Characteristics of Effective Graduate Psychology Courses: Student and Faculty Perspectives

This study compares graduate students' and faculty views of effective psychology courses. Students and faculty agreed on the more important (e.g., practical, challenging, and informative) and less important (e.g., assignments to enhance writing and speaking skills ingredients of effective courses. Students placed more emphasis on course components directly related to their class performance (e.g., clearly defined assignments and evaluation methods) than did faculty. Student participation in class, a potential source of feedback to instructors, was rated more highly by faculty than-students. In addition, students rated some short-range and course-specific components more highly than did faculty, whereas than did students. Strategies for addressing the different perspectives of students and faculty are suggested.