Working Together – Working ‘Smart’ | My Assignment Tutor

Working Together – Working ‘Smart’How to Get the Most Out of Your CoursePenny HyamsGETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOURCOURSE!Some Ground Rules for Our ClassShare ideas about how you want your class to run!Some suggestions to get you going…1. Join the class on time whenever possible – it can be disruptive for othersif key information needs to be repeated for late arrivals.2. Share your questions with everyone – others might be wondering aboutthe same issue… (no questions on the topic irrelevant, or too trivial!)3. Always respect others – unless an idea is offensive or sociallyunacceptable (your Tutor will intervene then) give your peersopportunities to air their views, ask questions etc.4. Don’t ‘shoot the messenger’– criticize the idea rather than the personpresenting it!Core Course TextsKey Reading Resources that you will need for this course:Boyd, D., Bee, B. (2019). Lifespan Development. (8th ed.). London:Pearson.Hogg, M. A., & Vaughan, G. M. (2013). Social Psychology (7th ed.). London:Prentice Hall.Copies of these texts are available via EBSCO and Ebook Central.Expanding and Enriching Your ReadingYou can widen your reading, and increase your knowledge of both topicsand research practices in Psychology using peer reviewed journals.For example:1. British Journal of Developmental Psychology.2. Child Development.3. British Journal of Social Psychology.4. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.Structure of the CourseDevelopmental Psychology• Historical Background & Definition• Some key issues and debates arounddevelopment• Human Life before birth• Development in The Early Years• Physical changes• Sensory and perceptual development• Childhood and adolescentdevelopment• Growing and ageingSocial Psychology• Historical Development, Context andDefinition of social psychology.• Links with other disciplines.• How Social influence affects ourbehavior, cognitions, affect etc.• How people behave, think etc. wheninteracting in groups.• How Groups of individuals interact withother groups.• The Role of Social Psychologists Whatdo social psychologists actually do?This Course will introduce you to two ‘pillars’ or sub-disciplinesof Psychology over 12 sessions. It will cover key themes, issuesand debates in these topics.Working Together• Developmental Psychologist LevVygotsky suggested that people learnmost in interaction with moreknowledgeable others.• Learning takes place in a Zone ofProximal Development.• All of you will bring unique knowledge,experience and skills to this Course,and gain expertise in your own interestswithing the Course.• As you read the course materials andreflect upon your learning, you will alsodevelop unique insights into to topics.• You are all more knowledgeable othersin one topic or situation!Discussion ForumsShare what you know regularly with your group using the DiscussionForums:a. Harness the benefits of others’ knowledge, perspectives and experiencefrom their posts.b. Test your understanding with others.Sharing can also reduce any anxiety you may feel about writingassessments.Discussion Etiquette1. To foster a safe learning environment, we need to be respectful of eachothers views and beliefs.2. When posting on forums please do so in a professional and collegiateway.3. We are all here to support each other in the learning journey, and careis needed not to undermine others who might support us too.Module AssessmentThe assessment structure for this module will include:1. A 2000 word Essay (50 marks)2. A Narrated Powerpoint (using Audio file).You can find details of the requirements on iLearn ‘My Assessment’ tab.Everyone will have their preferred way of working, but I recommend that youstart early!Supporting Your Assignment preparation:1. You can submit a draft essay for feedback by the 10th May 2020. I willendeavour to return feedback in a few days.2. The last two Lessons of the module will be devoted to revision andissues relating to your Assignment writing.3. Feel free to email me (phyams@arden.ac.uk) outside of class times withspecific questions. Please remember that it is hard to respondconstructively to ‘I don’t understand anything about Topic X’……EXPLORING ORIGINAL RESEARCHREPORTS (JOURNAL ARTICLES)Contents1. Introduction: What is the Role &Importance of Original Sources?2. Why Do We Need to Use Journal Articlesto support Academic writing?3.Three Types of Journal Article.4. Structure of Journal Articles (Section bySection…).Why Do Psychology Students Need to Read These?• New Scientific research is typically published in peerreviewed academic journals.• They offer reliable and valid evidence because theirprovenance, procedures and the inferences of theresearchers have been independently examined.• Secondary sources (reports of reports by othercommentators) are not always peer-reviewed,especially content of online ‘student-orientated’websites.• Thus secondary sources can be unreliable, or notspeak to the particular point you are researching foryour assignment.Pragmatic Reasons for Reading Original Journal Articles• The literature reviews (Introduction) in Journal articles can provide a‘compass’ for identifying the most important research in a field.• Together with the Discussion section, they can help you to evaluate abody of research in critical terms – often a Coursework requirement.• Don’t be deterred by ‘esoteric’ language – every research field and/orMethodology has one.• Try to view their interpretation as an ‘investment’. Patience inunscrambling this can be very rewarding later in your course when thetime pressures will increase.• Journal articles may be initially less accessible to new students ofPsychology, but most are well written in a ‘Scientific’ writing style (usefulfor you in developing your own reporting skills).• You can gain greater (assignment) credit for your work if you demonstrateengagement with original research – sometimes you may even berequired to do this to pass your AssignmentSome Key Types of Journal Article:Original Research ReportsAn Empirical Research Report will communicate original researchfindings.These may come from quantitative or qualitative studies in Psychology.Empirical research is based on observed and measured phenomena andderives knowledge from human experience/activity rather than theory orbelief.How to Recognise an Empirical StudyTitle: APA style indicates that the main title should clearly and concisely (inabout 12 words or fewer) communicate the primary variables and researchquestions – this may be succeeded by a longer sub-title.Abstract: This is a brief summary of the research which appear after thetitle. It is likely to provide information on topic, methods, key findings and theimplications of those.Sections: Commonly Abstract, (Topic) Introduction, Methods, Results,Discussion (of Results) & ReferencesSome Key Types of Journal Article – Meta-AnalysesThese are broadly ‘studies of studies’ looking for general trends in a field of research.Useful when there are a large number of studies reporting on the same topic/issue over time.A metanalysis will review eligible studies, using statistical procedures to collate and ‘average’ thelevel of effects, providing an overall picture of the field at that time.They can be useful in assignment writing when you need an initial overview of a field of researchthat you are exploring.Example: The relationship between children watching media violence and producing aggressivebehavior.One study (Anderson et al., 2010) examined effects from over 130 research reports based on over130,000 participants, concluding that violent video game play is positively associated withaggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, and aggressive affect, as well as negatively associatedwith empathy for victims of violence and with prosocial behavior.Some Key Types of Journal Article: Theoretical Review &Philosophical Papers• The purpose of these includes explorations of theoretical assumptions andconstructs often built upon prior empirical research.• It may discuss an emerging or contentious topic from a particular topicse.g. behaviourist approaches to motivation.• These do not directly report empirical studies, although they may discussthem.• Some Journals somewhat ‘specialise’ in the publication of this genre,others may have special issues dealing with theoretical debates in theirfield of interest.• It is not unusual for senior researchers in a field to be invited to submitreviews of their field, major developments of a topic etc.READING EMPIRICAL RESEARCHREPORTSThe Abstract• A brief, structured summary of the report’s contents.• They vary in design (often in response to the Journal’s own publicationguidelines.• Typically that report on the topic/issue, methodology, summarise the mainresults and indicate the broader relevance of the study to the field ofresearch.• Abstracts can offer a quick means of assessing the relevance of thearticle’s contents to the focus of your research or writing.• There are various data-bases (e.g. PubMed, PsychInfo) that will allowaccess to abstracts where the articles themselves are subscription only –you can then decide whether it is worth your time and effort to read thewhole paper.The Introduction• Introductions explain why the research was undertaken.• This is a ‘funnel-shaped section, commencing at a high level of generalityabout the topic area, and narrowing down progressively towards preciseresearch questions and/or hypothesis.• Introductions are a valuable resource for understanding key issues anddevelopments in a field of research, central constructs, debates andcontroversies.• They also express points succinctly and often elegantly – this can helpyou understand a field – and recall the information!• They are often written with reference to one of the main ‘style’ guides foracademic writing e.g. APA-Style.• This can help you develop your own expression skills, clarity of thinkingetc.Methodology• This section explains how the researchers conducted the research.• It will probably say something about the participants, testing apparatus,study design, procedures, variables, data collection techniques etc. –depending upon what approach has been adopted.• You can compare these with other research into the same topic or field.• The information in this section is central to developing a critical analysis ofa study – both in terms of its strengths & limitations• Think about why it was conducted that way – and how it could be donedifferently.• You may also think about the ethical implications of the study’s design,use of vulnerable participants etc.Results• .The focus here is upon what you found in your study/experiment.• This section will be more concise in an experimental study, and possiblythe longest part of a qualitative study.• In a quantitative study, findings are most likely to be expressed usingdescriptive (e.g. mean) and inferential statistics(e.g. correlationcoefficients, probability statistics).• It is less common to find reports of studies where statistical significancewas not found for any variable under study.Discussion• This may start by reiterating key results e.g. were hypotheses supported?• This is typically funnel shaped, commencing with the results of your study.• The next (typically longer) portion of this section discusses what theresearchers think these results mean in terms of the broader field ofinquiry in which they are working.• It is likely that the studies they discuss will have been reviewed in theIntroduction, so you can revert to that to refresh your memory if needed!• The final part usually notes the limitations of the existing study e.g. too fewparticipants, a design error.• It often concludes with suggestions about future research e.g. replicationwith a different population etc.• Some journals do have a separate ‘Conclusions’ section.References• These are a ‘goldmine’ for extending your literature research. The authorshave often ‘ranked’ them in the text so you can identify ‘ground-breaking’(seminal) studies for your piece of writing.THANK YOU