Welcome to the newly adapted edition of Introduction to Psychology: Moving Towards Diversity and Inclusion. This guide highlights how this textbook has been enhanced to make it a valuable resource for both teaching and learning.

Supporting Your Teaching

This textbook contains updated scientific evidence and has been expanded to include the contributions of scholars and elders whose voices have been overlooked by past European, colonial, white, male-centred psychology textbooks. Whether you’re creating lesson plans, building assessments, or facilitating discussions, this textbook provides ready-to-use materials and ideas. For example, you can use the Deep Dives and case studies in the Supplement to help you design interactive, diversity-informed learning experiences, ensuring your content remains culturally and socially relevant while maintaining scientific rigour.

This textbook is openly licensed, so feel free to adapt and customize the materials to fit your teaching style and course objectives. Assign teams or individual learners to present Deep Dives or case studies and ask them to engage deeply with the content and share their insights with their peers. Encourage learners to follow their own curiosity and read Deep Dives on topics they are passionate about. Use the resources provided to foster a collaborative and inclusive classroom environment where every learner has the opportunity to contribute and learn.

Key Features of This Textbook

• Updated Scientific Evidence: Each chapter, except for two, has been updated with the latest scientific evidence, and reference citations have been audited for accuracy. These updates ensure that your lectures and discussions are grounded in current research, helping you present up-to-date information and maintain scientific rigour. Due to project scope limitations, the “Psychological Disorders” and “Treatment of Psychological Disorders” chapters have only had minor scientific updates; they still need a thorough scientific audit because many of the references cited were published a decade or more ago.
• Expert Contributions from a Team of Specialized Authors: Each chapter is written by an expert in their specific field of psychology. These contributions bring a deep understanding and personal passion to each topic. Authors have included experiences from working with clients or conducting research in their own labs, ensuring the content is both academically informed and practically relevant. You can use this specialized knowledge to enrich your lectures and provide real-world examples.
• Plain Language Descriptions: The textbook includes plain language descriptions throughout to clarify complex concepts. These explanations simplify difficult topics, making it easier for you to prepare lesson plans that are accessible to all learners.
• Inclusion of Diverse Voices: The textbook incorporates contributions from scholars who identify as women, BIPOC, queer, and/or disabled. This ensures the textbook covers critically important, previously missing theories and discusses the diversity in psychological research and practice. You can use these perspectives to broaden discussions and include diverse viewpoints in your teaching.
• Indigenous Perspectives: Discussions on the psychological impacts of colonization and genocidal policies on Indigenous Peoples in Canada are included. This broadens the curriculum and helps you create lesson plans and projects that address historical and cultural issues traditionally overlooked in psychology textbooks.
• Traditional Knowledge: Indigenous and other traditional knowledges are integrated into the lessons, providing a more comprehensive view of psychological concepts influenced by diverse cultural insights. This feature can deepen your learners’ understanding and appreciation of these perspectives.
• Learner-Generated and Inclusive Images: Illustrations created by Capilano University IDEA School of Design learners feature diverse races, skin tones, clothing, genders, and ages. These images serve as visual aids in your lectures and as prompts for discussions on representation and inclusivity in psychological educational materials.
• Enhanced Accessibility: The textbook and supplement include comprehensive alternative text for all images, ensuring accessibility for learners who use screen readers and other assistive technologies. This feature helps you create an inclusive learning environment for all learners.
• Customizability: The textbook content can be customized to fit your course and learners’ needs. Due to the book’s open licence, you can add, remove, or modify sections to align with your teaching objectives. For example, Deep Dives or case studies can be included directly in the narrative to provide specific examples and practical applications relevant to your course.
• Deep Dives: Deep Dives provide detailed exploration of subjects, keeping you informed about the latest scientific research and developments. These sections offer resources for building assessments and projects that require critical thinking, analysis, and application of psychological principles. They also link to other relevant resources, provide a preview of what is covered in 2nd- or 3rd-year courses, or cover topics that are often included in mainstream introductory psychology textbooks but were moved out of the main narrative in this book to conserve word count. You can assign Deep Dives to individual learners or learner teams for presentations during breakout discussions, fostering peer-to-peer learning and engagement.
• Case Studies: Case studies illustrate how psychological concepts apply in real-world scenarios. These can help you design assessments and projects that bridge theoretical knowledge and practical application. Case studies provide step-by-step illustrations that can enhance your lesson plans and facilitate a deeper understanding of psychological theories. You can assign case studies to groups or individual learners for presentations or discussions, creating opportunities for collaborative learning and problem-solving.

With all these features, you can have confidence that you are providing your introduction to psychology learners with a textbook that consistently maintains high standards of scientific rigour, and while at the same time allowing you to create engaging and inclusive learning experiences for your learners.