Unit 14

Unit 14:
How to Look Backward and Forward
 Unit 14: Assignment #1 (due before 11:59 pm Central on THU AUG 1):

  1. Because we’re at the end of the course, it’s a good time to revisit things you’ve learned in the course (which is why traditional lecture-based courses usually have final exams at the end of the term).
  2. To document all the hard work you’ve done in this course (and the importance of all that hard work), choose one of the following two summary tasks:
    1. Design and create an engaging (and visually attractive) “By the Numbers” infographic illustrating (with colorful text and matching graphics):
      • the number of articles you read (in this class);
      • the number of videos (including lecture videos) you watched;
      • the number of Discussion Board posts you made;
      • the number of Discussion Board response posts you made;
      • the number of five-paragraph essays you wrote;
      • the number of Group Chats you participated in;
      • the number of peer-reviews you performed;
      • the number of non-225 students you taught;
      • the number of tables and graphs you created;
      • the number of Research Proposals you wrote;
      • the number of surveys you constructed and administered (and the number of participants you surveyed);
      • the number of presentations and teaching documents you made; and
      • all the other quantifiable achievements you want to document in your infographic.

      Save your infographic as a PDF, named YourLastname_PSY-225_CourseInfographic.pdf.

      OR

    2. Review the “21st Century Skills Self-Assessment” (on which you assessed yourself in Unit 1).
      • Make a spreadsheet, table, or other document that lists each of the 18 bolded 21st Century Skills (e.g., “Communicate Clearly,” “Collaborate with Others,” “Think Critically,” etc.).
      • Annotate each of the 21st Century Skills with the names (e.g., Unit 14: Assignment #1, Unit 5: Assignment #6) of ALL the Assignments in our course that developed that skill.
      • Each of the 21st Century Skills will most likely be annotated with multiple Assignments.
      • Some of the annotations might be personal (e.g., the Assignments that you use to annotate the 21st Century Skill of “Persist Despite Setbacks”). That’s okay.
      • Save your spreadsheet, table, or other document as a PDF, named YourLastname_PSY-225_CourseSkills.pdf.
  3. Go to the Unit 14: Assignment #1 Discussion Board and make a new post in which you do the following:
    1. First, discuss, in at least 50 words, why you chose the summary task you chose.
    2. Second, attach (not embed, but attach) your PDF.

Unit 14: Assignment #2 (due before 11:59 pm Central on THU AUG 1):

  1. As previously noted, successful learning requires revisiting previous accomplishments and cementing those accomplishments.
  2. Listed below are Assignments you completed during the second half of the course. Choose one Assignment from the list (below) that you enjoyed doing before and re-do that Assignment, according to the Assignment’s original instructions AND the additional constraints specified below.
    1. Unit 9: Assignment #3 (find five popular press articles that are different from the articles you found before, but still excluding Correlation Isn’t Causation)
    2. Unit 9: Assignment #4 (choose three alternative hypotheses that are different from the alternative hypotheses you chose before; you can teach these three alternative hypotheses to the same three people you taught before – or to three people who are different from the three people who taught before)
    3. Unit 10: Assignment #1 (write another five-paragraph Reasons essay on a different aspect of research ethics than you wrote about before, e.g., general research ethics, research ethics with human participants, research ethics with child participants, or research ethics with non-human animals)
    4. Unit 10: Assignment #2 (write another five-paragraph Examples essay on a different aspect of research ethics than you wrote about before, e.g., general research ethics, research ethics with human participants, research ethics with child participants, or research ethics with non-human animals)
    5. Unit 11: Assignment #1 (select two survey topics that are different from the two topics you chose before; however, you only need to complete the Fourth and Fifth steps)
    6. Unit 11: Assignment #3 (write items for two survey topics that are different from the two survey topics you chose before)
    7. Unit 12: Assignment #2 (make two even more creative graphs than you made before)
    8. Unit 12: Assignment #5 (if you previously wrote a Reasons essay, write an Examples essay and if you previously wrote an Examples essay, write a Reasons essay)
    9. Unit 13: Assignment #2 (create another narrated video, which can be on the same topic as one of your previous narrated videos but will need to have different visuals and a different transcript — and be a different narrated video file)
  3. Go to the Unit 14: Assignment #2 Discussion Board and make a new post in which you post everything that was previously required for the assignment that you’ve now re-done.
    1. Also explain, in just a sentence or two, why you chose this Assignment to do again.
    2. Be sure to state somewhere in your post the Unit number and Assignment number (e.g., Unit 9: Assignment #3) of the Assignment you chose to do again.

Unit 14: Assignment #3 (due before 11:59 pm Central on FRI AUG 2):

  1. Successful learning also requires revisiting previous challenges and overcoming those challenges.
  2. From the Assignments listed in Unit 14: Assignment #2, select one Assignment that you previously completed (or were supposed to complete) but you struggled (a bit or a lot) when completing it (or were simply unable to complete it).
    1. Re-do that Assignment, according to the Assignment’s original instructions AND the additional requirements specified in the list in Unit 14: Assignment #2.
    2. One further constraint is that the Assignment you choose to re-do for Unit 14: Assignment #3 must be different from the Assignment you chose to re-do for Unit 14: Assignment #2.
  3. Go to the Unit 14: Assignment #3 Discussion Board and make a new post in which you post everything that was previously required for the assignment you’ve now re-done.
    1. Also explain, in just a sentence or two, why you chose this Assignment to do again.
    2. Be sure to state somewhere in your post the Unit number and Assignment number (e.g., Unit 9: Assignment #3) of the Assignment you chose to do again.

Unit 14: Assignment #4 (due before 11:59 pm Central on FRI AUG 2):

  1. It’s time to complete and submit your entire Course Journal!
  2. First, make a typical Unit entry in your Course Journal for Unit 14.
  3. Then, revisit the Goals-Setting entry you made back in Unit 1: Assignment #6.
    1. Previously you selected
      • three “What Employers Want” skills that you wanted to develop further during this course;
      • three “21st Century Skills” that you wanted to develop further during this course;
      • three reasons for the way this course was structured that you wanted to take advantage of; and
      • three “How to Succeed in This Course” strategies that you wanted to follow to succeed in this course.
    2. Write a Goals-Assessment entry, of at least 200 words, assessing how well you developed those skills, took advantage of those reasons, and followed those strategies.
  4. Combine your Course Journal, which contains 14 entries, WITH
    1. your Goals-Setting journal entry (which you made back in Unit 1: Assignment #6) AND
    2. your Goals-Assessment journal entry (which you made in part c. of this Assignment), AND
    3. name your file LastName_PSY-225_CourseJournal.pdf.
  5. Go to the Unit 14: Assignment #4 Discussion Board and make a new post to which you attach (not embed, but attach) your Course Journal PDF.
  6. Lastly, read through the American Psychological Association’s (no date) list of “Skills that Employers Value,” which lists 17 skills that successful Psychology majors should acquire.
    • This course has developed each of these skills in you.
    • Consider adding some or all of these skills to your resume. You’ve earned them!
    • For other resume suggestions, feel free to take advantage of @Slizagna’s (2021) excellent Twitter thread. It’s chockful of terrific pointers.

Unit 14: Assignment #5 (due before 11:59 pm Central on SUN AUG 4):

  1. Please complete the Student Course Evaluation for this course, if you have not already done so. You received the Student Course Evaluation through email on FRI JUL 29 (so you might have to dig it out of your email!).
  2. Of course, Student Course Evaluations are completely anonymous. Professor Gernsbacher will NOT be informed as to whether you complete the evaluation or not.
  3. Therefore, for fairness, everyone will earn three points on this assignment. These three points will come in handy if you’re just one or two (or three) points away from the final total points you wanted to earn in the course.
  4. To earn these three points, go to Unit 14: Assignment #5 and type in “I completed my Student Course Evaluation.”

Unit 14: Assignment #6 (due before 11:59 pm Central on SUN AUG 4):

  1. For our last assignment, everyone will also earn three points. These three points will again come in handy if you’re just one or two (or three) points away from the final total points you wanted to earn in the course. And again, to be fair, everyone will earn these three points.
  2. Do you remember the Pre-Course Essay you wrote before you began the course? We will now bookend that activity with the last essay you’ll write in this class: your Post-Course Essay!
    1. Please go to your Post-Course Essay to see the essay prompt.
    2. Like the Pre-Course Essay, once you’ve seen the essay prompt, you can write your essay then and there OR you can write your essay in Word, Google doc, or another place, and come back to your Post-Course Essay and paste in what you’ve written.
    3. Enjoy your last essay in the class!
  3. IMPORTANT: To earn these three points, you MUST write Your Post-Course Essay.
  4. After you’ve written your Post-Course Essay, you MUST also go to the Unit 14: Assignment #6 Discussion Board and make a new post in which you write, “I have finished my Post-Course Essay.”

Congratulations! You have completed the course!