One Semester or Two? No Student Advantage with a Two-Semester Introductory Psychology Course

Abstract

A 2-semester introductory course sequence in any discipline may be justified on the basis that there is too much material to cover in 1 semester and that more in-depth consideration of material will provide students with a better foundation from which to approach subsequent courses. This study took advantage of a natural situation to compare students who had taken a 1-semester introductory psychology course and those who had taken a 2-semester sequence. Analyses of student performance (grades) in upper level psychology courses indicated no advantage associated with a 2-semester introductory course. Students incur a 100% cost increase (the additional introductory course) for 0% benefit.