University System of Maryland: Maryland Course Redesign Initiative

University of Maryland, College Park

Course Title: Social Psychology
Redesign Coordinator: Charles Stangor

Project Abstract

University of Maryland, College Park plans to redesign Social Psychology. This course is taken by almost all 1,000 psychology majors and is also a popular course among non-majors because it satisfies a CORE-SB requirement. Two large sections (150 students each) are currently offered per term with weekly discussion sections of 30-38 students. One lecture section is typically taught by a full-time faculty member. The second lecture section is typically taught by an advanced-level graduate student instructor. The weekly discussion sections are led by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs).

Although Social Psychology is a strong, well-run course, there are several problems that the course redesign will address. 1) The weekly discussion sections have grown too large for real class discussions (30-38 students per section). Instead, the discussion sections have evolved into additional and unnecessary lectures. 2) The teaching load of the social psychology graduate students must be reduced in order to meet departmental time-lines for graduate student progression. 3) Not all students have access to a regular faculty member as their lecturer because only one of the two lecture sections is typically taught by a faculty member. 4) The course has experienced some course content drift from section to section and semester to semester. It is important to note that the failure/attrition rates in this course (and other introductory psychology courses in the department) are relatively low (3-9%); therefore, this is not one of the primary problems to be addressed by this course redesign.

The proposed redesign, using the Replacement Model, will maintain the two lectures but replace the weekly discussion sections with online weekly learning modules and required repeatable quizzes. A new Social Psychology Learning Center will be created where students can access help on a flexible schedule both remotely and in person. An instructional team will be assembled to teach the course. This team will include one faculty instructor assisted by two graduate students, two undergraduate students and a staff course manager to handle administrative aspects of the course. During the first semester of the redesign, the two lecture sections of the course will be maintained. They will be taught using the same syllabus and same online components. After the redesign is underway, the two lecture sections will be combined into a single 300-student lecture section for future semesters.

The redesign will enhance quality by allowing individual students more flexibility in the method and time frame for their learning. Students will do online weekly learning modules and repeatable quizzes which will encourage them to keep up with the content on a weekly basis. The Social Psychology Learning Center will allow students to obtain more individualized attention when they need it, improving remote and real interactions between individual students and GTAs as well as undergraduate learning assistants. The redesign will provide standardization in course content across sections and semesters.

The impact of the course redesign on student learning will be assessed by comparing pre-redesign and post-redesign learning outcomes measures that are embedded in the course final examination. The percent of students with correct responses on these identified questions will be recorded (independently of exam grades). Course assessment data from spring 2007 will serve as a "before redesign" measure of student mastery of the learning outcomes.

The redesign will combine two 150-student sections each term into one section of 300 students taught by one full-time faculty member, assisted by two graduate students and two undergraduate students. The redesign eliminates one graduate instructor each term (a savings of ~$8400) which will be partially offset by additional hours spent on the course by the course manager, leading to a net savings of ~$4000. In addition, the faculty member and graduate students will benefit from spending less time on the course, which will enable them to spend more time on other university commitments.

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