Abstract
As we begin 2013, Teaching of Psychology (TOP) enters its 40th year of service. We are now witnessing several emerging trends in higher education, such as enrollment pressures at many colleges and universities, students coming to college with a large standard deviation around their average level of preparation and with a greater career focus when it comes to the value of education, and certainly, more emphasis on assurance of student learning during a time of budgetary unease on almost every campus. For those of you who enjoy history, these trends may sound familiar. Indeed, in issue 1 of ToP in 1974, Division Two President James Maas noted these very developments! Apparently, some issues in higher education may well be perpetual. During the intervening four decades, ToP has continued to help teachers of psychology with many aspects of their professional responsibilities, always with a clear focus on improving the educational opportunities that we as teachers provide our students. Certainly, changes to the journal have occurred. For instance, the Generalist’s Corner was introduced in 1997, but it changed format in issue 2 of 2011, going from interviews with prominent psychologists to literature reviews in the areas of expertise of those prominent psychologists. The journal will no longer publish news items, leaving them to be published in a more-timely fashion in the divisional newsletter. The Technology and Teaching section has been absorbed by the other sections of the journal, a tribute to the ubiquitous nature of the pedagogical use of technology. Although change is inevitable, I like to think that after 40 years of service, TOP has never lost its focus on helping teachers to facilitate the learning and development of their students. Of course, that focus is a function of the literally thousands of authors, reviewers, consulting editors, and associate editors who invest their time and energy in this journal during the past 40 years. I am truly honored and lucky to be a part of such an important process. So long as its focus on student learning and development remains clear, ToP will continue to “. . . be a strong catalyst in promoting research and development in the area of instruction” (Mass, 1974, p. 3) for many more years to come.
So now, having read this short “happy birthday” message, I hope you enjoy the first issue of volume 40. Whether this is the first issue of ToP you have ever received or whether you have every issue dating back to 1974 (and most of us are somewhere in between), please find a venue in 2013 to celebrate ToP’s success. You are a critical part of it.