It is an academic society that promotes effective pedagogy while providing supports for teachers of psychology at all levels (high school to colleges and universities).
The STP provides access to peer-reviewed teaching resources, such as course syllabi and e-books, free of charge to the general public through its website.
Past presidents include notable key figures in the field of psychology, such as Wilbert J. McKeachie, John Dashiell, Susan A. Nolan, Charles Brewer, Ludy T. Benjamin, Virginia Andreoli Mathie, Diane Halpern, and Jane Halonen.
In the early 1960s, STP president Robert S. Daniel was instrumental in making sure that teaching tips and sample psychology course syllabi were available to instructors.
[5] The establishment of the Teaching of Psychology journal (ToP) by a group of editors around Robert S. Daniel in 1974 was a major step forward for STP.
In the early 1990s, the STP aimed at increasing its outreach to academics at the regional level through the Council of Teachers of Undergraduate Psychology (CTUR).
The STP Members approved a bylaws revision in 2018 to shorten the title of this office to Director of Teaching Resources.
During the mid 1990s, under the presidency of Margaret A. Lloyd, the STP developed the Long-Range Planning Committee to help Division 2 enter the 21st century with increased visibility and influence.
The STP adapted to rapid changes in technology by making all resources computerized, and focused on maintaining the high quality and integrity of the Teaching of Psychology journal.
STP provides Resources for Teachers of Psychology, These include peer-reviewed assignments, demonstrations, and strategies for teaching at all levels.
Resources are divided into about 25 categories that reflect different sub-disciplinary areas and covers the responsibilities of teachers beyond the classroom, such as advising and writing letters of recommendation.
Workshop participants are placed with experienced mentors (faculty with extensive backgrounds specifically in SoTL research projects) with whom they can work remotely.
The ACT conference attracts hundreds of attendees, including graduate students and new instructors as well as seasoned professors of psychology.
ACT began in 2003 as the STP Best Practices Conference that was an outgrowth of the deliberations of the Assessment Group at the Psychology Partnership Program (P3) that was sponsored by APA and hosted by James Madison University in 1999.
The Director of STP Programming at APS plans and manages the Institute and arranges a selection of additional sessions on teaching that are scheduled during the Convention.
The STP conducts a preconference on teaching held at the annual convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP).
ToP serves as a resource for educators that includes empirical teaching tools, methods, and innovative approaches, more generally, for coursework in psychology.