Career in Psychology

CAREERS IN PSYCHOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY 202

Section 1 Fall, 2022

Professor Contact Information

Name: Barry J. Ries, Ph.D. Email: [email protected] (preferred) Office: AH 121D Office Hours: By appointment on Zoom or Mailbox: AH103 in person as arranged Phone: 389-1305

Email

The best way to contact me is by email. When you send me an email, include the course and section number in the subject line. I am teaching multiple sections of some of my courses and this will help me find information if necessary. I will respond to emails Monday – Friday and always try my best to respond quickly. Do not count on me responding to emails Friday’s after 4 or on weekends. You can go ahead and send them and I will respond on Monday mornings. If necessary, I might suggest we set up a Zoom meeting to ensure better communication and opportunities for questions and clarification.

Required Text: No text is required. Readings will be recommended or assigned during the semester. PowerPoint lectures are also provided.

This is a great site for all professions. I encourage you to check it out and use it as appropriate for this course and your future career explorations. https://www.onetonline.org/

Course Objectives:

The Department of Psychology has adopted a series of learning objectives for students in our major. These learning objectives fall into five broad goal areas that include:

1.Developing a knowledge base in psychology 2.Scientific inquiry and critical thinking 3.Ethical and social responsibility 4.Oral and written communication 5.Development of a professional identity

This course is designed to develop skills in all of these areas, with a particular emphasis on goal areas 1 and 5. More specifically, this course will explore various degrees and types of careers available in psychology, and what psychologists do. The specific learning objectives for this course are:

1. Students will emerge from the course with realistic ideas about how to implement their psychological knowledge, skills, values and personal assets in occupational pursuits in a variety of fields of psychology.

2. Students will be able to incorporate critical thinking within the framework of career-related decision making.

3. Students will be able to develop a set of reasonable expectations of what a career in psychology might offer in terms of personal benefits, as well as what demands might be placed on them individually in a career.

4. Students will gain an understanding of the level of commitment required for the field, educational demands, time demands, as well as opportunities and expectations for earnings.

5. Be able to understand and critique research literature in a variety of psychology career paths.

6. Demonstrate effective time management skills by completing assignments accurately and on- time.

Online Course Structure: This class will be completed over the course of the semester (see “class schedule” below). Materials for each module will be available Monday morning of the scheduled week and will close three weeks later on Saturday at 11:59 PM. You will have approximately three weeks to complete a module. Therefore, it may be beneficial to work slightly ahead in order to avoid last minute difficulties with an assignment or technical difficulties with accessing the course through D2L. In other words, don’t wait until the last minute.

The course will be divided into 5 modules which correspond to three topics (e.g., module 1 covers the topics of Introduction and syllabus, Is Psychology right for you? and Take an active role; module 2 covers three different topics, etc.). Each module will involve, viewing the lecture material on Power Point slides or reading the corresponding book chapter. All work must be submitted by 11:59 PM on Saturday per the schedule. Students will not be able to go back to complete work once the module is over.

We will not have scheduled times to meet online (e.g., chat room) or face-to-face. If you are having difficulties, please email me as soon as possible for assistance.

Assignments:

Class Notes: Due Dates as scheduled below 100 points

You are required to turn in your notes from the recorded PowerPoint lecture. They do not have to be typed but they must be legible. The more detail in your notes, the more points you will be awarded. You will not do well if all you write down is the screen text. Note taking is an important skill and needs to be developed if you want to pursue graduate education.

Please see the schedule for due dates. You will turn in your notes for each three chapter module. Each module is worth 20 points.

Academic Plan: Due October 22 at 11:59 pm 25 points

Students will make a list of all courses they have already taken and courses they still need to take in all semesters until they graduate. Students should make sure that their course plan meets all requirements for graduation and prepares them for their anticipated career plans. The plan should include 1) the courses already completed prior to and including this semester; 2) the courses the student plans to take for each remaining semester; 3) a list of all classes that will fulfill the student’s major; 4) a list of all classes that will fulfill the student’s minor; 5) a list of all classes that will fulfill the student’s general education requirements; 6) a list of all classes that will be electives taken to reach the required 120 credit hours; and 7) other extracurricular activities that you plan to pursue to strengthen your graduate school application or resume for your job search.

This might be a good time to visit with your academic advisor to assist you with your plan. You also might find this site beneficial. https://mankato.mnsu.edu/academics/academic- catalog/undergraduate/psychology/psychology-bs#plan

Journal Article Reviews: Due November 12 at 11:59 pm 25 points

1. Pick four research papers that represent research done in a field of psychology that is of interest to you (e.g., Clinical Psychology, School Psychology, Forensic Psychology, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Neuropsychology, Health Psychology, Etc.). Each paper must be from a different field of psychology. The papers must be scientifically based and from the years 2010 to present, no anecdotal wonders, no theoretical papers or reviews. If the article does not have a research design and dependent measures, it cannot be used for your class paper.

2. If you have concerns about the appropriateness of your article for abstracting, attach it in PDF form and email it to me at: [email protected] I should be able to rather quickly give you feedback on this.

3. Use the attached abstract outline-exactly. Type the abstracts. Each paper should be approximately 2-3 pages in length.

Abstract Outline Two to three (2-3) pages in length, double spaced/typed. Use the headings exactly as presented below.

Reference: Author’s name (year). Title of article, Journal Name, volume, pages, APA format; e.g. - Becker, L.J., & Seligman, C. (1981). Educational treatment of hyperactive children. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36, 1-7.

Descriptors: What area of psychology are you writing on? Why did you choose this area of interest?

Précis: A brief one or two sentence description of the study (e.g., the School Psychologist used a random beep tape to reinforce hyperactive children in a special classroom to stay on task).

Introduction: This section should briefly describe any background information found in the introduction of the paper. Items may include rationale for the study, important previous studies, special issues.

Method: This section of the abstract should include a more detailed description of the subjects, design setting, target behavior (dependent measure) Enough detail should be given to the intervention (step-by step) so that it might be used by someone reading the abstract.

Comments: This section should include in your own words what you thought was important about this study and what makes it unique. How does the review of research in this field affect your interest in pursuing a degree in this area (positive and/or negative).

Cautions: This section should include any procedural concerns you may have about the techniques used in the study, issues you might have with the type of research, what you would additionally want to know before enrolling in graduate studies in this field.

Career Considerations: Due December 3 at 11:59 pm 25 points

For this assignment, choose three careers that you are considering. 1) Please give a detailed description of the area including what makes it unique. 2) Three things that you find appealing about the career. 3) Two things that concern you and may lead to professional burnout. 4) The training and experiences required for the career.

You might find this government site useful. http://www.bls.gov

Each career consideration should be at least one page long (total of at least 3 pages for this assignment). Again, the more details you provide, the better your score.

Grading:

All assignments must be submitted on the assigned due date. Unexcused late assignments submitted after the due date will be lowered by 5 points each day they are late. Prior notification is required for excused assignments. For example, failure to turn in assignments because of medical emergencies or other special circumstances should be discussed with the instructor in advance if at all possible.

Point Distribution

PowerPoint Notes 100 points Academic Plan 25 points Journal Article Reviews 25 points Career Considerations 25 points

Grades: 175 – 157 = A 156 - 140 = B 139 - 123 = C 122 – 106 = D <105 = F

Academic Honesty: (as stated in the University Policies and Procedures): It is the intent of Minnesota State University, Mankato to encourage a sense of integrity on the part of students in fulfilling their academic requirements. To give students a better understanding of behaviors that may constitute academic dishonesty, the following definitions are provided.

Plagiarism – Submission of an academic assignment as one’s own work, which includes critical ideas or written narrative that are taken from another author without the proper citation. This does not apply only to direct quotes, but also to critical ideas that are paraphrased by the student.

Plagiarism includes but is not limited to: • submitting the work of others as your own • submitting others’ work as your own with only minor changes • submitting others’ work as your own without adequate footnotes, quotations, and other reference forms • multiple submission of the same work, written or oral, for more than one course without both instructor’s permission, or making minor revisions on work which has received credit and submitting it again as new work.

Cheating – Use of unauthorized material or assistance to help fulfill academic assignments. This material could include unauthorized copies of test materials, calculators, crib sheets, help from another student, etc.

Collusion – Assistance to another student or among students in committing the act of cheating or plagiarism.

** Every attempt will be made to accommodate qualified students with disabilities. If you are a student with a documented disability, please see me as early in the semester as possible to discuss the necessary accommodations, and/or contact the Disabilities Services Office at (507) 389-2825 (V) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY).

Module 1 Aug. 22 Introduction and syllabus Aug. 29 Is psychology right for you? Sept. 5 Take an active role in your education Sept. 10 Notes due for Module 1 by 11:59 pm

Module 2 Sept. 12 Study tips: Tools for academic success Sept. 19 APA Style Manual: An Introduction Sept. 26 Clinical and Counseling Psychology Oct. 1 Notes due for Module 2 by 11:59 pm

Module 3 Oct. 3 School Psychology Oct. 10 Legal and Forensic Psychology Oct. 17 Health Psychology/Sports Psychology Oct. 22 Notes for Module 3 and Academic Plan by 11:59 pm

Module 4 Oct. 24 Biopsychology, Cognitive Neuropsychology, and Clinical

Neuropsychology Oct. 31 Industrial Organizational and Human Factors Psychology Nov. 7 Experimental, Cognitive and Quantitative Psychology Nov. 12 Notes for Module 4 and Journal Article Reviews by 11:59 pm

Module 5 Nov. 14 Social and Consumer Psychology Nov. 21 Developmental Psychology Nov. 28 Getting into graduate school Dec. 3 Notes for Module 5 and Careers Consideration by 11:59 pm