From Vision to Impact: Propagating the Recommendations from the American Psychological Association’s Introductory Psychology Initiative (APA-IPI)

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This project aims to serve the national interest by improving the teaching of Introductory Psychology as a core STEM course. High-quality STEM courses can help to recruit and retain a talented, diverse STEM workforce and elevate all students’ understanding of science as an essential tool that can be used to address complex societal challenges. Introductory Psychology is the most popular STEM course, with over 1.6 million students taking the course each year. The American Psychological Association’s Introductory Psychology Initiative (APA-IPI) includes a set of recommendations and proposed student learning outcomes designed to transform the Introductory Psychology course. The goal of this conference is to bring together educators and scientists in Psychology and other STEM disciplines to develop a robust plan to put these recommendations into practice. Participants in this conference will be early adopters of the APA-IPI recommendations recruited from a diversity of educational institutions (e.g., community colleges, 4-year institutions, graduate institutions, minority serving institutions). Over a series of virtual meetings, facilitated discussion will be used to achieve four objectives. First is to distinguish the factors that have facilitated, from those that have hindered, the propagation efforts of APA-IPI early adopters. Second is to discover solutions that have helped early adopters overcome challenges. Third is to identify the resources and supports adopters need to implement the recommendations with fidelity. Fourth is to develop a propagation plan that is aligned with users' needs. The knowledge generated through the conference will be documented in conference deliverables (including a report and articles to be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals) aimed at providing guidance to stakeholders interested in implementing the APA-IPI recommendations, as well as scientists interested in improving methods that can be used to effectively propagate educational innovations. Support for this workshop comes from the IUSE: EHR Program which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.