PSYCH 6205 Fall 2017
Advances and Developments in Social Psychology
Fridays 12-12:50, Bartlett 34
Helen C. Harton, Ph.D., Professor
Office hours: Wed 1:30-3, Fri. 11-11:50
Course description:
This course is what is often referred to as a “brownbag” course or series. Students and faculty from UNI and elsewhere will do presentations of research broadly related to social psychology. The research projects may be completed or in progress. Presentations may also take the form of discussions of research articles or statistical or methodological techniques.
Course objectives:
In this course you will:
1. Gain important skills in listening and responding to research discussions;
2. Learn more about research in social psychology and other areas;
2. Be exposed to methods and areas of inquiry from other disciplines;
3. Become better able to critique research ideas and design; and
4. Practice doing research presentations and working with other students.
Student expectations:
1. Students are expected to come to and participate in each class session. Participation entails listening critically and responding to the information presented by offering helpful suggestions, observations, and critiques. If there is not good and fairly equal participation, I reserve the right to start requiring thought papers for each class. These papers would be 1-2 pages of critical analysis of the material presented.
2. One or more articles or chapters (assigned by the presenter) should be read and understood by all prior to each session. You should come prepared to discuss the readings and whatever other topics the speaker addresses. It’s disrespectful to the speaker to do otherwise (plus, you’re not going to learn as much or enjoy the discussion as much).
3. Students are also expected to make at least one presentation per semester. Check with me at least 2 weeks ahead of time on your planned topic.
4. Students doing presentations must assign relevant background reading one week before the presentation.
5. You may be asked to attend presentations on campus. You’ll need to write up a one- to two-page summary and commentary on the talk or talks you attended (including who it was, title of the talk, date, and location) and turn it in within 2 weeks of the talk. You may also discuss the talk and your reactions to it at a class session. Check with me to make sure that the presentations you’re considering will count for this assignment.
Grading criteria:
Students who give thoughtful, relevant presentations, read the assigned articles, participate effectively, and fulfill the other course requirements will pass the course. If you do not perform adequately in one or more of these areas, you will be assigned an incomplete until you complete other assignments (as determined at the time) related to your areas of deficiency.
You may miss one class for good reason (e.g., illness, conference presentation), but if you do, you will be required to read and complete written critiques of 3 social psychological articles from major journals on the topic to be discussed that day (for research presentations; about 2 pages each). You can substitute one related academic talk (online or in person) for one of the articles if you wish. Yes, this assignment might take longer than it would for you to prepare for and come to class, but the idea is to encourage class attendance. You’ll get more out of presentations you come to and actively participate in than from just reading articles. These alternative assignments should be turned in within one week.
Types of
presentations:
Individual presentations: Once each semester, you’ll do an individual presentation. First year students should present their first year project sometime in the first year (i.e., one of the two semesters, but not both), and second year students, their thesis. Other presentation topics could include research projects that you have done or are currently working on as well as discussions of areas of research (e.g., the actor-observer effect, stereotypes of criminals) or statistical/methodological techniques. Presentations should include some PowerPoint, but may be more or less formal. They should include literature review and must cover more than 1-2 articles.
Discussions: There may also be a couple of classes per semester where you are asked to discuss research from talks or conferences you attended. You are expected to be able to clearly summarize and critique the talk or talks you attended and ask pertinent questions of others.
Comments on
discussion, plagiarism, etc.:
1. Don’t be afraid to speak up in class. Participating actively in class will help you develop important critical thinking skills as well as help you become a better and more comfortable communicator. There are no bad questions or comments (although there are off topic ones—try to minimize those).
2. Plagiarism and cheating: You should adequately cite your sources on PowerPoint slides and in your presentations. You should not use another’s words on your slide or in your presentation without proper attribution. See the UNI Student Academic Ethics Policy for more details.
For the talk
schedule, check out:
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