Purpose & Overview:  Critically considering evidence, defending what you believe, and engaging in civil (though passionate) discussion are very important life skills. .  This multi-stage project helps you develop these skills as you consider controversial issues of relevance to psychologists and Christians.

Choosing a Controversial Issue - due March 30:  From the list of controversial issues below, give your top three choices (in order) to Dr. Lantinga. Topics will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis with the constraint that 2-4 students are needed per topic.

• Animal Research: Is it ethical to use animals in psychological research (vs. medical resarch)?

• Social Intelligence: Can people learn to accurately detect lies?

• Aggression: Are humans naturally violent?

• Technology: Does using the internet cause psychological harm?

Pre-writing - due April 1:  Once your topic is assigned, write a 1-page essay (typed, double spaced, etc.) about your position on the issue, your preliminary definitions of key terms, any arguments/evidence/scripture you have to support this position, and some possible arguments against your position. This is not a graded assignment, but helps you begin thinking about the issue and the kind of information you will need to support your position.

Outline/Draft - due April 6:

(1) Read Writing a Psychology Literature Review for helpful advice on how to research your topic and write your paper.

(2) Research your topic:

• Assigned articles: Dr. Lantinga will give you two articles related to your topic to get you started.  Read these and look for arguments and evidence that support or counter your position.
   

• Other research: Find and read the most important references used in the assigned articles, and use PsycInfo to find other articles that give evidence to support or counter your position.  You may also want to find data (e.g., surveys, government databases, census data) related to your topic.

  - to reference an article in your paper, you must read the entire article - not just the title or the abstract

  - many articles are available in Dordt's library (journals or microfilm) or full-text (interlibrary loans are free and normally available within a week)
   

• Scripture: Consider what biblical themes apply to your topic (e.g., justice, love, sin, mercy, forgiveness); find scripture to support the application of those themes to your topic.  Again, look for passages that both support and counter your position.
   

• Reference/Source requirements: Excellent papers will have at least 6 scholarly references (including the assigned articles) and will use scripture. You may include books or web sites, but make sure they are of good quality (scholarly - not wikipedia, about.com, etc.).

(3) Outline/draft your paper with an APA-style references page; submit two hard copies. The outline/draft is not graded, but the more thorough you are, the more helpful feedback your classmates and Dr. Lantinga can give you to improve your paper.  Here are the guidelines; note that this is a rough draft, so combinations of bullet lists, outlines, and complete sentences are just fine.

• In an introductory paragraph or two, describe the issue, then clearly state your thesis (your own position on the topic) based on the initial prompting question. For example, if the prompting question was "Is gambling psychologically harmful," your thesis might be "Gambling is not psychologically harmful" or it may be narrower, such as "On-line gambling is emotionally and social harmful."
   

• In the next paragraph or two, explain the key terms (using the psychology literature to define terms, NOT a dictionary); you may find that not all researchers use the same definitions or they have different assumptions, so you may need to develop your own working definition.  For example, you might want to define what you mean by "gambling" and by "psychologically harmful."
   

• In the next paragraphs, develop 3-4 key arguments for your thesis and support them with the research you've done - NOT your personal opinion (remember that you can't use the word "I" in APA-style writing).  Synthesize (integrate) the information from your sources to support your points rather than summarizing reference by reference.  Emphasize psychological research as primary evidence, but also include scripture.

  As an example of synthesis, you might say "On-line gambling is related to increased depression, anxiety, and short-term memory loss (Ames & Smith, 2003; Smith & Cameron, 1998)" instead of "Ames and Smith (2003) found that on-line gambling is related to short-term memory loss.  Smith and Cameron (1998) found that increased depression and anxiety were related to on-line gambling."
   

• Next, describe some counterarguments to your thesis (objections to your position) and respond to them fairly based on the research you've done. Again, emphasize psychological research, but also include scriptural counterarguments.
   

• Conclude your paper by summarizing your key arguments and end with a general conclusion.  For example, "On-line gambling causes direct psychological harm through its effects on mood and memory and has indirect effects through its impact on family life and work.  It is also inconsistent with a biblical view of human relationships.  Therefore, steps should be taken to decrease accessibility to or ban on-line gambling."

Feel free to consult with classmates, psychology professors, and others for information about resources, research, scriptural themes, etc.

Write your 4-5 page paper in APA style (page requirements do not include the title, abstract, or references pages):

• Include an APA-style title page, abstract, and references page; carefully document your sources using APA-style both in the text and in a references list.  Your abstract should summarize your entire paper in no more than 120 words; include your thesis, key arguments for/against, and your conclusion.
   

• Writing tips:

  • Avoid sentences that begin with or use the following: there is/are/were; this; it; that; these.  All are weak and boring.

  • Do not use second person ("you") anywhere in your writing.  Use first person (I, we, our) no more than once.

  • Do not use contractions

  • Cut all extra words - you will be surprised at how many phrases and words you can cut without loss of meaning

  • Use no more than 1-2 short, direct quotes (and reference them properly with author last name, year, quotation marks, and page number)

  • Proofread - watch for comma splices, spelling errors, run-on sentences, etc.
     

• Reference requirements: Excellent papers will have at least 6 primary/scholarly references (including the original pair of articles given to you).

Evaluation: Your paper, worth 75 points (see evaluation rubric here), will be graded based on:

• Content (ability to defend a thesis using research evidence and scriptural themes)

• Writing style (clarity of thesis, tone, organization, grammar)

• Format requirements (length, scholarly reference requirements, APA style)

Planning: Before the date of your debate, members of your group will be assigned to the "pro" or "con" position.  Meet with your entire group to do the following:

• Develop a 6-8 minute "pro" presentation and a 6-8 minute "con" presentation; both should include the thesis, key definitions, arguments/evidence, and scriptural themes.  Your goal is to persuade the class that your (assigned) position is correct.
   

• Consider how each side will counter (rebutt) the opposing side's position with evidence and scriptural themes.  Again, your goal is to persuade the class that your (assigned) position is correct and the opposing side is not correct.
   

• Outline a 2-minute summary for each side that includes main points; this should be revised in class to reflect class discussion

Class Debate Structure:

- Pro presents their case (6-8 minutes), Con presents their case (6-8 minutes)

- Pro refutes Con's case (3-5 minutes); Con refutes Pro's case (3-5 minutes)

- Dr. Lantinga leads class discussion (10 minutes) and the presenters listen carefully to revise and strengthen their summaries

- Pro presents summary (2 minutes); Con presents summary (2 minutes)

- Class writes responses to debate (see below; 5 minutes)

Evaluation: Your group's debate, worth 40 points, will be evaluated on your team's ability to use evidence to support arguments and rebutt counerarguments, use strong public speaking skills, and modify material based on information brought out in class. (see evaluation rubric here).

Five controversial issues will be debated in class, including one by Dr. Lantinga and a guest; your group will debate one of the other four issues. In preparation for the remaining three debates, write a 1-page (typed, double-spaced, etc.) formal essay that states your own position on the issue and makes arguments to support that position based on what you know about psychological research and on scriptural themes (this is similar in some ways to the pre-write assignment).  At the end of each class debate, you will handwrite a brief reflection on how the debate challenged, affirmed, or deepened your thinking about the issue.

Evaluation: Position papers are due at the beginning of class and will not be accepted late. Each position paper is worth 15 points (12 for the paper and 3 for the post-debate reflection) and are evaluated on depth of engagement with the issue and formal writing style.

This set of assignments was inspired by Dordt College colleagues Dr. Hubert Krygsman (History of the Muslim World 212 course) and Dr. Paul Fessler (History of Latin America 213 course).  Thanks!

page revised May 2008