An Instructor’s Guide for Introducing Industrial-Organizational Psychology

Prepared by the Education and Training Committee of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Dear Instructor:

This instructors guide was created by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) in the hopes that more teachers of psychology might introduce Industrial-Organizational (I-O) psychology to their students. Interest in I-O psychology has grown among students, yet relatively few introductory psychology textbooks cover the topic. Therefore, we have designed modules that will complement many of the other topics you might cover in your course.

I-O psychology entails the application of psychological concepts to work settings. This guide begins with a short introductory lecture segment providing an overview of I-O psychology that serves as a lead-in to any of the modules listed below in the table of contents. For each module we've included a sample lecture (in PowerPoint), an activity and/or discussion to supplement the lecture material, and background information and key references for the topic area. The PowerPoint overheads also include notes to help with the material (you'll need to print out overheads as Note Pages for this information).

The goal of each module is to address key themes/goals in I-O psychology:

1. I-O psychologists help employers deal with employees fairly.
2. I-O psychologists help make jobs more interesting and satisfying.
3. I-O psychologists help workers be more productive.

We hope that you will discuss I-O psychology with your students. We also hope that weve provided you with the materials you need to make that discussion an easy, interesting, and informative one.

The modules were developed and implemented by the Education and Training Committee of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. The Education and Training Committee members responsible for preparing this instructors guide include: Elise Amel, Peter Bachiochi, Carrie Bulger, David Day, Todd Harris, Martha Hennen, Laura Koppes, Kurt Kraiger, Geula Lowenberg, Debra Major, Morrie Mullins, Joan Rentsch, Jeffrey Stanton.

The committee would like to thank Mike Burke, Georgia Chao, Angelo DeNisi, David Miller, Elaine Pulakos, Ann Marie Ryan, Jeff Schippmann, Nancy Tippins, Craig Vickio, and several other Introductory Psychology instructors for their recommendations and suggestions on previous versions of this guide. They helped to significantly improve the final product.