Connecting, Interviewing, Writing: Fostering Student Engagement via the Health Psychology Interview Project

Background Active learning strategies can foster student engagement in large lecture courses. Objective The Health Psychology Interview Project (HPIP) combines multiple active learning strategies to promote engagement in a large undergraduate health psychology course. The current study provides a detailed description of the HPIP and presents student evaluations of the project. Method Students in two cohorts of a health psychology course ( N = 154) participated in the term-long project by creating research questions, asking them of experts in the field ( N = 18) during remote collective interview sessions, and writing a response paper addressing their questions. Students reported that they found the project interesting and useful, and that it encouraged their engagement with health psychology research and the research process to a significant extent. Students also shared open-ended evaluations of the HPIP. Results Quantitative results revealed that students perceived the project as enjoyable and valuable and that it helped them engage with course material. Qualitative responses demonstrated that students particularly enjoyed interacting with experts in the field. Conclusion The HPIP fostered engagement with course material and a connection between students and health psychology professionals. Teaching Implications Detailed descriptions reveal how the HPIP model could be adapted to other academic courses.