Test Yourself: Developmental Psychology

Learning through assessment

I am afraid I am not very impressed with a textbook that any of us could produce, as it is basically an MCQ like those we all use at the end of a lecture to make sure students have followed.

I think this resources is excellent (for tutors) and certainly gave me some good ideas about what to include in the MCQs at Coventry University. However, I would not like to recommend a text that basically just gives students questions and answers through MCQs.

Similar to other books in this range, this title offers an excellent resource for students. Whilst I would be unlikely to recommend it as essential (or order copies for the library) I would certainly recommend it as a study aid and revision tool for students.

It was too basic - tested rote learning rather than understanding

The quizzes are very thorough yet I teach Lifespan Development so will only be using the text for certain revision aspects of the course.

Too specific- questions asked will be dependent on individual lecture content.

Very useful.

A very useful addition to developmental courses as it encourages students to get into the habit of checking their own knowledge.

I liked the range and level of MCQ essay questions and fill-in-the-blank questions; a useful resource. The book could be improved by recommending text books on which the tests are based. These “learning through assessment” books are well-structured and contain an impressive database of relevant test questions at an appropriate level. The individual books would be suitable for undergraduates and some postgraduates in psychology. The subjects covered are a good match for the range of topics being taught in psychology departments today; all major research areas are well covered. \
The main strength of the series are the multiple choice questions, which have been well researched and follow good practice guidelines for the construction of this type of question. The “Succeeding at MCQs” tips at the beginning of the books are a strength, as are the “extended” MCQ questions. Less of a strength are the very short chapter introductions, which could be expanded to give the student a more accurate idea of what is being tested. Some key references might be appropriate here also. The suggested sample essay questions at the end of each chapter are useful as examples. It is likely however that each higher education institution teaching these subjects will take a different approach and it would be appropriate to emphasise this diversity of approaches in the introduction to the essay questions. The guidelines on “Writing an Essay: a Format for Success” is useful but could be expanded (especially in light of the almost blank second page of this section). More detail should be given on essay structure and referencing, and a selection of carefully selected websites on essay writing would also be helpful. Similarly, the dangers of plagiarism in student essays is very important and is not mentioned.\
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Overall this series is impressive and students should be attracted. (It is very rare for universities to include MCQs in release of past papers to students, and the Test Yourself series may fill this gap.)\
I would recommend the individual texts to individual students with an interest in the individual subjects, rather than as a core text books for any particular course

We have two large first year modules which contains a multiple choice exam at the end. Both of these modules include an element of Developmental Psychology so this text would be a useful recommendation for students to help them with their revision. I like the fact that there are 4 possible answers (as this is the format we use for our tests so it will be familiar to students), and the questions are organised into introductory and advanced. I also like the inclusion of some practice esay questions, although I would have liked to see more discussion of these in terms of example answers, example essay plans and discussion of the meaning of key words e.g. critically discuss, critically evaluate etc.