AP Psychology Summer Institute - Instructor Garry Shriver - June 20-23, 2022

Sep 20, 2026

AP Psychology Summer Institute workshop agenda for AP Psychology teachers, led by Garry Shriver. The program targets both new and experienced instructors, focusing on AP Course Description alignment, course planning, learning resources, and organizational themes. Participants will strengthen exam-relevant teaching strategies, including multiple-choice construction, free-response structure, and AP reader grading practices, while reviewing vocabulary, activities, projects, and key content areas across four special-topic days.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Objectives

Textbooks

General Considerations

Day 1: Getting Started

History and Approaches

Research Methodology

Biological Bases of Behavior

Sensation and Perception

Day 2: The Free Response Question

States of Consciousness

Learning

Cognition and Memory

Day 3: Assessment/Grading

Developmental Psychology and Language Acquisition

Personality and Motivation

Abnormal Psychology and DSM-5

Day 4: Student Projects and Closure

Treatments and Therapies

Social Psychology

AP Psychology Exam Review and Scoring

AP Psychology Summer Institute June 20-23, 2022 UTC APSI Instructor: Garry Shriver [garryshriver@gmail.com](garryshriver@gmail.com) Hello! I’m an AP Psychology teacher from Memphis, TN, home of Elvis and barbeque. I have been an AP Psychology teacher for 20 years as well as a reader and question writer for the APexam for the past 12 years. I’m currently on the national exam rubric development committee which develops the scoring guides and rubrics for grading the AP Psychology free response essays. I teach multiple AP subjects, but Psychology is by far my favorite and I’m excited to be working with teachers in developing their AP Psychology programs. This workshop is designed for both new and experienced AP Psychology teachers and will include discussions on content, planning, resources and organizational themes that hopefully will help strengthen participant’s programs. Particular attention will be paid to teaching strategies, multiple choice question construction and free response essay writing that reinforce skills reflected on the AP exam. We will examine projects, activities, materials and exercises as well as essential vocabulary that promote exam preparedness. This will be an interactive seminar that includes materials supplied by me for various topics but also will draw upon your particular expertise and successful strategies you have created in the past. Please come prepared to share ideas! Objectives Here is what I hope we accomplish during our time together. 1. Participants will have a clear understanding ofthe AP Psychology content and expectations as described in the College Board Course Description. 2. Participants will exit with new demonstrations, activities, assessments, resources and instructional techniques. 3. Participants will have a thorough understanding of how free response questions are structured and graded by the AP readers. Textbooks Please bring the text (or texts) you use (or plan to use) for your AP class. I’m most familiar with the Myers text, but I’ve used other books as well. Some of our discussions will involve how we can best use our texts to help students, and we’ll discuss the strengths and weaknesses of various textbooks. General Considerations Please feel free to bring your laptops/tablets and power cords. You might consider bringing an extension cord. Sometimes outlets are not easily accessible. Bring anything else you need to make yourself comfortable including jackets in case the meeting rooms are cold. Day 1: Special Topic Day 1: Getting Started • Introductions • AP Psychology Course Description (Acorn Book) • Course syllabus • Course Scope and Sequence • AP Audit • Group analysis to determine high concern areas and prioritizing needs • General expectations • Recommended textbooks •Dissection ofthe AP Psychology exam • Overview of how multiple choice items are constructed and scored • Overview of how free response items are constructed and scored • How the exam is graded and how final scores are calculated. • History and Approaches • Schools of thought and perspectives • Activities, assignments and projects • Research Methodology • Discussion of terms, concepts, activities, teaching methods, and student projects.• Ethical considerations • Statistics – descriptive and inferential • Experimental designs • Biological Bases of Behavior • Neuroanatomy • Nervous systems • Brain Imaging Techniques • Brain damage and plasticity • Split Brain Activities • Sensation and Perception • Sensation vs Perception • Top Down vs Bottom Up Processing • Perception projects – Visual Distortion goggles • Perceptual Cues • Gestalt Processes Day 2: Special Topic Day 2: The Free Response Question • States of Consciousness • Sleep, Dreams, Hypnosis and Drugs • Circadian Rhythms • Drug Addiction • Learning • Classical vs Operant Conditioning • Positive vs Negative Reinforcement • Reinforcement Schedules • Bio

FAQs

Who is the instructor and what is their role in the AP exam process?

The instructor is Garry Shriver. He has been an AP Psychology teacher for 20 years and serves as a reader and question writer for the AP Exam for the past 12 years, including work on scoring guides and rubrics for free-response essays.

What will participants learn about free response questions?

Participants will understand how free response questions are structured and graded by AP readers, including how multiple-choice and free-response items are constructed and scored.

What are the major topic areas covered across the four days?

The agenda covers getting started with course scope and sequence, history and approaches, research methodology and ethics, biological bases of behavior, sensation and perception, then free-response focus, followed by assessment/grading and core content areas like development, personality, motivation, abnormal psychology, and finally projects, treatments, social psychology, and exam review.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Ben Jamin