I'm with Martin. I know that most of my students will not become psychologists but I think it helps their overall thinking to think like a (scientific) psychologist. So I do all the bells and whistles of APA style. There are some good papers out there on APA as epistemology and anything that can make the students better thinkers works for me.
Of course, that's not to say that some of the shorter assignments can't accomplish that goal as well. I'm just saying that for me, at least, I feel as if I accomplish the goal much better for my students. Annette Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 619-260-4006 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---- Original message ---- >Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:57:57 -0400 >From: "Bourgeois, Dr. Martin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: RE: [tips] class papers >To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> > >It sounds like I'm in a minority, but in every class I teach I have them write >a term paper in APA style describing a small group research project. When the >focus of the course is on research (e.g., experimental psychology or research >methods) I have them write two papers; one is based on a class project and >they write it one section at a time, and the other is based on their group >project. My philosophy is that a project like this gives them experience doing >what psychologists do. > >________________________________________ >From: Gerald Peterson [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 11:46 AM >To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) >Subject: [tips] class papers > > I teach Experimental (this semester), Social, Personality, and labs in Social > psych and also in Personality, and a class on Scientific Foundations of > Psych. In social psych I note how I hate traditional term papers. I want > them to demonstrate proficiency in understanding and using social psych. I > developed a paper assignment where they do a social psych analysis of some > event or experience (news events, personal situations dealing with groups, > gangs, families, etc.). They can only use our text and must demonstrate or > show me the operation of various social psych principles. The other option > is for them to develop a proposal using social psych to resolve or deal with > a social problem--racial conflict, drug problems, etc. I have found these > papers to be valuable. This paper is not in apa format and does not use > library research. The only text they can use is the one assigned in our > class. > >In each of the labs the students complete a couple of hands-on projects using >friends, family,classmates, etc., to gather data and then analyze and write >these up in apa format. The emphasis is to give them further practice in apa >format and reporting particular to the class. In Experimental they complete >an actual study using our Gen. Psych pool, and must develop, design, analyze, >and write up the report plus present it in a dept. poster session at the end >of the term. In the Scientific Foundations class, (intended to prepare them >for Experimental), they complete a review of the literature and are introduced >to basic apa formatting and elementary understanding of experimental and >correlational research. Gary > >Gerald L. (Gary) Peterson, Ph.D. >Professor, Psychology >Saginaw Valley State University >University Center, MI 48710 >989-964-4491 >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >--- >To make changes to your subscription contact: > >Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > >--- >To make changes to your subscription contact: > >Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
