As a professor teaching a variety of undergraduate psychology courses, my teaching philosophy centers on building meaningful connections between course material and students’ real-life experiences. When course content is relevant to students’ own lives and applicable to real-world contexts, rather than presented as abstract information to be memorized for exams, students can develop deeper understanding, greater interest, and increased willingness to engage with the material (Fredricks et al., 2004; Kember et al., 2008). Accordingly, in my courses, students are expected not only to remember psychological concepts for assessments but, more importantly, to explain these concepts in their own words and apply them to real-life situations. To support this goal, I continuously design classroom activities that promote active learning and application. One of the most effective activities I have developed is guided by self-determination theory (SDT).
SDT proposes that individuals are more intrinsically motivated and engaged when three basic human psychological needs are supported: autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2020). Drawing on these principles, I designed a simple classroom activity that encourages students to work in small groups and share real-life applications of psychological concepts with one another. I refer to this activity as peer-generated application retrieval (PGAR).
This activity has been implemented across multiple psychology courses, including introductory psychology, applied psychology, social psychology, and the psychology of learning and memory. Evidence from classroom implementation suggests that this activity helps students deepen their understanding of course material by connecting concepts to real-life experiences while also fostering greater interest and engagement in class.
Using Self-Determination Theory to Guide Activity Design
Retrieving course material from long-term memory is a well-established strategy for long-term learning (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). The central goal of PGAR is to increase student interest and engagement by intentionally supporting autonomy, competence, and relatedness during class. Each component of the activity is designed to align with these three basic psychological needs.
First, autonomy is supported by allowing students to make choices. During the activity, students select which concept they want to work on rather than being assigned one. This small degree of choice gives students a sense of control over their learning. When students feel ownership over the task, they are more willing to invest effort and participate actively.
Second, competence is supported by providing structure while reducing performance pressure. Students receive a short handout listing key concepts along with brief instructor-provided examples. These examples help students get started and prevent feelings of being overwhelmed. Because students choose a concept they feel comfortable explaining, they are more likely to experience success. Explaining a concept in their own words reinforces understanding and builds confidence. Moreover, the activity is ungraded, which reduces anxiety and allows students to focus on learning rather than evaluation.
Third, relatedness is supported through peer interaction. Students work in small groups and share their ideas with classmates. Listening to peers’ examples and discussing different interpretations fosters a sense of social connection and mutual support, making the learning experience more enjoyable and engaging.
Description of the Activity
PGAR is a brief in-class activity that typically takes 15–20 minutes. Students work in small groups of three to six, and the activity follows a simple sequence:
Students receive a handout listing several key concepts from the current lesson, each with a short instructor-provided example. Students form small groups. Each student selects one concept they feel comfortable explaining. Students create a real-life example that illustrates their chosen concept. Students explain their example to their group and discuss it together. The instructor briefly summarizes key ideas and highlights examples at the end of the activity.
The handout acts as a guide rather than a complete explanation. Students must actively retrieve the concept from memory and decide how it applies to real-life situations. Because the activity is short and ungraded, students feel comfortable experimenting with ideas and sharing their thoughts with peers.
Implementation Checklist
Group size: 3–6 students Materials: Handout with core concepts and brief examples Grading: None (formative only) Frequency: Weekly or biweekly Learning goal: Application of concepts to real-life situations through peer explanation
Student Performance
Since implementing PGAR, many students report in final course evaluations that creating their own examples helps them understand the material better than listening to lectures alone. Students also note that seeing how psychological concepts apply to real-life situations increases their interest in the course content.
I have also observed noticeable increases in classroom engagement. During the activity, students actively talk, exchange insights, brainstorm together, and ask one another questions. The classroom atmosphere becomes more energized compared to traditional lecture-based sessions. Notably, PGAR has increased participation among students who are typically quiet. Because the activity takes place in small groups, students who are hesitant to speak in whole-class discussions are more willing to contribute.
Instructor Perspective
From an instructor’s perspective, PGAR provides immediate and valuable feedback about student understanding. Listening to students’ explanations and examples reveals which concepts are well understood and which require further clarification. This allows me to adjust future instruction to better meet students’ needs.
The activity also requires minimal preparation and no grading, making it easy to implement regularly without increasing workload. Over time, repeated use of PGAR helps establish a classroom culture in which connecting course material to real-life experiences becomes a normal and expected part of learning.
Conclusion
Peer-generated application retrieval is a simple yet effective classroom activity designed to increase student interest and engagement by applying principles from self-determination theory. By supporting autonomy through choice, competence through structure and low pressure, and relatedness through peer interaction as students share real-life applications of psychological concepts, the activity helps foster intrinsic motivation to learn and participate. PGAR demonstrates how small, practical applications of SDT can meaningfully enhance the classroom learning experience
Yuqing Zou, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Liberal Arts and Education Division at the University of New Mexico – Gallup. She earned her PhD in Psychological and Quantitative Foundations from the University of Iowa. Her research focuses on exploring social-contextual and motivational influences on students’ academic outcomes using quantitative methods. Her teaching interests include applied psychology, social psychology, general psychology, the psychology of learning and memory, and statistical analysis.
References
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59–109.
Kember, D., Ho, A., & Hong, C. (2008). The importance of establishing relevance in motivating student learning. Active Learning in Higher Education, 9(3), 249–263. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787408095849
Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2020). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, 101860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101860
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