Hi, Bev -
In order to move from "pre-major" to "major" status, our students must have
earned at least a C in college algebra and at least a C in Psy. 100. Those
requirements may sound really minimal, but to be honest, they seem to have had
an effect. College algebra is a pre-req for our Statistics in Psychology, and
prior to our instituting the requirement of at least a C in it before the
student could be a psychology major, we had students who tried to put algebra
off as long as possible. They would go on and take all the psychology courses
they could that didn't have statistics as a pre-req, and then when they couldn't
put off algebra any longer, they would take it. Many would struggle to pass,
and some didn't. If they didn't pass algebra, some were understandably
distressed to have so many hours in psychology but no major. Those who barely
passed algebra then sometimes had to take statistics more than once, and this
meant they had to delay the two required courses for which statistics is a
pre-req.
So it seems that we have at least partially solved the problem by not
allowing them to be psychology majors until they have earned at least a C in
algebra. The other requirement, earning at least a C in Psy. 100, seemed
reasonable to us. Occasionally we had gotten a few majors who had earned a D,
but who were sure that they could do better. It was seldom true.
I would caution you, however, to be prepared for the consequences of raising
the entrance requirements. One consequence may be that number of student credit
hours and number of majors will decrease; administrators get suspicious about
what might be going on in a program in which those two things happen. You'll
have to be prepared to show that you were anticipating that you would have
fewer, though higher quality, students. Will this outcome be acceptable to your
administration?
Another issue is whether you really do want to restrict your major to a
select group. Some would argue that psychology has a lot of offer, that we
should strive to "give psychology away" to as many people as we can, including
(maybe especially!) lower ability students. Some faculty in our department were
opposed to our instituting entrance requirements for this very reason.
Best wishes -
Retta
Bev Ayers-Nachamkin wrote:
> Our students declare majors at the end of their first semester as
> sophomores. Once again I find myself jealously eyeing Education's
> requirement that, among other things, any student who wishes to major in Ed.
> must have and maintain a 2.5 gpa (soon to be 3.0). Have any of your programs
> established criteria that must be satisfied in order to major in Psych or
> Behavioral Sciences?
> Second half of the semester - must be I'm getting cranky ;-)
>
> If there is sufficient interest, I'll be glad to compile responses for the
> list.
>
> Cheers,
> Bev
>
> >>>>>>>@@<<<<<<<<
> Bev Ayers-Nachamkin
> Wilson College
> 1015 Philadelphia Ave.
> Chambersburg, PA 17201-1285
> 717-264-4141, Ext. 3285
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--
Retta E. Poe, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Western Kentucky University
1 Big Red Way
Bowling Green, Ky. 42101
(270) 745-4409 FAX: (270) 745-6934
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Live long, and prosper!"
