All -
Okay, how about some help on a genuinely teaching of psychology
related problem? I got a request for a letter of recommendation from a
student who apparently didn't take my hints that I wouldn't be able to write
her a helpful letter. She is applying for a local program with which I want
to maintain good relations (in fact, I have a degree from the program, and
have good relations with some of the faculty).
The problem with the student is twofold. First, she had an unusual
amount of difficulty coming up with a true experiment for her independent
project in Experimental Psychology: she wanted to compare normal and
abnormal populations, and as far as I know, NEVER came to understand why
that didn't meet the requirements for a true experiment. She didn't take the
course from me, but I consulted quite a bit with the course instructor
during that semester, and during the following semester (when the student in
question tried to make corrections to remove the incomplete that she
received in the course). In addition, she was very resistant to our feedback
about the problem.
The second part of the problem is that she had a very difficult time
working with other students, and in fact as president of the psychology
student group, caused the temporary disbanding of that group. There were a
number of her problems in her behavior, and though I wasn't the faculty
advisor to the group, I heard quite a bit about the problem. I have no doubt
but that the problem was entirely the result of this student's misbehavior.
As a result, I have to write her a letter in which I tell her that I
can't write her a letter of recommendation. I've never had to do that
before, and I'm concerned about exactly what I am and am not allowed to say.
Here's what I have so far. What do you think?
============
I got your request for a letter of recommendation for graduate
school. I have to tell you that I don't feel very comfortable writing such a
letter, for two reasons. The first reason is the significant difficulty that
you had with the Experimental Psychology independent project, which would
require me to watch my words very carefully when talking about your research
skills. The second reason is the significant social interaction problems in
the operation of the Psych Forum group, which would prevent me from saying
anything sufficiently positive about your skills in that area.
I want to be clear about what I'm saying and why I'm saying it. You
did demonstrate some research abilities in my courses, particularly in
Behavioral Science Research Methods and in Probability and Statistics. You
also demonstrated some ability to work with theory, in the Lifespan
Development course. Were that my only familiarity with your performance, I
could write a letter, though that would not be much to go on for a graduate
school recommendation (which usually requires comment on upper-level work as
well). However, my awareness of the later problems mean that any letter that
I wrote would be clearly tentative. Graduate admissions committees expect
letters of recommendation that are without reservations, and my reservations
would be apparent. Such a letter would not be helpful to you in your
pursuit.
My best advice to you is to pursue letters from faculty whose
upper-level courses you took, and in which you had solid performances. If
you still need a third letter after those, an OCEL supervisor would be an
excellent choice.
Paul Smith
10/10/01
============
(Incidentally "OCEL" is our acronym for the required internship experience)
There are a few other issues besides these (such as some
inappropriate requests in her request for a letter of recommendation), but I
don't want to come across as attacking the student.
Paul Smith
Alverno College
Milwaukee
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