Lifespan Dev

5.5 Assignment. Capstone Reflection Journal: Exploring Capstone Ideas

Getting Started

You were introduced to some ideas for your capstone project at the beginning of this course. To assist you in regularly assessing possibilities for your capstone project, you will be writing a journal about it in each course following this one. Additionally, you want to be thinking about which track you want to pursue in the psychology program: life coaching and positive psychology or industrial and organizational psychology. You don’t have to know the answer to any of these questions at this time; you are merely considering different possibilities.

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

· Explore capstone ideas and possibilities.

Resources

· File:  I/O Specialization

· File:  Life Coaching & Positive Psychology Specialization

· These documents are found in the  Shared Documents  module

Background Information

This journal will provide you with the opportunity to consider ideas and possibilities for your capstone project, as well as the track you might choose at a particular point during your MA in Psychology degree.

You will create and maintain three separate journals as part of your coursework in this program—the Personal Reflection Journal, the TED Style Talk Reflection Journal, and the Capstone Reflection Journal.

In this assignment, you will create the Capstone Reflection Journal, and then you will add the journal entry to the Assignment submission folder.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.

2. Review the attached documents related to your chosen specialization –  Industrial/Organizational  or  Life Coaching and Positive Psychology . If you aren’t definite about your specialization at this point, that is okay. You can review all of the documents and go with the specialization you feel strongest about for this assignment. The capstone project has a few elements to it that you will learn more about throughout this program, but especially as you start your specialization. These documents give you a sneak peek into the kind of work that you will be doing related to the capstone project towards the end of the program.

3. Open a new Word document and title it  Capstone Reflection Journal. You will keep at least three different Journals related to various themes in this program. The Capstone Project Reflection Journal is one of those themes that you will continue to add entries to in each of the courses throughout the program, so be sure to keep track of this Word document and add to it for your Capstone Reflection Journal in the next course.

4. Create your first journal entry and title it 5.4 Exploring Capstone Ideas, <Day, Month Year>. As you write your journal during this session, reflect on the following prompts:

a. Consider how you would like to make a difference in your world and how this might align with ideas you may have at this point about your capstone project.

b. Connect your reflections from the first prompt (a.) with your interest in or questions about either specialization and the capstone project documents you reviewed above – life coaching and positive psychology or I/O.

5. Your journal entry should be at least 500 words.

6. When you've completed your assignment, save a copy of your journal, and submit your Capstone Reflection Word document to your instructor using the Assignment submission page.

7. Your journal entry is due by the end of the workshop.

5.3 Assignment. Well-Being and Flourishing

Getting Started

An emphasis in the psychology program at Indiana Wesleyan University is how to help people flourish—and this includes you! Greek philosophers explored this concept, which they referred to as  eudemonia, centuries ago. How can you reach the heights of pleasure, satisfaction, serenity, and optimal well-being? What aspects of human development can provide you with meaning to pursue these desires as well as to support others in their search for them? The stages of life that include middle age and retirement have many negative stereotypes surrounding them. How can you make an impact on reducing these negative stereotypes to support flourishing and thriving among those in this age range?

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

· Evaluate theories of adult development for their perspectives on thriving and flourishing.

Resources

· Article: Human Flourishing: A Precious Human Life

Background Information

In this assignment, you will focus on how to support those in the middle-age and retirement phases of life to pursue their desires of optimal well-being. Utilize materials provided in earlier workshops as well as relevant sources you will locate on your own. You will also incorporate theories of human development to explore how people in this age range can flourish.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.

2. Read the article,  Human Flourishing: A Precious Human Life .

3. Use any resources previously provided as well as additional items you locate on your own.

4. In a Word document, write about the following:

a. Based on the theories of human development, how do humans thrive and flourish?

b. How would you apply your theory of human flourishing (eudaimonia) in a social interaction, focusing on the middle-age to retirement stages of life?

5. Your paper should be at least 500 words in length and use proper citations for sources.

6. When you have completed your assignment, save a copy for yourself and submit a copy to your instructor using the Assignment submission page by the end of the workshop.

5.1 Discussion. The Craving

Getting Started

Like Paul stated to the church at Corinth, “When I was a child …” When we were children, we spoke about childish things. We played childish games and even ate “children’s meals!” Now that we are no longer children, we crave the things of adulthood: challenging tasks, deeper relationships, and, especially, grown-up foods to eat. But there are cravings and longings that this world cannot satisfy. There are deep needs of the soul that cry out for more of God, for more of his Spirit, for more of his Word and presence.

Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:

· Identify a time when you craved “more” from your life, from yourself, and from your relationship with God.

Resources

· Bible

· Video: The Ordinary World Three

Background Information

How is your life going right now? Are you satisfied with your daily routine, your relationships, your plans for your future? Are there things you hope to accomplish or learn over the next few months, years, or your lifetime? What do you “crave”? What do you want more of? Is there something missing or lacking in your life? Only you can answer these questions. Only you can seek your heart’s desire. Only God can satisfy these desires.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.

2. Listen to and watch  The Ordinary World Three . You can also review  The Ordinary World Three Transcript .

3. Navigate to the discussion topic and respond to the following prompts:

a. What do you crave?

b. How can you fulfill that craving?

4. Your initial post is due by the end of the fourth day of the workshop.

5. Your postings should also:

a. Be well developed by providing clear answers with evidence of critical thinking.

b. Add greater depth to the discussion by introducing new ideas.

c. Provide clarification to classmates’ questions and insight into the discussion.

5.2 Assignment. Gratitude Visit

Getting Started

You were instructed in Workshop 4 to write a letter of gratitude to someone who has had a meaningful impact on your life and then personally deliver it and read it to them by means of face-to-face contact or a virtual contact, such as Facetime or Google Hangouts.

In this assignment, you will report on your experience and how personally expressing gratitude to someone special in your life has affected you.

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

· Evaluate the impact others have had on your life and development.

· Express gratitude to at least one other individual in a relevant manner.

Resources

· Gratitude Letter, Greater Good in Action

· Website: Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Authentic Happiness

· File: Odyssey Plan Worksheet (in the  Shared Documents  module)

Background Information

The goal of the Gratitude Letter and Visit is to help you experientially see the power of gratitude and its impact on both the one expressing it and also the recipient. . This is why the concept of gratitude is so important in positive psychology.

In this assignment, you will share your experience: how writing, delivering and responding to this exercise in gratitude has affected you.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.

2. Complete three inventories on the Authentic Happiness website again: Satisfaction with Life Scale, Approaches to Happiness, and Meaning in Life Questionnaire. You are retaking these inventories again so you can compare your results from before to where you are now.

a. Go to  https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/testcenter

b. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page and look for the three inventories:

i. Satisfaction with Life Scale

ii. Approaches to Happiness

iii. Meaning in Life Questionnaire.

c. Click on links to the far right that says, Take Test. Use the same login information you created in Workshop 2.

d. When you’ve finished completing the inventories, copy and paste your test results with the descriptions onto a Word document. Compare your previous results from the first time you took these tests with these current results. Post your results on the Assignment submission page.

3. In a Word document, write about the following:

a. Report on any significant differences you noticed between the first and second taking of the three questionnaires.

b. Who is the person you contacted for the Letter of Gratitude?

c. What is your relationship with them?

d. Summarize in a few sentences what you are most grateful for about this person.

e. How did expressing gratitude to this individual in a personal way affect you?

f. How did this individual respond to your expression of gratitude?

4. Write at least two to three page response.

5. When you’ve completed your assignment, save a copy of the three inventories you completed (Satisfaction with Life, Approaches to Happiness and Meaning in Life Questionnaire) from above and your responses to the Gratitude Visit questions, save these documents for yourself and submit copies to your instructor using the Assignment submission page by the end of the workshop.

5.5 Assignment. Capstone Reflection Journal: Exploring Capstone Ideas

Getting Started

You were introduced to some ideas for your capstone project at the beginning of this course. To assist you in regularly assessing possibilities for your capstone project, you will be writing a journal about it in each course following this one. Additionally, you want to be thinking about which track you want to pursue in the psychology program: life coaching and positive psychology or industrial and organizational psychology. You don’t have to know the answer to any of these questions at this time; you are merely considering different possibilities.

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

· Explore capstone ideas and possibilities.

Resources

· File:  I/O Specialization

· File:  Life Coaching & Positive Psychology Specialization

· These documents are found in the  Shared Documents  module

Background Information

This journal will provide you with the opportunity to consider ideas and possibilities for your capstone project, as well as the track you might choose at a particular point during your MA in Psychology degree.

You will create and maintain three separate journals as part of your coursework in this program—the Personal Reflection Journal, the TED Style Talk Reflection Journal, and the Capstone Reflection Journal.

In this assignment, you will create the Capstone Reflection Journal, and then you will add the journal entry to the Assignment submission folder.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.

2. Review the attached documents related to your chosen specialization –  Industrial/Organizational  or  Life Coaching and Positive Psychology . If you aren’t definite about your specialization at this point, that is okay. You can review all of the documents and go with the specialization you feel strongest about for this assignment. The capstone project has a few elements to it that you will learn more about throughout this program, but especially as you start your specialization. These documents give you a sneak peek into the kind of work that you will be doing related to the capstone project towards the end of the program.

3. Open a new Word document and title it  Capstone Reflection Journal. You will keep at least three different Journals related to various themes in this program. The Capstone Project Reflection Journal is one of those themes that you will continue to add entries to in each of the courses throughout the program, so be sure to keep track of this Word document and add to it for your Capstone Reflection Journal in the next course.

4. Create your first journal entry and title it 5.4 Exploring Capstone Ideas, <Day, Month Year>. As you write your journal during this session, reflect on the following prompts:

a. Consider how you would like to make a difference in your world and how this might align with ideas you may have at this point about your capstone project.

b. Connect your reflections from the first prompt (a.) with your interest in or questions about either specialization and the capstone project documents you reviewed above – life coaching and positive psychology or I/O.

5. Your journal entry should be at least 500 words.

6. When you've completed your assignment, save a copy of your journal, and submit your Capstone Reflection Word document to your instructor using the Assignment submission page.

7. Your journal entry is due by the end of the workshop.