What Students Know
Jamal Mansour
Introductory Psychology Student Access to, Use of, and Attitudes Towards, Instructional Technology
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Introduction
What is instructional technology?
What is the purpose of the ITRL?
Are students learning to think like psychologists in PSYCO 104/105?
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Rationale
Want to develop instructional materials for large enrollment classes
Need to know What skills students need to complete their degree
• Students who take PSYCO 104/105
What students can and will do
Targeting first year students from a variety of faculties
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Rationale – Enrollment
Fall 2002 – Summer 2003PSYCO 104 = 2513 students
PSYCO 105 = 1164 students
Total enrollment = 3677 students
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Purpose
Need to assess the needs of the students we develop IT for
Will they be capable/comfortable using the instructional medium we choose
Must ensure the content is useful
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Research Question
What kind of access to, use of, and attitudes towards, instructional technology do first year University of Alberta students have?
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Related ResearchStudents must learn critical thinking tools for research and communication
UofA Faculty of Arts (http://www.registrar.ualberta.ca/calendar/Arts/40.1.html#40 )
Principles of a Quality Undergraduate Education
Specifically, for psychology…. Intro Psych instructors want students to be able to think like psychologists
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Related ResearchThink critically, analytically, practically, creatively
Judge the validity and credibility of research
Understand field as dynamic and integrated
Have a base of knowledge about the field
Apply knowledge to everyday life
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Related Research
How can we achieve these goals?Actively engaging students
Research shows we can teach effectively in large enrollment classes
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MethodParticipants
1340 PSYCO 104/105 students participating in mass testing
Term enrollment (Winter 2002) = 1581 students
MaterialsPaper questionnaire
• Included my questions plus additional ones
Two multiple choice questions
One 7-point Likert Scale question
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Method
ProcedureHeard a summary of what they would be doing
Received our questionnaire as part of a package of a number of questionnaires
Received a paper debriefing
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Questionnaire
How comfortable do you feel working with computers?
a) Not at all
b) Slightly
c) Somewhat
d) Comfortable
e) Very
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Questionnaire
Word processing
Using the Web
Games
Searching the library for print resources (e.g., books)
Searching the online library databases
Searching the Web
Reading an essay for English
Writing an essay for English
Reading a Psychology
journal article
Writing a summary of a
Psychology journal article
Writing a Psychology paper
How would you assess your skill level in each of the following:
Participants chose from: None, Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent
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Questionnaire
a) Relevancy of the information
b) Credibility of the source
c) Credentials of the authors
d) Recency of publication
e) Source of the information (i.e., journal article, Web site, newspaper article)
f) Findings supported by other research
g) Findings contradicted by other research
Which of the following would you use to decide if you should use certain information in a Psychology research assignment? (Circle all that apply)
h) Ease of finding information
i) Clarity of information
j) Number of references
k) Legibility
l) Frequency with which the information is cited by other sources
m) Ease of accessing the information
n) Conciseness of the information
o) Availability of the information
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Results – Demographics
Faculty 40% Arts 46% Science 14% Other faculties
Year of Study 59% First 27% Second 8% Third4% Fourth2% Other
Age84% ≤ 20 years
Sex63% Female37% Male
Fluency with English98% considered themselves fluent
Questioned 1340 of 1581 students
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Results – Perceived Proficiency
Collapsed across all demographic categories
Introductory Psychology Students' Perceived Proficiency with Computers
(2002)
Not at all1%
Slightly5%
Somewhat19%
Comfortable47%
Very28%
Introductory Psychology Students' Perceived Proficiency with Computers
(1997)
Not at all5%
Slightly15%
Somewhat28%
Comfortable32% Very
20%
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Results – Perceived Proficiency
Most students rated their skills as good or excellent
Email (93%)
Using Web (85%)
Word processing (85%)
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Results – Perceived Proficiency Word Processing (2002)
85%
15%
Using the Web (2002)
85%
15%
Word Processing (1997)
72%
28%
Using the Web (1997)
51%49%
Email (2002)
93%
7%
Good or Excellent Other
Email (1997)
49%51%
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Results – Perceived Proficiency
Fewer students rated their skill as good or excellent with other important research skills
Searching the library for print resources (47%)
Searching the online library databases (46%)
Searching the Library for print resources
Good or Excellent
47%Other53%
Searching the online Library databases
Other54%
Good or Excellent
46%
20
Writing a Summary of a Psychology Journal Article
Good or Excellent
46%Other54%
Writing a Psychology Paper
Good or Excellent
37%
Other63%
Results – Perceived Proficiency
Ratings tended to be lower for writing skills
Writing a summary of a psychology journal article
Writing a psychology paper
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Writing a Summary of a Psychology Journal Article
Good or Excellent
46%Other54%
Writing a Psychology Paper
Good or Excellent
37%
Other63%
Results – Perceived Proficiency
Ratings tended to be lower for writing skills
Writing a summary of a psychology journal article
Writing a psychology paper
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Good or Excellent Other
Results – Perceived Proficiency
Ratings of skill with non-psychology writing were higher than for psychology-related tasks
Writing a Summary of a Psychology Journal Article
46%54%
Writing a Psychology Paper
37%
63%
Writing an Essay for English
60%40%
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Results – Perceived Proficiency
Ratings of skill with non-psychology reading were higher than for psychology-related tasks
Reading an Essay for English
Good or Excellent
74%
Other26%
Reading a Psychology Journal Article
Good or Excellent
58%
Other42%
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Results – Informational Resources
Most likely material/information for determining use
Relevance (86%)
Credibility (80%)
Clarity of information (73%)
Least likelyAuthor credentials (31%)
Frequency with which others cite the work (20%)
Number of references (19%)
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Discussion
Introductory psychology students areComfortable with computers, so Web-based instructional technologies can be explored as a way to support learning
• Likely related to increased availability and use of computers
Comfortable with some of the tools of the field
• English language• Email
• The Web• Word processing
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Discussion
Introductory psychology students areLess comfortable using research and psychology-specific applications requiring skill with the Web
• Online databases• Library searches
Less comfortable• Reading and writing Psychology papers than
English papers
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Discussion
Introductory psychology studentsAre aware of factors affecting the usefulness of information
May not know how to critically appraise these factors
Items from our questionnaire were considered important to critical appraisal by expert researchers
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Conclusions
First year students are Not intimidated by computers
Confident using the Web
Not very confident using library resources
Not skilled with resources and tools specific to psychology
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ImplicationsIntro Psych students have the foundational skills to learn how to use psychology-related resources
Large Enrollment InitiativeWeb Searching module
Critical Appraisal module
Using PsycINFO module
The modules are being evaluated
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AcknowledgementsConnie VarnhagenBrad Arkinson, Jason Daniels, Peggy McFall, Sylvia Peske, Tara Peters, Bonnie Sadler-TakachTom JohnsonFunding provided by the Alberta Learning Learning Enhancement Envelope (LEE) 4 and the Faculty of Science (UofA)
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ReferencesMcGovern, TV. (Ed.). (1993). Handbook for Enhancing Undergraduate Education in
Psychology. Washington: American Psychology Association.
Morris, CG. (1997). Still Giving Psychology Away After All These Years. In RJ. Sternberg. (Ed.), Teaching Introductory Psychology: Survival Tips from the Experts (pp. 91-106). Washington: American Psychology Association.
Sternberg, RJ. (1997). Teaching Students to Think as Psychologists. In RJ. Sternberg (Ed.), Teaching Introductory Psychology: Survival Tips from the Experts (pp. 137-147). Washington: American Psychology Association.
Wade, CE. (1997). Thinking About Psychology. In RJ. Sternberg (Ed.), Teaching Introductory Psychology: Survival Tips from the Experts (pp. 151-162). Publisher: City.
Bernstein, DA. (1997). Reflections on Teaching Introductory Psychology. In RJ. Sternberg (Ed.), Teaching Introductory Psychology: Survival Tips from the Experts (pp. 35-47). Washington: American Psychology Association.
Varnhagen, CK. (1999, June). Developing and delivering effective instructional technology. Presentation to the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Calgary, AB.
Varnhagen, CK. (2002). Making Sense of Psychology on the Web. New York: Worth.