Topical coverage in teaching introductory psychology: A national survey of instructors

Two hundred eighty-seven introductory psychology (IP) instructors representing 212 institutions of higher learning participated in an anonymous, online national survey of topical coverage in the course. Instructors ranked the degree of importance of the American Psychological Association (APA) pillars of psychology and the amount of class time focused on these major content areas. They also indicated whether they covered, in class and in assigned readings, 20 topical areas associated with the pillars as well as research methods. The survey results point to a high level of homogeneity in how IP is taught across different types of institutions. The APA pillars were well represented in how instructors structure the IP course. Overall, instructors were generally balanced in the emphases they placed on the five APA pillars in their classes, although the biological pillar was ranked higher than the other pillars. Instructors from applied areas of professional psychology also ranked the mental/physical health pillar higher, and the cognitive pillar lower, than their counterparts from basic content areas. Although instructors may place somewhat greater emphasis on the APA pillars they deem more important, they do not appear to give short shrift in class to pillars they rated as somewhat lower in importance. Traditional topical areas in the field, which largely correspond to chapters of standard textbooks in the field, were highly represented with respect to both class coverage and assigned readings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)