REDESIGN OF GENERAL
PSYCHOLOGY
Getting Started on Course Redesign
NOVA, 10/21/11
Dr. Megan E. Bradley,
Professor of Psychology @
Frostburg State University
mbradley@frostburg.edu
FROSTBURG STATE UNIVERSITY

Psyc150: General Psychology

Course characteristics
Annual enrollment: About 900
st year students
 Mostly traditional students and 1
 Required course for Psychology Majors and 5 other
majors


Academic Issues
Course drift & inefficiency
 Financial difficulties at University level

COURSE REDESIGN TEAM

Primary Team (who were also tech savvy):
Coordinator
 FT Faculty member who did not teach PSYC 150 at FSU
 1 FT faculty member
 Regularly taught PSYC 150

1 Adjunct instructor
 Instructional Designer & regularly taught PSYC 150


Administration:
Dean
 Associate Provost


Publisher:

Worth
WHAT WE DID


Chose Replacement Model
Pilot semester
 Comparison:
2 traditional sections (N=42)
 2 redesign sections (N=99)

ULAs worked with Redesign Instructors via
Independent Study
Full Implementation
 Tripled capacity (N = 150)
 Began ULA course
 2nd semester: Began Netbook Lab


PILOT COMPARISONS
N compared ADMIT GPA*
to prior #
FSU GPA*
Traditional
16% smaller
3.11
2.76
Redesign
100% larger
2.92
2.17
*Significantly different; p = .005 (eta2 = .027), p = .000 (eta2 = .075)
RESULTS

Course drift eliminated

Standard course, syllabus, schedule, grading, etc.
IMPACT ON STUDENT LEARNING

Success in the course
PILOT RESULTS: 50 QUESTION COMMON
COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM*
Mean Test Scores
78%
75%
76%
74%
72%
70%
68%
68%
Traditional
Redesign
66%
64%
62%
Course Type
*A one-way ANOVA of section on final exam percentage grades was
significant, F = 23.251, p = .000, eta2 = .090. Also significant with
GPA as covariate: F = 29.192, p = .000, eta2 = .11.
*Instructors
blind to exam
content
PILOT RESULTS: 50 QUESTION COMMON
COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM
Section
Admit GPA
FSU GPA
Mean % on
Final Exam
Section 1
Traditional
3.02
2.72
67.5%
Section 2
Traditional
3.21
2.81
69%
Section 3
Redesign
2.95
2.46
75.3%
Section 4
Redesign
2.89
2.08
75%
PILOT RESULTS: 50 QUESTION COMMON
COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM

Final exam scores positively correlated with
average scores on Mastery Quizzes

r =.523, p = .000
PILOT REDESIGN ISSUES &
IMPLEMENTATION SOLUTIONS

Comprehensive final exam too much
3 unit exams
 Reduced overall coverage


“Deadline Disorder”
5 different activities reduced to the 3 types that
helped students
 2 weeks to complete


Students not ready for blended design

Required computer lab 1x/wk
FULL IMPLEMENTATION RESULTS: 43
COMMON QUESTIONS (3 EXAMS)*
Mean Test Scores
78%
76%
74%
72%
70%
68%
66%
64%
62%
60%
58%
77%
70%
65%
Traditional
Pilot Redesign
Full Redesign
*Instructors
blind to exam
content
Course Type
*A one-way ANOVA of section (3 total) on common question percentage was significant, F = 25.852, p = .000, eta2 = .825.
FULL IMPLEMENTATION RESULTS: PRE VS.
POST PREJUDICE ESSAY
Mean Test Scores
3.50
3.00
2.28
2.50
2.00
Pre-Essay
Post-Essay
1.50

1.00
0.50
0.310
0.00
Mode
 Pre-Essay = 0 or 1
 Post-Essay = 0,1, 2, 3,
4
Section Type
*A one-way repeated measures ANOVA on essay grades was significant, F = 230.71, p = .000, eta2 = .420.
IMPACT ON RETENTION

DWF rate
DWF RATE

Previous average: 12.5%


Pilot Semester



18% prior to pilot
Traditional sections: 4%
Redesign sections: 22%
Full Implementation - Fall

12.8%
OTHER IMPACT ON STUDENTS

ULAs
ULA BENEFITS

“Field Experience” course for top students

Leadership in Psychology Certificate Program

Supplemental Instructor (SI)


Receive additional training based on national SI program
Interning as a ULA

Research experience included
ULA BENEFITS

Future opportunities

Commencement Speaker


Graduate School


Spring 2010 & Fall 2010 speakers were ULAs
Teaching or Research Assistantship
Prestigious Internships

Most recent: Sloop Institute for Excellence in Leadership
IMPACT ON COST SAVINGS
Formula rating
 Departmental implication

COST SAVINGS
NCAT formula: $89 to $26
 Departmental implication:



1 FT faculty position
Biggest cost effectiveness:


Tripling capacity in class
Staffing
COST SAVINGS

Use of savings

Realized:
Communication Response System Implementation (“clickers”)
 Netbook lab
 Yearly support for Tamarin Colony
 Support for Coordinator
 Payment to lab assistants, SI, intern
