In-Class Activities:
1) Neuron Note: You wrote one last Neuron Note before the test. Unfortunately, there were technical difficulties with printing the answers to the last Neuron Note questions so you were not able to read my responses. You will get the answers to today's questions and last class' questions on Tuesday.
2) Real Research. Mrs. Foster presented her research from college to show you the actual details of psychological studies. She provided you with one of her surveys, informed consent, debriefing, and her hypotheses. We had a good conversation about set up, sampling issues, ethics, and more.
3) Central Tendency and Height. You all became "data" and we organized ourselves into a dichotomy, trichotomy, continuum, range, and histogram with mean, median, mode.
4) Standard Deviation Notes. We went step-by-step through the calculations of standard deviation using the example of punting distances. I explained the Normal Curve and its key percentages: 68%, 95%, 99.7%
5) Correlation Coefficient Notes. You do not need to know how to calculate it, but you do need to know what it means. There are two major questions to ask: Is it positive or negative? What is the strength? We went through examples and I encouraged you to find more this weekend.
6) Finding a Representative Sample with M&Ms. Each of you got a sample of 10 M&Ms. You calculated the percentage of each color of your M&Ms sample. Is it representative of the entire population of M&Ms' colors? No. So we calculated the entire class' M&M sample. Was it representative of the entire population of M&Ms? No. But it made the point of sampling and it tasted good.
Here is the distribution of colors:
13% Brown, 14% Yellow, 20% Orange, 13% Red, 16%Green, 24% Blue
For more M&Ms info, visit: http://us.mms.com/us/
Assignments:
1) Finish Chapter 1
2) Study for the first big test on Tuesday. 100 Multiple Choice Questions in 70 Minutes. get together with your study buddy. Review flashcards. Re-read the sections that were confusing. Send a message to the Email Group if you cannot figure out a concept. Good Luck! Remember to overlearn!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
August 28: Research Methods
In-Class Activities:
1) Neuron Note. You read responses from last class' questions and you asked new questions in regards to the reading.
2) We spent the entire class taking notes about different research techniques and working with our naturalistic observation data.
First, we brainstormed different human behaviors that make us curious. This is what research psychologists do, spend their days ask questions, using the scientific method to find answers to those questions, refining their questions, and doing more studies.
Then you shared with class where you observed.
We took notes over Description Research methods of surveys, naturalistic observation, interviews, case studies and all of pros and cons for using them.
You got back together with your naturalistic observation partner and you made a list of interesting behaviors you observed.
Then we took notes over Correlational Research or Non-Experimental Research and how it is used to find associations between variables. We discussed when and why it is used.
You got back together with your partner and developed hypotheses based on the interesting behaviors.
Then we took notes over Experimentation and analyzed the five basic parts of an experiment: Hypothesis, Independent Variable, Dependent Variable, Experimental Group, and Control Group. You heard about Theresa Amabile's experiment examining creativity and competitive rewards. We dissected her experiment into the five basic elements. We also discussed operational definitions, confounding variables, random assignment, lab vs. field experiments, and replication.
You got back together with your partner and tried to operationally define your hypotheses from your observation and determine a plan for trying to do more research on your prediction.
Assignments:
1) Read Chapter 1 pp. 41-47
2) Psych Sim on Descriptive Statistics and Correlation. Use the textbook's website and complete the two simulations. Then practice what you learned with this handout.
1) Neuron Note. You read responses from last class' questions and you asked new questions in regards to the reading.
2) We spent the entire class taking notes about different research techniques and working with our naturalistic observation data.
First, we brainstormed different human behaviors that make us curious. This is what research psychologists do, spend their days ask questions, using the scientific method to find answers to those questions, refining their questions, and doing more studies.
Then you shared with class where you observed.
We took notes over Description Research methods of surveys, naturalistic observation, interviews, case studies and all of pros and cons for using them.
You got back together with your naturalistic observation partner and you made a list of interesting behaviors you observed.
Then we took notes over Correlational Research or Non-Experimental Research and how it is used to find associations between variables. We discussed when and why it is used.
You got back together with your partner and developed hypotheses based on the interesting behaviors.
Then we took notes over Experimentation and analyzed the five basic parts of an experiment: Hypothesis, Independent Variable, Dependent Variable, Experimental Group, and Control Group. You heard about Theresa Amabile's experiment examining creativity and competitive rewards. We dissected her experiment into the five basic elements. We also discussed operational definitions, confounding variables, random assignment, lab vs. field experiments, and replication.
You got back together with your partner and tried to operationally define your hypotheses from your observation and determine a plan for trying to do more research on your prediction.
Assignments:
1) Read Chapter 1 pp. 41-47
2) Psych Sim on Descriptive Statistics and Correlation. Use the textbook's website and complete the two simulations. Then practice what you learned with this handout.
Friday, August 24, 2007
August 24: Introduction to Research
Good Job Everyone! We survived the first full week of classes and I hope you have developed an efficient system to handle reading the textbook, taking notes, making notecards, and more.
In-Class Activities:
1) Neuron Note...You read my responses to last class period's questions and wrote new questions. FYI: I noticed when I was cleaning up that many 3B students took the 2B Neuron Note responses. Make sure to look at the top of the sheet to get the correct class period Neuron Notes
2) You turned in your textbook website assignment. If you did not get it done, please do it ASAP. Late work will earn half points and I will not accept it once it becomes a habit.
3) We had a pop quiz on pages 1-30. You used your notes and notecards. If you were absent, make it up in class on Tuesday.
4) We watched the Phil Zimbardo video segment "Understanding Psychology" to get our minds turned on to why psychologists do experiments and other types of research. It talked about placebo effect, double-blind studies, correlation is not necessarily causation, placebo effect, and more.
5) You got the Naturalistic Observation assignment. With a partner, you are to observe two or more people interacting for ~10 minutes and take notes. Once your notes are complete and before you talk to your partner, you write up a 1-page summary of your observation and then swap with your partner. After reading their response, you record the differences in your observations. You must complete this assignment before class on Tuesday.
6) Chris Hazard, a school psychologist with the district, spoke to you about an opportunity to volunteer at LAHS with other students who has a wide range of autism.
If you have questions or want more information, contact her: c.hazard@laschools.net
Here is more information about autism from the Autism Society of American: http://www.autism-society.org
Assignments:
1) Read chapter 1 pp. 31-42
2) Naturalistic Observation
In-Class Activities:
1) Neuron Note...You read my responses to last class period's questions and wrote new questions. FYI: I noticed when I was cleaning up that many 3B students took the 2B Neuron Note responses. Make sure to look at the top of the sheet to get the correct class period Neuron Notes
2) You turned in your textbook website assignment. If you did not get it done, please do it ASAP. Late work will earn half points and I will not accept it once it becomes a habit.
3) We had a pop quiz on pages 1-30. You used your notes and notecards. If you were absent, make it up in class on Tuesday.
4) We watched the Phil Zimbardo video segment "Understanding Psychology" to get our minds turned on to why psychologists do experiments and other types of research. It talked about placebo effect, double-blind studies, correlation is not necessarily causation, placebo effect, and more.
5) You got the Naturalistic Observation assignment. With a partner, you are to observe two or more people interacting for ~10 minutes and take notes. Once your notes are complete and before you talk to your partner, you write up a 1-page summary of your observation and then swap with your partner. After reading their response, you record the differences in your observations. You must complete this assignment before class on Tuesday.
6) Chris Hazard, a school psychologist with the district, spoke to you about an opportunity to volunteer at LAHS with other students who has a wide range of autism.
If you have questions or want more information, contact her: c.hazard@laschools.net
Here is more information about autism from the Autism Society of American: http://www.autism-society.org
Assignments:
1) Read chapter 1 pp. 31-42
2) Naturalistic Observation
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
August 22: Approaches to Psychology
In Class-Activities:
1) You wrote a Neuron Note and read the responses to last class' Neuron Note questions. This will be a regular activity at the start of class every day. Hopefully, you will make the most of it.
2) We made sure everyone was ready to start learning so it was the last time to show me a book covered, parent signature, binder with dividers, and notecards. We also made sure we had communicated via email so I can create an email group.
3) As a way to really understand each perspective of psychology, you broke into teams of 3 and made a poster of all the approaches to psychology. In your group, you compared the chart on page 11 in your textbook with the College Board Outline and then with the "Psychology & You" textbook's explanation of the approaches. You made a web of perspectives. With each perspective, you wrote the definition, listed famous people, and gave examples. At the end of class, we talked about the pros and cons of each viewpoint and analyzed a situation with a woman who was depressed after dating a man of a different religion. The goal of the day was to REALLY understand the differing views psychologists take when examining human behavior.
Assignments:
1) Read the beginning of chapter 1 up to page 30.
2) Complete all the notecards for the Prologue and chapter1.
3) Visit the textbook's website and complete the handout. This will give you a chance to sample all that it has to offer.
1) You wrote a Neuron Note and read the responses to last class' Neuron Note questions. This will be a regular activity at the start of class every day. Hopefully, you will make the most of it.
2) We made sure everyone was ready to start learning so it was the last time to show me a book covered, parent signature, binder with dividers, and notecards. We also made sure we had communicated via email so I can create an email group.
3) As a way to really understand each perspective of psychology, you broke into teams of 3 and made a poster of all the approaches to psychology. In your group, you compared the chart on page 11 in your textbook with the College Board Outline and then with the "Psychology & You" textbook's explanation of the approaches. You made a web of perspectives. With each perspective, you wrote the definition, listed famous people, and gave examples. At the end of class, we talked about the pros and cons of each viewpoint and analyzed a situation with a woman who was depressed after dating a man of a different religion. The goal of the day was to REALLY understand the differing views psychologists take when examining human behavior.
Assignments:
1) Read the beginning of chapter 1 up to page 30.
2) Complete all the notecards for the Prologue and chapter1.
3) Visit the textbook's website and complete the handout. This will give you a chance to sample all that it has to offer.
Monday, August 20, 2007
August 20: History of Psychology
In-Class Activities:
1) You wrote your first Neuron Note. This is a way for you to ask me questions about the reading every class period. If you do not have a question from the reading, you can make a thoughtful comment. I do this activity for many reasons but the main one is so you continually review the reading. Think about it: You read and took notes over the assigned pages last week. Today, you reviewed your notes by thinking about them as you wrote your Neuron Note. Tonight, I am responding to your questions and you will be able to read all the answers on Wednesday. It keeps you reviewing and reviewing the reading. If you do not read, please do not waste your time and my time writing a bogus question. This daily activity is for serious students who have genuine questions and thoughts about the reading.
2) I checked your Book Cover, Parent Signature, Binder with Dividers, and Notecards. I need you to develop a system and these easy activities some me that you are getting yourself organized. I am impressed by some of you. Those of you who could not do these simple assignments need to reconsider whether or not you can keep up with this class. It is an AP elective and you will need to be on top of the assignments. Please think about your ability to participate fully if these easy tasks were too much.
3) We completed a "quiz" that challenged your assumptions. For example, what professional baseball player stole the most bases in a year? The answer is Sophie Kurys, a female who played on the Women's Professional Baseball Team of the Racine Belles in 1946. While trying to understand human behavior, we jump to conclusions that we believe to be true, but we haven't seen the whole picture. I encourage you to let go of your overconfidence in what you know to be true and realize much of our assumptions are not 100% accurate.
4) We watched the first in a video series called "Discovering Psychology." It is a bit outdated, but a fabulous review on the major units of study. Philip Zimbardo, former professor and researcher at Stanford and APA President, is the narrator and we will use these short videos to get ourselves tuned into the chapters we cover. Today's video was a simple introduction to psychology with a great review of the major historical figures.
5) I lectured on the History of Psychology: its roots, its beginning as a science and as therapy, as well as current views.
Assignments:
1) Read the rest of the Prologue pp.9-16 Take serious notes and think about what you might ask as a Neuron Note question on Wednesday.
2) Send me an email answering one of the eight FAQ of psychology.
3) Finish all the vocabulary notecards for the Prologue and Ch.1
1) You wrote your first Neuron Note. This is a way for you to ask me questions about the reading every class period. If you do not have a question from the reading, you can make a thoughtful comment. I do this activity for many reasons but the main one is so you continually review the reading. Think about it: You read and took notes over the assigned pages last week. Today, you reviewed your notes by thinking about them as you wrote your Neuron Note. Tonight, I am responding to your questions and you will be able to read all the answers on Wednesday. It keeps you reviewing and reviewing the reading. If you do not read, please do not waste your time and my time writing a bogus question. This daily activity is for serious students who have genuine questions and thoughts about the reading.
2) I checked your Book Cover, Parent Signature, Binder with Dividers, and Notecards. I need you to develop a system and these easy activities some me that you are getting yourself organized. I am impressed by some of you. Those of you who could not do these simple assignments need to reconsider whether or not you can keep up with this class. It is an AP elective and you will need to be on top of the assignments. Please think about your ability to participate fully if these easy tasks were too much.
3) We completed a "quiz" that challenged your assumptions. For example, what professional baseball player stole the most bases in a year? The answer is Sophie Kurys, a female who played on the Women's Professional Baseball Team of the Racine Belles in 1946. While trying to understand human behavior, we jump to conclusions that we believe to be true, but we haven't seen the whole picture. I encourage you to let go of your overconfidence in what you know to be true and realize much of our assumptions are not 100% accurate.
4) We watched the first in a video series called "Discovering Psychology." It is a bit outdated, but a fabulous review on the major units of study. Philip Zimbardo, former professor and researcher at Stanford and APA President, is the narrator and we will use these short videos to get ourselves tuned into the chapters we cover. Today's video was a simple introduction to psychology with a great review of the major historical figures.
5) I lectured on the History of Psychology: its roots, its beginning as a science and as therapy, as well as current views.
Assignments:
1) Read the rest of the Prologue pp.9-16 Take serious notes and think about what you might ask as a Neuron Note question on Wednesday.
2) Send me an email answering one of the eight FAQ of psychology.
3) Finish all the vocabulary notecards for the Prologue and Ch.1
Thursday, August 16, 2007
August 16: First Day of Class
In-Class Activities:
1) I welcomed you and told you about myself. You also met Mrs. Foster who will be teaching while I am out on maternity leave.
2) We went through the AP Psychology Expectations handout, the College Board's AP Psychology outline, and Advice from Last Year's AP Psych students. This is a college level class and we will be taking the AP exam in May. If this commitment is too much, you should make an appointment with your counselor for a schedule change. There are other electives that might better suit your needs.
3) You completed a notecard of information about yourself: basic information as well as your strengths/weaknesses/worthwhile learning experiences/ineffective learning experiences.
4) You got your textbook.
5) You completed a survey on contentious topics of psychology. We had a Agree/Disagree discussion on the topics of IQ and gender differences. Nature vs. Nurture, man!
Tonight's Assignments:
1) Cover your book
2) Have your parent's sign the AP Psych Expectations handout.
3) Email me at l.ovaska@laschools.net
One topic from you textbook that interests you.
One coll fact about yourself.
4) Read the Prologue pp.1-9 and take superstar notes.
5) Make notecards of all the vocabulary in the Prologue.
6) Get a binder with 14 dividers that correspond with the units on the College Board Outline
Extra Information:
Not only should you visit this blog at: http://ovaska-appsych.blogspot.com/, the American Psychological Association at: www.apa.org, but you should explore the textbook's website at: http://bcs.worthpublishers.com/myers7e
1) I welcomed you and told you about myself. You also met Mrs. Foster who will be teaching while I am out on maternity leave.
2) We went through the AP Psychology Expectations handout, the College Board's AP Psychology outline, and Advice from Last Year's AP Psych students. This is a college level class and we will be taking the AP exam in May. If this commitment is too much, you should make an appointment with your counselor for a schedule change. There are other electives that might better suit your needs.
3) You completed a notecard of information about yourself: basic information as well as your strengths/weaknesses/worthwhile learning experiences/ineffective learning experiences.
4) You got your textbook.
5) You completed a survey on contentious topics of psychology. We had a Agree/Disagree discussion on the topics of IQ and gender differences. Nature vs. Nurture, man!
Tonight's Assignments:
1) Cover your book
2) Have your parent's sign the AP Psych Expectations handout.
3) Email me at l.ovaska@laschools.net
One topic from you textbook that interests you.
One coll fact about yourself.
4) Read the Prologue pp.1-9 and take superstar notes.
5) Make notecards of all the vocabulary in the Prologue.
6) Get a binder with 14 dividers that correspond with the units on the College Board Outline
Extra Information:
Not only should you visit this blog at: http://ovaska-appsych.blogspot.com/, the American Psychological Association at: www.apa.org, but you should explore the textbook's website at: http://bcs.worthpublishers.com/myers7e
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Welcome to AP Psych 07-08!
Welcome New AP Psych-os!
AP Psychology starts tomorrow and I am psyched! I hope you all are too. I have everything set for our first meeting and I hope you are daydreaming about all that you will learn in AP Psych! Before I post the details of class, I want to start by explaining why this blogspot exists...
Over the years, I have used many ways to communicate with students regularly outside of class, but this year, I decided to try a blog, so http://ovaska-appsych.blogspot.com/ was born. My goal is for you to feel very connected to AP Psych and never feel like you "don't know what is going on." Please bookmark this blogspot and visit it before you go to bed on B days. I will post our class activities, assignments, great websites, fresh ideas, and more.
As you start to use this blog for information, please let me know if you have any suggestions. I think it will be great since I am a part time teacher (B days only), am teaching in P-Wing this year, and am 6 weeks away from having a baby. Despite all those handicaps, AP Psychology will be a fantastic experience and this blog will help us communicate better.
Are you ready to jump right in? I absolutely love teaching about human behavior and truly look forward to learning with you. I have taught AP Psychology part time at LAHS since my first daughter was born in 2002. It is a fascinating class, and my former students and I have worked hard to successfully prepare for the AP Exam. In addition to my enthusiasm, you are getting a bonus this year -- a fabulous substitute teacher while I am out on maternity leave. Mrs. Foster is equally passionate about psychology and is very qualified to teach in my absence.
In conclusion before I go to bed (it's a school night!), let's make this blogspot worthwhile and use it to stay connected. I can't wait to meet you tomorrow...
AP Psychology starts tomorrow and I am psyched! I hope you all are too. I have everything set for our first meeting and I hope you are daydreaming about all that you will learn in AP Psych! Before I post the details of class, I want to start by explaining why this blogspot exists...
Over the years, I have used many ways to communicate with students regularly outside of class, but this year, I decided to try a blog, so http://ovaska-appsych.blogspot.com/ was born. My goal is for you to feel very connected to AP Psych and never feel like you "don't know what is going on." Please bookmark this blogspot and visit it before you go to bed on B days. I will post our class activities, assignments, great websites, fresh ideas, and more.
As you start to use this blog for information, please let me know if you have any suggestions. I think it will be great since I am a part time teacher (B days only), am teaching in P-Wing this year, and am 6 weeks away from having a baby. Despite all those handicaps, AP Psychology will be a fantastic experience and this blog will help us communicate better.
Are you ready to jump right in? I absolutely love teaching about human behavior and truly look forward to learning with you. I have taught AP Psychology part time at LAHS since my first daughter was born in 2002. It is a fascinating class, and my former students and I have worked hard to successfully prepare for the AP Exam. In addition to my enthusiasm, you are getting a bonus this year -- a fabulous substitute teacher while I am out on maternity leave. Mrs. Foster is equally passionate about psychology and is very qualified to teach in my absence.
In conclusion before I go to bed (it's a school night!), let's make this blogspot worthwhile and use it to stay connected. I can't wait to meet you tomorrow...
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