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Division of Academics, Researchers, and Teachers in Psychology

The Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology (DARTP) promotes the professional interests of psychologists who teach and/or conduct research, whether in a university, school, college or any other academic environment.

Who we are

We promote the professional interests of psychologists who teach and/or conduct research, whether in a university, school, college or any other academic environment.

  • We aim to facilitate the professional development of academics, researchers and teachers in psychology.
  • We assist our members in developing and disseminating their skills, professional knowledge and careers in psychology.
  • We provide opportunities for collaboration across different sectors within psychology education.

How we support our members

  • We aim to keep members up to date with the latest divisional news and engaged in supporting the discipline of Psychology across both domains of teaching and research.
  • We ensure that members are represented appropriately within the BPS through its committees. Externally the division is represented and promoted through national and international activity.
  • We support our members through the member publication, Psychology Teaching Review, and by providing regular continuing professional development events and workshops.
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Teachers' toolkit

We’ve teamed up with the Association for the Teaching of Psychology (ATP) to create a free toolkit to support your teaching.

Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology

News

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Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology

Events

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Resources

Teaching and Learning Issues in the Disciplines: Psychology

In 2015, the Higher Education Academy (HEA) commissioned research from a number of professional bodies, including the BPS, to find out more about current issues in learning and teaching within specific disciplines in higher education.

Dr Julie Hulme and Helen Kitching of DART-P led the psychology project, carrying out focus groups in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with participants from different career stages and from diverse universities.

Data were analysed using thematic analysis. This report summarises the key findings, and makes recommendations for the enhancement and support of psychology learning and teaching.

 

Useful links

Initial Teacher Education guidance document

The purpose of this guidance is to:

  • Promote discussions between prospective trainees, mentors and providers about high-quality Initial Teacher Education (ITE) of psychology teachers in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
  • Clarify the distinction between the role of a psychology teacher and other roles in relation to pastoral duties, safeguarding, and mental health.
  • Inform the role of a psychology ITE subject lead 
  • Provide a quality checklist or audit tool for psychology trainers to review their provision.

The content has been derived from a range of sources including the Teacher Standards, Carter review and the Munday framework. It reflects the commitment of the British
Psychological Society to ensuring that high quality Initial Teacher Education in psychology is available throughout the UK.

Download the Initial Teacher Education document

DARTP Higher Education and Pre-tertiary Education Psychology Teacher of the Year awards

The DARTP Higher Education and Pre-tertiary Education Psychology Teacher of the Year awards are open to all employed psychology teachers in UK higher education (HEPTOTY), school and FE college (PEPTOTY) sectors.

The competition aims to:

  • provide national recognition and reward for commitment to psychology teaching for individuals in the UK higher and pre-tertiary education sectors.
  • raise the status of teaching in psychology as a scholarly activity
  • support individuals in reflecting upon and enhancing their professional practice in support of student learning
  • develop case studies of effective and/or innovative student learning and disseminate these nationally to enhance psychology student learning experiences across the UK

Eligibility

The competition is open to all psychology teachers in UK higher education and pre-university teachers, with early- to mid-career academics strongly encouraged to apply.

The applicant should be currently employed by a UK educational institution on a part-time or full-time, fixed term or permanent basis.

DARTP members are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please note: members of the DARTP committee cannot apply whilst on the committee, or until the next annual cycle once they have stepped down.

How to apply

Step 1: Identify Your Contributions

Please use the correct form to identify your contribution to teaching and student learning, ensuring that you address the four criteria as these will be used to shortlist candidates for the second round.

Evidence should be included throughout the application (e.g., pedagogic research, feedback from students/peers, analysis of performance metrics). References are not included in the 500-word limit.

Completed forms are to be submitted via email to [email protected] by noon on 27 September 2024.

For more information and frequently asked questions please download the HEPTOTY/PEPTOTY guidance document.

Step 2: Case study submission

If shortlisted for HEPTOTY please complete your case study using the HEPTOTY case study template.

If shortlisted for PEPTOTY please complete your case study using the PEPTOTY case study template.

Process overview

  1. Deadline for applications (noon on 27 September 2024) - submit to [email protected]
  2. Panel of BPS DARTP representatives select up to 3 shortlisted candidates per competition (October 2024)
  3. Shortlisted candidates prepare and submit a case study based on their application (to be submitted by noon on Friday 29 November 2024)
  4. Shortlisted candidates attend a short interview with BPS DARTP representatives and present their case study at a BPS DARTP Online networking event (Monday 9 December 2024 4-6pm)
  5. Interviews Tuesday 10 December 2024 4-6pm (exact time to be confirmed)

The prize

The winner of HEPTOTY and PEPTOTY will each receive a personal prize of £1000, a year of free membership to DARTP and free registration for the 2025 DARTP conference.

Any questions? Please email [email protected].

Meet the DARTP committee

Chair - Patrick Rosenkranz

Dr Patrick Rosenkranz (CPsychol, AFBPsS, SFHEA) is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Newcastle University, specializing in teaching. He has served on the DART-P committee since 2018 and has been chair of DART-P since 2022. Patrick also has been a member of the Undergraduate Education Committee of the BPS since 2018.

With over 20 years of experience as an educator, Patrick has taught at various educational levels, from pre-tertiary to tertiary. Throughout his career, he has primarily focused on higher education, gaining expertise in programme leadership, curriculum and assessment design, peer-mentoring, entrepreneurial learning, employability, and student mental health support.

His current pedagogical focus is on integrating reflective practice into teaching to enhance and cultivate the psychological literacy and cultural competence of his students.

Patrick strongly believes in research-led teaching: His own research interests heavily influence his modules, particularly exploring psychological perspectives on spirituality, religion, and mythology. Since 2008, he has been teaching a module dedicated to the Psychology of Religion.

Chair Elect - vacant

Past Chair - Vacant

Honorary Treasurer - Emma McDonald

Honorary Secretary - Maxine Swingler

Vice Chair Research - Lorna Hamilton

Vice Chair Teaching - Dawn Albertson

Committee Member - Mark Sergeant

Dr. Mark Sergeant is a Chartered Psychologist, Fellow of the BPS and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

He is the Acting Chair of the Standing Conference Committee, serves on the BPS committees of the Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers of Psychology (DARTP) and is a member of the Research Board.

Mark is a Principal Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Nottingham Trent University. He currently works as the Learning and Teaching Manager for the School of Social Sciences and is the Academic Integrity Coordinator at both a Departmental and School level.

His research interests are in pedagogy, with a particular focus on Academic Integrity.

Committee Member - Amy Fielden

Committee Member - Anna Law

Dr Anna Law is a Chartered Psychologist and Lecturer in Psychology at the University of the West of Scotland.

Anna has a wide range of teaching experience within HE, and has previously acted as Programme Leader for a large undergraduate Psychology programme.

Her focus within education is the development of students’ academic skills early in their university experience.

Her research focuses on the cognitive demands of multitasking and media-multitasking, and the impact of students’ media use on learning.

Committee Member - Claire Barker

Claire Barker is a Chartered Psychologist and an elected member of the DART-P Committee since November 2018.

Claire is currently Head of Department at Queen’s College Taunton, a co-education independent boarding school.

She has taught A-level Psychology for over 14 years with a keen interest on student mental health and well being.

She is also the Pastoral Tutor Coordinator for her school, responsible for developing tutoring materials which are underpinned by psychological theory for delivery by non-specialists.

Committee Member - Robin Green

Committee Member - Leanne Rowlands

Committee Member - Angharad Williams

Dr Angharad Williams is a Chartered Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the BPS, and Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

Angharad is a Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at Nottingham Trent University (NTU). Previously she was a postdoctoral research scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (Leipzig, Germany), and at Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) (Wales, UK).

She completed her BSc in Applied Psychology and PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at Cardiff University.

Angharad teaches at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, currently specialising in individual differences, conceptual and historical issues, research methods and statistics.  

She runs a human memory research lab and supervises students with their research projects on how we construct events (covering memory, perception, and imagination/future thinking). 

As part of her progress on the Academic Professional Apprenticeship and Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice for recognition as a Fellow of the HEA, she is increasingly interested in the role of cognitive learning theories and memory models in higher education.

Committee member - Luke Hodson

Committee member - Kin Chung Jacky Chan

PsyPAG Representative - Vacant

Scottish Representative - Gillian Hendry

Dr Gillian Hendry (C. Psychol., FHEA) is a Lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland, leading on qualitative research skills teaching across both the undergraduate and Masters curriculum. She is the Psychology Teaching Review book editor, and serves as the Scottish Representative on the DARTP committee. Her PhD work was focused on student group interaction, and more recent research interests are focused on inclusion practices: (e.g. deaf students in education, hidden disability in society) and 'education' broadly: (e.g. the impact of Covid on teachers and teaching, student perspectives of graduate attributes, teachers' use of research, problem based learning).

Welsh Representative - Louise Allen-Walker

Irish Representative - Karen Hagan

ATP Representative - Lyndsey Hayes

ATSiP Representative - Sean Rooney

Psychology Teaching Review (PTR) Editorial Board

Co-editor - Dr Louise Taylor

Co-editor - Dr Wendy Sims-Schouten

Psychology Teaching Review

Psychology Teaching Review encourages research on teaching and learning in psychology, to serve as a vehicle for the sharing of good practice, and to improve the teaching of psychology at all levels.

It carries articles on any aspects of teaching and learning in psychology, particularly those with a strong theoretical underpinning.

Download issues of Psychology Teaching Review

Submitting to Psychology Teaching Review

The Editors welcome articles on any aspect of teaching and learning in psychology, particularly those with a strong theoretical underpinning, a good methodology and links with practice.

Authors do not need to be members of the Division for Teachers and Researchers in Psychology but non-members are encouraged to join. We also welcome submissions from students.

Types of papers

The categories of papers accepted to PTR are explained below.  Submissions which do not obviously fall into one of the categories should be discussed with the Editors.

  1. Research Articles reporting empirical studies up to 6000 words, presenting primary qualitative or quantitative data.

  2. Evidence-Based Practice Evaluations reporting innovative teaching practice, whether pre-tertiary, undergraduate or postgraduate, up to 4000 words. Such contributions should outline the nature of the activity with an evidence-based rationale for its development and present a small-scale evaluation of its effectiveness. Where possible, sufficient detail and/or resources should be provided to enable the teaching practice to be replicated by other educators. We recognise that pre-tertiary educators or educators working outside of university settings may not have access to processes and resources that would enable them to conduct formal research evaluations of teaching (e.g. in relation to obtaining ethical approval). We would encourage you to get in touch with the editorial team who will be able to discuss ways forward.

  3. Review Articles reporting the findings of literature reviews or systematic reviews pertaining to the scholarship of learning and teaching of psychology, up to 6000 words. While literature reviews provide a summary of (what the authors believe are) the best and most relevant prior publications, systematic reviews are centred on an objective list of criteria/themes.

  4. Reports of up to 2000 words presenting thought-provoking or controversial topics designed to inform and stimulate current pedagogical debate. Articles may focus on personal reflections of current teaching and learning practice, ethical issues in the teaching of psychology, controversies or points to debate in psychology pedagogy, calls for changes to current practice and further research, or political issues in relation to education and teaching in psychology. Such reports may be philosophical or reflective and need not necessarily contain primary research/data.

  5. Current and significant abstracts related to the teaching and learning of psychology may be selected and presented.

  6. Book reviews of up to 1000 words should offer fair and valid criticisms of the text, and avoid being defamatory. All authors of reviewed books have the right of reply.

General guidelines for contributors

All submissions should be emailed as a word document to the Editors at [email protected].

An abstract of no more than 150 words should be provided along with a list of keywords describing the content of the submission. The title should indicate accurately but briefly the subject of the submission. A running head title should be given.

A policy of blind reviewing will be instated, so authors are requested not to put any personal information on the manuscript. In the first instance, the Editor will read each manuscript to see if it is appropriate to be considered for publication in PTR.

If it is not, the author will be contacted and feedback given. If it is considered appropriate, the manuscript will be independently refereed by two reviewers wherever possible. In the light of the reports received, the Editor will decide whether or not to recommend the article for publication. All papers will be evaluated by the Editor and refereed in terms of academic merit, readability and interest.

Please use double spacing with wide margins.

Footnotes should be avoided.

Please use page numbers.

Tables and Figures should be inserted at the relevant place in the manuscript. Each should have a self-explanatory title and should be comprehensible without reference to the text. They should be referred to in the text by Arabic numerals. They should add new information to the article and should not duplicate information given elsewhere in a different form.

Bibliographical references in the text should quote the author's name and the date of publication thus: Entwistle (2002).

They should be listed alphabetically by author at the end of the article according to APA style. For details, please consult APA Style Manual, but an example of four common sources is given here:

For Journal Articles: Banyard, P. & Duffy, K. (2014). Student representations of psychology in the UK, Psychology Teaching Review, 20(2), 110-120.

For books: Richardson, J.T.E. (2000). Researching student learning. Approaches to studying in campus-based and distance education. SRHE & Open University Press.

For chapters: Norton, L., Kahn, P, Van Arendsen, J. & Waiters, D. (2001). Reflective thinking about the study of psychology, mathematics and music at degree level: Does it change over the first year? In C. Rust (Ed.), Improving student learning strategically (pp.120-131). The Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development.

Particular care should be taken to ensure that references are accurate and complete.

For Internet Articles: Reddy, P., Lantz, C. & Hulme, J. (2013). Employability in Psychology: a guide for departments. Accessed at https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/resources/employability-guide-final.pdf

Language

Authors should abide by the BPS Guidelines for the Use of Non-Sexist Language which are contained in the BPS Style Guide available here.

Please note that all contributions must be provided in English.

Production

Proofs are sent to authors for the correction of print but not for the introduction of new or different material.

Proofs are sent to authors for the correction of print but not for the introduction of new or different material. A final PDF of the full issue and an individual PDF of their contribution will be sent to authors. 

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Join

There are a host of benefits that come with your membership of the Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology, including:

  • Access to preferential rates for workshops, webinars and other CPD events 
  • Access to the Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology (DARTP) website which includes access to members only resources
  • Network and support from colleagues in the field 
  • Receiving announcement emails about events and items of interest
  • Support, both in the pre-tertiary and higher education sectors, to gain Chartered status through the teaching route 
  • The biannual Psychology Teaching Review (PTR) publication

Can I join?

Membership of the Division is open to members of the British Psychological Society. If you are not already a member, you can join DARTP at the same time as applying for membership of the society.

There are three grades of divisional membership:

  • Full Divisional membership

For fully qualified psychologists who are eligible for Chartered Status.

  • In-training Divisional membership

For psychologists in-training who hold Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership and are working towards Chartered status and Full Divisional membership.

  • General Divisional membership

For members who are not currently eligible for the above grades, to join as a General Member.

DARTP Membership - Teaching or Research Route

It is also possible to apply for membership of the DARTP based upon established experience of teaching and/or research.

Find out more about how to apply via these routes

Fees

  • Full Member £15
  • In Training Member £15
  • General Member £15

Member Announcement List

The Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology (DARTP) uses its membership announcement email list to inform members of activities and initiatives that are relevant to their interests and to make requests for engagement on topical issues. 

By becoming a member of the DARTP you are automatically allocated to the announcement list.

To receive these emails you will need to:

  • become a member of the Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology
  • opt into receiving email communications and provide a working email address
  • These preferences can be updated by logging into your member portal.

If you have any queries, please contact Member Network Services.

To assist us in responding to your query please make sure to include your membership number and quote 'DARTP announcement email' in the subject line.

Getting involved with the DARTP Committee

The Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology relies on a wide range of people getting involved, and the work of the Division is largely achieved through the dedication of unpaid volunteers.

Our volunteers come from a wide range of different backgrounds, whether they be practitioners or academics, or full members or in-training members, and together form an open and inclusive community.

If you would like to apply to join the Committee, you can submit a Statement of Interest, found on our Members Online Resources area.