More and more lately I am coming to agree with my students that we are trying to cover too much material in Introductory Psychology. It seems we keep adding new material, but we never take anything out. I was having a post-test discussion with a student who wanted me to "go over the stuff from the book" more in class. I gave him my usual spiel about this being college, and I expect students to be able to read for themselves, etc. He countered that he thought college was supposed to make you think and learn--not memorize all the parts of the brain, the glandular system, neurons, etc., that each chapter contained in excess of 100 definitions and they could not all possibly be equally important. I tend to agree. My questions: Are we cramming in too much content at the expense of fostering an understanding of what is important to know about how and why organisms behave as they do?
Should we turn things upside down and make Overview of Psychology the capstone course that students could use to prepare for the GRE? (I was at an assessment conference where a colleague described their exit testing for psychology majors. Basically, they built it from the test bank for their intro. course. Interestingly, the students averaged about 70 something. That's a C in intro. for their graduates. Not surprising since they would not have been able to take an undergraduate course in all the topics covered in an intro. text.) What would the ideal Introduction to Psychology text look like? I don't mean this to be a rave. I am really struggling with this issue. I want my course to be challenging and I don't feel comfortable saying what is and is not important in a chapter. I am really interested in how the rest of you feel. Michael B. Quanty, Ph.D. Psychology Professor Senior Institutional Researcher Thomas Nelson Community College PO Box 9407 Hampton, VA 23670 Phone: 757.825.3500 Fax: 757.825.3807 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
