Bringing Demonstrations into the Classroom

OCW Scholar

In This Section

Prof. Gabrieli discusses how he uses in class demonstrations to bring research to life.

Real-life Experiments

A cool thing about psychology, since we study humans, is that instructors can demonstrate a lot of the research in the classroom. People get to see that we’re really studying them: how they remember things, how they feel about things, and their personalities. 

I use demonstrations as often as I can. Demonstrations during lectures are unique; a textbook can't replicate the experiences they provide. I particularly love demonstrations that involve students doing physical activities in the classroom. These experiences are very engaging for students.  

People get to see that we’re really studying them: how they remember things, how they feel about things, their personalities.

— Prof. Gabrieli

Demonstrations also add variety to the lectures. After students learn a few points presented via slides, I get an actual human going up and doing things.