Newswise — ITHACA, NY — What is the best way to keep psychology students from switching majors? According to a study published in the journal Teaching of Psychology, putting off intensive science courses may help. The study was conducted by Jeffrey Holmes, associate professor of psychology at Ithaca College, and is available at top.sagepub.com/content/41/2/104.

Holmes compared the views and interests of college students and instructors with regard to the psychology discipline, and then examined the implications of the differential interests.

He found that instructors strongly endorse psychology as a science, while students reported a weak endorsement of psychology as a science and showed greater interest in psychology practitioner activities. He says that this difference between educator and student views about how best to understand human behavior could create student dissatisfaction, leading to reduced student retention in the psychology major.

Holmes suggests that college psychology educators attempt to strike a curricular balance between scientific emphasis and student satisfaction by delaying the introduction of intense scientific coursework and move practice-oriented courses earlier in the curriculum, in order to better match the interests of students and keep them in the major.

For more information, contact Jeffrey Holmes at [email protected].

###

From day one, Ithaca College prepares students for personal and professional success through hands-on experience with internships, research and study abroad. Its integrative curriculum builds bridges across disciplines and uniquely blends liberal arts and professional study. Located in New York’s Finger Lakes region, the College is home to 6,100 undergraduate and 400 graduate students and offers over 100 degree programs in its schools of Business, Communications, Humanities and Sciences, Health Science and Human Performance, and Music.