study aimed to explore the conceptual clarity of imposter syndrome.

Methods: We conducted a survey study with 434 undergraduate students, who completed validated scales measuring sense of belonging, self-efficacy, perfectionism, self-esteem, and imposter syndrome using the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale.

Results: Correlational analysis revealed high correlations between imposter syndrome and other measured constructs, particularly perfectionism. factor analysis indicated significant conceptual overlap between imposter syndrome and perfectionism, challenging the notion of imposter syndrome as a distinct construct. This overlap suggests that what is labelled as imposter syndrome may reflect broader dimensions of perfectionism and related psychological phenomena.

Discussion: The findings have significant implications for student support and educational practice in psychology. Misconceptions about imposter syndrome as a unique construct may lead to interventions that fail to address the underlying psychological factors, such as perfectionism. Furthermore, labelling experiences related to belonging, self-esteem, and perfectionism as imposter syndrome may inadvertently pathologise normal student experiences, emphasising the need for precise terminology and nuanced interventions. We, therefore, encourage educators and researchers in psychology to adopt a more critical approach to defining and measuring constructs within Higher Education contexts.

This study investigates the relationship between body, movement, and intentionality in group piano teaching, aiming to understand how these elements contribute to the musical learning process and psychic development. Based on Cultural-Historical Psychology, the study analyzes a group piano teaching episode, highlighting the appropriation of music as a system of signs and how social interactions contribute to the development of Higher Mental Functions. The research adopts a qualitative approach, collecting data through video recordings of 10 group piano lessons with a group of six students, transcription of dialogues, and field journal descriptions. The data were systematized and analyzed based on the concepts of movement, double stimulation, and social interactions. The results indicate that lessons and interactions play an essential role in students' psychic and musical development; however, this does not occur directly or spontaneously. Considering the dialectical perspective between mind and body, as proposed by Luria (1979; 1981) and Damasio (2010), the study demonstrates that the body is not merely a passive receiver but an active agent in learning. Through cultural mediation, the body learns, interacts, represents, and understands, enabling the individual to constitute themselves as both a process and a product of a volitional act. In the context of group piano teaching, movement-based practices, such as those inspired by the Orff approach, facilitated not only the internalization of musical content but also the students' expressive musical development. By integrating movement and musical thought, students demonstrated greater engagement in the activity, improving rhythmic precision, motor coordination, and interpretative expressiveness. The analyzed episodes revealed that practices in which body movement precedes instrumental practice enhance musical learning, allowing students to physically experience concepts such as pulse, phrasing, and dynamics. This process not only facilitates the appropriation of these elements but also leads to the aesthetic appropriation of music, promoting more musical interpretations.

Understanding factors influencing students’ success in statistics is crucial, as many psychology students struggle with the subject, affecting their academic confidence and career readiness. This study examines profiles of undergraduate psychology students learning statistics, focusing on attitudes, IT self-efficacy, and statistical performance. A sample of 175 first-year students completed assessments on attitudes towards statistics, academic delay of gratification, test anxiety, and computer self-efficacy, plus an end-of-year exam. Latent profile analysis identified two groups: "Motivated Performers" with higher positive attitudes towards statistics, greater computer self-efficacy, and lower statistical anxiety, and "Anxious Learners," who scored lower in these areas. Although Motivated Performers outperformed Anxious Learners on the exam, the difference was nonsignificant. Academic delay of gratification was the only significant predictor of performance, regardless of profile membership. These findings emphasize promoting positive attitudes and IT confidence in statistics and highlight the importance of self-regulatory academic behaviours in preparing students for statistics exams.

Introduction: Across disciplines such as psychology, medicine, and biology, the reproducibility of research findings is a recurring reported challenge. Commonly cited causes include study falsification, questionable research practices, insufficient statistical power, and a lack of statistical literacy. However, a potentially even more significant issue is the scientific tendency to formulate overly simplistic hypotheses for complex empirical phenomena. Despite the well-known methodological limitations of correlation statistics - such as linearity, bidirectional associations, and pairwise relationships - these methods (e.g., correlations, regressions, structural equation modeling) remain prevalent in hypothesis evaluation.
Methods: Relation analysis (RELAN; Maderthaner, 2022, 2024) is a methodological framework designed to account for all possible interactions among up to ten binary variables. This allows the testing, exploration, and simulation of highly complex hypotheses. Furthermore, Relation Analysis enables the integration and statistical evaluation of causal, moderating, and mediating variables within these hypotheses, providing a comprehensive tool for analyzing multifaceted relationships in empirical data.
Results: Examples from research on learning and teaching illustrate the difficulties of using conventional statistical methods to clarify complex empirical relationships. In contrast, the RELAN method effectively overcomes these challenges, providing clearer insights into complex empirical relationships.
Discussion: The high complexity of logical hypotheses requires (1) the use of dichotomous variables for hypothesis testing, (2) a more precise approach to uncovering insights into research topics, and (3) the development of more specific assumptions regarding the presumed effect structures and underlying empirical phenomena.
Conclusion: Developing more precise theoretical representations of learning and teaching relationships through logical hypotheses increases the likelihood of replication and facilitates clearer explanations of discrepancies between results.

Recent recommendations for the teaching of undergraduate statistics in any field emphasize the need for students to become critical consumers of results presented in the media while also developing proficiency in the collection, presentation, analysis, and communication of data (GAISE, 2016). Additionally, instructors should provide undergraduates the opportunity to grapple with the difference between practical vs. statistical significance, to evaluate the presentation of statistics in research and the media, and to apply appropriate statistics to the question posed (APA, 2013) and include coverage of concepts related to open science, the new statistics, and data ethics (Baumer et al., 2020; Cummings, 2014; Morling and Calin-Jageman, 2020). Though research is clear on what we should be teaching, study after study finds that statistics instructors continue to persist in teaching traditional content (focus on NHST, emphasis on hand-calculations, less focus on new statistics, etc.) at the expense of current recommendations (e.g. Friedrich et al., 2020). Why do we see this disconnect between theory and practice? How can we encourage students to invest in the course material and to engage in scientific thinking? How can we structure our course to optimize instruction to align with best practices? What would a course look like that focuses on statistical literacy rather than statistical computation? Given time constraints, what content should we include in an introduction to statistics course, and what content should we let go? The purpose of this presentation is to share an example of an undergraduate introduction to statistics course design that attempts to address the above recommendations.

Introduction: Statistics anxiety negatively effects performance and may deter students from enrolling in statistics courses. Academic self-efficacy is a student’s perception of their ability to engage and complete academic tasks, which contributes to performance and metacognition. The objectives of this study were to: 1) investigate the impact of an undergraduate statistics course on statistics anxiety and self-efficacy in statistics, 2) to understand ways to enhance self-efficacy around statistics.

Methods: Participants were students enrolled in an undergraduate applied statistics course (McMaster University, Canada). Statistics anxiety was assessed using the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS) questionnaire, and self-efficacy was assessed using a 10-point confidence Likert scale at the beginning and end of the course. Focus groups were conducted to determine themes related to ways that self-efficacy can be modified: mastery, vicarious experience, social persuasion and physiologic state. Median (interquartile range) was determined for STARS and self-efficacy, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to determine difference between timepoints. Thematic analysis was used to identify main themes related to modifying self-efficacy.

Results: 39 participants (72% female, 69% level 3) responded to questionnaires. There was no difference between baseline and post-course STARS scores (baseline = 164 [19], course completion = 158 [36], p= 0.211). Students self-efficacy increased for 12 of 15 statistics tasks (p<0.05). Themes that emerged from focus groups (n=5) were: repeating quizzes, chunking assignments (mastery); modeling, students as guest speakers (vicarious experience); constructive feedback, verbal encouragement (social persuasion); stress as a motivator, self-paced breaks (physiologic state).

Discussion: Self-efficacy improved for most tasks, reinforcing that the applied, lab-based nature of this smaller class works well, but focus groups revealed practical strategies to improve self-efficacy around statistics for this course, and similar courses. Consideration should be given to the range of STARS scores and the use of a standardized questionnaire in a course.

This symposium presents the development, international comparisons, and implementation of the International Competences for Undergraduate Psychology (ICUP) Model. The first presentation (Cranney, de Souza) introduces the Model, developed through the International Collaboration on Undergraduate Psychology Outcomes project. Created through extensive collaboration among 120 psychology educators from 47 countries, the Model comprises 24 competence statements across seven categories: two core competences (Psychological Knowledge; Research Methodologies) and five psychology-relevant competences (Values and Ethics; Cultural Responsiveness; Critical Thinking; Communication; Personal/Professional Development). The Model addresses the increasingly global nature of psychology education and aims to guide curriculum development while remaining adaptable to diverse contexts.

The second presentation (Narciss, Spinath) examines the ICUP Model's relationship with existing frameworks, particularly the European Qualification Framework for Higher Education, EuroPsy, and the German Qualification Model. This comparative analysis reveals both alignments and challenges in implementing ICUP within existing legal and policy constraints, offering insights for future development of all frameworks.

The third presentation (Gullifer) showcases a practical application of the ICUP Model through a case study of curricular renewal at Monash University, Australia. This implementation demonstrates the Model's adaptability to specific institutional contexts while maintaining its core principles. This approach combines an accredited psychology major with applied psychology units, offering students real-world experience through work-integrated learning projects in diverse settings.

The final presentation (Nolan, Tateo, Boeta) explores diverse international implementations of the ICUP Model, featuring examples from six continents across various subdisciplines. Cases include course-level adaptations, a departmental curriculum overhaul in the USA, and national-level consideration in Mexico through CNEIP. The presentation also examines the Norwegian International programme's experience, highlighting the balance between global and national perspectives in a postcolonial context. The symposium concludes by referencing the 'ICUP Educational Resources' document and inviting input from attendees, including members of the International Reference Group for Undergraduate Psychology Outcomes. (Discussant: Sokolová)

Introduction: Teaching critical thinking is essential for improvement of students understanding of psychology. The present study explored cognitive reflection as a critical thinking skill among senior high school psychology students by means of a Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT). Cognitive reflection is the ability to override an initial, intuitive response (System 1 thinking) and engage in deliberate, analytical reasoning (System 2 thinking) to arrive at a correct answer. This study also examined how cognitive reflection is related to individual differences in students’ time preference for receiving a reward. Taken together, the study demonstrated how measurement of cognitive reflection can be utilized to teach critical thinking skills effectively.
Methods: Eighty-six senior high school psychology students completed the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT). The CRT assesses whether individuals rely on System 1 or System 2 thinking to solve problems, including the water lilies problem and the bat-and-ball problem. The participants also completed a time preference task to measure preference for small immediate reward or larger future reward.
Results: Less than half (43.5%) answered the water lilies problem correctly, and only 22% correctly solved the bat-and-ball problem. Nearly half (47.1%) failed to answer any CRT problems correctly. A crosstab analysis showed that students who responded correctly to one or both CRT problems had a time preference of a large reward later rather than a small reward now.
Discussion: The results suggest that the CRT is sufficiently challenging to distinguish between students with low and high levels of cognitive reflection, and that cognitive reflection is related to time preference. The study highlights the educational value of using the CRT as a hands-on teaching tool. By actively participating in reflective problem-solving, students experience cognitive processes firsthand, rather than merely learning theoretical concepts. This approach enhances their understanding of critical and scientific thinking.

Introduction
Students in applied psychology education often struggle with topics like motivation, learning mechanisms, or resilience and vulnerability. The suggested concept can be applied to various psychology courses and addresses this challenge by systematically integrating a dual-perspective approach into teaching. For instance, instead of focusing solely on effective learning mechanisms, students could also think about how learning or exam performance is reduced. Similarly, understanding motivation may be easier when also considering what causes demotivation. Contrasting constructs may help restructuring and reveal links between interconnected concepts (e.g., resilience and vulnerability). The suggested approach aligns with Gestalt psychology, emphasizing problem-solving through restructuring and redefining the "problem space." It may foster creative thinking through reverse brainstorming and may also allow for deeper understanding.

As a teaching approach, three strategies can be applied: (a) encouraging students to use reverse brainstorming, (b) highlighting contrasting constructs in lectures, and (c) integrating restructuring as a recurring theme and addressing it in a problem-solving session.

Methods
The concept serves as a flexible instructional framework. As a first test of its underlying assumptions, an experiment is planned: Students will generate ideas under single-perspective tasks (e.g., ideas for stress reduction) and dual-perspective tasks (e.g., ideas for stress reduction and for stress amplification), with counterbalanced materials. Idea quantity and quality will be assessed.

Results
It is expected that the dual-perspective approach leads to more ideas than the single-perspective condition and, possibly, higher quality of ideas.

Discussion
The dual-perspective approach is based on Gestalt psychology and reverse brainstorming. Encouraging students to "flip" perspectives may foster idea generation, strengthen concept connections, and can serve as a recurring instructional theme. Further, a dual-perspective approach may help to identify otherwise neglected relevant theories for applied contexts for students, instructors, and researchers.

Critical thinking is considered an essential skill for students to be able to make important decisions for the future (Abrami et al., 2015). In the context of the construct “psychological literacy”, both critical thinking and need for cognition are addressed (e.g. Halpern & Butler, 2011; Hulme, 2014). By learning psychological content, it is assumed that psychology students have higher critical thinking skills and are characterized by an increased need for cognition. To date, however, there have been hardly any empirical studies dedicated to this topic. A first study by Wirthwein et al. (2022) found initial hints of higher critical thinking skills in psychology students compared to students without psychology lessons (Wirthwein et al., 2022).

We examined n = 321 students with and n = 216 without psychology lessons from several grammar and comprehensive schools in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in grades 10 to 13 (average age: M = 16.66; SD = .93; 63% female). Critical thinking was measured using a scale by Sosu (2013) and need for cognition by using the scale by Cacioppo et al. (1984). Personality, gender, age, grade level, type of school and previous duration of psychology lessons were surveyed as possible control variables.

Missing values were estimated using the FIML algorithm. Confirmatory multi-group factor analyses were carried out to check the measurement invariance of the scales. Mean differences between students with and without psychology lessons were calculated using multi- and univariate analyses of covariance.

Students with psychology lessons reported a significantly higher need for cognition than non-psychology students, even when controlling for relevant covariates. However, there were no significant differences with regard to critical thinking. The results are discussed critically regarding the design of the study and also with regard to open research questions.

Critical evaluation of information is crucial in today’s largely ungated digital landscape, as misinformation can threaten public policies, health, and democracy. However, these critical skills do not develop naturally, even among highly educated individuals, necessitating structured interventions. Various approaches, including historical thinking, multiple document literacy, sourcing, and lateral reading, have been described to enhance source credibility judgment.
Our multilevel meta-analysis synthesizes research on these interventions, evaluating their effectiveness and the influence of participant and intervention characteristics. We analyzed 59 studies with 249 effect estimates, encompassing 15,858 participants. Results indicate that interventions significantly improve source credibility judgment (g = 0.41, p < .001), though with notable heterogeneity. Lateral reading demonstrated the highest effectiveness. Additionally, curriculum-based interventions and university settings showed stronger effects, suggesting structured, repeated practice may enhance learning. Digital technologies also moderated the effects, with e-learning platforms and open Internet resources yielding the most effective interventions, highlighting the importance of ecological validity.
Our findings suggest that interventions tailored to higher education environments are particularly beneficial, likely due to students' familiarity with research-based reasoning. Moreover, sourcing interventions that integrate interactive components and real-world settings tend to be more impactful, as they encourage active engagement and practical application of credibility assessment strategies. These insights highlight the importance of designing interventions that not only convey theoretical knowledge but also provide hands-on experience with evaluating online information.
In the presentation, we will discuss the implications of these findings for education on critical reasoning skills. We will also discuss the role of participant characteristics such as age and gender, as well as intervention characteristics like study countries and control types.

Neurodivergency (ND) is an umbrella term, encompassing a range of experiences, such as autism, attention deficit hyper-activity disorder and dyslexia. Due to the sub-categories of disability that neurodivergent individuals may identify with (including cognitive or learning difficulties, or mental health conditions), the exact number in HE is difficult to ascertain, although data showed students with a registered disability had poorer outcomes than students without a disability at various timepoints in their degree (OfS, 2023). Learning and Teaching within Psychology should be geared towards inclusive and intersectional practices, empowering students with diverse needs in their understanding of the subject. Additionally, doing participatory research with ND academics contributes to understanding better cognitive support for executive dysfunction. Current educational approaches are not sufficient to help our ND population thrive; we need to look for avenues that could help countermeasure the often limited resources allocated.
Our research aim has been using our expertise in ND to co-create with our participants who have lived-experience of neurodivergence a ‘tool-box’ of AI resources to support Learning and Teaching in Psychology, recognising there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. Developing ND-specific guidance around AI fosters critical thinking by removing accessibility barriers, supporting individuals beyond neurodivergency. This ‘tool-box’ captures their experiences on how these resources support ‘the hidden curriculum’ of academic skills. We would like to use this discussion session to briefly present our findings, and then support a roundtable discussion about how AI can be used to foster scientific thinking while retaining an inclusive and intersectional focus.

In addition to psychology majors, psychological courses are an important part of the curriculum in teacher education. At the beginning of a new academic term, students of both study programs hold a variety of course-specific expectations (e.g., related to the course content, the workload, or their performance). A mismatch between expectations and the course reality may negatively influence students’ learning outcomes. This study examined the relationship between unmet course-specific expectations in educational psychology lectures and learning-related outcomes. We collected data from N = 736 university students from two study programs enrolled in an introductory lecture course in educational psychology. The overall sample included n = 488 teacher students from five cohorts and n = 248 psychology students from three cohorts. Students could participate in up to five measurement points across the term. Students rated the extent to which they anticipated gaining a general overview of educational-psychological content, learning methods, and receiving practical tips and the degree to which they had learned this content in the course. Several learning outcomes were evaluated such as test performance, perceived learning success, satisfaction, and long-term interest in the subject. Students noted discrepancies in expected versus perceived content regarding methods and practical tips, which were more evident among preservice teachers. Higher levels of unmet expectations were linked to poorer learning outcomes at the end of the term. Results suggest that a mismatch between students’ expectations and actual course content is crucial in influencing learning success. Our results highlight the significance of considering prior (course-specific) expectations as instructors. Educators may benefit from assessing students' expectations early in the term and, where feasible, integrating practically relevant, applied content to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Additionally, enhancing transparency in learning goals and outlining the benefits of specific learning content may be useful in preventing disappointed expectations.

Introduction: Studies on determining the underlying triggering mechanisms in the development of smartphone addiction may be important in guiding its prevention and early treatment. Therefore, this study aimed to draw attention to the moderating role of cognitive flexibility in the relationship between negative affect, agreeableness, and smartphone addiction risk.
Methods: The study was completed with 212 females and 108 males, a total of 320 university students (Mage = 22.18, SD = 1.72, range: 19-26). Data collection tools were Smartphone Addiction Scale, Cognitive Flexibility Scale, Big Five Personality Traits Scale, and Positive and Negative Affect Scale. Process Macro Model 1 analyses were conducted to understand whether cognitive flexibility moderates the impact of negative affect and agreeableness on smartphone addiction risk.
Results: The first moderation analysis indicated a positive and significant moderating impact of cognitive flexibility on the association between negative affect and smartphone addiction risk (b= 0.024, t = 2.577, p < 0.01, 95% CI [0.005, 0.043]). The second moderation analysis also demonstrated a negative and significant moderating effect of cognitive flexibility on the relationship between agreeableness and smartphone addiction risk (b= -0.095, t = -2.02, p < 0.05, 95% CI [-0.187, -0.003]).
Discussion: The positive impact of negative affect on smartphone addiction risk decreases in the high cognitive flexibility condition. Moreover, the negative effect of agreeableness on smartphone addiction risk increases in the high cognitive flexibility condition. Thus, it was concluded that cognitive flexibility may be an important cognitive function in reducing smartphone addiction. It is recommended that cognitive rehabilitation programs aimed at enhancing cognitive flexibility may be effective in reducing smartphone addiction.

Introduction and Research Aims
Being successful in university depends on students’ academic and social integration in their studies (Kegel et al., 2021; Tinto, 1975; Zander & Höhne, 2021). However, empirical studies (e.g., Bäulke et al., 2021) often focus on only academic or social integration. With the present study, we aimed to investigate how academic self-concept (Marsh, 1990) and sense of belonging (Hurtado & Carter, 1997) as indicators for academic and social integration relate to dropout intention and study satisfaction in one model. We expected to find positive relations of both academic self-concept and sense of belonging with study satisfaction and negative relations with dropout intention.

Method
Participants (N = 139; 82.73% women) were freshmen in psychology at a German university. They filled in an online survey in the first (T1) and sixth week (T2) of their first semester in 2024. We assessed academic self-concept (Dickhäuser et al., 2002) and sense of belonging (Hurtado & Carter, 1997) at T1, and dropout intention (Bäulke et al., 2021) and study satisfaction (Kegel et al., under review) at T2. We applied structural equation modeling including gender and first-generation student status as covariates.

Results and Discussion
Analyses revealed that academic self-concept (β = -.32, p < .01) and sense of belonging (β = -.29, p < .01) negatively related to dropout intention. For study satisfaction, we found positive relations with academic self-concept (β = .38, p < .001) and sense of belonging (β = .23, p < .01). In line with our expectations, these findings underscore the relevance of both academic and social integration for university students’ academic success (e.g., Tinto, 1975). Based on the small intercorrelation of academic self-concept and sense of belonging (r = .20, p < .05), future studies could further investigate their interplay with regard to learning behavior and academic achievement.

Refrences
Bäulke, L., Grunschel, C., & Dresel, M. (2021). Student dropout at university: A phase-orientated view on quitting studies and changing majors. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 37, 853–876. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-021-00557-x
Dickhäuser, O., Schöne, C., Spinath, B., & Stiensmeier-Pelster, J. (2002). Die Skalen zum akademischen Selbstkonzept: Konstruktion und Überprüfung eines neuen Instrumentes [The academic self-concept scales: Construction and testing of a new instrument]. Zeitschrift für differentielle und diagnostische Psychologie, 23(4), 393–405. https://doi.org/10.1024//0170-1789.23.4.393
Hurtado, S., & Carter, D. F. (1997). Effects of college transition and perceptions of the campus racial climate on Latino college students' sense of belonging. Sociology of Education, 324-345. https://doi.org/10.2307/2673270
Kegel, L. S., Bohndick, C., Breetzke, J., Janke, S., Scheunemann, A., & Wenker, T. (2025). Scale for measuring study satisfaction in higher education [Manuscript submitted for publication].
Kegel, L. S., Schnettler, T., Scheunemann, A., Bäulke, L., Thies, D. O., Dresel, M., Fries, S., Leutner, D., Wirth, J., & Grunschel, C. (2021). Unterschiedlich motiviert für das Studium: Motivationale Profile von Studierenden und ihre Zusammenhänge mit demografischen Merkmalen, Lernverhalten und Befinden [Differently motivated to study: Motivational profiles of students and their correlations with demographic characteristics, learning behaviour and well-being]. Zeitschrift für Empirische Hochschulforschung (ZeHf), 4(1), 81–105. https://doi.org/10.3224/zehf.v4i1.06
Marsh, H. W. (1990). The structure of academic self-concept: The Marsh/Shavelson model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(4), 623–636. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022- 0663.82.4.623
Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 45(1), 89–125. https://doi.org/b2kbj6
Zander, L., & Höhne, E. (2021). Too good to belong: Kompetenzbezogene und soziale Prädiktoren des Zugehörigkeitsgefühls im Lehramtsstudium Sonderpädagogik [Too good to belong: competency-related and social predictors of sense of belonging in teacher education for special education]. In G. Hagenauer & D. Raufelder (Eds.) Soziale Eingebundenheit. Sozialbeziehungen im Fokus von Schule und Lehrer innenbildung*, 237-252. https://doi.org/10.25656/01:21355

Students at the University of Applied Sciences for Police and Public Administration in North Rhine-Westphalia (HSPV NRW) participate in psychological courses within dual degree programs for police service and public administration. Internal surveys conducted in recent years indicate that an increasing number of students at HSPV are leaving their studies without graduating. In a broader study of bachelor's programs at German universities, Heublein, Schmelzer, Sommer, and Wank (2012) identified a dropout and attrition rate of 35%. Thus, premature withdrawal from studies is a common occurrence, although a successful degree completion is desirable from both the students' perspective and in light of demographic changes and the growing shortage of skilled workers in Germany. Previous research suggests that a variety of personal and contextual factors influence academic success, although there is a lack of systematic longitudinal analyses in this area (Weber, Daniel, Becker & Bornkessel, 2018; Schulmeister, 2014). The present longitudinal study addresses this gap by examining the manifestation of academic success and various influencing factors at multiple measurement points throughout the course of study. The sample consists of 2,088 students from HSPV who began their studies in September 2021. Academic success is operationalized as performance in module exams as well as in terms of self-reported study satisfaction and dropout intentions. The study investigates influencing factors such as sociodemographic variables, previous academic performance, personality traits, motivation, learning strategies, social and academic integration, social support, and the compatibility of studies with other commitments. Preliminary results from the ongoing data analysis show that study satisfaction varies significantly among students and decreases on average over the course of study. Satisfaction with the content of the studies is more positive than satisfaction with the study conditions and the ability to manage study-related burdens. The complete results will be available by the time of the conference and will be discussed regarding their potential to inform teaching and learning concepts.

Introduction

Feedback is one of the greatest influencing factors of good teaching (d=0.73, Hattie, 2009, 2012) and can be summarized in four aspects: Teachers give students learning/performance feedback (1), students learn to obtain feedback, interpret it depending on the context and implement it in a meaningful way (2), learners give teachers feedback on work processes, tasks, difficulties, etc. (3), teachers learn to actively obtain feedback, respond to it appropriately and adapt methods and behavior to the needs of the learners (4). Aspect 3 has a particularly positive effect on student performance (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). A comprehensive document analysis of module handbooks and spiral curricula revealed that the discussion of feedback in teacher training in Cologne is inadequate and exclusively with regard to aspect 1. The dissertation project is intended as a pilot project to integrate the concept of an effective feedback culture into the school-based part of teacher training.

Methodology

A quasi-experimental design (pre, post, follow-up) will be used to investigate how the implementation of the topic area of effective feedback culture according to Hattie & Clarke (2019) and Brooks (2019) in the trainee teacher training program (Referendariat) affects the feedback culture of trainee teachers in their self-guided teaching. To this end, seminar content is currently being designed and suitable vignettes are being developed which, in addition to testing the trainee teachers' practical skills regarding effective feedback, also ask about the students' perception of the feedback culture with their trainee teacher.

Outlook

As the survey is still in the planning phase, no results can be discussed at this stage. The intervention is to run from October 2025 to January 2026.

In my courses Statistics 1 and 2 students are provided with ~30 exams of previous semesters which can be used in an electronic system to train for the final exam, getting feedback and explanations. Logfile analysis showed that students use this system relatively late in the semester and underutilize older exams. Also, some specific tasks requested by students could not easily be performed in the existing system (e.g. training which statistical test to select).
Therefore, we separated the existing exams into single questions coded by topic (hierarchically), year and difficulty, and created a new interface which allows students to select smaller tasksets, repeat tasks not solved to criterion, get individual feedback, and work in their own pace and structure. For Statistics 2, two different hierarchical structures (by test properties/course structure vs. by data set properties) were used for coding each question by topic. Additionally, an interface to the course management system was created which allows students to semiautomatically generate discussion groups to specific exercises.
Logfile analysis shows that a considerable proportion of students do not use the new system as intended. Exercising is still delayed until one month before the exam, even if the opportunity to exercise exists from day one of the course, and even if the new system is announced at several points in the semester. Also, a small proportion of students does not use the system to select specific problems, but creates a collection of all exercises published. In WS24, even a restriction on set size had to be enforced because this misuse led to server problems. The technology to initiate discussions was also not used as intended, despite repeated instructions of use. Thus, a well-intended intervention based on principles of effective learning did not lead to respective changes in learner behavior.

Ambiguous language (i.e. words or phrases with multiple meanings) can sometimes be difficult to interpret. This is especially true in time-pressured, high-stakes situations like academic assessment. This study investigated the role of ambiguous language on performance in an exam-style multiple choice assessment.
Psychology students were tested on their knowledge of text extracts via multiple-choice questions. Texts and questions were designed to resemble those used in a university exam. Questions were manipulated to be either ambiguous or non-ambiguous. Participants' language status and anxiety levels were measured.
Results will demonstrate whether ambiguity affects performance. This will also explore whether there are differences between students who speak English as a first language vs additional language, and between students with high and low anxiety. These conclusions can help us to understand how students are impacted by unclear language during academic assessment.

Conspiracy theories and social media are part of our daily lives, and therefore it is important to be able to identify correct and appropriate information. Various studies have looked at different aspects related to critical thinking and people’s misconceptions about critical thinking. For example, studies have investigated if people can distinguish between good and bad explanations by exploring typical fallacies, such as circular reasoning (e.g., Weisberg et al., 2008). Other studies have looked at students’ understanding of what critical thinking is and found common misconceptions (e.g., Pnevmatikos et al., 2023). Overall, critical thinking is a complex concept, and many of its characteristics are listed as skills in the British Psychological Society benchmarks (BPS, 2019) and thus are taught in BPS accredited programmes across the UK. In line with this, critical thinking is one of the main marking criteria of assessments, and during their UG studies, psychology students have many opportunities to develop their critical thinking skills as they progress.

The current study investigates the critical thinking skills of psychology undergraduate students at the University of Nottingham, UK. Various critical thinking aspects are explored in a series of tasks, such as the conceptualisation of critical thinking (i.e., what it is and how it is acquired; survey items adapted from Pnevmatikos et al.) and students’ skills to evaluate written information (items from Weisberg et al.). By comparing undergraduate students at different stages of their study (year one, two, and three), the data from the study will help lecturers to learn more about students' development of critical thinking skills and will help us to create appropriate activities for seminars and workshops.

This study explores the impact of an embodied learning strategy, Acting Experiencing (AE), on university students' ability to memorize and understand course content. While research in cognitive psychology has identified optimal learning strategies, particularly embodied strategies, they are rarely taught in universities. Embodied and situated learning is a characteristic of learning a text performed by a theater actor. AE integrates verbal, motor, and emotional components, aligning with an embodied and situated approach to cognition. Studies suggest that AE enhances recall more effectively than the strategies commonly used by students. This study investigates whether applying AE, based on embodied cognition, to university course content can improve learning outcomes.
A three-hour workshop, led by a professional actor, was conducted with 28 third-year psychology students. It included embodiment exercises and application to cognitive psychology course content. Three similar texts from a cognitive psychology course were used—one for the workshop, and the others for the pre-test and post-test, conducted six days after the workshop. For each text, participants memorized the content and then completed a fill-in-the-blank task using the same text. A control group of 61 students completed the same tests without attending the workshop. It was expected that the theater group would outperform the control group on the post-test and exam scores.
The workshop’s effect on learning proficiency was not statistically significant, as theater-trained students did not differ from the control group in any of the tests. Exploratory analyses indicated that the theater group showed a lower correlation between pre-test and post-test scores than the control group, suggesting that the workshop induced a shift in learning strategy. However, the short duration of the workshop may have been insufficient for full integration. Future research should incorporate longer training sessions and larger samples to further assess AE’s potential as an effective embodied learning strategy.

A consistent study routine is crucial for academic success. However, students postpone learning until shortly before the exam, especially for courses they are less interested in. The present study examines whether the opportunity to submit a weekly "cheat sheet" for use in the final exam promotes a more regular and continuous learning behavior, increases overall time spent studying, and enhances performance expectations.
In a quasi-experimental study, 170 students (150 female) were assigned to two conditions based on course enrollment. Students in the experimental group (N = 96) submitted one cheat sheet per week, while the control group (N = 74) only produced an overall cheat sheet at the end of the course. Study habits throughout the term were assessed via the frequency of various learning activities (e.g., lecture attendance, use of learning videos) and self-reported hours invested in studying course content. Additionally, exam performance expectations were reported on a 3-item Likert scale (α = .857).
82,4% of the control group spent three weeks or less creating their cheat sheets, whereas the majority (80,2%) of the experimental group invested ten weeks or more. The experimental group attended lectures more often (t(168) = -3.528; p < .001) and made less use of learning videos (t(167) = 2.882; p = .004). No significant group difference was found with respect to hours spent studying. Regression analyses showed no difference in performance expectations between the conditions, controlling for gender, study program and high-school mathematics grade.
The option to create weekly cheat sheets for the statistics exam positively affected study behavior. Allowing students to use their submitted cheat sheets during the exam may serve as a low-threshold intervention to promote a more continuous learning behavior. Possible reasons for the absence of effects on performance expectations (e.g., short-term vs. long-term learning effects, cheat sheet quality) are discussed.

Introduction: Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) are interrelated notions, which aim to work together to create environments and practices that ensure the fair treatment of all. It is essential that we investigate EDI within psychological teaching to improve the learning experiences for individuals within both vulnerable groups such as those with disabilities and underrepresented groups such as people of colour. Previous studies have found evidence that perceived inclusivity and gender attitudes are associated with burnout (Morales Rodriguez, Rodriguez Clares & Garcia Munoz, 2020), which can have detrimental effects on the wellbeing of students and can thus impact their academic achievement and career. Unfortunately, students that are under-represented show lower retention rates compared to their counterparts that are part of the majority (Hagedorn, Maxwell & Hampton, 2001). The overarching aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of students’ experiences of diversity, inclusion, and equality of their psychology teaching.

Methods: This study investigates students’ experiences of diversity in their curriculum through a questionnaire and interview. A detailed questionnaire is provided to the full cohort, focussing first broadly on students’ perceived diversity and inclusion in their teaching, as well as asking about specific elements that have been included with the aim to evaluate how well these worked, what impact they had, and how they could be improved. More in-depth interviews with a subset of the participants to allow for richer understanding of the experiences.
Results & Discussion: Data collection is ongoing until June 2025, but results presented will provide an insight into students’ experiences of diversity. By investigating students’ experiences of equality, diversity, and inclusion as part of their psychology degree, we can inform teaching practices in the hopes of creating more engaging materials, ultimately aiming at improving retention of students belonging to under-represented groups in the academia

Interdisciplinary texts connect Psychology and English by presenting psychological concepts in a foreign language. They introduce students to psychological ideas while simultaneously supporting vocabulary acquisition in English through meaningful contexts. This is particularly important as vocabulary acquisition is fundamental to foreign language learning (cf. Zarei & Mahmoodzadeh, 2014). Furthermore, this approach fosters scientific thinking by making scientific texts – often written in English – more accessible and engaging for students.
This dissertation project investigates learning strategies, namely different types of glosses, that support incidental vocabulary learning while reading an English text about the bystander effect. The research question is the following: What are the effects of textual and pictorial glosses on incidental vocabulary learning, text comprehension and motivation in first-year secondary school students?
To answer this question, a 2x2 factorial design is used. The factors are textual glosses in the form of English definitions (presented or not) and pictorial glosses in the form of sketches (presented or not) for the target words in the text. After completing a pretest, the students will work with a website. The three experimental groups will see either (1) textual definitions, (2) pictorial definitions, or (3) a combination of both, while the control group will not receive any support. After reading, the students will complete a questionnaire regarding their motivation, before solving text comprehension and vocabulary tasks. One week later, a delayed post-test will assess the same categories.
It is expected that the combined glosses will support incidental vocabulary learning the most, while all types of glosses will promote text comprehension and motivation (cf. Bukhari & Dewey, 2023). The results of this study may offer valuable insights into the effectiveness of gloss modalities, contributing to the development of foreign language teaching material that enhances both scientific thinking and linguistic competence.

With implications for the design of adaptive learning tools, this study investigates whether confusion enhances learning performance and self-regulation in help-seeking interactions with ChatGPT. Two forms of help-seeking have been identified: instrumental help-seeking (e.g., asking for a clue), which is considered a self-regulated strategy, and executive help-seeking (e.g., asking for the answer), which is not. Confusion, as an epistemic emotion, can deepen cognitive processing when managed effectively. Interactive Digital Learning Environments (IDLEs) have shown potential in inducing and managing confusion effectively. However, unlike IDLEs, few studies, to our knowledge, have examined the role of confusion in self-regulated learning with ChatGPT.
Thirty-four university students participated in the study, randomly assigned to either an experimental group receiving ambiguous, confusion-inducing instructions or a control group with clear instructions. Initially, they read a short text and identified two lesser-known French figures of speech (préterition, hypallage). The experimental group received vague explanations, while the control group was given precise definitions and examples. Each participant could ask ChatGPT only one question from a predefined set of instrumental or executive questions. In the final task, they completed a multiple-choice test to determine whether the previously introduced figures of speech—or other figures—appeared in ten new sentences. Emotions were assessed before and after the task using a short version of the Epistemically-Related Emotion Scales (EES, Pekrun et al., 2016).
Surprisingly, there was no significant difference between the groups in self-regulated learning strategy use. However, as expected, the confusion group outperformed the control group in the final task and showed a significantly higher confusion score than the control group.
These findings suggest that while confusion may not directly influence self-regulation, it can enhance learning outcomes when properly leveraged. This research provides insights into optimizing confusion management in digital learning environments to improve learning effectiveness across various educational contexts.

Education is both a means to knowledge with curricula- based education and course design, as well as the social interactions between students and teachers. Thus, universities are an arena for social interaction where students meet, study together and build social networks with each and teachers. Several studies have in different ways shown that an important context to consider in distance education is the social interactions an online course provides. Social interaction includes both the interaction between peer students and between student and teacher. The purpose of this study is, thus, to investigate the influence of social interactions and how course design can support social interactions in distance learning. Participants were undergraduate students (N=8) attending either part-time distance courses in psychology or a full-time campus program. The study design consisted of three parts: 1) in the beginning of the course students answered open-ended survey questions, 2) after the course finished students participated in a semi-structured interview, and 3) answered open-ended survey questions. Data was collected between November 2023 to June 2024. The data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes were found: (1) successful course design, (2) active and engaged learning, (3) students’ own responsibility, and (4) Conditions to achieve learning in groups. In conclusion, this study contributes with knowledge of how to design a distance learning course regarding factors such as social interactions and student-influence. Recommendations for teachers include to talk to students about frames for group-work, the importance of students’ own engagement during the course and definitions of student influence.

During their education, psychology students must develop their knowledge and skills to lead different groups. Leadership is a role that students will assume in their future professional practice. The leader's style and role are of great importance for the group's work and processes. Previous research and experience have shown the importance of including both theoretical and practical applications for lifelong learning. Against this backdrop, we aimed to explore if using a semi-virtual environment called TeachLivE, (i.e. a semi-virtual simulation with a human in the system) can act as a means of developing psychology students' leadership skills.

To test whether the semi-virtual environment TeachLivE works for leadership training and virtual practice in a pioneering spirit in psychology education, we developed a course theme about leadership and group processes, thus making the process between leader and follower visible. The theme consists of several mandatory elements to broaden (on a group level) and deepen (individually) knowledge and understanding of how a leader's style and role influence and are influenced by the processes in a group, based on four different types of leadership styles: transformative, transactional, passive/lassie-fair and authoritarian leadership. Each student will acquire knowledge regarding one of the various leadership styles and, in a workshop, individually test practising the style on a group of avatars in a virtual simulation environment, TeachLivE. The student's task is to help the group resolve internal conflicts as a psychologist.

The theme has been implemented once so far with positive outcomes, both in terms of student learning and appreciation, as emerged through feedback from oral group reflection, individual written assignments and course evaluation. The theme naturally contained some “childhood illnesses”, and there is room for improvement. In conclusion, two quotes from the students: “Very rewarding and educational”. “More TeachLivE”.

Introduction: This study aims to explore how the instructor’s use of gestures as well as student motivation influence learning from instructional videos. Using eye-tracking methodology in online testing, the study sought to understand the cognitive processes underpinning learning in online, asynchronous education, and inform the effective design of multimedia learning videos.
Method: Undergraduate Psychology students completed a knowledge test before and after watching a set of multimedia instructional videos. Participants were in one of two conditions: they either watched videos in which the instructor gestured as normal, or videos in which he did not gesture at all. During these videos, eyetracking data was collected to investigate the proportion of time students looked at the instructor.
Results: Analyses showed no evidence of gaze towards the instructor or gestures on improving learning, but moderation analyses showed that the relationship between learning gain and motivation was moderated by gesture use: when gestures were absent, students only showed learning when they indicated being motivated, but the presence of gestures ensured consistent learning gains.
Discussion: These findings underscore the importance of factors like students’ motivation and effective integration of gesture use when designing instructional videos.

Self-determination theory posits that the fulfillment of the need for autonomy increases student motivation. To support this need for autonomy, the provision of choice in learning environments is emphasized. Findings from several previous studies suggest that choice can have positive effects on students’ motivation mediated by their perceived autonomy. However, implementing choice options in online learning environments requires considerable additional effort in the design of learning materials. Also, students might often not be aware of their opportunities to choose from different options such as the sequence of learning activities or contents. Therefore, the present study investigated whether simply highlighting choice opportunities in an online learning environment influences students' perceived autonomy and thus their motivation. The study was conducted as a Moodle-based field experiment in a self-paced online learning environment at a distance learning university. Undergraduate psychology students (N = 508) were randomly assigned to the highlighting condition or the no highlighting condition. In both conditions, an advance organizer detailed the content and tasks of the online learning environment. In addition, in the highlighting condition, all aspects where students had choices were made explicit. Results indicate that the highlighting condition fostered students’ perceived autonomy. Moreover, the perceived autonomy mediated the effect of choice on students’ motivation. Students with higher perceived autonomy reported more positive emotions, higher interest, greater intrinsic motivation and fewer negative emotions. The implications of these findings for future research and the implementation of choices in psychology distance learning are discussed.

References:
Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Robinson, J. C. (2008). The effects of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes: A meta-analysis of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 270–300. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.134.2.270

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68

Schneider, S., Nebel, S., Beege, M., & Rey, D. G. (2018). The autonomy-enhancing effects of choice on cognitive load, motivation and learning with digital media. Learning and Instruction, 58, 161-172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.06.006

Introduction
Assessed group work is an authentic method of assessment, yet managing the group work process is challenging for both students and teachers (Forsell at al., 2019), with an uneven distribution of workload, task complexity, and lack of shared expectations perceived as particularly problematic (McKay & Sirdharan, 2024; Poort et al., 2022).

To support students’ group working skills, we developed the group work agreement, a resource designed to support the group work process by scaffolding task allocation and establishing ground rules to facilitate an inclusive group work environment.

Students co-created their agreement, prompting discussion of communication strategies, timelines and task allocation. Individual students submitted their group agreement as a formative activity, with staff monitoring engagement.

RQ: How does student engagement with the group work agreement impact students’ group working skills over time?

Methods
Participants (Psychology students from the University of Glasgow (N = 33) were assessed on their interpersonal and task specific skills using the Group Work Skills Questionnaire, (Cumming et al., 2015): once before the group work commenced and again 4-6 weeks later, after students had submitted their group agreement and completed the group work. Qualitative survey questions were designed to ask about students’ experiences of groupwork and obtain feedback on the activity.

Results
Students’ GSQ scores were compared between timepoints and initial findings suggest that students’ groupwork skills improved on the task but not on the interpersonal subscale. This aligns with the qualitative findings, suggesting that the students found the task allocation particularly helpful.

Discussion
These findings indicate the importance of scaffolded support for group organisation in the early stages of group work, and suggest further developments are needed to support interpersonal group working skills. Future research will include a control group to compare development of students’ group work skills in the absence of a group work agreement.

Introduction: Peer-led group reflection (PLGR) is an accessible, cost-effective and relevant form of reflective practice, and is commonly used in higher education and professional practice. On the surface, PLGR seems self-explanatory: it is reflection done in groups and led by one of its members. However, in practice, different activities seem to fit the surface description, which made us question what the common and varying characteristics of PLGR practices are. Our aim is to develop a taxonomy of characteristics as a necessary basis to investigate PLGR and put it to use.
Method: We performed a narrative review of the literature on PLGR, published in peer-reviewed journals between 2005-2024. We searched four electronic databases – Web of Science, PubMed, Eric and PsycInfo – using three sets of search terms: peer AND group AND reflecti. Our search resulted in 2,858 hits. After removing 707 duplicates, we screened 2,151 papers on title and abstract, and subsequently, 318 papers full-text.
Results: Preliminary results show that different PLGR practices can be distinguished and that the current terminology for PLGR is highly inconsistent: similar terms are used to refer to different practices, and different terms are used to refer to similar practices. Our next step in the analysis is to map the terminology, uncover the common characteristics, and disclose the dimensions on which PLGR practices differ, such as topic of reflection, purpose, theoretical perspective, format and group size.
Discussion: Learning through reflection in (peer) groups is widely considered effective, however, the lack of clarity hinders research to further PLGR practices and optimise its application. By identifying the terminology and proposing a taxonomy of characteristics to distinguish practices, our study provides useful insights into the nature of PLGR. This type of knowledge is essential to improve the way we understand, use and report on PLGR in both science and practice.

Future ready, technologically enhanced psychologists will work in a world where key human competences that can complement A(G)I (e.g., metacognition, meta-emotion, collaboration) will be in high demand. Attempts to develop these competences leads people to reimagine credit accumulation and assessment models. Traditional assessment in higher education often relies on high-stake exams and isolated tests which do not fully capture a student's learning journey or potential. Such tests can reduce student engagement and motivation, and thwart the development of essential competencies. Programmatic Assessment emphasises frequent low-stakes feedback, which means it offers students the chance to practice, make mistakes and receive feedback on their learning without individual mistakes significantly impacting decisions on student progress. By focusing on competency development over time, Programmatic Assessment provides a more accurate reflection of student abilities, enabling assessment for distinctiveness. While mostly used in competency-based medical and health science programmes, we have implemented programmatic assessment in a BSc Psychology programme resting on a backbone of five competences (psychological expert, researcher, psychological citizen, communicator and professional), aligned with APA guidelines and a student-centered pedagogy. In addition, the programme has abandoned grades, since studying without grades appears to reduce stress, anxiety and competition between students and can boost teamwork, interest in subject matter, academic risk taking, adjustment to academic life and it can help students to focus on holistic competences beyond acquiring content knowledge.
We will share lessons learned after the first year of implementation of the revised bachelor, highlighting how students accommodated to gradeless, competency-based programmatic assessment; how a feedback culture is created; how staff adapted to changing roles; experiences calibrating feedback given discrepancies between tutors’ perceptions of student learning and competency development; and how holistic high-stakes end-of-year decisions were made. Potential obstacles ahead are identified.

The replication crisis has highlighted the need for new methodological competencies in psychological science. Accordingly, integrating open research practices into higher education is essential to prepare students for the demands of modern science. Despite the growing importance of these practices, psychology curricula often lack implementations that not only convey good research practices in principle, but also teach them in a hands-on manner.

To address this challenge, we developed the digital learning platform LIFOS (Local Infrastructure for Open Science). LIFOS emulates platforms like the OSF.io by allowing students to preregister empirical research projects, share data, analysis scripts, and reports. This is done in a safe environment, which is open to other students and lecturers within the institute, but closed to the public, ensuring university data protection standards. Supported by accompanying open educational resources (OERs), LIFOS provides a learning environment that aligns learning objectives and teaching methods with the requirements of modern scientific practice.

To evaluate the rollout of LIFOS, we surveyed 150 Bachelor students and 7 instructors at Goethe University Frankfurt during the winter semester 2023–24. Students used LIFOS within empirical courses to document their research projects, which they worked on in small groups. At the beginning and end of the semester, we assessed variables such as attitudes toward open science, platform usage and usability, self-efficacy, and trust in scientific psychology.

This contribution presents insights from our evaluation and teaching experiences with the platform. Beyond its implementation and practical impact, we reflect on a broader question: To what extent is hands-on integration of open science able to foster scientific thinking, encourage critical reflection, and shape students’ attitudes toward science? By addressing these questions, we contribute to the ongoing discourse on how to effectively teach psychology in ways that prepare students for the challenges of scientific inquiry in a complex world.

Fostering critical, scientific, and creative thinking in psychology education: Bridging student and teacher perspectives

Chair : Machteld Vandecandelaere, KU Leuven, Belgium
Discussant: Ingrid Scharlau, Universität Paderborn, Germany

This symposium addresses the critical need to foster scientific, critical, and creative thinking in psychology education, particularly in an era of global challenges and increasing science denial. These competencies are essential for preparing students to navigate complex societal issues and for ensuring the continued development of psychology as a scientific discipline. The first two contributions focus on students, examining how critical and scientific thinking skills are developed. One contribution highlights the challenges and opportunities in fostering these skills through innovative teaching strategies, while the other shows how reflecting on the concept of belonging requires scientific reasoning and serves as a bridge to practical applications in diverse learning contexts. However, teachers face significant challenges in fostering these competencies in their classrooms. The last two contributions therefore focus on psychology teachers, exploring how they assess scientific reasoning and argumentation through the use of epistemic criteria, as well as how they can integrate critical and creative thinking into their teaching practices. Together, these presentations bridge student and teacher perspectives, offering valuable insights into fostering critical, scientific and creative thinking in psychology education.

Contribution 1: The Intersection of Critical and Scientific Thinking in the Teaching of Psychology
Lenka Sokolová (Comenius University Bratislava, Slovakia)

Integrating critical and scientific thinking can foster a comprehensive understanding of human behaviour and mental processes, which is the key goal of psychology courses. Critical thinking, characterized by the objective analysis and evaluation of information, complements scientific thinking, which relies on empirical evidence and systematic methodologies. Together, they enhance the rigour and validity of psychological studies and allow practitioners to evaluate psychological information and choose evidence-based approaches and interventions. This synergy not only mitigates cognitive biases but also promotes ethical considerations and innovative problem-solving strategies in psychology students. In this contribution, we discuss the results of the study on learning strategies of university students in Slovakia (N = 651) and complement it with the experience of using Psychology Applied Learning Scenarios (PALS, Norton, 2004) in the teaching of an educational psychology course (N = 360). The comparison of the scores of the critical thinking learning strategies subscale of Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ, Pintrich & Groot, 1990) revealed that psychology students tended to report using critical thinking learning strategies more frequently than students of other fields. However, the qualitative content analysis of PALS outcomes shows some shortcomings in their ability to connect psychological theory and evidence-based approaches with school-based case studies. The implication for the teaching of psychology will be discussed.

Contribution 2: Reflecting on belonging: Bridging scientific reasoning and practice in psychology education
Katerina Machovcova, Irena Smetackova (Charles University), Paula Miles (University of St. Andrews) (Czech Republic)

The concept of learning integration is prominent in higher education literature and is often linked to higher-order understanding, as exemplified by the SOLO Taxonomy of learning outcomes (Biggs & Collins, 1982). Building on Leadbeatter’s (2021) work, we emphasize integration goals focused on connectivity—specifically, linking theory to practice and connecting different aspects of learning. Using this framework, we introduced the concept of belonging in higher education (Good, 2012; Boulton, 2022) by designing a workshop to help students explore their journey of belonging to their institution. This activity had two primary aims: (a) to support students in examining the theoretical concept of belonging through personal reflections and (b) to enhance their learning experience by exploring the diversity of student perspectives. The workshop consists of four components: a lecture introducing the theoretical conceptualization of belonging, an activity where students create a trajectory illustrating how their sense of belonging evolved, coding their experiences using factors from the literature, and a group discussion.
We piloted the workshop in three classes (N = 8, Psy St. An; N = 62, Psy BA ChU; N = 9, Ped MA ChU) and evaluated it through discussions and additionally brief online feedback in two groups (N = 13 psychology BA students, N = 9 pedagogy MA students). Discussions revealed the workshop facilitated connections between theory and practice and encouraged students to adopt multiple perspectives by sharing diverse experiences, including contrasting feelings about similar events. Group discussions promoted a nuanced understanding of belonging, with theoretical framing offering valuable insights despite individual variability in experiences. Online feedback indicated improved understanding of belonging and positive reception of the approach. However, a recurring theme emerged: both psychology and pedagogy students showed limited awareness of how stereotypes and self-stereotyping negatively influence belonging.

Contribution 3: Challenges in assessing scientific reasoning and argumentation in psychology education
Marleen Evers, Jan Elen, Machteld Vandecandelaere (KU Leuven, Belgium)

Psychology education presents unique challenges due to its complex, non-paradigmatic nature. Fostering scientific reasoning and argumentation (SRA) in secondary education helps students navigate this complexity, yet research provides little guidance on how to effectively teach SRA. This study examines the evaluation of SRA and its relationship to teachers' epistemological beliefs.
Thirty-one psychology teachers formulated assessment criteria and scored student responses using prompted criteria. Epistemological beliefs were measured using Barzilai and Weinstock's (2015) Epistemic Thinking Assessment. The analysis revealed a predominant focus on process and argumentation criteria, with difficulties in identifying and applying epistemic criteria. While prompted criteria enhanced attention to argumentation quality, they often led to the reframing of tasks as application or analysis exercises rather than genuine SRA evaluations. Teachers’ epistemological profiles were, however, not reflected in their selection or use of assessment criteria.
The misalignment between teachers' epistemological beliefs and their assessment criteria suggests other underlying gaps in evaluating SRA. To address these issues, we propose follow-up research examining (1) teachers’ epistemic knowledge of the criteria used by scientists to evaluate psychological theories, (2) their curricular ambitions for assessing students' SRA, and (3) the characteristics of their own SRA skills. By deepening our understanding of these aspects, this research contributes to the development of more effective assessment practices, ultimately enhancing psychology education by equipping both teachers and students with the skills needed for rigorous scientific reasoning.

Contribution 4: Critical and creative thinking in psychology initial teacher education: preparing future teachers of psychology
Karen Marangio (Monash University, Australia)

Creativity and critical thinking (C&CT) are imperative for sustainable and unpredictable futures. Initial teacher education (ITE) plays a central role supporting future teachers to become innovative and purposeful curriculum-makers to meet the current and future needs of their school students in an ever changing and uncertain world. This 3-year small-scale qualitative research study explores two psychology teacher educators’ (TEs) insights into explicitly teaching C&CT in ITE psychology education tutorials. It extends on previous research (Marangio et al. 2024) with a team of science TEs (including psychology) that explored the ways explicitly teaching C&CT in common science seminars and a common assignment challenged their own professional knowledge as part of an OCED-large scale interdisciplinary project. Data consisted of psychology TE weekly meeting documentation and correspondence, reflective journals, curriculum documents, and biannual meetings with a critical friend. Data were deductively and inductively analysed for critical events that triggered deep reflection on the conditions for teaching PSTs to develop C&CT and integrate these C&CT competences into their future teaching. Themes identified were: (1) promoting the central roles of C&CT in psychology and psychology education; (2) challenging PSTs assumptions about C&CT in psychology and psychology education; and (3) fostering productive spaces for collaborative curriculum-making. Explicitly teaching C&CT required deliberate planning, teaching, and collaborative reflection over time. It highlighted the complexities in building trust with PSTs to support their learning to take risks with pedagogy, to navigate the problematic nature of teaching psychology, to reimagine psychology’s educative value, and to develop a shared language for psychology’s diverse nature and contemporary science base. Implications for psychology teacher education will be discussed.

The understanding of research methods, and the ability to critique scientific research, are central to psychology education. These are also attributes that will support students of psychology as they navigate the current challenges in the world, including science denial and mistrust in experts. Therefore, it is crucial that the teaching and learning of research methods and analytical techniques is accessible to, and inclusive of, all learners. Students who have disabilities or who are neurodiverse can experience barriers in the accessibility of this area of psychology education. These can include anxiety related to statistics, communication difficulties affecting asking for help in student-led research classes, social challenges affecting groupwork involved in research projects, and specific learning difficulties affecting research learning due to the impact upon information processing and arithmetical skills. Further, students with disabilities may not be eligible to take part in some of the studies within research participation schemes due to exclusion criteria.

This roundtable discussion will first consider what the needs and challenges are in terms of accessible and inclusive research methods and analysis teaching and learning. This will cover the teaching and learning of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research approaches.

The discussion will then consider how universal design principles can be applied within the design of research methods and analysis teaching, as well as reasonable adjustments that can support students who are neurodiverse or have disabilities. We will consider what works and what does not work, drawing upon the experience and expertise of everyone in the room to share examples from their practise. Finally, we will build upon this to envision different forms of what could work.

Ideas and examples generated within the discussion will be collected within an online platform, and attendees can choose to receive a copy of these afterwards.

Introduction
Developing the scientific-methodological competences of psychology students is a challenge, especially when it comes not only to the application of scientific methods, but also to reflecting on what constitutes good scientific work. One instrument that could support the development of scientific competence is peer review, were students review the text of other students and give feedback based on predefined criteria. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a didactic setting using peer review as didactic method to foster the development of academic research and writing competencies.

Methods
A design-based research approach was used develop, evaluate, and adapt the didactic setting in three design circles (four seminars at two universities). The aim was to identify which factors are conducive and inhibiting for the competence development. This design-based approach was complemented by a quantitative evaluation, asking the students to rate their competences pre and post on the GEKo (Grazer Evaluationsmodell des Kompetenzerwerbs; Paechter et al., 2007), a peer review questionnaire (Bauer et al., 2009) and self-developed items.

Results
The development in three design circles showed that these factors are relevant for successful peer review:
- If attendance is compulsory, good on paper, without rather online
- If possible: review criteria are also used for grading
- Feedback from the teacher(s) on the reviews
- Scale for assessment with fields for comments in case of poor assessment
- Blind review
- Each piece of work should receive two to six individual reviews
- Mandatory with at least two submission dates (these can be self-selected and asynchronous)
The supporting quantitative analyses showed that self-rated scientific competence improved, however it was higher at one university compared to the other.

Discussion
In redesigns, it will be investigated how an online review can be implemented and if peer review is also helpful for the supervision of bachelor and master theses.

In an era characterized by multifaceted global challenges and rising skepticism towards science, critical scientific thinking and psychological literacy are important skills for psychology students. Psychological literacy involves the ability to apply psychological principles to various aspects of life and to think critically about mental processes and human behavior. Central to this capability is an understanding and reflection of the values underpinning psychological research and practice. The current project aims to create a learning environment where students can explore and reflect on values, recognize potential value conflicts, and collaboratively develop strategies for managing these conflicts. This initiative emphasizes engaging with fundamental values like social justice and respect for diversity, particularly within Community Psychology. By doing so, it seeks to enhance students’ ability to critically analyze psychological content and methods, thus contributing to their psychological literacy. We address the following questions: What gaps currently exist in students’ opportunities for value reflection and discussion within the psychology program? What are the barriers to implementing effective value reflection and discussion practices in a digital learning environment for psychology students? What topics and themes in value reflection and discussion are considered most relevant by students for inclusion in the curriculum? Based on these questions, the project adopts a participatory approach, engaging students in the co-creation of the learning environment. The project is ongoing. In the talk, we will present initial insights from the needs assessment, the course development and the mixed-methods evaluation approach.

Introduction:
The onset of war in Ukraine created unparalleled challenges for psychologists, pushing them to adapt their practices to address trauma, displacement, and acute stress. Amid these circumstances, learning and professional development became essential not only for gaining knowledge but also for fostering resilience and building a supportive community. This research explores how learning seminars during the war went beyond traditional educational functions, acting as therapeutic gatherings that offered hope, connection, and skill development in a time of isolation and uncertainty.

Methods:
Between March and May 2022, a series of online and in-person trauma-focused seminars were conducted, engaging over 300 participants, including psychologists, educators, and psychology students from Ukraine. The seminars combined theoretical frameworks in trauma psychology with interactive, skills-based training sessions. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through post-seminar surveys to evaluate participants’ learning outcomes, emotional experiences, and the broader psychological impact of the program. Feedback from participants was analyzed to identify patterns of professional and personal growth, as well as communal and therapeutic benefits.

Results:
Findings reveal two primary outcomes. First, the crisis sharpened psychologists’ focus on specialized trauma-related interventions, fostering rapid skill acquisition in areas such as crisis intervention and resilience building. Second, seminars became a source of collective healing, providing participants with emotional support, shared purpose, and hope. Psychologists reported that these gatherings helped reduce feelings of professional isolation, encouraged the exchange of innovative ideas, and bolstered both personal and professional resilience.

Discussion:
This research highlights the transformative potential of learning in times of crisis. It underscores how challenging social contexts can reframe the purpose of education, turning it into a tool for collective growth and emotional recovery. These findings contribute to a broader understanding of the interplay between learning, professional adaptation, and community-building during global challenges, offering insights relevant to the teaching of psychology in various contexts.

In times of social and economic complexity, which are creating increasing uncertainty, schools are facing greater challenges in psychosocial interaction. Supporting the psychosocial development of learners and strengthening teachers both in the classroom and in school interactions is therefore an important task.
Psychological concepts play a central role here, as they promote scientific thinking and support pupils and teachers in developing preventative and adaptive coping strategies through psychoeducation.
This article highlights how scientifically based methods can be used to support pupils and teachers in times of crisis. Central aspects are the promotion of critical thinking, emotional resilience and self-regulation. Particularly in challenging times, it becomes clear that students need psychological support to overcome fears, stress and insecurities in order to promote resilience and resources.
Using empirical research and real-world examples, it discusses how counseling and social interaction concepts can be implemented in schools to utilize evidence-based psychological principles. These include cognitive restructuring, metacognitive training and solution-focused interviewing. In addition, the role of teachers as multipliers of scientific thinking will be considered, empowering them through mentoring to guide students towards critical reflection, self-directed learning and helpful social interaction in groups.
The presentation will provide an overview of current research findings on the effectiveness of further education and highlight practice-oriented strategies for strengthening scientific thinking and mental health in the school environment. It will conclude with a discussion of the challenges and opportunities for the future of school counseling in an increasingly complex world.
This topic is equally relevant to psychologists and educators in academia and practice who are concerned with the interface of psychology, learning and teaching.

In recent years, a large amount of theoretical speculation and research has been dedicated to the study of that knowledge defined as opaque or implicit (Perruchet, 1988), to the role of reflexivity in professional activity as well as to the subject's access to the body of knowledge that she hold (or that she is supposed to hold) and to the different degrees of awareness that characterize the relationship of the subject with the systems of social rules of the activities in which he takes part.
The discussion session will start by presenting the results of the PRIN 2022 Project “School needs and service delivery models in school psychology. A mixed methods study” carried out in Italy in the past two years whose general objective was to investigate the needs of the principal’s stakeholders in terms of school psychology services and the practices of providing those services from the psychologist themselves. Which theoretical and practical models do school psychologists refer to in their activity? This leads to the crucial question of what kind of psychology needs to be tough for the school psychologists nowadays with the increasing complexity of our challenging times. In the discussion sessions, we will offer some insights for teaching psychology and training school psychologists. The following points will be presented as guidelines for the discussions.:
-What is the professional profile of the school Psychologists we are seeking to train at the University?
-What knowledge and competencies should school psychologists master to effectively carry out their work?
-How to teach and how to train professional school psychologists?
-How strongly school psychology is rooted in the social and cultural context schools are part of.

Introduction
Emotion regulation is critical for individual well-being and social success. This complex process involves strategies like situation selection, modification, attentional deployment, cognitive change, and response modulation. Deficiencies in emotion regulation can negatively impact mental health. This study investigates differences in emotion regulation skills between psychology and economics students.
Methods
A preview study was conducted using an online questionnaire with a sample of 294 students (147 psychology students; 147 economics students). Demographic variables were gender, age, mental health history and overall assessment of current life situation. Students self-reported their knowledge of emotion regulation concept and emotion regulation skills. Data on emotion regulation were collected using the standardized Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire (ERSQ), which assesses various facets of emotion regulation, including emotional awareness, understanding, clarity, awareness of the connection between bodily sensations and emotions, self-support, influencing emotions, tolerance, and readiness to confront distressful situations.
Results
84% of economics students were unfamiliar with emotion regulation concepts, compared to 18% of psychology students. 19% of respondents reported demanding life situations, and 28% (mostly psychology students) reported mental health issues. Psychology students demonstrated significantly higher emotion regulation skills across all ERSQ scales, particularly in awareness of the connection between bodily sensations and emotions. The smallest difference was in influencing emotions. Emotion regulation concept familiarity was a significant factor for all emotion regulation skills. Age was not related to emotion regulation skills.
Discussion
Psychology students, while reporting more mental health issues, also reported stronger emotion regulation skills, likely due to their studies of emotion regulation theories and strategies. This highlights the potential benefits of incorporating emotion regulation training into the curriculum for economics students to enhance their emotion regulation skills and overall well-being.

Introduction
Psychotherapeutic social skills are essential for psychotherapy outcomes, making their training key in higher education. However, corresponding teaching concepts are lacking and the systematic, behavior-based assessment and training of social skills are scarce. With a new competency-based teaching concept we aim to systematically assess and train psychotherapeutic social skills in real-world simulations and to compare self-rated and behavior-based assessments.

Methods
1st year Master of Psychology students at University of Münster enrolled in the clinical program (N = 54) took part in three standardized 12-minute real-world simulations of outpatient psychotherapeutic treatment for children and adolescents. Simulations required students to engage with trained simulation persons (SP). Each simulation focused on one psychotherapeutic professional skill (e.g., diagnostics) and one social skill (agency skill, communion skill, interpersonal resilience; see Breil et al., 2024). Behavior-based assessments were achieved by rating students’ social skill performance on a standardized scale with skill-specific, empirically derived behavioral anchors by trained, external raters. Directly after each simulation, students self-rated their social skills performance on a visual analogue scale (range 1 to 6).

Results
All participants completed all three simulations, there was no pre-terminal ending of any simulation by either students or SP. Students attributed learning success primarily to the real-world simulations. In real-world simulations, students’ mean self-rated social skills performance concerning the agency skill and the skill interpersonal resilience differed significantly from external ratings.

Discussion
First results suggest good feasibility of the teaching concept and relevance for individual learning success in social skills. Differences in self- and externally rated behavior-based assessment of social skills performance highlights the need for future research to understand the role of different assessment methods for individual skill development in competency-based teaching for prospective psychotherapists.

Introduction
Therapeutic lying and deception are frequently employed by caregivers of older adults with neurocognitive disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease. These conditions often involve severe anterograde amnesia: while past memories remain intact, new experiences fail to be encoded, resulting in “time-shifting.” Consequently, individuals may repeatedly relive significant news, such as a spouse’s death. To avert repeated emotional trauma, caregivers sometimes mislead or redirect conversations and minimize distress—for example, by directing individuals to a fake bus stop when they wish to leave their facility.

Method
Students were introduced to three ethical frameworks—utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics. They then examined cases of therapeutic deception, including “fake bus stops” in care facilities and explicit lying about a spouse’s death (e.g., claiming the spouse is out shopping). Each scenario prompted students to evaluate whether deception can be justified to prevent distress.

Results
Students completed pre- and post-activity ratings (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree), revealing a nuanced perspective. Although they recognized lying as morally wrong (mean rating = 2.11), they also viewed deception as acceptable when it protects an individual’s well-being. Students were somewhat more supportive of deceiving a person about a deceased spouse (mean rating = 4.00) than using “fake bus stops” (3.33) to calm an agitated patient.

Discussion
In analyzing a real-world scenario, students were able to apply multiple ethical theories. Findings suggest that students grapple with reconciling the categorical imperative of honesty and the principle of beneficence. Although deontological and virtue-based arguments underscore the immorality of lying, many students ultimately adopted a utilitarian perspective that prioritizes minimizing distress. By examining multiple ethical viewpoints, students gained deeper insight into how each framework can justify or oppose therapeutic deception. Overall, the exercise underscored the complexity

Introduction
In an era marked by widening educational disparities and declining trust in science, psychology education must champion innovation and accessibility. Simulation-based education (SBE) has become a vital component of psychotherapy training, yet traditional models remain costly and logistically demanding. This research explores the educational potential of generative AI-simulated patients in developing self-efficacy, critical thinking, and clinical reasoning among 15 first-year clinical psychology doctoral trainees in the UK NHS.

Methods
Using a mixed-methods, single-group design, 15 trainees engage in five progressive CBT sessions with “Aliyah,” a generative AI-simulated patient whose case includes intersectional concerns such as cultural identity, perfectionism, and workplace anxiety. The Counselor Activity Self-Efficacy Scale (CASE) is administered pre- and post-intervention to measure shifts in trainee self-efficacy. A focus group (n = 8) gathers qualitative insights into participants’ experiences and perceptions.

Preliminary Reflections and Anticipated Results
Findings from our systematic literature review (n = 16) indicate that simulation enhances trainee confidence, though realism and emotional complexity strongly influence engagement. We anticipate similar results, particularly in micro-competencies related to clinical reasoning and procedural skill. Trainees are expected to value the AI simulation’s accessibility, psychological safety, and capacity to simulate varied case complexities. Thematic analysis will explore perceptions of authenticity, technological limitations, and skill transferability to clinical settings.

Discussion
This study directly supports ESPLAT’s mission by evaluating scalable, psychologically-informed AI tools for therapeutic education in diverse, resource-constrained contexts. Beyond technical benefits, it raises critical epistemological and ethical questions about knowledge production and professional identity in AI-mediated training environments. The research contributes to a wider dialogue on the responsible integration of AI in psychological science education.

European perspectives on psychology teaching and learning: Tension between didactics and educational psychology?
Organisers: Ingrid Scharlau & Lenka Sokolová
Discussant: Maria Tulis

This symposium will focus on a topic that, as of yet, has hardly been addressed: the tension between the (emerging) didactics of psychology and its overlap with and differentiation from educational psychology. In order to systematically support psychological thinking in challenging times, approaches and concepts are needed that cultivate good teaching and learning. We will examine the implications of educational psychology research and the didactics of psychology as two approaches to teaching and learning psychology from different national perspectives.
As a very general definition, didactics of psychology is the science of psychology teaching and learning in education. Compared to other subject-specific didactics (such as the didactics of physics, mathematics, chemistry within the sciences, or history and politics within the arts and humanities), the didactics of psychology is, as yet, not particularly well developed. Various reasons contribute to this situation. Both as a school subject and as a university study program, psychology is relatively young, and it is not very widely taught in schools across Europe.
In the symposium, we will investigate a further potential cause, the existence of two different approaches to psychology learning and teaching: subject didactics on the one hand and educational psychology on the other. Coming from different traditions and contexts, these two perspectives are not necessarily compatible. For instance, the educational psychology perspective is rooted in an understanding of psychology as a science and its high appreciation of evidence-based procedures whereas didactics comes from a more humanities-based background with a high sensitivity for normativity.
The symposium will bring together representatives from four countries (Germany, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden). They will describe the situation within their countries, discuss how specific problems are dealt with (or not dealt with) and explore opportunities for cooperation between the two perspectives as well as obstacles that may stand in the way.

Tension between psychology didactics and educational psychology in Germany and German-speaking countries
Ingrid Scharlau, Ingrid.scharlau@uni-paderborn.de
Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Paderborn University, Germany

The presentation addresses the situation in Germany where psychology has been a part of secondary education since the 1970s. Psychology is included in parts of vocational education. It can furthermore be offered as an elective course in grades 11-13 (and in lower grades in two federal states). However, few schools provide psychology courses.
As of yet, there is hardly any systematic involvement with psychology didactics (“Fachdidaktik Psychologie”; subject didactics of psychology) at German-speaking universities. This lacking involvement applies equally to secondary education and university education. If at all, questions related to didactics are dealt with via typical approaches of empirical psychology, i.e., developing interventions and testing their effects in empirical studies. Didactic considerations in the stricter sense, that is concerning not only the how, but also the what and why of teaching psychology, have mainly been put forward and implemented by schoolteachers.
The presentation will describe the situation, trace its historical roots, attempt to distinguish between the respective contributions of educational psychology and didactics and suggest lines of future development. I will also compare the situation of psychology didactics to that of the didactics of pedagogics. Though with roots in the same situation and time and a similar, considerable overlap in terms of two approaches, the latter can look back on a more successful development.

Implementation of a new Norwegian psychology curriculum: An interaction between educational psychology and subject didactics
Åge Diseth
aage.diseth@uib.no
Department of Education, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Norway

Psychology has become an increasingly popular subject among students in Norwegian upper secondary education (ages 16-19). However, research shows that many psychology teachers in Norway lack formal training in subject didactics of psychology, whereas they often have formal didactics training in their other teaching subjects. Furthermore, many teachers have limited formal education and teaching experience in psychology. Another challenge is the implementation of a new psychology curriculum. This curriculum replaced a topical organization of the psychology subject (e.g., biological psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology) with broader overarching themes: 1) Thoughts, emotions, and behavior, 2) Human development and interaction, and 3) Scientific and critical thinking. These themes provide a more flexible structure compared to the more rigid organization of the previous curriculum. To ensure that psychology becomes a formative educational experience, it is necessary with specific teaching skills provided by psychology subject didactics. While educational psychology offers valuable insights into general teaching methods and instructional design, subject didactics in psychology is crucial for understanding subject specific teaching. To think critically about psychology as a scientific subject, it is not enough to have subject knowledge and general pedagogical knowledge. Teachers also need subject-specific pedagogical expertise, which subject didactics in psychology provides. This presentation will explore key concerns regarding the interaction between the new Norwegian psychology curriculum, how students learn psychology, and how teachers use didactical skills to educate students. It will explore this interaction by means of educational psychology and subject didactics in psychology.

The roots and current position of the subject didactics of psychology in teacher training in Slovakia
Lenka Sokolová, lenka.sokolova@fses.uniba.sk
Institute of Applied Psychology, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University Bratislava, Slovakia

Psychology as a school subject has a relatively long tradition in the Slovak educational system. Beginning in lower and upper secondary education, pupils are exposed to psychological knowledge and topics from psychology through other school subjects such as ethics or citizenship education. In secondary schools, psychology is also represented in the curriculum as a separate subject. In grammar schools, it is an elective subject. In vocational education, psychology is taught primarily as a compulsory or elective vocational subject. Despite its long-standing tradition, the subject didactics of psychology as a scientific discipline has been underappreciated and underrepresented compared to the subject didactics of other school subjects, especially in terms of research or publications. On the other hand, didactics of psychology is separated from educational psychology, even if there are overlapping topics (such as effectiveness of teaching methods). While educational psychology is widely taught to future psychologists, teachers, and other help professionals as a 'psychological study of learning and teaching', the subject didactics of psychology is provided to psychology teacher trainees (currently at four universities in Slovakia). This means that the target scope of the subject didactics of psychology is considerably narrower and more specific. The primary topics of the didactics of psychology are the didactic analysis of the content of psychology courses, teaching methods, ethical issues, and other specific topics in the teaching of psychology as a school subject. Currently, the focus is on developing psychological and scientific thinking and psychological literacy too.

Psychology in Sweden – introducing a transformed school subject to teachers
Ebba Christina Blåvarg1,2, ebba.christina.blavarg@konstfack.se
1 Department of Visual Arts and Sloyd Education, Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm, Sweden
2 Department of Movement, Culture and Society Research, The Swedish School of Sports and Health Sciences, Stockholm Sweden

Psychology has been a part of the Swedish school system for a long time, primarily taught to students aged 16 to 19. Since 1965, the subject of psychology has been part of the national curriculum for upper secondary schools and has since undergone several extensive curriculum reforms. The latest revision, Gy25, is taking place right now and will be effective from 1 July 2025. In the new curriculum, the subject has changed in several significant ways including a stronger emphasis on scientific foundation and current scientific development within psychology. These changes may be perceived as unfamiliar to psychology teachers who were trained under previous curricula. One national undertaking, for the National Agency for Education (Skolverket) and teachers of subject didactics in psychology in Sweden, has been to communicate to teachers how they can teach psychology it in accordance with the new guidelines, the new organization of the subject and the partly new subject content. And furthermore, what they should cover in their psychology teaching. The main focus of the presentation will be on the curricular changes of the subject psychology in Sweden. Didactic aspects of teaching experienced psychology teachers about the new psychology curriculum will also be addressed. And finally, how these teachers can, in turn, teach the subject in new ways will be explored.

Knowing how to learn effectively is a crucial factor for academic success. However, the widespread prevalence of myths about teaching and learning affects learners' decisions about how they study. Moreover, learners often struggle to distinguish myths from facts. One method that has been shown to enhance learning is the retrieval of previously studied information. In the present study, we aimed to analyze whether retrieval practice is an effective method to help learners identify myths and to differentiate them from facts.

A total of 103 learners (40 male, 63 female; mean age = 29.29 years, SD = 13.13) participated in this experimental study. 28 statements about teaching and learning were selected for the present study, with 14 statements classified as myths and 14 as facts. Without being informed of whether the statements were myths or facts, participants first rated their agreement with these statements on a five-point Likert scale. Subsequently, all participants were instructed on whether the statements were myths or facts. One group then restudied these statements, while the other group completed a test requiring them to identify whether the statements were myths or facts. Cognitive load and learners’ agreement with the statements after the intervention were also assessed on a five-point Likert scale.

The results reveal that retrieval practice had a significant positive effect on the identification of myths in teaching and learning. Additionally, a significant effect of learners' initial agreement ratings for myths on their post-intervention agreement ratings was found. This effect, however, was not observed for the factual statements. No significant difference regarding cognitive load or the rating of facts was found. Overall, the findings suggest that retrieval practice is an effective method to teach learners to recognize myths in teaching and learning.

Ideally, student theses are not only written in order to gain academic degrees, but also to provide (modest) contributions to scientific and social issues. In times of abundant information – and misinformation – in digital and social media one such contribution is to effectively communicate evidence-based scientific results to the public. The project KLARPsy, initiated by the Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID) in Germany, pursues this aim by hosting short, generally understandable and guideline-based text summaries of scientific meta-analyses and by instructing the scientific community how to participate. In the context of B.Sc. theses in the psychology degree program of the FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany, a large distance learning university, in the summer term 2025 we apply a newly-developed didactic approach, involving students (N = 20) in the creation of KLARPsy texts about various psychological topics. The main didactic elements are: (a) standardized guidelines listing and explaining the required milestones from initial text research to writing the final thesis, (b) accompanying feedback by the supervisor, (c) mutual peer-feedback on the drafts of KLARPsy texts. The creation of KLARPsy texts involves a step-wise interplay between psychologists (students and supervisors) and external raters from a broader public: (1) Pre-Screening of eligible meta-analyses (psychologists), (2) first rating of covered topics regarding interest and relevance (public), (3) in-depth eligibility and feasibility rating of meta-analyses (psychologists), (4) creation of KLARPsy texts (psychologists), (5) evaluation of created texts according to target criteria, e.g., comprehensibility (public), (6) revision of created KLARPsy texts (psychologists). We present the didactic concept, its implementation and first empirical data regarding the quality of student-generated KLARPsy texts as compared to existing KLARPsy texts created by trained psychologists. As an outlook, we discuss whether actively participating in the project KLARPsy has an impact on how B.Sc. students perceive the role of science communication in our society.

This study examines how perceived teaching quality influences engagement and learning outcomes in a brief online psychology course. While teaching quality can support learning outcomes, its specific role in self-paced online learning — particularly in facilitating the translation of extrinsic motivation into engagement — remains unclear.

The preregistered study builds on Self-Determination Theory and engagement research, emphasizing the role of need-supportive teaching in fostering student engagement. The course “Discover Community Psychology: First Contact” follows a structured didactic concept, combining microlearning units with interactive elements. Reflective tasks encourage students to explore their value orientations and personal context, promoting deeper cognitive engagement.

Using a pre-post design (January–April 2024, target N=300), we assess students’ motivation, engagement (behavioral, cognitive, emotional), learning outcomes (knowledge gain, interest development, value reflection), and perceived teaching quality (basic needs support, didactic design, overall quality). Platform data on quiz performance and timestamped completion of activities accompany these self-reports. Through systematic model comparisons examining different pathways of influence, we aim to clarify how teaching quality affects the relationship between motivation, engagement, and learning outcomes in brief online courses.

We expect engagement to mediate the relationship between motivation and learning outcomes partially and hypothesize that perceived teaching quality plays a key role in this process. Initial empirical insights will highlight which aspects of teaching quality are particularly relevant for fostering engagement in self-paced online learning. Given the increasing relevance of self-directed digital learning environments, this study provides insights into the design of effective online courses and the role of instructional quality in supporting engagement beyond traditional classroom settings. The findings contribute to current discussions on evidence-based teaching strategies in psychology education. The course promotes critical scientific thinking by engaging with core principles of Community Psychology - including value-conscious research and systemic thinking.

Introduction: In addition to supporting critical thinking within a lecture unit, activating relevant concepts and motivation in students can already begin before the lecture starts. Automated pre-tests in form of quizzes can be administered flexibly and efficiently. This field study explores whether pre-testing can support learning from lecture videos in a BSc. psychology module.
Methods: Data of N=1175 psychology students studying towards an exam in an asynchronous online learning environment were analyzed. The course structure consisted of a chain of lecture videos and accompanying quizzes (statement that needed to be categorized as true vs. false). There was a quiz (12 items with feedback) after each video lecture and a quiz (individually randomly drawn 6 of the 12 items, without feedback) before 50% of the lecture units. There were pre-tests in the odd-numbered lecture units in the first, and before the even-numbered units in the second summer term. This counterbalancing scheme allowed to assess general effects of pre-testing (in addition to item-specific effects).
Results: The analyses showed that students performed better on those quiz items in the post-test that they had already seen (without feedback) in the quiz before the lecture unit. Importantly, there was also a general beneficial effect of pre-testing: Even the quiz items not shown in the pre-test profited from that the specific lecture unit came with a pre-test.
Discussion: The results suggest that pre-testing can have beneficial effects beyond the specific items pre-tested. Presumably, students profit in terms of motivation and in terms of orientation concerning how questions in the lecture unit can look like (i.e., level of elaboration).

In an increasingly interconnected world, teaching psychology with cultural sensitivity and global awareness is crucial for developing sophisticated scientific thinking among students. This presentation demonstrates innovative approaches to integrating AI technology in cross-cultural psychology education, addressing ESPLAT's emphasis on international perspectives and critical thinking in psychology teaching.

The research explores how Collaborative AI can enhance cross-cultural psychology education through three key mechanisms. First, the presentation demonstrates how AI can generate diverse cultural scenarios and case studies, allowing students to examine psychological concepts through various cultural lenses. This approach helps students understand how psychological phenomena may manifest differently across cultures while challenging their own cultural assumptions.

Second, the presentation outlines methods for using AI to create culturally sensitive teaching materials, including the development of culturally appropriate examples, metaphors, and explanations of psychological concepts. The research showcases how AI can help identify potential cultural biases in existing materials and suggest culturally inclusive alternatives, supporting both student learning and cultural competency development.

Third, the presentation addresses how AI can serve as a tool for identifying and mitigating cultural biases in psychology education. Through practical examples, such as AI-driven analysis of cultural content in psychological theories, the research illustrates how AI can help students and educators recognize implicit cultural assumptions, promoting more culturally informed critical thinking.

The presentation includes concrete examples of AI implementation, such as using natural language processing tools to analyze cultural narratives and assessment strategies for measuring learning outcomes. Ethical considerations are discussed, emphasizing the importance of human-AI partnership in education, where AI enhances, rather than replaces, instructor expertise and student engagement. This work contributes to ESPLAT's mission of advancing psychology teaching while fostering international perspective and scientific thinking in psychological education.

Dyslexia is the leading neurodiversity, affecting 5-10% of the UK population (Knight, 2018; Clouder et al., 2020), and being the most prevalent neurodiversity within Higher Education (HE) (Stampoltzis et al., 2015). Despite mostly positive lecturer attitudes for dyslexia in HE (Černickaja & Sokolová, 2024), many staff believe training and resources available to them for supporting dyslexic students are inadequate (Dymock & Nicholson, 2022). The present study aimed to investigate HE academic staff awareness and attitudes towards dyslexia to inform the development of support mechanisms for students with dyslexia in HE and enhance inclusivity within learning. 132 participants were recruited, and 97 responses were analysed. Ten participants had formal diagnosis of dyslexia. Mean age was 43 years (range = 24-69, SD = 11). Participants were asked to complete a Qualtrics online 3-part survey, including (i) demographic questions on participant background, educational experience and individual expertise (n=19); (ii) the Dyslexia Belief Index (DBI, Wadlington & Wadlington, 2005) (n=30) assessing participant knowledge about dyslexia; (iii) closed-ended and open-ended questions on self-reported perceptions of dyslexia-knowledge and dyslexia-support ability (n=10). Overall, a significant lack of dyslexia awareness was found, with DBI-scores averaging 20.46 points (SD=6.44), deviating from the criterion value of 27 that indicates sufficient dyslexia knowledge. A significant relationship between DBI scores and self-perceived dyslexia knowledge was also found. Years of teaching had a significant positive correlation with DBI scores. However, staff with a formal dyslexia diagnosis did not perform better than those without dyslexia. The open-ended questions were thematically analysed, indicating the varied attitudes of HE staff in supporting dyslexia and the diverse challenges in providing support to dyslexic students. In light of these findings, the mechanisms and challenges for upskilling academic staff on student neurodivergence are discussed, and relevant recommendations are made for a more inclusive HE learning environment.