Introductory psychology is getting a lot of attention these days – more than ever in fact, and for good reason. Between 1.2 and 1.6 million undergraduate students take the introductory psychology course in college each year (Gurung et al., 2016). Factor in those taking it in high school and the number grows tremendously. The course is featured in nearly every psychology program (Norcross et al., 2016) and is now a part of other disciplinary plans such as medicine (Mitchell, Lewis, Satterfield, & Hong, 2016). How should it be taught? How should learning in the course be assessed? A major APA initiative is on course to find out.
Given the importance of the introductory psychology course, the APA’s Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) formed a working group at the recommendation of the Committee for Associate and Baccalaureate Education (CABE). This group, driving the introductory psychology initiative, is taking a focused look at the introductory psychology course given the ramifications course learning outcomes, assessment and design could have for learning, general education, the undergraduate psychology major and the public face of the discipline. The group’s recommendations for the future of the teaching of introductory psychology also stand to impact the ongoing revision of the "National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula" (APA, 2011) and the upcoming revision of APA’s Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major: Version 2.0opens in new window (PDF, 447KB).
The introductory psychology initiative builds on the contributions from two BEA working groups focused on introductory psychology (i.e., the BEA Working Group on Strengthening the Common Core of the Introductory Psychology Courseopens in new window, PDF, 220KB, and the BEA Working Group on Assessing Introductory Psychologyopens in new window, PDF, 388KB) as well as the 2016 APA Summit on National Assessment of Psychology (SNAP). Each earlier task force presented a set of key recommendations for future work on general psychology (APA 2014; APA, 2017), and a major article on the topic (Gurung et al., 2016) was published in the American Psychologist’s® special issue on undergraduate psychology in psychology.
The call for a focus on introductory psychology has its origins in the Puget Sound Conference (see Undergraduate Education in Psychology: A Blueprint for the Future of the Discipline, Halpern, 2010) and the resulting Quality Principles for Undergraduate Education (APA, 2011). While a recommendation from the conference included modeling the introductory psychology course to mirror the major (Dunn et al., 2010), there was insufficient information, nor any discussion, on how introductory psychology could be strengthened.
The introductory psychology initiative’s recommendations surround four major areas: Student Learning Outcomes and (related) Assessments, Course Models and Design, Teacher Training and Development, and Student Success and Transformation. The work stands to have wide implications, influencing 17,000 instructors of the course, approximately 4,200 colleges and universities, sections of the MCAT, high school psychology classes, and even how the College Board modifies the AP Psychology exam. The introductory psychology initiative is being led by Regan Areesesh Raj Gurung, PhD (University of Wisconsin, Green Bay) and Garth Neufeld (Cascadia College), with contributors Bill Altman (SUNY Broome Community College), Melissa Beers (The Ohio State University), Guy Boysen (McKendree University), Stephen Chew (Samford University), Dana Dunn (Moravian College), Sue Frantz (Highline College), Jane Halonen (University of West Florida), Elizabeth Yost Hammer (Xavier University of Louisiana), Bridgette Martin Hard (Duke University), Erin Hardin (University of Tennessee), Danae Hudson (Missouri State University), Eric Landrum (Boise State University), Robin Musselman (Lehigh Carbon Community College), Karen Naufel (Georgia Southern University), Aaron Richmond (Metropolitan State University of Denver), Jerry Rudmann (Irvine Valley College), Jennifer Thompson (University of Maryland University College), Jordan Troisi (The University of The South), Kristin Whitlock (Davis High School), and Katherine Wickes (Blinn College).
During 2018 the introductory psychology initiative steering committee members, leading four working groups, began a multi-step recommendations process through data collection including reviewing existing research, gathering missing data, and consulting with stakeholders and teachers of introductory psychology from diverse backgrounds. In fall 2018, APA contacted department chairs participating in the 2018 Undergraduate Survey of Psychology in a first round of surveying. In January 2019, the initiative will attempt to contact as many instructors of psychology as possible using snowball sampling. Armed with the data, working groups will complete draft recommendations by April 2019 and finalize them by summer 2019.
Recommendations will be tested in diverse academic institutions with student and teacher surveys taking place in spring and fall 2019. The feedback that is received in 2019 will lead to a final draft of recommendations in December 2019, as well as a write-up of case studies that demonstrate impact of implementation of these practices at diverse institutions. The final product will be published in an APA press book, scheduled for production by August 2021.
For more details on the progress of the initiative and to sign up for updates and ensure an invite to share your feedback, please visit the initiative's web page.
About the Authors
Regan Areesesh Raj Gurung, PhD is the Ben J. and Joyce Rosenberg Professor of Human Development and Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. An active scholar and passionate teacher, he is a recent winner of the APF's Charles Brewer Distinguished Teaching in Psychology award and was the CASE Wisconsin Professor of the Year. He has published 15 books and over 150 peer reviewed articles and book chapters. Together with Garth Neufeld, he is co-chairing the APA Introductory Psychology Initiative. He also conducts pedagogical research on the introductory psychology course.
Garth Neufeld teaches at Cascadia College in Bothell, WA. He is the founder of Teaching Introductory Psychology Northwest and the co-founder of the PsychSessions: Conversations About Teaching N’ Stuff podcast. Garth was awarded a presidential citation from the American Psychological Association (APA) as a Citizen Psychologist for his co-founding and ongoing participation as president of Shared Space For All, a non-profit organization that educates and mentors at-risk Thai children toward the prevention of sex work. Garth is the Society for the Teaching of Psychology’s (STP) Director of Regional Conference Programming and the co-chair of APA’s Introductory Psychology Initiative. He has served the national teaching of psychology community through the AP psychology exam reading, APA’s Summit on the National Assessment of Psychology, and APA’s Summit on High School Psychology Education.
