The Use of Principles for Organising the Introductory Psychology Course

Abstract

Common difficulties in teaching introductory courses such as general psychology are breadth of content and differing student and teacher expectations. The use of psychological concepts or principles as organising factors is recommended to address these problems. Psychological principles for each content area were identified and presented to two groups of general psychology students. Course content was organised around these principles, along with class exercises and tests that fostered their application. When compared with two other groups organised by the text's field survey approach, the principles-organised groups self-reported greater abilities to apply content to everyday situations, relationships and future occupations. Students strongly recommended the use of principles in future courses as one way of addressing common difficulties in the general psychology course. The percentage of answers correct on tests of content did not differ significantly between groups, indicating a similar grasp of material from both the principles-organised sections and field survey-organised sections.