PSYCH 303: Industrial/Organizational Psychology
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My Leadership requirements of the LeADERS program was fulfilled by PSYC 303, Industrial/Organizational psychology (I/O). I took this course with Dr. Cigularov in Fall of 2017. The main focus of the course was the ability to apply psychological concepts to work settings. Through the lectures and class work I was familiarized with psychological theories and research associated with critical issues related to work in the style of employee selection, training, performance, motivation, well-being, organizational development, and work-life balance. Much of my success was due to the understanding of different theories, processes, and roles and their applications within organizations and the work force. In addition, the classroom environment, in combination with the information presented, I was able to expand my knowledge relative to techniques and methods commonly used by I/O psychologist as well as key research data. By the end of the course I felt as though I had significant development of my critical analytical and evaluation skills.
Looking back on the information learned it is evident that through the interactive activities and learning experiences I was able to establish my initial knowledge of research conduction and active learning in the realms of physical work environments, organizational structures, communication systems, and group interactions. I was also taught the basics in regards to formulation of implementation of training programs: Developing interview techniques, rating scales, and psychological tests that assess employee skills, abilities, and interests in order to provide accurate selection, placement, and/or promotion: Through the use of in class case studies, analyze job requirements and content to establish criteria for classification, selection, and performance management: And observations and interviewing workers to obtain information relative to physical, mental, educational, and job satisfaction through further in class case studies.
Developed Abilities
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Through all the general information that was obtained during the duration of this course and the activities completed, I was able to refine my abilities of writing and reading comprehension, analysis of quantitative data, obtaining and processing information, time management, and planning, organizing, and prioritizing work tasks. The most useful facilitation of these skills came from the mock case studies that involved the analysis of companies, their needs from myself as “I/O” psychologist, potential employees, and the development of scales used to screen for specific traits in employees that the given “company” was looking for. Below are two of the work products I was able to recover from old blackboard posts. The originals were lost when my old computer became corrupted.
Cultural-assimilatorThis assignment was the cultural assimilator. Either based on a critical incident of one’s own or other’s (e.g., friend, relative), or based on your research it was instructed that we create a scenario of a cross-cultural experience where the two cultures clashed. This helped to gain a better understanding of remaining understanding should someone present a situation unfamiliar. I provided in the slides, I had chosen a personal incident to question about where then I asked why it may be that I experienced the cross cultural incident.
Big-5-ReviewThis document mainly focused on a review of my results after taking part in the Big 5 Personality survey. The survey consists of 46 personality item questions based on a personality continuum involving extroversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism all of which are rated on a likert scale. From this review I was supposed to critically assess my personality profile compared to one taken by a friend or relative completed as if they were myself. We were then to assess our views on the tests validity and our personal opinion of the assessment itself and how it could provide real world applications. I provided the link to the assessment below.
Future Applications
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I plan to further the development of these basic skills as I pursue my PsyD in Industrial/Organizational psychology. Much enhancement has taken place since my completion of this course through my work as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant. I was able to implement my management skills as I supervised a group of students on a weekly basis while leading them in discussions, reviewing class information for exams, taking polls on their satisfaction of course activities and ways to enhance their learning, and reviewing written reports. I also designed a lesson plan and lead an interactive lecture on researched literature. So, not only had this class begun to prepare me for the future, I have already been able to apply these skills in the real-world to get more experience before ending in my final field.