Assignments
Assignment points breakdown
- Data tutorial: 25%
- Op-ed: 25%
- Reading log: 16.5%
- Discussion leader: 3.5%
- Participation: 20%
- Participation reflection: 5%
- Syllabus quiz: 5%
Data tutorial (25 points)
The first half of this course will focus on new tools to probe classic psychological phenomena. In order to apply what you’ve learned about the internet as a rich source of psychology data, your midterm assignment will be to construct a simple, step-by-step tutorial to present to our class on how to download data from one data source, and some of the things you can do with that data once you have it in hand. What makes this a tutorial is that your document will include both code and explanations of what the code does. These tutorials will also live on the syllabus website and can be accessed after the class ends so you can conduct psychology research online on your own. As part of the assignment, you will first submit a rough draft, which you will revise based on my feedback, and you will present your tutorial to the class. Please see the assignment sheet for more details.
Op-ed (25 points)
The second half of this course will focus on new research questions native to online environments. Many of the psychological theories and research questions that we will discuss in class have real implications for internet use in everyday life. Legislative proposals to regulate online environments have been gaining steam, but rarely are those proposals rooted in rigorous understandings of psychology and human behavior. Furthermore, the motivation for these policies is not often effectively communicated to the public. Your final assignment is to write an op-ed for a specific publication (your choice!) highlighting one aspect of the internet that encourages harmful or self-destructive behavior, and ideas for how to change/improve it. I encourage you to think of this assignment as an opportunity to write something that you can actually try to get published in a general audience publication. Please see the assignment sheet for more details.
Reading log (16.5 points) and discussion leader (3.5 points)
Reading log: You will be required to keep a reading log to record your thoughts while completing your readings. The reading log will exist in a Google document that can be viewed by the rest of the class, as well as by me. You should structure the reading log according to the provided template as a starting point. For each week’s readings, I will provide you with guiding questions that you will use to structure your thoughts. You can find these guiding questions in the Appendix. I will check the reading log each week for completion.
Discussion leader: In addition, you will each serve as a discussion leader for one week of the class. As discussion leader, it is your responsibility to help me facilitate/carry the in-class discussion. You will be expected to have read everyone else’s reading logs for that week. You should also come to class prepared with discussion questions and discussion points (in addition to that week’s guiding questions). See the Appendix for the list of discussion leaders.
Participation reflection (5 points)
Midway through the course, you will write a 250-word reflection on how you think you are doing in your participation in the course. You should use the participation rubric to help you write your reflection. I will give you feedback on your reflection about where I agree and disagree. The purpose of this assignment is for you to be honest with yourself about your relationship to the course while also getting a concrete sense from me about how are you doing. You will receive full credit on this assignment if your reflection touches on all aspects of the participation rubric.