Abstract
This chapter first introduces the aims, scope, history, achievements, and current state of personality and individual differences (PID) as a subdiscipline of psychology. Section “Purposes and Rationale of Curricula” describes guidelines for the composition of PID curricula provided by academic associations. The third section presents knowledge, comprehension, and competencies as components of the content to be taught. Knowledge includes concepts, theories, research methods, controversies, and important research findings. Comprehension pertains to the location of PID in psychology, the hierarchical structure of personality, the bandwidth-fidelity dilemma, the difference between absolute and relative consistency and stability, the data box, and the meaning of heritability estimates. Competencies and skills consist of tracing literature and appropriate instruments, administering tests correctly, reading texts, designing and executing studies, and analyzing data. Section “Teaching, Learning, and Assessment: Approaches and Strategies” introduces teaching, learning, and assessment resources. Section “Challenges and Lessons Learned” describes challenges in teaching PID, resulting from confusion about the existence of multiple theories and research designs and from insufficient knowledge about research methods. Section “Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Resources” recommends books, journals, and online materials as teaching and learning resources.
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Schmitt, M. (2023). Individual Differences and Personality. In: Zumbach, J., Bernstein, D.A., Narciss, S., Marsico, G. (eds) International Handbook of Psychology Learning and Teaching. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28745-0_24
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