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Graduate Discussion Rubric.html

Graduate Discussion Rubric

Overview

Your active participation in the discussions is essential to your overall success this term. Discussion questions will help you make meaningful connections between the course content and the larger concepts of the course. These discussions give you a chance to express your own thoughts, ask questions, and gain insight from your peers and instructor.

Directions

For each discussion, you must create one initial post and follow up with at least two response posts.

For your initial post, do the following:

• Write a post of 1 to 2 paragraphs.
• In Module One, complete your initial post by Thursday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
• In Modules Two through Ten, complete your initial post by Thursday at 11:59 p.m. of your local time zone.
• Consider content from other parts of the course where appropriate. Use proper citation methods for your discipline when referencing scholarly or popular sources.

For your response posts, do the following:

• Reply to at least two classmates outside of your own initial post thread.
• In Module One, complete your two response posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
• In Modules Two through Ten, complete your two response posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. of your local time zone.
• Demonstrate more depth and thought than saying things like “I agree” or “You are wrong.” Guidance is provided for you in the discussion prompt.

Discussion Rubric

Criteria	Exemplary	Proficient	Needs Improvement	Not Evident	Value
Comprehension	Develops an initial post with an organized, clear point of view or idea using rich and significant detail (100%)	Develops an initial post with a point of view or idea using appropriate detail (90%)	Develops an initial post with a point of view or idea but with some gaps in organization and detail (70%)	Does not develop an initial post with an organized point of view or idea (0%)	20
Timeliness	N/A	Submits initial post on time (100%)	Submits initial post one day late (70%)	Submits initial post two or more days late (0%)	10
Engagement	Provides relevant and meaningful response posts with clarifying explanation and detail (100%)	Provides relevant response posts with some explanation and detail (90%)	Provides somewhat relevant response posts with some explanation and detail (70%)	Provides response posts that are generic with little explanation or detail (0%)	20
Critical Thinking	Draws insightful conclusions that are thoroughly defended with evidence and examples (100%)	Draws informed conclusions that are justified with evidence (90%)	Draws logical conclusions (70%)	Does not draw logical conclusions (0%)	30
Writing (Mechanics)	Initial post and responses are easily understood, clear, and concise using proper citation methods where applicable with no errors in citations (100%)	Initial post and responses are easily understood using proper citation methods where applicable with few errors in citations (90%)	Initial post and responses are understandable using proper citation methods where applicable with a number of errors in citations (70%)	Initial post and responses are not understandable and do not use proper citation methods where applicable (0%)	20
Total:	100%

Graduate Discussion Rubric.html

Graduate Discussion Rubric

Overview

Your active participation in the discussions is essential to your overall success this term. Discussion questions will help you make meaningful connections between the course content and the larger concepts of the course. These discussions give you a chance to express your own thoughts, ask questions, and gain insight from your peers and instructor.

Directions

For each discussion, you must create one initial post and follow up with at least two response posts.

For your initial post, do the following:

• Write a post of 1 to 2 paragraphs.
• In Module One, complete your initial post by Thursday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
• In Modules Two through Ten, complete your initial post by Thursday at 11:59 p.m. of your local time zone.
• Consider content from other parts of the course where appropriate. Use proper citation methods for your discipline when referencing scholarly or popular sources.

For your response posts, do the following:

• Reply to at least two classmates outside of your own initial post thread.
• In Module One, complete your two response posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
• In Modules Two through Ten, complete your two response posts by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. of your local time zone.
• Demonstrate more depth and thought than saying things like “I agree” or “You are wrong.” Guidance is provided for you in the discussion prompt.

Discussion Rubric

Criteria	Exemplary	Proficient	Needs Improvement	Not Evident	Value
Comprehension	Develops an initial post with an organized, clear point of view or idea using rich and significant detail (100%)	Develops an initial post with a point of view or idea using appropriate detail (90%)	Develops an initial post with a point of view or idea but with some gaps in organization and detail (70%)	Does not develop an initial post with an organized point of view or idea (0%)	20
Timeliness	N/A	Submits initial post on time (100%)	Submits initial post one day late (70%)	Submits initial post two or more days late (0%)	10
Engagement	Provides relevant and meaningful response posts with clarifying explanation and detail (100%)	Provides relevant response posts with some explanation and detail (90%)	Provides somewhat relevant response posts with some explanation and detail (70%)	Provides response posts that are generic with little explanation or detail (0%)	20
Critical Thinking	Draws insightful conclusions that are thoroughly defended with evidence and examples (100%)	Draws informed conclusions that are justified with evidence (90%)	Draws logical conclusions (70%)	Does not draw logical conclusions (0%)	30
Writing (Mechanics)	Initial post and responses are easily understood, clear, and concise using proper citation methods where applicable with no errors in citations (100%)	Initial post and responses are easily understood using proper citation methods where applicable with few errors in citations (90%)	Initial post and responses are understandable using proper citation methods where applicable with a number of errors in citations (70%)	Initial post and responses are not understandable and do not use proper citation methods where applicable (0%)	20
Total:	100%

Module Overview14.html

Attention and Consciousness

Attention and consciousness are defined in many different ways. A rather simplistic view of attention is to think of it as focusing a “mental spotlight” on different sensory inputs (Kolb & Whishaw, 2009). Consciousness, on the other hand, is defined more in terms of awareness. Kolb and Whishaw (2009) described consciousness first as awareness, and second as awareness of awareness. When looking at the definitions of both of these constructs, there is a bit of overlap. For example, when we are aware of something, it might be under the focus of our mental spotlight. That is, we are aware of what we are attending to. This module will examine both conscious and unconscious attention, both of which play a role in cognition.

Attention serves many functions in day-to-day life. Through attention, we can search for and detect different stimuli in our environment. For example, if you are told to turn left at the stop sign, attentional systems in the brain will allow you to search for the stop sign, detect it, and take appropriate action. We can also selectively attend to certain stimuli or divide our attention among stimuli (Sternberg & Sternberg, 2016). For example, you might be selectively attending to this reading while also blocking out information coming from the radio. Or you might be dividing your attention between both things, so that you can read and listen to music at the same time. While we all have these abilities, many different factors (including biological ones) may influence how well our attentional system works.

A common disorder affecting attentional abilities is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Although this disorder is pervasive and widely researched, we still do not know exactly what causes it or the best way to treat it. This week’s readings provide an overview of how attention works. By understanding how the attentional system works, we can begin to find solutions to deficits in attention.

A common lapse of attention that occurs is inattentional blindness or change blindness. In this phenomenon, people fail to see things that are present. It was first made famous by a study conducted by Simons and Chabris (1999). In their study, individuals watched a video of two teams passing a basketball. One team wore white, and the other wore black. Participants were instructed to attend to either the team wearing black or the team wearing white and to count the number of passes made. As they were counting, an unexpected event occurred—a gorilla walked through the scene. Many participants failed to see the gorilla because their attention was directed elsewhere. Although this experiment might seem different from everyday life, the effect happens all the time. Consider driving, for instance. Many traffic accidents occur when individuals report looking but not seeing an oncoming car or person. If we direct attention to a particular stimulus in the environment, we sometimes fail to notice other potentially relevant items. Recall from last week that visual perception is also a factor in attention. In Simons and Chabris’s experiment, individuals were more likely to notice the gorilla if they were counting passes the team wearing black made, perhaps because the gorilla was more visually similar to the team wearing black.

Other lapses of attention might occur when we divide our attention between two tasks, for example, talking on our cell phones and driving. Research has noted that talking on a cell phone while driving leads to poorer driving performance than driving while under the influence of alcohol (Strayer, Drews, & Crouch, 2006). More recent research has even indicated that using a cell phone while walking can lead to inattentional blindness. Hyman, Boss, Wise, McKenzie, and Caggiano (2010) found that individuals were less likely to report seeing a unicycling clown while walking and using their cell phones in comparison to individuals who were just walking. This research is important, because walking is a relatively simple activity that occurs without conscious awareness. That is, you do not have to consciously think about moving your legs; the activity occurs with very little effort. Yet, when combined with using a cell phone, it is enough to deplete attentional resources and leads to a failure to notice other things in the environment.

The last area that is considered this week is how conscious versus unconscious thought influences cognition. It is often noted that behaviors such as combing your hair, riding a bike, recognizing letters, and so on do not require conscious thought to be completed. Instead, these tasks become automatic and can be completed without thinking about them. In contrast, it has been suggested that more complex processing and decisions require more conscious awareness. However, cognitive psychologists have discovered that even in more complex processing, unconscious thought may be better. Based on a series of studies, Dijksterhuis and Nordgren (2006) proposed an unconscious thought theory. According to their theory, conscious thought can lead to poor decisions, because its capacity is limited. However, the capacity of unconscious thought is much larger, allowing us to consider more information and make better decisions. Later in the course, we will examine both decision making and problem solving. It is a good idea to keep the ideas of conscious versus unconscious thought in mind as we examine theories and principles of these areas of cognitive psychology.  

References

Dijksterhuis, A., & Nordgren, L. F. (2006). A theory of unconscious thought. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(2), 95–109.

Hyman, I. E., Boss, S. M., Wise, B. M., McKenzie, K. E., & Caggiano, J. M. (2009). Did you see the unicycling clown? Inattentional blindness while walking and talking on a cell phone. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24(5), 597–607.

Kolb, B., & Whishaw, I. (2009). Fundamentals of human neuropsychology (6th ed.). New York City, NY: Worth Publishers.

Simons, D. J., & Chabris, C. F. (1999). Gorillas in our midst: sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events. Perception, 28, 1059–1074.

Sternberg, R. J. & Sternberg, K. (2016). Cognitive psychology (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Strayer, D. L., Drews, F. A., & Crouch, D.J. (2006). A comparison of the cell phone driver and the drunk driver. Human Factors, 48(2), 381–391.