Student Perceptions of Textbook Outlines

Students in an introductory psychology course evaluated 3 types of outlines (traditional, graphical, alphabetical) and then provided summary information about their use of outlines and rank ordered their preferred type of outlines. Over 75% of students agreed that outlines are useful, and students clearly prefer the traditional, Roman numeral-style outline. We discuss these results in the context of pedagogical aids in introductory psychology textbooks and the potential for these aids to influence student performance.