One of the course “Think About It” options

Students could earn 1 through 10 points for posting a paper related to this “Think About It” box. A successful reflection paper (10 points) was at least three full five-sentence paragraphs that stayed on topic and answered the key questions.

Because students were only considered to be “successful” if they earned 7, 8, 9, or 10 of the possible points; this means that only students who submitted a paper of sufficient length, which touched on all the key concepts were considered to be “successful.”

This paper is part of the section of the course that covers obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and the exam question related to OCD is :

Max repeatedly worries that there will be an electrical fire, so he checks each light switch and electrical outlet and appliance several times a day. The checking is repetitive and ritualistic. Max rarely goes out because of his need to check the house. Max's problem is:

panic disorder obsessive-compulsive disorder dissociative disorder specific phobic disorder

In the end, out of 52 students in the course, 10 students successfully completed this particular “Think About It” paper. The correlation (r 2) between reflection paper success and successful completion of the related exam question was +0.22.

We all have habits. How do normal habits differ from obsessive-compulsive behaviors? Most of you probably engage in the same personal hygiene routine (showering or bathing/tooth maintenance/etc.), both in terms of the actual activities and also in terms of the sequence of those activities, every day. What is the difference between a routine like this and a ritual? How would you react if your normal morning (or evening) personal hygiene routine were disrupted? How would a person with OCD react? Are these responses different? If so, how are they different? If the responses are different, why are they different? (These last two questions deal with the difference between form and function).

Shirley-Anne Hensch – UW Barron CountyCourse Design

Introductory Psychology is the prerequisite for all subsequent psychology courses offered through the UW Colleges. Mastering and understanding core concepts from this class helps to ensure success in upper-division psychology classes.

Practical Application of Core Concepts

To me, one of the most interesting aspects of an introductory psychology class is drawing connections between abstract constructs and real-life situations or personal experiences. To facilitate the process of creating these connections, the course notes for the class have a large number of embedded reflection and discussion questions.

There aren’t any “right” or “wrong” answers for these questions. Instead, they are designed to get students thinking about a topic in more depth and applying core concepts to actual situations. The reflection questions cover topics that students work on individually; the discussion questions get students to actively discuss various options with other members of the class.

Design and Goals

My study was designed to extend my earlier in-class research into misconceptions students have about specific core psychological concepts. The overall goal was to help students master those specific concepts by giving them the opportunity to think about a particular topic in more depth, or to discuss a particular topic in more depth with other students from the course. To assess the impact of these in-class online interactions the research study investigated differences in student exam performance when students actively participated, or chose not to participate, in applying specific course concepts to everyday or hypothetical situations.

Results

For the most part, the results indicate that successful completion of a class paper (scoring between 7-10 points on the paper) or successful participation in a group discussion (submitting both an initial posting and at least one response worth at least 7-10 overall points) has a positive correlation with providing correct answers to specific exam questions on the term exams that are related to that material. Overall, none of the correlations was statistically significant but, for the most part, positive correlational values were returned.

One of the course “Talk About It” options

Students could earn 1 through 5 points for starting a discussion thread related to this “Talk About It” topic. A successful discussion “start” (5 points) was at least two full five-sentence paragraphs that stayed on topic, answered the key questions, and explained the reasons for any difficulties encountered in trying to answer the question.

In addition, students could earn between 1 and 5 points for extending a discussion thread started by a different student. A successful discussion “response” (5 points) was at least one full five-sentence paragraph that covered their overall success in successfully following the directions and also brought up any errors or issues that may have arisen when they worked through the steps provided.

Because students were only considered to be “successful” if they earned 7, 8, 9, or 10 of the possible discussion points, this means that only students who fully participated in both components of the discussion (initiating and responding) could be considered to be “successful.”

This discussion is part of the section of the course that covers procedural memory. The exam question related to the concept of procedural memory is:

When you complete your driving test, you usually have to successfully execute a parallel park. To complete this portion of the driving exam effectively, you need to access the long-term memory system known as:

episodic memory transitory memory procedural memory semantic memory

In the end, out of 52 students in the course, 9 students successfully completed this particular “Talk About It” discussion. The correlation (r 2) between discussion success and successful completion of the related exam question was +0.26.

Imagine that you are trying to teach someone (who has never tied a shoelace before) how to tie a shoelace, but you can only tell them in writing. (In other words, you can't show them.) Describe, in as much detail as possible, how to tie a shoelace. For fun, try following the directions posted by others. (Don't assume anything--just follow the directions.) See how successful you are at “doing” without “being shown.”

Basic Psychology Concepts – Let’s Talk About Them and Think About Them