Thanks so much. At 06:46 PM 1/5/2009, you wrote:
>Here you go, Mark. Hope your students like it (or as surprised) as >much as mine. > >On Mon, Jan 5, 2009 at 6:36 PM, Mark A. Casteel ><<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]> wrote: > > >Hi Beth. Since you so kindly offered, I would appreciate receiving a >copy of your Do Perfect Parents Make Perfect Children" class >exercise. I'm always looking for new/unique activities in my dev >psych class that makes the students think. > >--- Mark > > >At 05:17 PM 1/5/2009, you wrote: > >>I've found Malcolm Gladwell's newest book, Outliers, as fascinating >>as his earlier books. In past years, I've used "Do Perfect Parents >>Make Perfect Children?" (from The Tipping Point), as a classroom >>exercise, often as an icebreaker in Child Psychology and Human >>Development. (Feel free to email me if you'd like this >>exercise. I have students break into groups and choose which >>answers they think, as a group, are correct about specific >>parenting practices that they agree are likely to produce children >>with better grades in grade school. Things like taking the child to >>museums, reading to the child, the child being adopted, etc. Then I >>go over the "real" answers - according to statistical findings - >>and give students the book's explanation. I have put it in two >>Word documents - one a questionnaire for students and the other >>with the "correct answers," with credit given to the author.) >> >>Gladwell has made some interesting claims in this new book that >>factors that contribute to successful outcomes in life may be more >>dependent on things like birth dates, ethnic persuasion, etc. The >>section I'm considering using is the claim that Canadian ice hockey >>players are more likely to be born in the first few months of the >>calendar year. I'll probably follow the same method as above, >>breaking students into groups to examine the roster I'll hand out, >>then giving them Gladwell's explanation. >> >>I printed up and attached one of the rosters he includes in his >>book: the roster for the Medicine Hat Tigers. I've also printed up >>his explanation from the book. But this time, I decided to do some >>sleuthing of my own, and found that ol' Malcolm might have selected >>the team rosters that best fit his theory. (Gee, nobody in >>psychology ever does that.) When I looked at the 2009 IIHF World >>Junior Championship (played on Christmas Eve, 2008), I found that >>out of three Canadian teams I looked at, this outlier dispersion >>didn't seem quite so prominent. 41 out of the 70 players were born >>from April 1st on, and 22 of the 70 players were born after June >>30th. True, out of 70 players, only one was born in December. I >>think that after students have examined the Medicine Hat Tigers >>roster, then gone over Gladwell's explanation, I will hand out a >>few of the other rosters to show that critical thinking is also >>important and we may need to be wary of quick claims which may not >>be quite as impressive as they're touted to be. >> >>I've attached all three handouts. Feel free to use them if you >>think they'd work in your classroom. (Again, I gave credit to >>Malcolm Gladwell, of course.) >> >>I'd also be interested in thoughts from our Canadian brethren about >>the concept of early birthdates being helpful to hockey >>success. Stephen, Chris? >> >>Beth Benoit >>Granite State College >>New Hampshire >> >> >>-- >>"We will not learn how to live in peace by killing each other's >>children." - Jimmy Carter >>"Are our children more precious than theirs?" >> >> >>--- >> >>To make changes to your subscription contact: >> >> >>Bill Southerly (<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]) >>Content-Type: >>application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document; >> name="outliers - student handout.docx" >>X-Attachment-Id: f_fplne2an0 >>Content-Disposition: attachment; >> filename="outliers - student handout.docx" >> >>Content-Type: >>application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document; >> name="outliers - student handout 2.docx" >>X-Attachment-Id: f_fplnrrjj1 >>Content-Disposition: attachment; >> filename="outliers - student handout 2.docx" >> >>Content-Type: >>application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document; >> name="outliers - explanation from book.docx" >>X-Attachment-Id: f_fplomu7z2 >>Content-Disposition: attachment; >> filename="outliers - explanation from book.docx" > > >********************************* >Mark A. Casteel, Ph.D. >Associate Professor of Psychology >Penn State York >1031 Edgecomb Ave. >York, PA 17403 >(717) 771-4028 >********************************* > > >--- > >To make changes to your subscription contact: > > >Bill Southerly (<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]) > > > >-- >"We will not learn how to live in peace by killing each other's >children." - Jimmy Carter >"Are our children more precious than theirs?" > >--- >To make changes to your subscription contact: > >Bill Southerly ([email protected]) >Content-Type: application/msword; > name="Do Perfect Parents - answers.doc" >X-Attachment-Id: f_fpls4ou70 >Content-Disposition: attachment; > filename="Do Perfect Parents - answers.doc" > >Content-Type: application/msword; > name="Do Perfect Parents make Perfect Children.doc" >X-Attachment-Id: f_fpls5zlz1 >Content-Disposition: attachment; > filename="Do Perfect Parents make Perfect Children.doc" ********************************* Mark A. Casteel, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Penn State York 1031 Edgecomb Ave. York, PA 17403 (717) 771-4028 ********************************* --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
