We are thrilled to announce a new course coming to our catalog in early February: Abnormal Psychology. This course wouldn’t be possible without the dedicated team of subject matter experts, psychology faculty, and mental health professionals throughout the country that contributed their expertise in order to create a comprehensive and timely course. 

This new Abnormal Psychology course will be the third core Psychology course in Lumen’s course catalog; it will join Introductory Psychology and Lifespan Development, both of which were recently added and/or updated in order to offer faculty current best in class content and affordable easy-to-use courseware to support student success.

Psychology instructors familiar with Lumen’s course offerings are looking forward to the new course. “I’ve taught with both of Lumen’s current psychology course materials, Introductory Psychology and Lifespan Development, and have been repeatedly impressed with the quality and timeliness of the content and the abundance of instructor tools. As a professor committed to using low-cost instructional materials, I’m excited to have another Waymaker course for the Psychology curriculum. With Waymaker, Lumen makes it easy to provide low-cost instructional materials to students without having to compromise quality,” says Jessica Traylor, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Gordon State College in Georgia.

This course will be the first comprehensive OER Abnormal Psychology course of its kind, complete with a detailed description of all mental disorder categories described in the DSM-5 and filled with examples, videos, case studies, practice opportunities, and other evidence-based learning tools aimed to improve student success. This new course will provide a comprehensive, one-stop shop for all of the essential topics typically covered in Abnormal Psychology and covers all of the topics and learning objectives in a way that ensures the course meets the standard prerequisites needed for psychology, nursing, and/or pre-med majors at most institutions. 

What makes Lumen’s Abnormal Psychology course unique and effective?

  • The course emphasizes the biopsychosocial model and encourages students to think both objectively and compassionately about individuals experiencing mental illness.
  • Each section on mental disorders contains videos, practice questions, key takeaways, and glossaries.
  • Sample case studies are included with each module and examples from both clinical research and practice are incorporated within the readings.
  • Multiple interactive pieces encourage students to apply the concepts they are learning.
  • Every module includes Powerpoint slides, discussions, and assignments to help instructors easily adopt the course.
  • The course is available in Lumen’s affordable Waymaker courseware which includes evidence-based learning tools that are proven to increase student success such as personalized learning plans, immediate and timely feedback, automated messages with tips and suggestions to help struggling students, and more.

The course is organized to include three introductory modules with content related to the history of mental disorders, diagnosing and classifying mental disorders, research methods, ethics, and approaches to treatment. The rest of the modules cover major categories of disorders, first explaining the diagnostic criteria and presentation of the disorders, then examining the psychological perspectives and treatments related to the disorder(s). The course covers content from every major category in the DSM-5.

 To preview the Table of Contents and/or request to be notified when the course is live, visit the course in our catalog.