work environmentrequired education required skillsearnings job outlookconnection H u m a n i t i e s

Brief Description:

What questions do you still have? One of your Final Project options will be to summarize an empirical research article related to one of the major topics in this course. In Chapter 2 you read about research methods in psychology and in each chapter you read about different studies that psychologist have conducted. What additional question would you like to know if psychologist have begun to answer. For example, why are adolescents susceptible to peer pressure? Is language innate? What are the effects of malnutrition on later intellectual performance? What is the most effective way to alter our behavior, say to lose weight or stop smoking?

This assignment will include researching a scholarly journal article and summarizing the article. For this assignment you will be asked to read, analyze and summarize the academic journal that you found.

For this assignment you can use scholarly articles that have been posted as optional readings throughout the semester or you can try to search for your own. Choose an article with interesting results and clear methods that will allow you to demonstrate your understanding of basic scientific methods used in psychological research.

Avoid theoretical and review articles (including meta – analytic reviews) . These articles can be difficult to summarize. Also, articles with a single study are usually easier to summarize than multi-experiment papers.

This assignment relates to the following student learning outcomes and course objectives:

• Demonstrate an understanding of basic scientific methods used in psychological research.
• Demonstrate psychology information literacy (APA – Goal 2: Professional Development-2.2)
• Interpret, design, and conduct basic psychological research (APA – Goal 2: Professional Development-2.4)

Step 1: Final Project Submission – This assignment will require the steps below.

Instructions:

First, find a topic. Choose a topic for your research paper. Make sure that the topic is related to the course and psychology in general.

• Sample General Topics (Note even some of the topic ideas here could be narrowed more):
  • romantic relationships, mate selection, and commitment in early adulthood
  • effects of social media and new technologies on social development
  • alcohol abuse and binge drinking in college
  • moral/ethical development in the college years

Second, find a scholarly research article on this topic.

• Tips: This may seem challenging considering how many options are before you! Consider articles that interest you and that will generate conversation. Pick an important paper that is likely to interest you and many of your classmates. It should report original research and the article needs to have a methods and results Avoid theoretical and review articles (including meta-analytic reviews). These articles can be difficult to summarize.
• Before moving on make sure your article has a methods and results section, if not it may not be a scholarly journal article.
• See additional resources section below for “how to search for a scholarly journal article” and how to read a scholarly journal article.

Third, provide a descriptive critique and summary of the article.

• For each question below in the table you will be asked to write at least 2-3 complete sentences that provide additional information about your article. Make sure that all sentences are in your own words and not copied from the website (i.e., plagiarism).
• When submitting this assignment you must be sure to 1) label each section, 2) type each question and 3) then directly under the question complete the response (as stated above you should write at least 2-3 complete sentences for each question).
• Suggested guidelines for final summary: Your summary should be approximately 2-5 pages. Also the summary does not have to be written in a formal research paper format as long as you clearly complete the task above. Again, the summary can even be completed using any format (including a table) as long as it is clear you have addressed all the main sections and questions.

Additional Resources:

Here are some suggested websites and sources for researching scholarly journal articles and reading scholarly journal articles:

• How to use the SMC Library to Search for Scholarly Journal Articles?
  • Begin at: smc.eduLinks to an external site.
  • Select: DATABASES
  • Select: All Databases
  • Select: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
  • If you are off campus you will be asked to log on with your network account.
  • What is my network account?
    • Your network account is your student email
    • This information is available at the bottom of your corsair connect homepage.
    • The password is the same one as your corsair connect account.
  • How to use Google Scholar to Search for Scholarly Journal Articles? Google Scholar searches across many scholarly disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, and universities with non scholarly results filtered out. Some of these scholarly results include free full text and many more are available for free to students, faculty and staff.
    • Go to Google Scholar (Links to an external site.).
    • Search for your topic.
    • Look for [DOC], [PDF] or [HTML] on the result list. When you see one of these options, just click on it to get the full text.
    • If you don’t see [DOC], [PDF] or [HTML] on the result list, look for All versions–there may be a free full text version there.
    • If you still have not found the full text, look for Related articles under your article to see if articles on the same topic are available full text.

    If you use other sources please make sure they are reliable sources. As we learned in week 1, think about whether they are credible sources, who is writing the article and if they are experts in the field.Submission:Once you have completed your research and answering each question for your final project, attach it to this assignment: Final Project Submission (worth a total of 40 points).Submitting Assignments Guidelines:

    • Formatting: Use APA style format in all writing assignments (including citations and headings).
    • For more information about APA formatting go to http://apastyle.apa.org/ (Links to an external site.) or https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ (Links to an external site.).
    • Font and Margins: Written assignments should be typewritten, double-spaced with one-inch margins (on all sides) and 12-point font size.
    • Copy Permission: In rare cases I may elect to share work with the class for the purposes of demonstrating what is expected for the assignment. I will be sure to remove your name and all identifying information. If you do not grant permission for me to copy your work, please let me know.
    • Final project is not accepted by email.

    Step 2: Will be your Final Project Publication – After completing your research you will create an infographic to share with your classmates that highlights the main points of your research. Details about this assignment can be found in the discussion called “Final Project Publication” under the Final Project Module.

Purpose: The purpose of this active learning activity is to share the research you completed for your final project with your classmates. This way they have additional information and resources about careers and research in psychology to take with them at the end of this course.

Instructions:

After completing your research you will create an infographic to share with your classmates that highlights the main points of your research.

Infographics have recently become very popular with news media, big business, and educators. They are very effective as a tool for communicating ideas and displaying large amounts of information relatively quickly. Infographics combine text, graphics, and images together in a way that is aesthetically appealing and engaging to the viewer.

Do not try to include the complete sentences from your research in your infographic.

• Your infographic should only be one page and
• should include bullets and small phrases or keywords.
• There are no font or font size requirements – be creative.
• See examples below. Please note that these examples DO NOT include the elements of this assignment they are just simply examples of how infographics could look.

Your infographic for Option #1 (Scholarly Journal Articles in Psychology) should include a summary of the main sections of your research:

• Topic
• Source/Article
• Purpose
• Participants
• Methods
• Results
• Limitations
• Connections to Course

Your infographic for Option #2 (Careers in Psychology) should include a summary of the main sections of your research:

• Introduction
• Job description & Work Environment
• Required Education
• Required Skills
• Earnings
• Job Outlook
• Connection to Course
• Informational Interview From Someone in the Field
• Source

How to create your infographic?

You can use any program you like to create your infographic (such as Microsoft Word, Powerpoint), but here also some free infographic maker programs that may be helpful:

• https:// class=”screenreader-only”> (Links to an external site.)
• Note: To use these programs you will need to create an account but the program is free (for the basic version).

Submission:

Once your infographic is completed you will submit it to this discussion. Please use the instructions in the link toembed your infographic (Links to an external site.)into the discussion so your classmates will not have to download it. Again, see examples below where I have posted examples of infographics.

• Please make sure that the first box of the dimensions section is not greater than 600.

Note: For this assignment you do not have to respond to classmates post, but I strongly encourage it to show support for your classmates final projects and help them know that their infographics were viewed.

Rubric (click on button above to see more details about the rubric):

You will be graded on a similar rubric as our active learning assignments (except again you will not be graded on responding to classmates). Here are the categories for the rubric:

• Responsiveness to assignment and application of course (5 points)
  • All final project components are addressed in the infographic. The infographic presents: Option #1 – The main points of the Topic, Source/Article, Purpose, Participants, Methods, Results, Limitations and Connections to the Course.Option #2 – Introduction, Job description & Work Environment, Required Education, Required Skills, Earnings, Job Outlook, Informational Interview From Someone in the Field, and sources. The student understands significant ideas relevant to the assignment and information and knowledge is accurate and relates directly to the course.
• Core Organization & Clarity (5 points)
  • The infographic was a concise summary of the topic. The infographic is well- structured; its organization contributes to its purpose. Content is clearly arranged so that the viewer can understand order without narration. The research is clearly stated and technical content is well ordered for clarity
• Content & Visual Appeal (5 points)
  • Overall the infographic is visually appealing, engaging and not cluttered. The presentation is creative and original. The use of graphics makes the message “come alive” and enhance the text content.

Again, Your Initial Post is Due Sunday, April 12th by 11:59 pm