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Course Syllabus
Course Information
Course number: PSY 3393.002 www.turnitin.com
Course title: EXPERIMENTAL PROJECTS IN PSYCHOLOGY Class ID: 3715621
Term: SPRING 2011 Password: variable
Meeting times: Mon & Wed, 12:30-1:45pm, GR 4.208
Every Wednesday from Feb 2 through April 13, we will meet in computer lab GR 3.206.
Course Description
This course offers laboratory and field experience in designing and conducting psychological research. Because the
major emphasis is on the writing of research reports, this course fulfills the advanced writing requirement for
Psychology majors. You will learn how to understand, conduct, and write about research in psychology.
Specifically, you will learn how to 1) become better consumers of research, 2) design and conduct research studies,
and 3) effectively share research findings with others. Additional course goals include promoting independent and
critical thinking, developing your abilities to communicate more effectively orally and in writing, and giving you
greater appreciation for statistical analysis, research methods, and Psychology as a science.
Course Textbooks and Materials (please be aware that I may add to or change this list at any time)
1. American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological
Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
You can see the new, 6th edition APA Style Manual at http://apastyle.apa.org/, along with some useful
supplemental information.
2. Cronk, B. C. (2010). How to use PASW Statistics: A step-by-step guide to analysis and interpretation, 6th
ed. Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing. Note: “PASW” and “SPSS” are identical programs, but this book is
the one you need for the software we will be using. You MUST bring this book to every lab session.
3. Additional chapters, journal articles, and other readings WILL be assigned.
4. It will be helpful for you to have a flash drive to store your data and other information. Bring it every day,
and keep it backed up, just in case. Keep a copy of every paper and assignment you submit for a grade. If
something happens to it, YOU will be responsible for replacing it. You also can email documents to yourself
or use a site like www.dropbox.com. Better yet, use a combination of these.
5. You should be ready to do some printing and/or photocopying in the library and computer labs also. The lab
in GR 3.206 has a printer, but you need to bring your own paper.
6. Create a user profile at www.turnitin.com using your Class ID and password. Submit ALL papers to the
website 1-2 days ahead of time so that you can check your originality report in time to make changes, if
needed.
7. We will be using eLearning throughout the semester. Please check it frequently for updated information.
IMPORTANT: I want to help you do well in this class! To get the most benefit from your time in this class, read
the material to be discussed before we discuss it in class. You will find classes to be much more interesting and
involving if you come prepared to discuss each day's topic.
Please do not make video and/or audio recordings of class sessions without my explicit permission.
Video and/or audio recordings of class sessions made with or without permission may not be distributed
in any way. This includes but is not limited to postings on the internet, websites, eLearning, or email.
I want to help you be successful in this course in every way I can before the end of the semester. If you
are having trouble, come see me before it is too late. You NEVER need to struggle on your own in this
course, but please remember that I can help you only if you tell me that you need help.
JAN 17 JAN 19
No classes today Dissecting research articles—use of supporting
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. evidence, development of hypotheses
Read APA manual Chs 1-3 by today
JAN 24 JAN 26
Ethics in research—beyond the Golden Rule LIBRARY SESSION with Susan Kutchi
Doing doable research
ARTICLE SUMMARIES DUE
Meet at McDermott Information Desk at 12:30
JAN 31 FEB 2
IRB Certificate & Plagiarism tutorial quiz due today INTRODUCTION/OUTLINE DUE (submit to
Planning research—generating useful questions www.turnitin.com by 12:30pm)
PASW1-3
Bring PASW book to all lab sessions
Meet in Computer Lab GR 3.206
FEB 7 FEB 9
How do we measure behavior? What do we measure? PASW 4-5
MAR 21 MAR 23
Analyzing data Data entry
APR 25 APR 27
Poster presentations Poster presentations
I want to help you be successful in this course in every way I can BEFORE the end of the semester. After May 4, the
course is over. At that point, I simply cannot just give you extra points or additional assignments.
Course grades will be ready May 18.
Your grade on the final paper will not necessarily equal the sum of the grades of the initial versions of its
component parts. Rewriting is an integral part of the process of academic writing, and you are expected
to revise every version of your paper as the semester progresses. My comments and feedback must be
addressed with each new draft.
Class activities/homework
1. Article summaries—you will be writing several summaries of research reports early in the
semester. These are not listed in the course calendar because I will be assigning them in class.
You will need to be in class to receive these assignments. Missed assignments cannot be made
up.
2. Plagiarism tutorial & IRB training—details will be discussed in class. These tasks will not take
long, and both are REQUIRED. You cannot complete your project without them.
3. Mini projects—we will do some quick data collection and analysis, with write-ups, early in the
semester. Again, you will need to be in class to receive these assignments. Missed assignments
cannot be made up.
Turnitin.com
You will upload your paper at least FIVE times (introduction, proposal, results, full report, final report )
throughout the semester as you continue to revise and expand your work. Please remember, I cannot
grade any paper until the version I am grading has been uploaded to turnitin.
Research Project
Details will be discussed in class throughout the semester. All of these assignments should be in APA
format, as described in your publication manual. Please notice also that NONE of these assignments may
be skipped—all must be completed, in order and on time (e.g., a particular component may look like it is
only worth 25 points, but skipping it will cost you much more than that). You do NOT need to (and
should not) wait for feedback on the previous section of your paper to begin working on the next section.
I will make getting feedback to you a top priority. Here are a few reminders:
Your introduction will include your title page, introduction (with hypotheses), references, and
an appendix with copies of any materials you have so far. You will have at least 5 relevant
articles from peer-reviewed journals by this point in the writing process (you should have closer
to 10-15 articles by the time you are finished, at a minimum). The title page and the
appendices should not be uploaded to turnitin. You can expect that your introduction
probably will be 4-5 pages long, not including references and title page.
Your document should include:
1. title page
2. introduction
3. at least 5 references
4. appendix
Your formal proposal will include your title page, substantially revised and improved
introduction (with hypotheses), method, a section on how you will be analyzing your data, at
least 10 references, and an appendix with copies of all of your materials (solicitation script,
consent form, questionnaire, stimulus materials, etc.). The IRB forms, title page, and the
appendices should not be uploaded to turnitin. The combined introduction and method
sections of your proposal probably will be about 7-8 pages long.
Your document should include:
1. IRB forms
2. title page
3. introduction
4. method
5. data analysis
6. at least 10 references
7. appendix
3. REVISION 2: Results
Email this paper to me saved as a Word document named
EXP LAST NAME REVISION 2
That should also be what you put in your email subject line.
You’ll need to give me your title page, revised introduction and method, and results section.
The subtitle “Results” should appear at the beginning of this section. Don’t be surprised if your
results section is only about 1-2 pages long.
Your document should include:
1. title page
2. introduction
3. method
4. results
5. at least 10 references
6. appendix
Your report will include your title page, abstract, revised introduction (with hypotheses), revised
method, revised results, discussion, at least 15 references, and appendix. You can expect that
your full report, from abstract through discussion, is likely to be about 12-15 pages long.
Your document should include:
1. title page
2. abstract
3. introduction
4. method
5. results
6. discussion
7. at least 15 references
8. appendix
Your final full report will include your title page, abstract, introduction (with hypotheses),
method, results, discussion, references, and appendix. You may write as many revisions as we
can make time for until the last day papers are due. I will make getting feedback to you a top
priority.
Your document should include:
1. title page
2. abstract
3. introduction
4. method
5. results
6. discussion
7. references
8. appendix
Remember, this syllabus is only a starting point. Details will be discussed in class throughout
the semester and significant changes in procedures, deadlines, and requirements are likely!
Seriously, if you must miss a class, please do not come (or write) and ask me what you missed.
This may sound strange, but I am not a reliable source of this information. I don’t take notes
during class. Find out from someone who was there and made notes.
If your name is Chris Anderson, you will save your paper under the following name and submit
each new version as follows:
Extra papers you might submit will be labeled 1a, 2a, 2b, etc.
If you and another student in the class have the same last name, please add your first initial
after your name, e.g., ANDERSONC and ANDERSONM.
Each time you receive a paper back from me, SAVE it with the current name, then SAVE
AS the name that will come next so that you can continue revising the same document
throughout the semester.