East Carolina University
Department of Psychology
FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED: WHY INTRO PSYCH IS A TOUGH COURSE
From: Patrick Cabe <patrick.cabe@UNCP.EDU>
Reply-To: Society for Teaching of Psychology Discussion List <PSYCHTEACHER@LIST.KENNESAW.EDU>
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 15:56:05 -0500
Patrick A. Cabe
Department of Psychology and Counseling
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Because the course is "introductory," some students imagine that Intro Psych
ought to be a relatively easy course. Yet many students are shocked to discover
that it is one of the most difficult courses they take, especially early in
their college careers. There are several reasons why this happens, and listing
some of them for you to think about--and maybe do something about--may save you
some hassle, disappointment, and grief. In fact, most introductory level courses
will be more difficult than many students imagine for these same reasons.
The first reason Intro Psych is a tough course is that we will cover a very
broad range of topics through the semester, from concepts and ideas that are
very biological to others that are very "social," from topics that may sound
like common sense to others that are challenging technical areas. Each of those
topical areas will have its own vocabulary and concepts to learn, enough so that
some observers claim that Intro Psych requires that a student learn more new
terms than he or she would in a semester-long course in a foreign language!
A second big reason that Intro Psych turns out to be extremely demanding for
many students is that they have little or no existing knowledge to attach this
new content to. Researchers who study memory and the acquisition of knowledge
tell us that the more you know about a topic, the easier it is to learn even
more (because you will have more things to "hook" the new ideas, facts, etc.,
onto in your memory--sort of a Velcro theory). Knowledge grows by becoming woven
into the body of your existing knowledge. If you don't know much at the
beginning, if you have trouble finding these "hooks," it is surely more
difficult to make such connections. Take heart, though, if you work at it you
can often find aspects of your own "real life" experience and previous study
that do in fact "hook" into the material you will study in Intro Psych. And as
time goes by, you should be able to find connections from new material you
encounter to material you studied earlier in the term.
Third, some students have to adjust (or learn for the first time!) the study
habits needed to match the demands of college work. Some bring adequate or
better skills, jump right in, and do just fine. Others, however, may never have
had to work very hard at their studies in the past, and now discover that their
study habits just don't work in college. Good questioning skills, good listening
skills, good note-taking skills, good reading skills, good thinking skills,
and--most importantly--good time management skills simply have to be there, if
you are going to succeed in college. Confronted with the complexity of the
material in a course like Intro Psych, a student may really struggle, if he or
she has not developed those skills. If your academic skills are not good (or as
good as you would like them to be), see your advisor for help and talk to your
instructors (talk to me!) about how you might improve them. Then, as the
commercials say, "JUST DO IT!": Nothing can replace individual effort. Exactly
like athletes developing and honing their special skills by practicing all alone
in the gym or on the field, those study skills require your individual
dedication to improvement.
Newly-developing skills can't, and won't, get better overnight. Similarly,
developing knowledge can't, and won't, blossom overnight. Any decent athlete or
musician knows that what pays off is a routine of daily effort, going over what
is already well studied or practiced, spending extra time on things that are
more difficult, and extending their study and practice to new material. Learning
the material in Intro Psych can't be done overnight, either. So establishing a
routine of daily study (which some students never seem catch on to) will be a
key to success in this course, as well as others.
Fourth, many students just find ways to mess up the simple stuff: They don't
come to class, they don't read the textbook, they don't do the assignments or
only do part of the assignment or don't follow the instructions for the
assignment or they turn them in late (or any combination). So they throw away
opportunities to earn what often is cheap credit toward their course grade. And
of course they are also less well prepared for the tests. Can you see the
lesson? Come to class, read the book, do the assignments (the whole thing, on
time, following all the directions--and, yes, it does matter). Is that so hard?
My old boss used to say, "You control two things, your activity and your
attitude." Intro Psych will always be a hard course because the material is
complex and broad, but it may be even more difficult for you because you may
lack background and experience to tie all this new material to, and because your
academic skills may be less-than-perfect. The material itself won't get any
easier, but you yourself can improve in these other areas--IF you have the
attitude that you CAN do it, and IF you put in the effort TO do it.