Koerner Fellow Alan Kazdin, Sterling Professor of Psychology and Child Psychiatry and director of the Yale Parenting Center, was honored with the Learners First Award by Coursea, an online course platform and partner institution for Yale’s Center for Teaching and Learning. Coursera selected Professor Kazdin from members of the Yale faculty who presented courses on the platform last year.
Kazdin’s course, entitled “Everyday Parenting: The ABCs of Child Rearing,” was launched in July of 2017 and pulled in an impressive 20,000 registrants. Belinda Platt, associate director of digital education at the Yale Center for Teaching and Learning, noted that “Alan’s course spurred overwhelmingly positive feedback from learners and the course earned excellent course ratings: 4.9 out of 5.0.”
The four-week course, which consists of 26 video lessons, 14 optional reading assignments, 21 quizzes, and one peer-review writing assignment, presents behavior-change techniques for those who are seeking help with parenting. Kazdin notes, “We have been committed to improving the lives of parents and children by helping parents learn how to use these techniques. The objective is more effective parenting that results in children that are functioning well at home, at school, and in the community.”
Professor Kazdin is the director of the Yale Parenting Center and was the 2008 president of the American Psychological Association. He is the author of over 750 articles and 50 books for professional audiences on topics of parenting and child rearing, child psychotherapy, cognitive and behavioral treatments, and interpersonal violence. His numerous awards include the National Institute of Mental Health’s MERIT Award, the American Psychological Association’s Lifetime Contribution Award to Psychology, and the American Board of Professional Psychology’s Distinguished Service Award to the Profession of Psychology. As an expert in parenting, he is featured frequently on national media and has appeared on The Dr. Phil Show, ABC News, NBC News, BBC, PBS, and NPR.
In an effort to share Kazdin’s techniques globally, the course has been translated into Chinese, and subtitles in Spanish will be available this spring. For more information about Professor Kazdin’s award and course, visit news.yale.edu and coursera.org.