Transforming Introductory Psychology: a systematic approach to course redesign

Higher education is faced with the daunting task of serving greater numbers of students and improving student outcomes while facing declining resources. This combination of factors has created an environment predisposed to course transformation/redesign. Facing course redesign can be puzzling, intimidating, and overwhelming. The purpose of the current article is to break down barriers and demystify the process of course redesign. Issues that lead to course redesign, including high DFW (grade of D/F or Withdrawal) rates, poor learning outcomes, course drift, and grade inflation, are explored. A systematic approach to course redesign is presented, including the early stages of garnering support through the process of developing an effective evaluation strategy. The ‘whole course’ redesign approach used for a large enrolment, general education Introductory Psychology course at a large Midwestern US university is used as a case study to demonstrate the process, issues, and challenges. Specific redesign plans and suggestions for institutions considering the process are discussed. In addition, data are presented regarding the faculty team’s satisfaction with the redesign process as well as perceptions of the course from the undergraduate learning assistants. Higher education in the twenty-first century is faced with numerous challenges and opportunities. While the basic structure of higher education in the United States has remained relatively unchanged in over a century, neither learners nor technology have remained static (Bok, 2006). Rapidly changing technology has created a new generation of learners who are more accustomed to being active, involved, and exploratory in learning. Further, declining funding and rising expectations add to the forces challenging the status quo in American public higher education (Mehaffy, 2010). Mehaffy stresses that higher education will continue to face declining resources coupled with the expectation to serve greater numbers of students while improving student outcomes. Technological advances have shaped the Millennials. Also known as Generation Y, Millennials were born between 1980 and 2000, and comprise the vast majority of students in higher education today. These individuals have been raised with technology, and their comfort level allows educators to use a greater variety of methods to address student learning. Mehaffy (2010) argues that technology has led to a fundamental change in the ways of developing knowledge, the ways of aggregating and sharing knowledge, and the ways of disseminating and using collective knowledge. This assertion is a part of the overall picture necessitating a significant shift in the way teaching and student learning is conceptualised. Staley and Trinkle (2011) highlight a variety of political, societal, and academic factors as components of the ‘changing landscape of higher education’ (p. 16). Students are more diverse and, in general, have a more global perspective and accompanying expectations compared with previous generations (Staley & Trinkle, 2011). In the United States, the struggling American economy and decreased federal and state funding have opened the door to variations of traditional