A National Study of Student and Instructor Perceptions of Introductory Psychology

The American Psychological Association’s introductory psychology initiative (APA IPI) recently concluded a 4-year endeavor to strengthen the introductory psychology course. The first set of empirical data on a national study of the course provided important faculty perceptions of student learning outcomes (SLOs), course models and designs, student success and transformation, and teacher training about the course (Richmond et al., 2021). The present study extends the previous work by assessing student (N = 269) and faculty (N = 52) perceptions of the course. We conducted a national survey of instructors of introductory psychology and their students to assess different components of the course, including how it is taught, where instructors gain teaching skills, and which skills students learn. Results suggest that APA IPI’s new SLOs are important to both students and instructors. Students believed that they were achieving the SLOs in introductory psychology. Instructors and students agreed on the frequency of class-related activities and the skills covered in the course.