PSY 305 Project Descriptions

Before submitting any work as an attachment into the Assignment Area, be sure you have used a virus protection scan on your document.

Roundtable Discussions

Purpose

The roundtable discussions serve several purposes. They will 1) pique your interest in a particular thread of experimental research; 2) train you to synopsize pertinent information; 3) teach you to make succinct presentations and 4) maximize your exposure to research.

An essential aspect of these discussions (and of the Laboratory Research Projects) is learning to collaborate successfully in teams. Although you may be initially reluctant and concerned about participating in a team, you will soon see that to accomplish a scientific project, teamwork is critical. To help you succeed as a team, we are providing you with the resource Tips for Collaborative Writing, which is located at http://polaris.umuc.edu/mde/collab.html. Be sure to contact your instructor if you are experiencing any difficulty in the team process.

Approach

All Roundtable work will be done in the Groups area. Email may be used only to let other group members know that you have posted something new. Within the Study Group, you should create ONE Main Topic for posting Individual Summaries. Use the Collaborative Documents area to create your final presentation.

Teams will be set up about 2 weeks before the individual summary is due. Each team will be assigned a research topic from the Solso text to prepare and present online. Think of this presentation as an oral presentation, done in groups, on a particular research technique or topic The difference is that it is done online.

To begin, group members should choose (volunteer) a leader. The group should also choose an editor, a poster and a summarizer. The leader will be responsible for summarizing the Solso article, for setting group timetables and for doing the initial group summary. Use the Collaborative Document area in the Group area for this summary. Be sure to keep copies of what you submit as each edit will delete previous postings. The editor is responsible for editing the document, for making sure it reads smoothly and for determining that the references are in APA format. (Note that these tasks are not solely the editor's responsibility. Every group member must participate in this step). The poster is responsible for making sure that the presentation is posted on time and formatted appropriately for a cut and paste in the WT conference area. The fourth group member will be the summarizer. This person will wrap up the discussion at the end of the week and post some brief closing thoughts. This person should do this on Sunday afternoon before the RT is closed. If there are more than 4 members in a group, there may be 2 or more editors chosen. If the number of members falls below 4, others in the group will need to assume the role. Learning how to deal with nonparticipating and nonresponsive team members is also a part of the research process. The instructor will be monitoring participation and will intervene in extraordinary situations.

One RT team member (the leader) prepares a summary (minimum: 300 words) of the assigned Solso chapter, including hypothesis, method, results, and conclusion. Use your own words and avoid plagiarism. The Solso article forms the foundation for the presentation. The team will decide whether they want to focus on the content of the Solso article or on the design issues in the Solso article.

Each team member (except for the person summarizing Solso) prepares a summary (minimum: 300 words) of a relevant data-based experiment (from a refereed journal). You may select an experiment from the Solso chapter's list of references or any other published experimental study, but you must use the original source (not a secondary source review), and you must provide a complete, APA-style reference. Use your own words and avoid plagiarism.  The experiment can be related to content or to design. The team must also related this presentation to some current (or relatively recent) event.

Each team organizes its presentation to post it as a single entry to the roundtable conference created for that purpose. Note that this is an integrated essay, not a cut and paste of the individual summaries. Use the Collaborative Document function in the Study Group area to create this integrated essay. The RT should be about 500 words. It should also include some questions to guide the discussion.

During the RT week, each student is required to respond  a minimum of five times to roundtable entries, other than his or her own team presentation.  This task includes reading the summaries and posting a brief comment or question (or both) to the team. It is expected that you spread these responses out. You must respond at least once a day during the Monday-Friday time of the discussion. This facilitates earning the management points which are a part of this grade category and it also eliminates the flurry of postings on the last day. You are free to post more than 5 times and to engage in constructive discussion throughout the week.

Each team member is responsible for managing the discussion for the designated part of the week. A representative of the team, in turn, responds to each student's comment or question. The management duties will be shared by all team members. Create a Main Topic in the group area where you list the schedule for management. There is no requirement for length of response entry, though it is expected to be substantive. If it is a question, you must frame your question in light of what you read. Merely saying "interesting," "good job" or asking a question already answered will not earn response points.

Roundtable Dos and Don'ts

It is always best to compose your written contributions off-line in a word processor, such as Microsoft Word, and then copy and paste it into the Collaborative Documents area which is where you should construct your joint essay.  Please note that some formatting and style will be lost when you transfer the information from your word processor to Webtycho, so you should be prepared to do some minor re-editing. Be aware that previous changes will be edited out when you edit the collaborative document but it is a good place to work jointly on the presentation. When you finally post the presentation, it must be cut and pasted into the text box. You may attach a copy for me to read with all the formatting intact. But YOU MUST CUT AND PASTE DIRECTLY INTO THE TEXT BOX. This makes it easier for everyone to read and respond. 

When you do respond, make sure you do not include the entire text of each RT. Check your settings and be sure you are not including the RT text in the response.

Minimize grammatical errors in your entries. Be sure to write in complete sentences. Also, use paragraphs and spaces where appropriate. In other words, communicate clearly so that your instructor and fellow students can understand you.

"Flaming" (using derogatory language or tone) is a form of heckling and is not tolerated. We urge you to challenge others' entries respectfully. Remember not to use all capital letters when writing unless you are making a very important point (it is otherwise interpreted as shouting).

You are probably participating in this type of process for the first time, so do not be surprised if you experience a little confusion. Your instructor will help you when you have questions. A sample RT is posted in the Content Area. 

The roundtables succeed when students believe that their submissions and comments are respectfully accepted and when their is a response to that posting. Interaction is crucial to a successful roundtable! Do not wait to post your roundtable until it is past the deadline. Failure to post the individual summary by the due date will result in a loss of points on the individual component. Do not wait until the last day to begin responding. You must respond throughout RT week.  If at any time you are having difficulty with any of the procedures or are just not sure what to write or how to get started, let your instructor know immediately.


Laboratory Research Projects

Purpose

Each student learns to conduct psychological research in teams under instructor supervision. Doing so provides essential experience and preparation for later graduate school or professional work. This training is a unique opportunity for you to learn how to work and think like real experimental psychologists. Your lab projects will be simulations of psychological experiments (actual experiments require formal approval of an institutional review board). The first lab as determined by the instructor will be done by all groups although the IV(s) may differ. I do the first lab in this manner in order to facilitate your learning how to do a lab experiment and report. Specific details on Lab One are located under the Supplemental Information conference.

You will have choices in conducting your second  laboratory project. The first lab comes from what is commonly called the experimental areas of psychology. Because there are some differences in research done in the more social areas of psychology, Lab Two will come from the more social areas of psychology.

Prior to collecting ANY data (for both labs), you must submit your Review Board Form and it must be approved by the instructor. The RBF is intended to simulate, to some degree, the Institutional Review Board. It also forces the team to really consider what will be done and what any ethical considerations might be. Collecting any data before the Form is approved is considered a serious breach of academic honesty and may result in sanctions, including failure of the project, failure of the course and being reported to the Dean for academic dishonesty. This is critical.

Experimental research can be intensive and time-consuming, but the potential rewards are enormous. Students typically appreciate the intrinsic value of completing their own labs based on research questions and procedures they personally designed and implemented, as well as the extrinsic rewards of high grades for high-quality work. However, later rewards can include

·         ability to manage a major scientific project

·         skill in attending to detail learned in experimental research

·         improved performance on Graduate Record Examinations (GREs)

·         successful entry into graduate programs denied to students who lack research skills

Approach

The laboratory research projects encompass several steps, which are listed below. Labs will be done in teams.

1.      You may choose a lab team of 3 people. If you do not choose partners by the end of the first week of class, I will assign you to a team of three or four.

       2. Every team will do the same first lab although each team will need to decide on the independent variable to consider.  The lab description is under Supplemental Information.

        3. We will do Lab 1 in parts, following the order in which items would be done in the "real world." Each team (and team member) will be responsible for submitting each part of Lab 1 to the assignment folder. This step keeps each member involved and gives everyone a chance to make changes as desired. One member will post the entry (as a cut and paste) in the conference so that I can respond and everyone can benefit from my comments. Each individual team member must also submit that element to the appropriate assignment folder. The submission to the assignment folder is what will be graded and is one way for me to confirm participation in the process. These will be considered drafts and you do not have to make all of the corrections I suggest. Those corrections should be made in the final lab report. Also note that in the final lab report, you will need to adjust your tense. (Hint: in the weekly submissions, it should be future since you will not have done anything!)

       4. Each team must submit the Review Board Form to the instructor for approval prior to collecting data. The instructor will act as the IRB for this course. Submitting such forms is standard for researchers as we must have approval for all research. We will be using class members as participants but submitting the RBF is good practice.

        5.  Each team will create two products for each lab:

·         one APA-style laboratory report to be submitted in each team member’s assignment folder as a Microsoft Word attachment (if you do not have Word, save your document in rich text format so that your instructor can open and read it) by the due date indicated in the schedule; use the APA manual and refer to the APA "Crib Sheet" at http://www.wooster.edu/psychology/apa-crib.html for quick reference. Also see my webpage for more resources. It is imperative that your lab report precisely follow APA style. :earning to use APA format is a major component of the grade. For that reason, I strongly recommend purchasing the APA Manual. Each team member must submit an individual lab report to the Assignment Area, even if the reports are identical. (A sample is in the Course Content Area). (BEFORE SUBMITTING USE A VIRUS SCAN PROGRAM.)

·         one online electronic poster in the general conference created for that purpose by the due date indicated in the course schedule (There is no sample in the Content Area.  Part of the learning process here is learning how to do the poster without merely pasting your information into someone else's format. There are many ways to do a poster. Below are some websites to help you get started. Be aware there is no ONE correct way to do a poster.
http://www.rsnz.govt.nz/clan/jasperse/posters.html
  (the place to START - there is a resource called "Preparing Posters Using PowerPoint" on the right side under resources. Even if you use Word which is acceptable, this resource has some excellent advice.)
http://www.kumc.edu/SAH/OTEd/jradel/Poster_Presentations/PstrStart.html
http://www.asp.org/education/howto_onPosters.html
http://www.orst.edu/instruction/bb311/discussion05.html
http://homepages.dordt.edu/~lantinga/exp_paper.htm#PRESENTING (some good tips on what to include)
http://www.rsnz.govt.nz/clan/jasperse/posters.html

(For Lab 2, the poster will be submitted by each individual into the assignment folder. They may be identical but each person must submit one. They will not be posted in the whole class area.)

 Write the laboratory report in standard APA format. Note that the abstract is the last piece completed.

 Each member of the team submits the completed lab report to his or her assignment area. Each member may submit the same report or individuals may choose to make modifications. If modifications are made, the individual should indicate that when submitting the lab report.

( The instructor provides detailed and constructive criticism as well as evaluations for all study group members to review).

       Present the study to the class online as an electronic poster for peer review. Please note the following:

7. For Lab 1, each student will also review the posters of each other group. Acting as a reviewer is a good way to learn what works and does not work in a poster. There is a poster review form in the PSY305 Documents. We encourage you to provide honest and accurate feedback, but with an eye to positive, mutual support.

You will have to analyze the data you collect. Knowing which statistical test to use and how to calculate that stat is knowledge you need to know from your statistics class. For that reason, I recommend reviewing your stats books and notes. Note that you must use both descriptive and inferential statistics with each lab. There are many free programs for calculating stats as well as programs that you can purchase.  Webstat is a free statistics program that is recommended in the Modules because it is freely available. You may use any statistics program for doing the analysis. There are many free stat programs available online. Some others can be found at:
http://www.statcrunch.com/
http://members.aol.com/johnp71/javastat.html
http://www.cohort.com/costat.html
http://www.bettycjung.net/Statpgms.htm
http://www.stat.uiuc.edu/courses/stat100/cuwu/
 

For lab 2, you will do the entire lab from scratch, with guidance from the instructor.

 For Lab 2, the team will choose two preferences among these research topics: life span development, social behavior, or environment. Specific choices are listed in Lab 2 (see the Syllabus area in Webtycho). Each study group research team notifies the instructor of its preferences for each lab project by the due date indicated in the course schedule.  No labs with children, adolescents or deception will be approved. No alcohol or caffeine may be an IV. You should also not propose designs which use variables such as smoking, sleep deprivation, etc. IVs will come from the demographic information collected in Week One.

I strongly recommend that each team use the sequence below in formulating, implementing, completing, and writing its lab research project. Details of the process are presented in the appropriate modules) and readings. Team members should discuss by phone, e-mail, or chat room how they wish to proceed. Your instructor will be available for consultation during each step of the lab project and will make suggestions  to help you succeed. Here are the detailed steps for your lab research projects.

1. Select the basic problem of investigation.
2. Articulate the hypothesis of the experiment.
3. Identify the independent and dependent variable(s).
4. Examine the relevant psychological/scientific literature.
5. Modify the hypothesis if necessary.
6. Design the experiment.
    ·         Determine the appropriate number of experiment participants.
    ·         Organize the needed materials.
    ·         Structure the procedure and train the experimenter(s).

SUBMIT REVIEW BOARD FORM BEFORE PROCEEDING. The RBF MUST BE SIGNED AND RETURNED BEFORE YOU CAN COLLECT ANY DATA.

7. Collect data.
8. Analyze results.
    ·         Employ descriptive statistics, such as means, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages.
    ·         Employ inferential statistics, such as appropriate analysis of variance, t-test, and chi-square.
9. Take notes on results to determine
    ·         if hypothesis is supported, what worked and what did not work
    ·         how results compare to relevant psychological/scientific literature
    ·         what results mean to the research topic and recommendations to future researchers
10. Write the laboratory report in standard APA format. Note that the abstract is the last piece completed.
11.  Submit the completed lab report to the assignment area. Each member may submit the same report or individuals may choose to make modifications. If modifications are made, the individual should indicate that when submitting the lab report.
 12. Create a poster and submit to the assignment area.