How We Teach Psychology With Activities, Not Just Acronyms

 How We Teach Psychology With Activities, Not Just Acronyms

At Philip M Russell Ltd – Hemel Private Tuition
#ActiveLearning #ALevelPsychology #CognitivePsychology #HandsOnPsychology

Too often, students think Psychology is just a list of theories and acronyms to memorise: MSM, WMM, LTM, STM, OCD, CBT... It’s a veritable alphabet soup.

At Philip M Russell Ltd, we take a different approach. Our teaching is built on models made practical—turning diagrams into demos and textbooks into action. Because understanding comes not just from reading about memory, but from experiencing how memory works.

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👩‍🏫 From Theory to Theatre

In last week’s lesson, our students acted out the Multi-Store Model of Memory, taking on the roles of sensory input, rehearsal loops, long-term memory “filing cabinets,” and even the occasional retrieval failure. The room was filled with paper “memories” being dropped, retrieved, or lost in interference. Laughter, learning, and lightbulb moments followed.

Why does this matter?

Because active learning sticks. Students don’t just recite the model—they remember being part of it.

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🧪 Learning Through Doing

Here’s how we bring key topics to life:

• Attachment Theories? We stage baby-monkey experiments (with soft toys, of course) and roleplay caregiver responses.

• Research Methods? Students run mini-experiments—complete with hypothesis, ethics, and analysis.

• Mental Health? We simulate diagnostic dilemmas and treatment planning with fictional case studies.

• Cognitive Bias? Optical illusions, priming tasks, and decision-making games help them feel what they’re studying.

Each session reinforces A01 (knowledge), A02 (application), and A03 (evaluation)—all while keeping students fully engaged.

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💬 What Students Say

“I finally understand the difference between capacity and duration—because I was STM!”

“It’s one thing to read about forgetting. It’s another to be interrupted mid-task and actually forget what you were doing.”

These moments don’t just make students smile—they build memory through meaningful, multisensory learning.

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🧠 Acronyms Are Helpful – But Activities Are Powerful

Of course we still teach key terms, exam techniques, and how to tackle tricky 16-markers. But we embed them in real understanding, not rote learning.

When a student understands why a model works, how it relates to real life, and what evidence supports it—they’re not just ready for the exam… they’re ready for psychology.

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So yes, we cover MSM, WMM, and the rest—but we do it with roleplay, games, discussion, and experiments. Because Psychology is about people, and people learn best by doing.

#PsychologyInAction #ALevelPsychology #PhilipMRussellLtd #HemelPrivateTuition #ModelBasedTeaching #ExperientialLearning #MemoryInPractice