Assignments

Weekly Reviews:  Each week, beginning the second week, you must complete a review of one of the assigned Additional Empirical Readings.  The paper is due in class, but you should drop me an email (eamsel@weber.edu) in advance letting me know which paper you plan to do. The review should be about a page or two (shorter is better!) and have three sections.  The attached handout outlines what I will expect in the paper (click here). I appreciate that some of you may not have done such reviews before and may find this a little overwhelming. Not to worry, I will work with you to perfect such skills. The skills will prove to be critical in the preparation of your final presentation and paper.  These papers are worth 20% of your final grade and each review will be graded as no credit, partial credit, or full credit. 

Weekly Discussions:  Part of the discussion I hope to have each week centers on the adequacy of the research we are reading. I will ask students to comment on the paper they had prepared for the week.  With 12 or so students and 4-5 weekly papers, it is likely that we will have a couple of students discussing each paper. I am also assuming that the issues bandied about during the class will spill over into an on-line discussion. Actually the online discussion is what has become of our extra class hour. I will place a discussion topic on WebCT (click here and go to WSU Online and click on Psych 4900) for discussion over the course of the week. You are free to develop your own discussion theme if you like.  The weekly discussions are worth 20% of your grade, equally divided between in-class and online, and will be graded as no credit, partial credit, or full credit. 

Essay Exam:  During the February 14th lecture, I will hand out a take-home essay exam.  It will contain a single question and request that you apply and integrate the issues discussed in the readings, discussions. lectures, etc. You will have 3 weeks to complete the exam (until March 7th).  The essay exam is worth 20% of your final grade and will be graded out of 100%.

Informal Presentation:  For two weeks beginning on March , students will use class time to present their ongoing analysis of research papers on a topic of their own choosing.  With my help, students will come ready to present three empirical papers on a topic of interest.  The purpose of this presentation (which is meant to be messy and challenging) is to help the student work through the conceptual and procedural issues in the research bearing on the topic of the student's choice. Presenters will be expected to introduce the topic and then discuss each of the three papers.  The students in the audience will be expected to comment both conceptually (the significance of the research given the students' interest in the topic) and procedurally (e.g., internal and external validity). The research presentation is worth 15% and will be graded out of 100%. 

A note on process:   Roughly 4 students will present each week for about 30 minutes each.  I will try to organize the presentations so that they are on related topics (e.g., teen pregnancy or drug abuse).  Letting me know ASAP of your interest in a topic will help me in scheduling and in assisting you to find papers.

Formal Presentation:  One goal of your informal research presentation is to focus your thinking so you can develop a professional-style formal presentation on your topic.  A 5-10 minute PowerPoint-assisted talk will be expected on the last day of classes (April 28th). I will then place the PowerPoint on my web site as a permanent record of the class.  We will discuss the contents of these presentations in a special class section on April  th. 

Final Paper:  The final paper is a 5- to 7-page write up of the research you reviewed on the topic you chose.  The paper will go beyond those three readings, although it is likely that the 3 papers and their critiques will be the core of the paper.  The formal presentation/final paper together is worth 30% of your final grade and will be graded out of 100%.