Assignments: Intro to Psych Studies 202
Dr. Sherri Lantinga | Dordt College | http://homepages.dordt.edu/~lantinga/IPS/index.html | Spring 2009
Reading Summary #1 (due January 16; worth 5 points): Read the Lantinga and Miller & Delaney excerpts, then for each reading write a one-sentence summary on an index card that answers this question: What does it mean to be human?
Professional Development paper (initial version due January 21; worth 10 points): Read this excerpt from Grossman & Parkinson (2002) on what professionalism means, then type a 300-400-word essay on where you are on the journey of becoming a professional. These questions can guide your thinking; give specific examples to support your assessment.
How do you perceive your own level of knowledge or expertise regarding human psychology (compared to a graduating senior)?
How do you perceive your ability to achieve results? How do you perceive your level of self-discipline?
How to you perceive your desire to serve others? to address problems and find solutions? your ability to work with others whose beliefs or values are different from your own?
How do you perceive yourself as a writer (e.g., what parts of the writing process do you most/least enjoy)?
PsycInfo Tutorial Quiz (due January 23; worth 12 points): This assignment helps you learn how to use PsycInfo, which is a computerized index of references to all professional journal articles, books, and other publications in psychology (and closely related fields) since 1879 or so. The format is the same as EbscoHost and other on-line, searchable databases.
Complete the on-line PsycInfo tutorial: go to the Library home page
on DENIS, go to Get Help and click Search Path tutorials. Choose Search Path
databases, then choose PsycInfo.
Take the quiz at the end
of the tutorial and print your results.
Using PsycInfo (you can access this directly from the Library home page), do a search with your last name in the "author" field and print the record for the most recent article with someone of your last name as an author. (If there are no records using your name, print the screen that says so).
Your quiz is worth 10 points (based on the percentage correct); your attached PsycInfo record is worth 2 points
Reading Summary #2 (due January 28; worth 5 points): Read the Vitz article on-line, then summarize on an index card each major school/theory in psychology and summary what Vitz believes a Catholic/Christian perspective can add to psychology.
Reading Summary #3 (due February 4; worth 15 points): After reading the Psychology entry in wikipedia, choose two of the Big Questions we discussed in class and consider what research methods in psychology you would use to answer those questions (feel free to break the questions down into more manageable parts). Also describe why you chose those particular methods over others. E-mail me your typed paper (roughly 1 page) by class time.
Professional Development Paper (final version - due by noon on May 5 either by e-mail or hard copy -- worth 50 points): Read the excerpt from Grossman & Parkinson (2002; on courses@dordt) about professionalism, then type a 2-3 page essay about your current standing as a developing professional. Use the questions below to guide your thinking; give specific examples to support your statements.
• How do you perceive your own level of knowledge or expertise regarding human psychology (compared to a graduating senior)? What has helped you develop this knowledge since the beginning of this semester?
• How do you perceive your current ability to achieve results? How do you perceive your level of self-discipline? In what ways have these changed and what has contributed to those changes since the beginning of the semester?
• How to you perceive your desire to serve others? to address problems and find solutions? your ability to work with others whose beliefs or values are different from your own? Again, reflect on changes and contributing factors since January.
Include an APA-style title page
Your paper will be evaluated based on the following rubric:
| Excellent | Satisfactory | Unsatisfactory | |
| Psych Knowledge | Insightful analysis of knowledge of human psychology compared to graduating senior; identifies contributing factors and uses specific examples to support statements | Analysis is absent or superficial; examples are missing or non-specific; contributing factors not identified or unrealistic | |
| Achieving Results & Self-Discipline | Thoughtful reflection on current ability to achieve results and engage in self-discipline; reflects on changes since January and contributing factors; specific examples used to support statements | Reflection is absent or superficial; examples missing or non-specific; contributing factors not identified or unrealistic | |
| Service, Solutions, Diversity | Thoughtful reflection on current desire for service, ability to identify and enact solutions, and appreciation of people with different background or beliefs; reflects on changes since January and contributing factors; specific examples used to support statements | Reflection is absent or superficial; examples missing or non-specific; contributing factors not identified or unrealistic | |
| Writing Style | Writing flows easily with strong transitions and organization; nearly no mechanical errors | Writing is difficult to follow because lacks transitions, organizational problems, or significant number of mechanical errors | |
| Format Requirements | Perfect APA-style (title page, running head, etc.); 3-4 pages in length | Poor APA style; fewer than 2 pages in length |