Better together: Co-teaching in undergraduate applied psychology courses

Abstract

This study examined co-teaching -two teachers collaboratively leading one course -in undergraduate applied psychology courses. Previous research has established potential benefits of co-teaching on student success; however, none have examined students’ perspectives on co-teaching in applied psychology courses. The present study hypothesized that students would report more benefits than drawbacks to co-teaching. For this purpose, 50 college students aged 18 to 25 completed an online questionnaire after completing one of two co-taught applied psychology courses in the United States. Results revealed that students perceived more benefits to co-teaching than drawbacks, and this difference was statistically significant. Additional findings suggest that students believe co-teaching to be beneficial, and most report a preference for it. Consensual qualitative coding further revealed that ‘diversity of instructor perspectives’ was the most commonly reported benefit, as related to course content, and the most commonly reported drawback, as related to course management. Study limitations and implications for future research and teaching were also considered.