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ClassroomActivitiesGeneral Activities'This is where you would type information'' Psychology Book Club You will participate in two different book clubs over the course of the semester. Book Club A will meet three times during the first half of the semester; Book Club B will meet three times during the second half of the semester. Book Clubs will organize around a list of non-fiction books written by psychologists and other informed authors for non-expert audiences. Each Book Club will be limited to three people, though multiple groups could potentially read the same book. Members from your Book Club will collectively decide on the reading assignments for each discussion session (e.g., "We’ll read the first five of the fifteen chapters for the first discussion…"). Each group member will facilitate a discussion of the book for one entire class session. The facilitator will prepare a discussion facilitation; facilitators should hand in their facilitation plan to me at the end of discussion period. The group members /not/facilitating a particular discussion will come prepared to engage fully in the discussion (come prepared with your own insights, questions, and enthusiasm). Group members will evaluate each others’contributions to the group. * *Within 24 hours of the discussion section, complete the provided evaluation sheet. Although one person will facilitate each session, all group members are expected to contribute fully to each discussion. Imagine yourself sitting down with friends to discuss a fascinating book of interest to all of you. Engage with the ideas presented in the book and engage with each other. You will spend a total of three hours talking about this book; as such, you all need to take responsibility for keeping the discussion fresh and lively, finding ways of pulling in new ideas and experiences, and committing to a deep and full discussion of the ideas (students sometimes complain that these sorts of books get repetitive near the end -- a disciplined rigor will help you optimize the quality of these discussions). Prior to the first Book Club meeting, we will discuss the qualities of a solid facilitation plan, strong discussion questions, and strategies for keeping the discussion fresh and lively. Pseudoscience Activity Astrological Signs --submitted by David Sedghi Los Angeles City College davidsedghi@aol.com-- During intros I find out each students astrological sign and hand them an envelope with their corresponding sign. They are instructed to keep the envelope sealed until the last few minutes of class. Once we work our way through intros I instruct the students to open their envelope and privately read their respective horoscopes. Then I take a straw poll of whether they felt their horoscope was relevant to their lives. Each time that I have done this I have gotten an overwhelming response that it does apply to their lives. Then I ask one student to read their horoscope out loud so the class can hear. It reads like this..... "A period of greater social involvement - especially with neighbors and brothers or sisters - sets in now. Learning and teaching seems to satisfy an important need. You have endured many challenges in your time and this period in your life will bring more. Being more in touch with other people gives you a sense of belonging and the confidence to overcome any challenge. You are a passionate person with many gifts to share. Do not let the challenges you face destroy these gifts and your ability to share them. Circumstances may affect you in a very direct manner. The great wheel of change may appear to move at a snail's pace or grind to a halt. This is a time during which everything you do may seem more difficult and require great effort. Look to others to give you ideal support." What you probably guessed is that all the horoscopes read the same way. The class gets a big kick out of getting shammed and then I go into an introduction of science vs pseudoscience. Let me know what you think or how I could expand on it!!! This is where you would make your edits. Peer Review Rubric Submitted by Missa Murry Eaton, Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University mae14@psu.edu Peer reviewing is an important process in psychological science. As researchers, we conduct studies and write up our results, and in order to publish our results, we submit them to peer-reviewed journals. Typically three of our peers, others who are familiar with the specific subfield we study, will review our manuscripts submitted for publication. An editor of the journal will receive the manuscripts, ensure anonymity, and select the reviewers. Then the editor collects the reviews and returns them to the authors of the manuscripts, also ensuring the anonymity of the reviewers. For this iteration you as the authors will submit your manuscripts to me. Then, you will act as the reviewers, and I will act as the editor. Your grade on this iteration is derived from your reviews of others' work, not the reviews of your work. You will be assigned to review two manuscripts. You must review them and return your reviews on time to qualify for ANY points. If you are late, you will receive NO points, and your colleagues will not have the benefit of your comments, which they will use to improve their paper for the Final Paper (Iteration 8). I hope you will take your responsibility seriously and give it the attention it deserves. On Tuesday, November 28th, you will have access to two papers in a folder entitled Manuscripts to Review. You must submit your reviews in the appropriate ANGEL dropbox, and your reviews must follow the assignment format (see next page). Assignment Format This will be done in memo format. Keep in mind that your review is constructive feedback for your colleague. Your goal is to help them make it better for the final paper. Begin with a paragraph that summarizes what they have accomplished with the paper. This is a paragraph that should let the editor know that you have read the paper and understood the goal of the writer. Your second paragraph should focus on the strengths of the paper, in other words, what you feel the author did well. Your third paragraph should focus on the weaknesses of the paper, particularly in areas where the author could improve the work to make it more readable, understandable, and informative. Unlike your manuscript, your review should be SINGLE-spaced. Your review will probably be 1.5 to 2 pages long per review, but feel free to comment more if it is warranted. You will turn in your two reviews in separate files. This will require you to submit twice. Please ensure that you submit both reviews and not the same one twice. Naming the review files the manuscript number will be helpful to the editor, me. Format of your review TO: Editor FROM: Reviewer #________ [Do not put your name on your review, only your assigned number] RE: Manuscript # ________, entitled "__________" [Use only the manuscript number and title] Begin your review here. Refer to the writer of the manuscript as "the author." Be as clear and direct as possible..." Critical ThinkingPlease see critical thinking articles Books & Articles History of PsychologyResearch MethodsBasic Worksheet on Experiment and Correlation Submitted by Amy Sweetman amysweetman@earthlink.net Los Angeles City College Experiment (Independent and Dependent Variable Worksheet) Correlation ( What’s the relationship) Find the Independent and Dependent Variables in the following scenarios 1. Dr. Baldwin studies the effects of marijuana on memory she designs an experiment where half the group is receiving THC ( the active ingredient in Marijuana) and the other group gets oregano. The subjects are all given the same list of words to study while they are smoking the substances. Recall is tested 1 hour later. 2. A test was designed to test the effects of alcohol on motor coordination group one was given a mixed drink with two shots of alcohol in it. Group two was given a mixed drink with one shot of alcohol in it. Then their motor coordination was tested by asking them to do a series of balancing exercises. 3. A study was conducted on sleep deprivation and cognitive performance on a problem solving test. One group of subjects was deprived of 1 hour of sleep, the other group of subjects was deprived of 4 hours of sleep. Then they were given the problem solving test. 4. A recent report found that blueberries enhanced the maze running performance of mice. What was the independent variable and dependent variable of this experiment? 5.We are studying whether or not a new vitamin supplement helps boost memory retention. What is th IV and DV? 6. If I wished to try a new cooperative teaching method and I wanted to study how effective it is compared to the standard lecture method. How would I design my experiment? Answer the Correlation questions 1. There was a -.85 relationship between the amount of exercise people do and their weight. What does this mean? 2. It has been found that the more control people have over their work environments, the more productive they are. What type of correlation would this be? 3. A study found that the less drugs people do the higher their grade point average, what type of correlation would this be? 4. A study found that the more people sleep, the younger they are. This is an example of what type of correlation? 5. If a +.55 relationship was found between variable A and variable B what would this mean? 6. Research has found that the bigger the credit line a bank offers, the more money people owe. This is an example of a ________________ correlation., 7. If I found a correlation coefficient of.-75 between variables A and Variables B what would this mean? Biological PsychologyPicture Brain Function Submitted by Amy Sweetman amysweetman@earthlink.net Divide students into groups of 4 Give all students basic brain part function descriptions- or have them use the text book. Give each group 2 brain parts and have them draw a picture that represents the functions of the 2 brain parts that they have up on the board- allow approximately 15-20 minutes to do this. Then have students guess what brain part each picture represents. This is a good segway into right and left hemisphere lateralization research http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/jeopardy.html Neurojeopardy game created by Eric Chudler for the Neuroscience for Kids Website http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/hunt6.html Scavenger hunt created by Eric Chudler for the Neuroscience for Kids Website http://www.intropsychresources.com/brainawarenessweekbrochure.htm Assignment in which students must create a brochure to help educate the public in honor of Brain Awareness Week http://www.intropsychresources.com/internetscavengerhuntbio.htm A scavenger hunt where students look for answers to the questions by going to various websites. Sensation and PerceptionStates of ConsciousnessLearningMemoryThe impact of word use on memory retrieval submitted by Steven Specht sspecht@utica.edu Utica College (Note: The origins of the basic exercise can not be readily attributed to the primary source--it is similar to the work of Elizabeth Loftus, however the novel suggestion of using the film New Jack City was posed by Steven Specht) I show the opening scene from the movieNew Jack City, in this scene the focal point is a man being held over the side of a bridge about to be dropped into the river below as a result of a drug deal gone bad. I then distribute a short questionnaire (4 questions) asking students about their recall of facts of the movie scene. For the third question, I ask, "What is your estimate of the age of the woman who was screaming in the video?" However, for half of the class, the word "Woman" is replaced by the word "girl". This exercise may show the effect of language and questioning style on memory retrieval. Students tend to guess an average of age 23 when the female is referred to as a girl and 29 when the female is referred to as a woman. Intelligence and cognitionLife Span DevelopmentSubmitted by M. Liz Wright melissa.wright@victoriacollege.edu- Victoria College Topic: Emotional Development Background to read: You have been asked to teach a class for soon-to-be parents. The topic of your class is emotions. What five topics would you want to discuss – what do you think are the five most important areas that parents should know about? Why do you feel that way? After your lecture over those five things, you are supposed to give at least 10 suggestions for rearing an emotionally competent child. What are your 10 suggestions? What to do: 1. Create an essay that includes your five topic areas, explains these five areas, and describes why you think they are important. Be sure to spell and grammar check your essay. After you have done that, post it on WebCT in the Emotion Lecture folder. While you are in that folder, be sure to read others’ essays and comment on them. 2. Create a list of the 10 suggestions you would give. Type up your list, spell check it, and grammar check it as well. Post it on WebCT in the Emotional Competence folder. View others’ lists and see what is the same and what is different. PersonalityGender and SexualityGrowing Up with Homosexual Parents Submitted by Steven Walfish, Ph.D. psychpubs@aol.com I have an exercise that I used in Psychology of Adjustment when discussing parenting. I have students break up into small groups and discuss how their lives would be similar/different if instead of being raised by a mom and a dad that they were raised by two dads or two moms (or if they were raised by two moms or dads being raised by heterosexual parents) I ask them to focus on the effects of having gay parents on psychological adjustment and their own sexual preference. We then come back as a large group and discuss their impressions. I then present them the data on the APA Task Force on the effects of growing up with gay parents which demonstrates no negative psychological effects and no greater incidence of being gay. It is interesting to compare their impressions, fears, and prejudices with the actual data. If there are students in the class who have been raised by gay parents they will often chime in on the discussion and this helps to "make it real." This is usually a lively class session. Using Vagina Monologues Submitted by Soni Verma Sierra College Sverma@sierracollege.edu Sometimes I have shown the video in class and asked students to write a response to it. It is powerful but lengthy.Sometimes I ask them to watch the play and write a reation paper to it for extra credit.However the best way to integrate this work in the sex class is to ask the students the same questions that Eve asks in the play and read the annonymous responses in class.Foe example If your penis/vagina could talk to you what would it say to you?This activity really breaks the ice when we talk about male and female anatomy. Submitted by M. Liz Wright melissa.wright@victoriacollege.edu- Topic: Positive marital relationships Ahhhh love…Love is an important topic in this chapter. Once you’ve read the information on love in the chapter, answer the following questions. - All of us have what we call an “ideal mate schema.” Knowing what you know about schemas, write a short essay describing what is in your ideal mate schema. What does your ideal mate do, say, behave like, appreciate, etc? - How does love work do you think? How do we fall in love with someone? Why do you think we fall out of love sometimes? - Once you have met someone that you wish to remain with, what can you do to keep your relationship/marriage going well? What to do: 1. Create a list of at least 10 things that spouses should do (or not do) in order to build and maintain a positive marriage. In a short essay (2-3 paragraphs) discuss why these things should be done or not done. Post the list and the short essay on WebCT in the Marriage Rules folder. 2. Investigate Dr. Gary Chapman’s website (http://www.garychapman.org ). You want to pay special attention to the information on Love Languages. Take the Love Languages questionnaire (http://www.fivelovelanguages.com/30sec.html ), and read about the five different Love Languages that Dr. Chapman hypothesizes. Do you agree or disagree with his ideas? Why do you agree/disagree? How useful is the information presented on his website? Answer these questions in a short essay (2-3 paragraphs) and post it on WebCT in the Dr. Chapman folder. Motivation and EmotionHealth and StressHolmes-Rahe Readjustment Scale (available online)Activity --submitted by Kara Trosinski MSCAS Vanderbuilt University I have student's complete the Holmes-Rahe Readjustment Scale (available online). We do a hand-count to determine where the majority of the class is falling in the 3 ranges. Quite often (due to school, work, family, etc.) the majority of my students are very stressed! It is a quick and easy way to gain student's attention, help them relate to the topic on a personal level, and to open up discussion on topics such as: stress, changes, risk factors, coping, etc. It also helps students to see that stress is not always caused by negative events, but positive events too! If my student population is a little older and have children, I will provide them with the Holmes-Rahe Readjustment Scale that is designed for individuals under the age of 18 (Children and yound adults feel stress too!). Submitted by Amy Sweetman amysweetman@earthlink.net Conflict Worksheet Label the type of conflict that each scenario represents. Approach/Approach Avoidance/Avoidance Approach/Avoidance Multiple Approach/Avoidance conflict
Abnormal Psychologyhttp://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/depression/depression_intro.html Jigsaw Activity on Depression Are you Blue? What do you do? TherapySocial Psychologyhttp://www.sciencecases.org/racism/racism.asp Case study activity on unintensional racism |