Week 10 Discussion post

Course Overview

 

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· PRINT

· Congratulations on taking your first step toward a master's degree in psychology. We are excited for you as you begin or continue this journey. Our field provides countless diverse and engaging opportunities, such as working in academia as a teacher, administrator, or researcher; working with clients in independent practice, hospitals, or other settings; or working with businesses in the public or private sector (Sternberg, 2017). In this course, you will have an opportunity to clarify your vision for the impact you would like to make in the field of psychology and your community. You will:

· Explore your interests and passions related to psychology.

· Explore the various career opportunities and related competencies (demonstrated knowledge, skills, or abilities) and expectations for the field.

· Clarify your personal and professional goals.

· Start connecting your Capella degree program to your overall vision for the future.

You will also start developing the key skills for success as a practitioner and a scholar in the field. You will:

· Develop your communication skills to meet the standards set forth by the American Psychological Association (APA) for the profession.

· Develop your communication skills to identify and evaluate research to apply in psychology practice.

· Develop the critical thinking skills that lay the foundation for your success as a leader in the field.

Throughout the course, take the time to develop your vision for your future in psychology. Finding your purpose early on in your academic journey will help you find meaning in the work you complete throughout your program and help you focus on building the skills and knowledge that will inspire you to move yourself forward in your professional aspirations.

Everyone has to start somewhere. Even if you do not have a clear vision for your future at this moment, something drew you to the field of psychology. During this course, think about what attracted you to the field and the many doors that will open to you because of your master's degree in psychology.

Take some time to listen to the  Introduction to Your First Course  media presentation.

Reference

Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.). (2017). Career paths in psychology: Where your degree can take you (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Course Project

Throughout the course, you will work toward developing a path to transform your passions in the field of psychology into a reality. Whether you have a vague or clear idea of what you would like to do and why, and what groups you want to impact, this project and related course experiences will help you clarify that vision and create specific actions to start moving toward it from the start of your program.

You will start by choosing a research question related to your vision and specialization and summarizing the articles you find. Next, you will synthesize those articles into a literature review in order to gather additional insights about your interests, potential career setting, and professional practice. Finally, you will create a plan of action to take steps toward achieving your vision.

Throughout the course, we provide activities and discussions to guide you, step-by-step, in completing the project assignments. Be sure to come back to this overview and look ahead to your assignments as you progress through the course. This will ensure you make important connections between the weekly activities and your project assignments. It will also help you effectively and efficiently make use of your time in the course.

Annotated Bibliography

Research is at the core of psychology professions and practice. Some of you may already be working in this exciting field, while for others this is a future goal. Whether you are evaluating up-to-date scientific evidence to support your practice or conducting your own primary research in the field, envisioning the role of research in your current or future career in psychology is critical. For this assignment, you will start delving into the literature related to your passions and interests in psychology. You will select a research question related to your specialization and your career goals, and then use your library skills to find and evaluate resources. Finally, you will use your writing skills to summarize three of the resources you found.

Literature Review

Critical thinking is a skill you will use no matter what specialization you choose. For this assignment, you will apply critical thinking skills to the articles you found for your annotated bibliography. You will use critical thinking tools to synthesize a cohesive review of literature concerning your research question.

Your Career in Psychology

Once you clarify your passions and interests in psychology and tap into your purpose to create a clear and inspiring vision and goals for your future career, it is time to create the path for action. This final assignment in Week 9 provides you an opportunity to transform your vision into reality. You will connect your vision and goals to the competencies and requirements in your field and create specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timed steps to become a practitioner-scholar in the field of psychology.

Assignments

Week 4: Complete the annotated bibliography template on the research topic you have chosen in your specialization – 20% of grade.  View Scoring Guide

Week 6: Write a 4–5-page literature review that synthesizes the sources your found related to your research question – 30% of grade.  View Scoring Guide

Week 9: Write a 6–7-page paper, Your Career in Psychology, in which you further define your vision, analyze the requirements needed for achieving your vision, and create an action plan to achieve your goals – 30% of grade.  View Scoring Guide

Discussions

There will be a discussion in each of the following weeks. Initial discussion posts are due on Thursday of the week assigned. Responses to discussions are due on Sunday of that week. Participation in discussions will count for 20% of your final grade.  View Discussion Participation Scoring Guide

Week 1: Describe the role of a practitioner-scholar in psychology, and define your vision for your career in psychology.

Week 3: Share your research question with your peers, and discuss library search strategies you find helpful.

Week 5: Compare different critical thinking models, and share your understanding of synthesis.

Week 8: Apply ethical codes to a particular case study, and discuss them with your peers.

Week 10: Reflect on what you have learned in this course, and discuss how you imagine contributing to your field and to your community.

· Course Competencies

To successfully complete this course, you will be expected to:

3. Analyze the role of the practitioner-scholar model in guiding professional development.

3. Evaluate psychological literature in terms of reliability, credibility, ethics, and value.

3. Analyze the functions, responsibilities, and ethics required of a psychology professional.

3. Apply critical thinking and effective decision making.

3. Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for professionals in the field of psychology.