Project Summary
Action Project Summary
The purpose of this project was to create an integrative learning community that used disciplinary writing to help students make connections between four core courses in the Psychology program. This was achieved by having an 18 student cohort concurrently enroll in a cluster consisting of two content courses: PSYC 322: Adolescent Psychology (Adolescent) and PSYC 420: Cross-Cultural Psychology (Cross-Cultural) and one research course: either PSYC 317: Quantitative Methods (Quant) or PSYC 318W: Research Methods in Psychology (Methods). In addition, the cohort of students enrolled in PSYC 395: Integrative Learning Experience (ILE).
Four high impact practices were implemented within PSYC 395 to achieve the goals of the project. These practices were learning communities, integration, e-Portfolios, and experiential learning.
Learning Community:
The Association of American Colleges & Universities (2008) identified learning communities as a high impact practice. There are several reasons why learning communities are thought to improve learning. These reason include the creation of a sense of belongingness that keeps students in school and reduces feelings of isolation, the provision of an opportunity to explain concepts to one another, the promotion of active learning through completion of group work, and the facilitation of understanding at a deeper level of knowledge through shared goals and experiences.
We created four groups within PSYC 395 with each group headed by one of the four instructors involved in the project. This low student-to-instructor ratio allowed for high instructor involvement and individualized instruction which is another identified high impact practice (Kuh, et. al., 2006) In order to promote the development of successful groups several, we implemented several important practices. Firstly, groups were created based on shared interest in the research topic, schedule, leadership style, and writing ability. Instructors provided initial guidance in coordinating group meeting times, setting group rules, and dividing work responsibilities. Once groups were firmly established, instructors provided feedback and support on the work products created by the group. This involved using several different methods of immediate and consistent forms of communication including personal meeting with teams, phone calls, online meetings, and group chats.
Integration:
Although content areas in psychology all use the scientific method to study human thought and behavior, in many cases the connection between psychology courses is not always clear to students. Students especially struggle with the connection between quantitative (PSYC 317) and research methods (PSYC 318) and the content areas within psychology (i.e., Psychology of Adolescence and Cross-Cultural Psychology). Therefore a major aim of this project was to create integration between Quantitative and Research Methods and the content courses of Psychology of Adolescence and Cross-Cultural Psychology.
Integration was achieved through a variety of methods of instruction and practice. Weekly learning modules were delivered through Blackboard. Each module contained a lesson that integrated concepts from the four classes. Sample topics included cultural differences in parenting techniques, cross-cultural perspectives on adolescent self-esteem, and gender role and sexuality development across cultures. Each of these learning modules included a low-stakes journal writing assignment in which students would reflect on the connections between these areas of psychology. For example, one journal assignment asked students to compare and contrast parenting styles used in Western and Eastern societies and then to reflect on how society might be different if Eastern parenting techniques were implemented in the West. Another example, required students to comment on social media influences on body images in our culture and in other cultures. In addition to integrating content, the journal assignments also served as an opportunity for students to practice the student learning outcomes associated with good writing.
Integration was also achieved through the group research project. Project topics integrated social media themes in adolescent development and culture. Students had to conduct literature reviews in these areas, and then write about the literature as it pertained to their own research topic.
ePortfolio:
Students also created an ePortfolio to encourage reflection and evaluation of their learning and to demonstrate integration among the courses (c.f., Cambridge, 2009; Peet et al., 2011). Using a writing-centric approach to facilitate this integration provided the dual benefit of promoting critical thinking (Quitadamo & Kurtz, 2007) while also improving disciplinary writing. ePortfolios have consistently been linked to positive student outcomes.
Students utilized a WordPress template with at least 5 pages; About Me, Cross-Cultural Psychology, Psychology of Adolescence, Quantitative Methods, and Research Methods. Each page showcased the student’s reflection on an activity related to the course identified by the page. For example, on the Adolescence page, students had to take the Big 5 personality test, read an article about how personality develops, and then reflect on how they think their own personality traits developed. These activities served as additional opportunity for writing, application of knowledge, reflection of learning, and connection across courses.
Experiential Learning:
Peer groups that were created as part of the learning community approach worked together to complete a semester long research project. They worked together to develop the topic, collect and analyze the data, and report results in a formal APA-style research paper and poster. The project was conducted in stages so that student could receive formative feedback to help them improve. Formative feedback has been found to be effective in improving learning specifically because it’s aim is to modify the learner’s thinking with regard to the subject matter (Shute, 2008).
Each group presented their research projects at a Psychology Department Undergraduate Research Fair. Participation in the research fair provided an opportunity for students to share their research projects with both faculty and peers and to receive feedback on their research and presentation. The research fair was one of the most liked aspects of the course. Students commented on the fact that they enjoyed being able to demonstrate their learning and celebrate the culmination of a semester long project.
These four high impact practices set the foundation for how we conducted the course and can easily be seen in the syllabus, link can be found below, which set the structure for the course.
Course Syllabus
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