Prf. K's research work intersects with her approach to undergraduate teaching. Her courses are infused with thematic, semester long authentic learning projects. These projects start small in Introductory Psychology, and as the course level increases, the complexity of the project increases in kind. CUrrent projects are featured below. For a more thorough overview of this work, please see Authentic Learning with Prf K.
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In Introductory Psychology [PSY 150], students are introduced to the key Media Matters observation: Psych-content is widely misrepresented on social media and there are costs associated with this, ranging from perpetuating mental health stigma to gatekeeping from the failure to signal "you belong" via the frequent circulation 19th and 20th century figures and ideas that do not adequately align with Psychology's 21st-century demographics and commitment to inclusivity. The "Psychsoundbite" assignment requires that students find an incorrect Psychology meme, write a brief report on the issue portrayed + why it matters, and then create a new meme that corrects the issue. Students' best work is featured on the Instagram account @psychsoundbites along with other works created by Prf. K. and advanced students too.
For a deeper analysis of this misrepresentation issue, please see @psychsoundbites on Substack, and the newsletter titled "Representation Matters in Psychology." For more on Prf. K.'s approach to teaching Intro Psych, check out the chapter
Kleinknecht, E. (2026). Teaching introductory psychology: The charge is change. In C. Sanderson and R. Totton (Eds): Teaching Introduction to Psychology. Elgar Publishing.
Next in line, Prf. K. Teaches Cognitive Psychology [PSY 206]. Of late, the project for this class centers on AI-Literacy. Over the semester students examine intersections between Cognition / Intelligence and Artificial / Computational Intelligence. As they learn about the subfield situated in the origin story of Cognitive Science and the slow emergence of AI, they learn about science communication techniques and create AI-Literacy PSA projects. While inviting her students to think about the need for increased efforts around AI-Literacy, Prf. K. is writing about the topic too, for example:
Flynn, R., Blumberg, F., Kleinknecht, E., & Besharat-Mann, R. (in press, 2026). Children’s AI Use: Developmental risks and opportunities in early and middle childhood. Journal of Children and Media.
Kleinknecht, E. Blumberg, F.C., & Flynn, R. M (2024). Making a case for artificial intelligence literacy skills for school-age children. S. Papadakis & M. Kalogiannakis (Eds): Education, Development and Intervention: Toward Participatory and Integrated Solutions (pp. 201-212), Springer Nature, Switzerland.
Prf. K. teaches several 300-level classes. The next-level course in Cognition is called Memory and Mind [PSY 314]. This course examines intersections between declarative memory (i.e., autobiographical), identity, and creativity. The project in this class, alternately titled "The Cognitive Wellness Kit" or the "Making Memory Work Project" invites students to create evidence-based "self-help" programs.
She teaches three different Developmental Science courses as well: Trends in Dev-Sci [PSY 320], Cognitive Development [Psy 353], and Social-Personality Development [PSY 344]. Projects in these classes range from the creation of Children's Books that emulate desired patterns of behavior -- The Butterfly Effect Collective -- to the Family Field Guide Project where students create entries into a field-guide for folks who work with children.
The Psychology of Serious Games [PSY 3/480] course featured here on the site is a key exemplar of the most complex project in Prf. K.'s repertoire. The course is designed as a Senior Capstone course, but select junior-level students can take it by permission only. In this course students take an interdisciplinary deep-dive into the design and reach of serious games, while simultaneously creating their own.
In Spring 2026, Prf. K., piloted a new 400-level course called "Science Storytelling and Public Scholarship," following the perspective that Psychology needs more [PSY] Sci-Comm. Whereas most Sci-Comm curricula are found in Media departments and are pitched as graduate level Pro-Sems, Psychology offers excellent foundational content for emerging Sci-Commers and these skills are within reach of undergraduate students.
Spring 2026 was a serendipitous year to roll out the course. The annual meetings of the Association for Science Communicators met in Portland in March and the class both attended presented. Attendees were intrigued by the deliberate Cognitive and Learning-Science foundations of the course and inspired by the undergraduates' ability to apply this foundational content.
WPA 26- Sci Comm Needs more Psych_E.Kleinknecht.pdfPrf. K. had an opportunity to present her work in developing this course at both the ASC (as a poster) and at the Teaching Conference that preceeds the annual meetings of the Western Psychological Association, the slides of which are available for viewing here. She is continuing to refine this curriculum and is eager to teach the course again in Spring 2027.
In 2023 Prf. K. was honored with the Western Psychological Association's Outstanding Professor Award. In her award-address to the association, titled "The World has Problems and Psychology has Solutions," she discussed this work and the big-picture aims of these projects. The text and select slides from this award is available here, also on @psychsounbites on Substack. For a complete catalogue of all the Authentic Learning course project outcomes Prf. K.'s students have created over the years, click here.
Following the award and subsequent invited address, Prf. K. and students continue to discuss the power of authentic project based teaching and learning, for example:
Kleinknecht, E. & Tsybina, D. (2025, May). Moments, Ripples, and Waves: Promoting Activism Through Authentic Teaching and Learning. Presentation in the Symposium Advocacy, Activism, and Social Justice: Exploring Perceptions, Challenges, and Pathways for Sustainable Change at the annual convention of the Western Psychological Association, Las Vegas, NV.
Kleinknecht, E. (2026, April). Education 2.0: Leveling up learning with effective informal-learning techniques. Symposium presentations at the annual convention of the Western Psychological Association, Tacoma, WA.
Millier & Castro (2026). Serious Media: Harnessing the power of social media to enhance formal learning
Tsybina & Funai (2026). Learning through play: Knowledge growth with serious games
Cowherd & Antick-Oslund (2026). Practicing Emotional Resilience Through Play: A Serious Game Intervention for Adolescents
As noted in her 2024 WPA Address, Prf. K. takes the charge to give Psychology Away -- stemming from George Miller's 1969 address to the APA -- seriously. She makes good on the "Miller Imperative" by sharing thoughts [essays, newsletters] on Psychology, Higher Education, and more on various social-media sites:
Psychsoundbites: Newsletters | Psychsoundbites: PSY Topic Spotlights | CognitionEducation: Essays on Psych and Education
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Questions about any of the works you see featured here?
Please contact Prf. Erica Kleinknecht, PhD: eko at pacific u dot edu
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