University of Maryland
Baltimore County
Department of Psychology
Psyc100: Introductory Psychology
Eileen O’Brien, Ph.D.
eobrien@umbc.edu
Traditional
Introductory Psychology Course
 General foundation requirement course
 180+ students
 7 sections per year
 4 credit course
 3 ½ clock hours each week for instruction
 15 weeks of class
 Large lecture halls
 4 major multiple choice exams
Traditional
Introductory Psychology Course
 Failure rate peaked at 15%
 60% attendance rate
 Lack of preparation for class –limited
discussion
 Overwhelming amount of course content
 Faculty are less interested in teaching this
course
Advisory Group
for Course Redesign
 Faculty teaching the course*
Lecturers and Adjuncts
Provost
Dean of Arts and Sciences
Department Chair*
Faculty Development Director*
Student Learning Resource Center Director*
Blackboard Administrator*
Evaluator*
Graduate TAs*
Undergraduate Student*
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*Review team for timeline tasks
Redesign
Introductory Psychology Course
 Goals:
 Improve student outcomes in the course
 Make psychology exciting and relevant to
students’ lives
 Increase number of psychology majors
 Promote active adult learning
 Share faculty expertise and experience
 Realize cost savings
Redesign
Introductory Psychology Course
 Replacement Model
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Reduced class meeting time (decrease of one
hour/week)
Mandatory individual online simulation labs and
mastery assessments
Supplemental discussion groups for students
needing extra support
Pedagogy to include online interactive activities,
classroom group exercises, and the classroom
performance system (clickers)
Redesign Team Activities
Introductory Psychology Course
 Review of existing online activities and
textbooks
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Presentation from publishers April/May 2007
Pearson
Cengage
Houghton Mifflin
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McGraw-Hill
Wiley
Two hour presentation and hands-on use of all online
interactivities and quizzes
Complete listing of all resources and cross-reference to
critical concept areas
Redesign Group evaluated each presentation and
discussed strengths and weaknesses of each product
Redesign Team Activities
Introductory Psychology Course
 Decision and design of interactive labs for
Blackboard - June 2007
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McGraw-Hill customized interactive labs for
Blackboard at UMBC in August 2007
Essentials textbook chosen
Key to the decision:
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Amount of interactivity related to foundational concepts,
interface with Blackboard, accuracy of online test bank,
ease of immediate tech support, cost to student
Redesign Challenges
 Faculty development and negotiation
 Agreeing to commonalities
 Technology
 Roles of Graduate TA and Undergraduate Peer
Mentors
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Role and Training
 Pedagogy change and classroom technology
 Small Group Activities
 Classroom Performance System (CPS)
 Freshman student preparedness
 Accuracy of online quizzes and technology glitches
 Evaluation
 Focus group attendance
 Progress on key student outcomes
Potential Benefits
of the Redesign
 Improved pedagogy should increase success rates in
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the course
Students should be engaged in the course and able to
apply psychology to their lives
Encourages interactive learning and independent
accountability
Reduces the number of sections of Intro Psych from 7
to 5 each year while maintaining a stable enrollment
Reduces faculty time on administrative tasks for the
course
Reduces the use of classroom space on campus
Labor saving strategies should draw tenured faculty to
the course
Status of
Redesign
 Pilot Spring 2008
 Two sections of the redesign
 One section of the traditional model
 Common exams across all three sections
 Redesign sections are using the same
small group activities, CPS questions, and
labs
 All sections are early morning classes with
similar enrollment numbers