I really wonder about this research (I guess I'll have to wait for the book!).
First, is 'quality of first teacher' what actually predicted student's majors or what students thought predicted their majors. There is really huge literature in social psychology that people do not have good insights into the choices they make and therefore when pressed just pick the most salient factor. Of course an inspiring professor is memorable but that does not mean it was actually the single most important factor in major choice. You would have to look at a given student's teaching evaluations (or some similar assessment) over the course of their first 2 years and see whether students really did rate more highly professors in fields that they majored in (I know I loved many professors outside psychology). Of you could see whether inspiring professors converted more students to their majors than non-inspiring professors (might be true for undecided but not for decided majors). Second, if it indeed was conducted at Hamilton College (a small private residential liberal arts college) it is hard to imagine that the findings would generalize to other institutional settings. At liberal arts colleges students are exposed to lots of new fields in their first year and are encouraged to shop around and delay picking a major. Only a third (or so) of all their classes come from the major courses so although the choice of major can be important it is also not essential (at least in some fields). Many students come in with vague ideas about their future careers but also a limited number of majors (e.g. no professional majors at liberal arts colleges). This is totally different from universities where students come to study nursing, engineering or other professional fields. I would expect such students to be much less sensitive to a particular uninspiring professor. Marie Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Associate Professor l Department of Psychology Kaufman 168 l Dickinson College Phone 717.245.1562 l Fax 717.245.1971 http://users.dickinson.edu/~helwegm/index.html -----Original Message----- From: Christopher Green [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, August 12, 2013 10:08 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Students' choice of major most influenced by quality of intro professor | Inside Higher Ed Your teaching may have more influence on the field than you think. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/12/study-finds-choice-major-most-influenced-quality-intro-professor Chris ....... Christopher D Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M6C 1G4 [email protected] http://www.yorku.ca/christo --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13234.b0e864a6eccfc779c8119f5a4468797f&n=T&l=tips&o=26962 or send a blank email to leave-26962-13234.b0e864a6eccfc779c8119f5a44687...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=26965 or send a blank email to leave-26965-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
