Evidence-Based Pedagogy: Do Text-Based Pedagogical Features Enhance Student Learning?

The vast majority of undergraduate psychology courses rely on textbooks as the major source of information. Introductory psychology texts, in particular, contain a plethora of “pedagogical aids” that are offered as tools for the students’ mastery of the content, with those aids that are successful in the market (i.e., positively influence sales) becoming integrated in textbooks in other areas of psychology. In fact, the variety and ubiquity of such devices has increased remarkably over the past 10-15 years (Marek, Griggs, & Christopher, 1999).