Teaching undergraduate classes presents special challenges. In addition to covering much content in an organized manner, instructors attempt to stimulate critical thinking and student engagement in learning. To accomplish these goals, an innovative and evidence-based pedagogical strategy that I have found effective highlights dichotomous meaning dimensions within the framework of personal construct theory (PCT). Personal constructs are hierarchically linked sets of bipolar meaning dimensions (e.g., central-peripheral) that each person uses to interpret knowledge. Based on my own previously published reports in which I systematically validate the pedagogical efficacy of applying PCT, I will summarize my instructional methodologies and findings in teaching life-span development and the history of psychology. I will conclude by discussing implications of using PCT as a heuristic and assessment tool in interdisciplinary and other undergraduate classes outside of the psychology discipline.
