Psychology in the Classroom and in Our Lives

The entire psychology paper should be at least 3.5 pages long and typed in standard font/margins and standard English grammar. Students will be graded on how well they followed instructions, if the paper was completed fully, their quality of writing, clarity, thoughtfulness, attention to detail, analytical reasoning, and critical thinking.

The aim of this project is for students to recognize how psychological topics that we discuss in the classroom are depicted in real life and media, and often done so in a biased manner.

Students are expected to evaluate various sources related to their topic and make informed decisions about the quality of those sources. Students will develop key transferable skills that not only align with our departmental learning goals for psychology majors, but are highly valued by employers.

You may choose any topic related to any of the chapters we covered (or will be covering.) For example, the nervous system and panic attacks, memory and emotion, the controversy of IQ testing, the importance of emotional intelligence, the use of correlation in research etc.

Learning Objective: Fundamental Knowledge of Psychology:

Explain and discuss your topic as defined by the field of psychology (you will need to rely on quality sources.) and explain why it is relevant, interesting, and/or important. (at least half a page)

Learning Objective: Fundamental Knowledge of Psychology

Find two sources about your topic: One source needs to be a scholarly, peer reviewed, experimental article. The other source can be anything you wish, for example, a blog post, a news article or an article you find online.

Learning Objective: Information Literacy

Briefly summarize each source, focusing on the main purpose, key ideas and conclusions. (at least half a page)

Learning Objective: Information Literacy

Compare and contrast the two sources in terms of the style in which they are written, the audience they are intended for, the evidence they use to make their points and any potential sources of bias. (at least one full page)

Learning Objective: Analytical Reasoning

Explain which source is less biased and most objective and why. Please be specific and use detail. (at

least half a page)

Learning Objective: Critical Thinking

Find a documentary, a book, a website, a news clip that portrays the topic you chose. Explain how your topic is depicted. (at least half a page)

Learning Objective: Information Literacy, Fundamental Knowledge of Psychology

Identify and discuss three potential sources of bias in the medium you chose. (documentary, book ect) (at least half a page)

Learning Objective: Analytical Reasoning and Critical Thinking

The entire paper should be at least 3.5 pages long and typed in standard font/margins and standard English grammar. Students will be graded on how well they followed instructions, if the paper was completed fully, their quality of writing, clarity, thoughtfulness, attention to detail, analytical reasoning, and critical thinking.