Write research paper
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Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, Study Period 3, 2012
Assignment 1 ______________________________________________________________________
Length: 800 words (+/- 10%)
Date Due: End of Week 4 – Sunday September 23rd by 11.55pm
Method of Submission: Electronically through Blackboard
Assessment Value: 15% of your PSS110 mark
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As part of your assessment in PSS110 you are expected to complete two written assignments. Assignment 1 and Assignment 2 combined will make a complete research report (also called a laboratory report or lab report). Research reports provide a standardised writing format which all psychologists utilise to explain their research findings. This standardised format allows psychologists to communicate their findings to other psychologists in a concise and efficient way. To help you with the write up of your assignments, time has been set aside in each of your online tutorials, and discussion forums are available on the Blackboard website. Aims of the two assignments:
1. To teach you design, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of experiments in Psychology.
2. To teach you how to present research in a standardised format. 3. To raise your awareness of stress and coping.
What are the assignments investigating?
The full research report (a combination of Assignments 1 and 2) will consist of a report on the differences that exist between two personality domains (Neuroticism and Openness) in how they relate to two approaches to learning (Deep and Surface). It has been shown that deep approaches to learning result in better learning outcomes (Biggs & Tang, 2007) and that personality is one factor that can affect whether a student adopts a deep learning approach (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2009). The current research project investigates relationships between personality and learning approaches in a sample of undergraduate students studying psychology online.
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale! ! PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, SP3, 2012.
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Information on Neuroticism, Openness, and the different approaches to learning can be found in your text book, or in the articles that you have been referred to (details under References below), and perhaps in the other article that you are required to find using Swinburne’s library resources such as the electronic databases.
Data for your assignment is being collected via the survey that you are asked to complete in Week 1 of the study period in PSS110 Introduction to Psychology 1. The survey can be found under the SURVEY button on the Blackboard menu. Participation in the survey is voluntary. You are free to omit any questions you do not wish to answer and you can withdraw at any time during the survey. Your decision to participate (or not) will not affect your ability to complete the assignment. Completion of this online survey will be taken as your consent to participate. All data will be anonymous.
Assignment 1 timetable:
Week 1: Complete self-report survey. Discussion of the assignment in your online tutorial class or on the discussion board forum.
Week 2: Library tutorial on using the electronic databases to find appropriate material for your assignment. Complete the activity on finding your own journal article details (correctly APA formatted citation) to your tutor via student email.
Week 3: Mini-lecture on writing research reports (all sections). Develop your two hypotheses and or research questions and send these to your tutor for checking.
Week 4: Discussion of review questions. Assignment 1 is due at the end of this week – Sunday 23rd September.
Background information about Personality and Student Approaches to Learning:
Educational researchers differentiate between two approaches to learning that can be adopted by students in tertiary education settings. Deep approaches to learning involve engaging fully and meaningfully in a task with the intention of extracting optimal learning from the task. Surface approaches on the other hand, are adopted by students who wish to ‘get by’ on the minimal amount of work possible while still meeting the course requirements. It is not surprising that deeper approaches to learning result in better learning outcomes (e.g., Marton & Saljo, 1997).
A number of factors can affect the approach to learning adopted by students. Student factors include beliefs, attitudes, and personal resources (Biggs & Tang, 2007). A student’s personality can also affect their approach to learning. Chamorro-Premuzic and Furnham (2009) showed that students with higher levels of Openness tend to adopt a deeper learning approach. In a large review of similar studies, Baeten, Kyndt, Struyven, and Dochy (2010) confirmed that higher levels of Openness were strongly associated
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale! ! PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, SP3, 2012.
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with deeper learning approaches. They also reported that higher levels of Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, and lower levels of Neuroticism, were also associated with a deeper learning approach, albeit to a lesser extent than Openness.
The teaching environment can also affect approaches to learning adopted by students. Teaching factors that may encourage deeper learning practices in students include a focus on structure and depth of information rather than detail and breadth of information (Biggs & Tang, 2007).
The current study (which you are to report) focuses only on the student factors that may affect approaches to learning. In particular, the links between personality and approaches to learning in a sample of online first year psychology students are examined.
Design:
1. The study is a self-report survey of undergraduate students. 2. Personality is measured using the Australian Personality Inventory (Murray et
al., 2009). 3. Learning approaches are measured using the Study Process Questionnaire
(Biggs, Kember, & Leung). 4. Results will be reported using descriptive statistics (means, and standard
deviations) for the personality domains of Neuroticism and Openness.
Sections of the research report pertinent to Assignment 1 are:
• Title page • Introduction • References
Make sure to consult Findlay (2012) and the mini-lecture on Writing Research Reports (on Blackboard) on how to structure and write a research report. Below are some guidelines specific to this assignment.
Title page
Include a 10-12 word title, your name and student number, your institution, your tutor and the due date of the assignment (see example title page in Findlay).
Introduction
The Introduction needs to provide a succinct but critical review of the literature on approaches to learning as well as definitions of the key terms – deep vs. surface learning, and the personality domains of Neuroticism and Openness. The review should address the definitions of each concept, and specific findings from studies relevant to
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your aims/hypotheses. The most important thing to remember is that the Introduction is providing an argument for the hypotheses to follow. The hypotheses should be operationalised and flow smoothly and compellingly from the evidence provided by the research literature. The research literature should be evaluated in terms of its strengths and weaknesses (i.e., a critique). While several references have been provided for you, it is expected that you will find a minimum of one other reference. Please note that you should only use references that are peer-reviewed (i.e., books, journal articles). Using un-authored information taken from web sites (e.g., Wikipedia) is not appropriate!
References
In text referencing follows APA format of author-date. If direct quotes must be used, do so sparingly and place the page number in brackets after the quote. The reference list consists of all the references actually cited in the study (it is not a bibliography) and should be formatted according to APA standards (see Findlay). You may use your Burton, Westen, and Kowalski (2012) text to define your constructs as necessary.
Submission requirements:
Assignment 1:
For the first assignment you are asked to complete the following sections of a research report:
• Title page • Introduction (800 words) • References
To help with structuring your Introduction, please attempt to answer the following questions. Answers will be discussed in the online tutorials and in the Discussion board forums.
• What are the constructs referred to as Neuroticism, Openness, deep learning, and surface learning?
• How are the deep and surface learning constructs operationalised in real life? (give examples)
• What are the learning outcomes associated with the two different types of learning approaches?
• What are some of the theoretical reasons proposed to explain why there may be personality differences in relation to the different learning approaches?
• What is the aim of the current research?
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• Construct two hypotheses based on the design of the study and past research that we could test for in this report. The first hypothesis should address differences in learning approaches for those high in Neuroticism and those low in Neuroticism. The second hypothesis should address differences in learning approaches for those high in Openness and those low in Openness. If the literature is not conclusive one way or the other, develop a research question instead of a hypothesis.
The research report should be typed in 12 point font (Times New Roman) and double- spaced. The report must be formatted according to the specifications outlined in Findlay (2012) and the Publication Manual (6th edition) of the American Psychological Association.
The primary readings for this assignment are available via the library.
Assignment 2:
For the second assignment, you will be asked to submit an entire research report at the end of Week 9. This will include your revised version of the first assignment (Title page, Introduction, and Reference list) and in addition the following sections:
• Abstract • Method • Results • Discussion
In Week 6 you will be given a summary of the results of the survey on personality and approaches to learning (which you completed via Blackboard). You are not expected to conduct any statistical analysis except comparing and reporting the descriptive results (i.e., means comparisons). The analysis of results, along with the other sections of the research report, will be discussed in the online tutorial classes and in the discussion forums.
References
Baeten, M., Kyndt, E., Struyven, K., & Dochy, F. (2010). Using student-centred learning environments to stimulate deep approaches to learning: factors encouraging or discouraging their effectiveness. Educational Research Review, 5, 243-260. doi: 10.1016/j.edurev.2010.06.001
Biggs, J. & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for quality learning at university. Berkshire: Open University Press. (This is a book – you only need to read Chapter 2).
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale! ! PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, SP3, 2012.
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Chamorro-Premuzic, T. & Furnham, A. (2009). Mainly Openness: the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and learning approaches. Learning and Individual Differences, 19, 524-529. doi: 10.1016/j.indif.2009.06.004
Marton, F. & Saljo, R. (1997). Approaches to learning. In F. Marton, D. Hounsell, and N.J. Entwistle (Eds.), The experience of learning (pp. 39-58). Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.
Plus at least one more reference that you have found.
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The following are references for the scales used in the study: These two articles relate to the scales that you will need to report in the Method section in Assignment 2. In Assignment 1, you may use them to define your constructs, but not to describe scales.
Australian Personality Inventory Murray, G., Judd, F., Jackson, H., Fraser, C., Komiti, A., Pattison, P., & Robins, G.
(2009). Personality for free: Psychometric properties of a public domain Australian measure of the five-factor model. Australian Journal of Psychology, 61, 167-174. doi: 10.1080/00049530802326784
Study Process Questionnaire Biggs, J., Kember, D., & Leung, D.Y.P. (2001). The revised two-factor Study Process
Questionnaire. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 133-149.
The readings for this assignment are available via the library’s electronic reserve under PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I or access through Blackboard under Assignment 1.
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale! ! PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, SP3, 2012.