Writing in Psychology
By: Kelley Dingens
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................ 1 Chapter 1: Writing in Psychology: A Literature Review ....... 3 Chapter 2: Genre Investigation ..................................... 8 Chapter 3: Learning from your Peers ........................... 17 Chapter 4: A Proposal for Change ............................... 20 Conclusion ............................................................ 25 Bibliography .......................................................... 27
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INTRODUCTION Dear Reader, Congratulations! You survived high school and made it to college. Welcome to the University of Denver. I am assuming you opened this book up because you are majoring in psychology or considering majoring in psychology and you would like some writing tips to help you successfully accomplish your four years at DU. You have looked in the right place because I wrote this book specifically for students like you. In this book, I will break down the different types of writing in psychology and provide tips on how
journals, so other students, professors, or even professionals will be able to understand and learn from the writings. When papers become too cluttered and fancy, the overall message tends to get lost amongst the paragraph. If a psychology researcher wrote about a new discovery about bi-polar disorders, the researcher would want to make sure his or her discovery was communicated effectively to its audience. Effective communication is key when writing scientifically. In chapter one, I go more in-depth
to successfully write as a psychology major at
about this theme of scientific writing. I split my
the University of Denver.
research into two different sections. The first
Throughout my research for this book, I have found one overarching theme that is very important for a psychology major to understand. Writing in psychology is scientific. Although there are many different types of writings for psychology, all of them follow a specific genre: scientific writing. Now what is scientific writing? Chapter 1 goes into great detail about this, but scientific writing is about being concise and having clear communication. When dealing with a complex social
section’s theme is formatting. This section covers the American Psychology Association Publication Manual, which is the main resource all psychologists use for formatting scientific writing. This manual explains how to format a paper for psychology, including grammar, word choice, section formatting, and citations. The second section covers the different types of writing found in psychology. The two most common types of writings are research papers and literary reviews. The Undergraduate Writing in Psychology manual is a great manual for students to refer too when writing these types of papers.
science like psychology, it is important to keep all writings, such as reports and 1|Page
The second chapter discusses the different genres found in the psychology classroom at the University of Denver. I start by discussing and defining what genre is, and then investigate 5 different genres: Syllabus,
also provides resources if you are looking for more information. If you have any suggestions or questions please contact me at kelley.dingens@du.edu.
research papers, assignment sheets, reflective journal entries, and a curriculum Have fun reading!
vitae. The third chapter is an interview with an undergraduate psychology major, Maddie
Sincerely, Kelley Dingens
Burbach. In this interview, we discussed the different types of writing you, as a student, will have to do. Maddie breaks down what should go into a research paper, and what the professors are looking for. She also emphasizes the importance of understand the content in psychology and applying it to real life. In the fourth chapter, I discuss my proposal for change. The problem I found throughout my research was the fact that the psychology classes at the University of Denver do not teach APA formatting and do not incorporate graduate-level research papers. My solution is to implement an introductory writing class specifically for APA formatting, and to change the curriculum to add more research papers. Instead of looking at multiple different books to find answers about writings in psychology, you have this book where all the information is in one place. You will learn the significance of scientific writing in psychology and background information on how to address those types of writings. This book
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WRITING IN PSYCHOLOGY: A LITERATURE REVIEW As Carol Austad said, “writing proficiency is an essential element of effective communication
INTRODUCTION
for future psychology clinicians or The study of psychology requires an
academicians”(Austad 174). This is why
understanding of scientific writing. I
understanding and learning how to write
researched the important components of
scientifically will help a student in every step
writing in psychology and found that all
of their career.
sources labeled psychology a science and
Using my research, I will clarify what
categorized the
scientific writing in psychology is
writing as scientific (Stitt-Bergh 168). While researching, I came
and explain how to write
“The study of psychology requires an understanding of scientific writing.”
scientifically. There are two publications I found that were referred to in almost every article I
up with two
read, and both publications provide
questions; why is writing in psychology
a basis and a guide for students
scientific, and how do students correctly
who are looking to improve their psychology
write scientific papers for psychology?
papers.
Psychology is recognized as a social
The two main publications are the
science, in other words a study of the human
Publication Manual of the American
behavior. Because of this, Psychology uses
Psychological Association by the American
empirical inquiry to help understand human
Psychological Association (APA) and
behavior. Empirical inquiry is based on or
Undergraduate Writing in Psychology by R. Eric
verifiable by observation and experience. It is
Landrum. By discussing these two publications
not based on theory or pure logic. It has to
as well as other authors, this chapter will
have hard evidence to be credible and this is
clarify what scientific writing is and provide
why psychological writing is defined as
information on how to effectively write
scientific.
scientifically for psychology.
How does one write scientifically? The best scientific writing is spare and straightforward. It highlights the ideas being presented, not the manner of presentation. 3|Page
THE APA PUBLICATION MANUAL: FORMATTING The Publication Manual of the
Establishing a tone that conveys the essential points of your study in an interesting manner will engage readers and communicate your ideas more effectively” (APA 65).
American Psychological Association,
Grammar/word choice and tone will be two key
commonly known as APA formatting or style,
parts to help keep a paper clear and concise. A
was developed by social and behavioral
student has to be able to get the point across
scientists to standardize scientific writing.
with the fewest and most compelling words
The manual is a set of rules that standardizes
possible. Setting a tone specified toward the
scientific writing by ensuring clear and
audience chosen for a paper will help
consistent communication within a piece of
communicate effectively to that specified
written work.
audience because the tone of the paper will be relatable and familiar.
The rules are set to help move an idea forward with minimum distraction and
Not only do students use the APA
maximum precision, which allows writings to
manual as a guide for their writing,
be consistent and clear in their
professionals still refer to it when writing their
communication. Like MLA formatting
research or journals. Monica Stitt-Bergh, the
(humanities) and Chicago formatting
author of Good Undergraduate Writing in Art,
(historical), APA formatting is used when
Biology and Psychology: Implications for
writing about the social sciences.
Assessment, explains in her dissertation the importance of using the APA manual when she
Within this manual, there are rules on structural formatting for specific papers,
states, “The APA manual defines all kinds of rules about professional writing.”
word choice, punctuation, graphics, and citations. The manual states, “The traditional
She goes on to explain how she refers
medium for communication research results
to the “APA rules on organization, word choice,
is the scientific journal,” so it has great
and citation format” when she is writing her
detail breaking down the structural formats
professional pieces (Stitt-Bergh 167). Stitt-
for the scientific journal, as well as research
Bergh puts an emphasis on organization in
papers and literature reviews (APA 9).
psychology writing; “The main point that I try to extract from that big APA manual is that
Understanding the format is
writing is not random in a scientific journal. It
important because “the prime objective of
has to be organized. Again, it comes back to
scientific writing is clear communication. You
organization. Information has to be located in a
can achieve this by presenting ideas in an
specific region of the paper” (Stitt-Bergh 168).
orderly manner and by expressing yourself smoothly and precisely. 4|Page
As stated before, clear
major will be a form of scientific writing, the
communication and formatting is important
writings will come in many different forms
when writing in psychology because it allows
including “progressive papers, multi-
the audience to easily follow along and
perspective papers, group papers, reflective
understand the point of the paper because
writing, portfolios, interpretative writing, short
they are familiar with the format.
writing, literature reviews, written feedback,
Along with Stitt-Bergh, Victoria Luttrell, author of Teaching scientific writing: measuring student learning in an intensive APA skills course, agrees that the APA manual is important in the classroom. She believes that students should be
reaction papers, knowledge maps, and student newspapers,” but the “two most common …types of scientific writing in psychology [are] literature reviews and research papers” (Landrum 12). Literature reviews call on students to
“required to use the APA manual in classes
“integrate research of others; identify
because it provides the most widely used
similarities, differences, and reads in previous
template for scientific thinking and writing in
research; demonstrate a comprehensive
the behavioral and social sciences and is,
knowledge of the topic; and exemplify analysis
therefore, integral to students’ professional
and synthesis skills in the evaluation of
socialization”(Luttrell 1).
reviewed materials” (Landrum 13). Because of
The APA manual enables students to learn and develop the formatting and grammar skills needed to form a successful scientific writing for a psychology course or in the professional field.
the academic benefits in writing a literature review, they are one of the most common types of scientific writing. The other common type of scientific writing is a research paper because they “model the thinking processes that
THE UNDERGRADUATE WRITING IN PSYCHOLOGY MANUAL: TYPES OF WRITING Undergraduate Writing in Psychology is a manual that focuses on helping students learn how to incorporate the appropriate amount of content and helps students learn
psychologists use” (Landrum 14). These two types of writings can be very difficult, especially because “scientific writing in psychology can be a difficult task because of its complexity,” which is referring to the detail and thinking that is required when writing these two pieces (Landrum 7). Robert Madigan, the author
how to write specific papers they will have to
of Improving the writing skills of students in
write as an undergraduate psychology major.
introductory psychology, explains that “one
While all of their papers as a psychology
major objective is to emphasize the empirical
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nature of psychology in one’s writing”
A tip that Stitt-Bergh stresses to
(Madigan 30). When Madigan mentions
students in order to help achieve a
empirical nature, he is referring to the way
professional, scientific writing style is to
psychology is based on or verifiable by
“never write in the first person.” Psychologists
observation or experience rather than logic
should always write in third person. “It's a
or theory. Because of psychology’s empirical
convention. I think it goes back to . . . the
nature, Goddard states that “empirical
dominant philosophy of science in psychology is
reports and literature reviews” are the two
that we can know the world and that we can
main types of writing in undergraduate
objectively observe the world and objectively
psychology writing, which was also
know it”(Stitt-Bergh 168). Writing in the third
mentioned by Landrum in his book (Goddard
person will make the paper more formal and
28).
objective. SuEllen Shaw, author of Writing in a
Another tip when writing scientifically
Psychology
is to never turn in your first
Classroom: Learning
draft. Writing takes time,
and Adoping the
especially complex writing
APA Epistemology,
like scientific writing.
explains, “expert
Revising it multiple times
writers …anticipate
will allow students to work
what their readers
on the conciseness and
need to know and
clearness of their work. By
write to inform their audience, writing ‘reader-
having others read and critique drafts will also ensure that the
based’ prose” (Shaw 17). This means for
student’s topic is communicated in a clear and
students to become expert writers in
concise way.
psychology, not only do students have to keep their writings clear and concise, they
CONCLUSION
also have to be able to interpret their audience so that they can be informative
Mark Torrance once said, an “efficient
without being redundant. Madigan stresses
production of [a] good quality argumentative
the “mastery of the material” in order to
and descriptive text is at the heart of
become those expert writers (Madigan 30).
successful completion of the majority of
Having a deep understanding of the material
undergraduate psychology programs” (Torrance
will allow students to make a connection with
181). This quote reinstates what all of the
their audience.
authors above discussed. It emphasizes the importance of a clear and concise paper. Along
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with a clear and concise paper, a paper must be in a familiar tone that the audience can relate to, and formatted and organized correctly. It must use the least amount of words, while still having an effective argument. While the resources did a great job explaining what scientific writing is, I believe that it would be a beneficial to elaborate on more tools, like journal entries and lab reports. These are two types of scientific writing that are also important to understand because they will be a part of undergraduate and graduate writings. The APA Publication Manual and the Undergraduate Writing in Psychology manual are great resources for students learning to write in psychology. In the next chapter, I will discuss the 5 most important genres found in the University of Denver’s psychology courses.
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GENRE INVESTIGATION because comedy is their favorite movie genre. Someone else could be thinking of Capital
INTRODUCTION
Cities because alternative is their favorite Genre. It is only one word but it
music genre. No matter what comes to mind, it
comes with a plethora of meanings. This
is obvious that genres are a part of our lives.
chapter will not only cover the definition of
But what does the term “genre” actually mean?
genre, but it will include different genres found throughout the major of psychology. First I will discuss the definitions of genre and genre theory. Then I will discuss the five different genres I investigated: the syllabus, research papers, assignment sheets, journal
According to Kerry Dirk, a genre is “when something new happens that requires a response, someone must create that first response. Then when that situation happens again, another person uses the first response as a basis for the second, and
entries, and the curriculum Vitae. Because these five
eventually everyone who
“When someone says “genre,” what comes to mind?”
encounters this situation is basing his/her response on
genres appear frequently
the previous ones, resulting in
in psychology courses at
the creation of a new genre”
the University of Denver, discussing these
(Dirk 252). In other words “‘genres develop,
genres in detail will give you the knowledge
then, because they respond appropriately to
of what to expect when you run into them
situations that writers encounter repeatedly’”
during a course. By reading this chapter, you
(Dirk 252). An easy way to understand these
will gain a better understanding of genre
definitions is that genres are categorical groups
theory and learning about the different
that are made up of elements that have similar
genres it will give you an edge when
components.
encountering them in classes.
For example, think about recipes. I know, recipes are very basic, but whoever
GENRE AND GENRE THEORY
wrote the first recipe was able to choose the type of format and style it was going to be
When someone says “genre,” what comes to
written in. All the cooks that followed had
mind?
previous recipes to help style how they were One could think of 21 Jump St.
going to write their recipe. Because recipes are now a reoccurring piece of writing, it has 8|Page
created its own genre.
for
When we think of the genre “recipe” we know exactly what format to write it in:
Audience: Who the genre is aimed
Expectations: what the reader
ingredients and then instructions. It is a
expects to get out of the genre/
simple and straightforward format that
what the genre expects the reader
developed through multiple responses trying
to get out of it.
to achieve the same goal. So, to define genre
one more time, it is a category that is made up with writings that have similar styles and formats and are all trying to achieve the
genre
the genre
what does genre theory mean? Genre theory
expectations of the genre either on
has within its structure.
purpose, or because the writer is not aware of the rules.
For example, think about the recipe
recipe explains how to cook a certain type of
individual that creates the rules and
purpose of the recipe can also be referred to action is one of nine elements that make up genre theory. I will touch on most elements in my
Structure of Power: Who has power of the genre, the community or
food their audience is looking for. The the social action of the recipe. A social
“Breaking” the Genre: Not following, or “breaking,” the
explains different elements that each genre
again. What is the purpose of a recipe? A
Exigence: The urgency of why an issue has to be dealt with through
same goal or answer the same question. Now that the term genre is defined,
Constraint: A limitation on the
dictates the content of the genre.
Typified Feature: Common features throughout the genre.
Now that you have an understanding of
investigation, so below I have created a list
both genre and genre theory, what do genres
of all the genre theory elements along with
have to do with writing in psychology? Well, it
their definitions.
is important to know and understand what
Social Action: The purpose of why the genre exists, what it does for the writer, and what it transmits to the audience.
genres occur in psychology because these genres will provide insight on what is required in the field and how to approach each situation. Given that, let’s start the investigation.
Rhetorical Situation: The situation which the genre is trying to approach 9|Page
SYLLABUS
and finally the course schedule. Within course content, evaluation, and class policies, there
The first type of genre that is
are sub-topics that clearly lay out what the
commonly found when majoring in psychology
professor is going to teach and how he is going
is a syllabus. Syllabi are very important in all
to teach it.
college classes because they act as a contract between the student and teacher. The purpose, or social action, of the syllabus is to summarize the class and provide all the need to know information in one place. They are known for their efficiency
The second syllabus is from a Foundations of Psychological Science class. It is the first psychology class you have to take in order to move on to more specific classes. This syllabus is similar to the social psychology one, but does have different formats. The first
and structured organization. Syllabi are
noticeable difference is the professor inserted
expected to be clear, straightforward, and
a colorful design in her syllabus before all of
easy to read. No matter what type of syllabi
the
you are examining, they will always include
information,
the name of their courses, the contact
as seen in
information for professors and teaching
figure 1.
assistants, course objectives, required materials, the grading system, and a schedule with homework, projects, in-class work, due dates, and tests. Following are three different syllabi
This could be considered a “breaking” of the genre
Figure 1
from the University of Denver’s psychology
because the
department.
professor is adding something a little extra to the genre format to make it her own. Instead
The first syllabus is for a social
of having three different sections explaining
psychology class. This syllabus is very basic
the class like the social psychology syllabus,
and straightforward. It has all the typified
this professor just made every sub-topic its own
features and that is it, nothing more and
topic. In figure 1, we can see that for her
nothing less. It gets the point across to
contact information, the professor centered it
students about what they are going to learn
and bolded to made sure it stood out. Because
and what the schedule is like. There is no
of this type of formatting, we can assume that
“breaking” of the genre. It is laid out in a
the professor believed the contact information
very clear format. It has the header with the course name, then contact information, course content, evaluation, class policies, 10 | P a g e
was very important and needed to be in a
same
format where it was emphasized.
Association, APA, has developed its own style for
The third syllabus is a Child and Lifespan Development course. This is by far the most detailed syllabus with 13 pages instead of the four for the last two syllabi.
format.
The
American
Psychological
research papers in the social sciences. In all research papers, there will be a running header, a title page, an abstract, and a specific citation format.
The format of this syllabus is very different
While most of the citations are similar
than the other two. Instead of having the
the electronic citations are slightly different.
class schedule at the very end, it is put in the
The electronic citations in APA style look like
middle.
this: The syllabus starts off with the
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of
basics: contact information, course
publication). Title of article. Title of
description, resources, course requirements,
Online Periodical, volume number(issue
and grading. But after the grading and before
number if available). Retrieved from
class policies, the professor lists the class
http://www.someaddress.com/full/ur
schedule. It breaks up the expected format
l/ (OWL).
of the syllabus, but the professor does it so there is a visual example of what he just explained before in the course requirements. After the class schedule, the class policies are listed, but the reason why this syllabus is so detailed is because the professor adds the
While it has most of the same characteristics as MLA formatting, the “retrieved from www…” is the main difference when citing an electronic source. Those are the three main parts of the APA style that differ from other writing styles.
guidelines and grading criteria for the writing
For
example,
Evidence-based
assignment and group project the student
definitions of bipolar-I and bipolar-II disorders
will complete of the course. The motive of
among 5,635 patients with major depressive
this is to lie out all expectations to students
episodes in the Bridge Study: validity and
so they know exactly what the professor is
comorbidity is a professional research paper
looking for and nothing will be a surprise
exploring the definitions of bipolar-I and –II. The
when a student receives a bad grade.
research paper starts out with an abstract and key words. This is the brief overview of the topic
RESEARCH PAPER
of the research paper. Then the paper follows the following format: introduction, methodology,
The next type of genre is the research
results,
and
discussion.
This
APA
style
paper, which is a very big part of psychology.
formatting is an important part of the genre
While professional research papers differ from
because then when reading psychology research,
student research papers, they all follow the
there is a clear format to follow and it will make 11 | P a g e
reading and understand the research and
readings. You will submit your thought
discoveries a lot easier to follow.
papers electronically through email to both instructors, and one of us will confirm receipt within 24 hours of
ASSIGNMENT SHEETS
receiving your paper. If you do not receive a confirmation email from us, it
The third genre is assignment sheets. The social action is to inform students how to
is your responsibility to confirm the
do the assignment and of the teachers
paper was properly sent. Please submit
expectations for that certain assignment.
original work, there will be no tolerance
Typified features of an assignment sheet are
for papers that are plagiarized.
as follows: instructions for the assignment
Grading Rubric
and a due date. These are the most basic features of an assignment sheet, which gives room for professors to “break the genre.� One way a professor could break the genre is by adding a grading rubric like this professor did here.
(Total of 25 points)
Description
Points
Spelling, punctuation, grammar
5
organization, and page limit A brief summary of the assigned
10
reading. Thought Paper Romantic Relationships and Human Sexuality Winter Quarter 2014 Psyc 2071 Submitting papers: Email BOTH instructors Charlene.Collibee@du.edu & mmendoza@psy.du.edu
Summarize
the
reading(s)
to
reflect that you understand the content. Try to balance details with the overall broader concepts integrated
throughout
the
readings. Discuss your thoughts on the
10
reading.
Due: 24 hours BEFORE class (10 am Thursday)
These thoughts should be specific
READ CAREFULLY
to the reading, and tie the content back to the broader
Thought Paper: The purpose of these
class. You may achieve this by
papers are to give you an opportunity to
asking a thoughtful discussion
reflect on a topic of interest, respond to information you may have found new or surprising, and integrate information from the class lectures, discussions, and
question. In other words, simply saying you liked it or didn't will not be sufficient! Total
25 12 | P a g e
In this case, the professor has “broken” the genre by adding a grading rubric. The professor included the instructions and the due date, but instead of stopping there, the professor also added the grading rubric to explicitly state what the professor will be grading the assignment on and how many points the assignment is worth.
This professor decided to inform the students of the format they expected the assignment to be
Another way an assignment sheet can
in, but also gave example entries so the students
“break” the genre is when the professor not
knew exactly what the assignment was supposed
only adds a grading section, but also a format
to look like. If they did not follow the
and examples section. A sample can be seen
instructions on the assignment sheet then they
here:
will end up losing points.
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL ENTRIES The fourth genre that will appear in psychology classes at the University of Denver is reflective journal entries. To master psychology, students have to understand the concepts and be able to apply them to real life. In psychology, memorizing and then forgetting will not work, and students who do this will most likely fail. Professors really want students to work hard to actually learn the material, and to do this, they assign journal entries and reflection papers to have students explain psychological topics to show that they understand what they are talking about. For example, in a social psychology class, students are asked to journal every class to explain a concept they just learned. Here is an example of a journal entry: February 3, 2014 Self Handicapping – protecting
one’s
self-image
with
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behaviors that create a handy excuse
the concept. Reflection papers are usually one
for later failure
page long, and are used to explain the concept
I signed up to go to Winter Carnival,
of an entire chapter. They are the professor’s
knowing that I had a huge midterm in Philosophy of Biomedical Ethics the
way to make sure every student is reading the textbook and understanding. It is a way for professors to assess how the student interpreted
next day. When my exam today was
the content of the chapter and what they took
much harder than I had anticipated, I
away from it.
had a nice excuse. This excuse was
The typified features of a reflection
that I spent my weekend in the
paper are the introduction of the chapter
mountains and therefore was tired
followed by a question formulated from the
and didn’t have very much time to
main points of that chapter. For example, one
study. I knew before I left that this was
student was writing a reflection paper on
going to be a difficult exam as it was over a lot of material. I was able to
chapter 2 from the book Close Encounters, which
talks
about
identity
and
identity
formation. From this chapter, the student
protect my image and justify not
“formulated and pondered the question: how do
doing well on the test by saying that I
I identify myself?” (Reflection paper 2). From
went to Winter Carnival. This is a
chapter 5 in the same book, the section was
good example of self-handicapping because I knew that by going to
about
self-disclosure
and
the
student
“formulated the question: why do people have different levels of self-disclosure?” (Reflection
Winter Carnival I would be able to
paper 5). After formulating a question for a
have an excuse for not performing
reflection paper, students then go on to answer
well on the exam (Burbach 4).
their own question and use example from their daily lives.
Journal entries are short and sweet, but packed with examples from the students own life to show how they are applying the concept and that they understand it. In this journal entry, the student had to explain what selfhandicapping was and an example when it happened in the student’s life. Journal entries are usually only a
CURRICULUM VITAE What is a curriculum vitae? A curriculum vitae, CV for short, is an overview of one’s life accomplishments, with a specific emphasis on academics. In other words, a CV is a longer resume with an emphasis on
paragraph long. It is just quick examples
accomplishments in the academic realm. The
proving to the professor that you understand
social action of the CV is to present the
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author’s accomplishments in an effective and impactful way so either he or she will be accepted into graduate school or be hired for an academic job. The CV will need to reflect the author’s abilities as a student, teacher, researcher, and publishing scholar within the psychology discipline. Like a resume, the CV starts with the name, contact info, work experience, and then relevant work-related skills. The typified features that differentiate a CV from a resume would be the summary of the academic background that follows the relevant work-related skills. The summary of the academic background includes teaching experience, research experience, publications, presentations, awards, honors, affiliations, and other details. The emphasis on these skills in a CV will help the author stand out compared to other applicants the reader is reading. Here is an example of a CV:
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CONCLUSION The preceding genres are just some of what you can expect to encounter when taking a psychology class. By being able to recognize these genres and their purposes you will be able to easily produce your own work within these genres. When taking a psychology class you should be able to recognize different genres easily and hopefully this chapter has enabled you with the skills to do so. While writing in psychology is scientific, there are many different genres within psychology and knowing the differences between them will make maneuvering them easier for you as a student. In chapter 3, some of these genres will be discussed by a junior psychology major at the University of Denver and her experiences with them.
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LEARNING FROM YOUR PEERS: AN INTERVIEW As you learned in chapter 1, writing in psychology is scientific, which entails clear and concise writing based off of facts and observations. In this chapter, I interviewed Maddie Burbach, a junior and psychology major at the University of Denver. I am going to discuss what Maddie and I talked about, so you, as the reader, can hear a personal story about being a psychology major at the University of Denver. At the end, I will
to make sure they understand the content. Maddie told me that the main form of writing is journal entries. They are usually about a “topic we are learning in class and then how it relates to real life.” Psychology is a very difficult subject, and the concepts are not clear-cut, so professors like to use these journal entries to check if students understand the concepts being taught. The professors “look at the content in
compare my primary research, this interview,
journal entries to make sure I’m using real-life
my secondary research, and chapter 1.
examples and not just making stuff up.”
Throughout the interview, the three following points repeatedly came up: writing in psychology at the University of Denver is primarily used for students to understand content, there is a disconnect from undergraduate and graduate writing in psychology, and students do not know how to find reliable sources. The first point is that writing done in psychology classes, especially the introductory classes, is primarily for students
Psychology overlaps a lot, and to understand one concept you must understand the other. This is why professors believe content is so important because if a student does not understand the concept, then psychology classes will become harder and harder. Because most of the writing focuses on learning the content through one page journal entries, there is a disconnect between undergraduate and graduate writing. Graduate school for psychology is researched based and students will be writing research papers 10-20 17 | P a g e
pages long, but in the undergraduate courses,
certain amount of research published, and they
papers “vary from 3 to 5 pages.” This is a
have to do it in APA style.
problem because “especially in grad school, its all about research and conducting your own research and research papers.” Maddie points out that most of the
If APA is not taught and students do not know how to write an APA research paper, they will fail every assignment in graduate school. Professors need to take time, and teach
research papers she has written so far have
APA style to make sure students understand
been about the content of the course. She
this new and confusing format that they will
has not been exposed to taking a problem,
have to write in if they decide to continue on
preforming experiments and writing a
into the field of psychology.
research paper based on what she found from her own research. She wishes she had this exposure because “the research papers in class are nothing compared to what I will have to do in graduate school.” As an undergraduate, major classes
To be prepared for the research and research papers that you will have to do in graduate school, professors should make sure that their students know how to use and find reliable sources. Maddie said the hardest thing about research is, “knowing how to find
should be preparing students for the next
sources.” When introducing research to the
step, whether it is a job or graduate school.
class and how to find it, the professors “quickly
If psychology majors have only written 3 to 5
show us the library website and say ‘this is
page research papers and have never
what the library’ has and that’s it.”
preformed a mock experiment, then these classes are not preparing psychology majors for what is to come in graduate school. This is a problem because most psychology majors become licensed doctors, and to do that they must complete graduate school and have a
Students are not given the time to learn how to use the library and “usually I end up just Googling it because I don’t know how to work the library website and online databases.” While Google can be a reliable source, the databases made just for psychology articles,
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journals, research, and dissertation would be
the need for change in the psychology
much more beneficial to any research paper.
department’s curriculum so students are able
Students just need to be taught the proper tools to learn how to navigate and use
to experience graduate-level research papers and learn to style them correctly with APA.
the databases efficiently. They wish they knew, but they end up getting “lost and confused, so I just give up.” It is important for students to know how to use online databases and find books in the universities’ libraries because in graduate school, Google resources are not going to cut it. Professors will want to see hard facts from reliable sources. Maddie brought up two important points that need to be addressed by the psychology department. Research papers and knowing how to research are two skills that are imperative to have if a student decides to continue on in psychology. If students are leaving their undergraduate studies to go to graduate school and they do not know how to find good sources or use online databases, and if they have never written a real, long research paper in APA format, then they are ill-prepared for graduate school, and as a psychology department, they have set that student up to fail. In chapter 4, I will discuss
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A PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE Carol Austed, an author we discussed
Fortunately, this can be a solved if the
in chapter 1, stated, “psychology students
right steps are taken. The first solution would
have reported that they lack the necessary
be an introductory writing course that focuses
skills for writing within their disciplines”
on learning how to write in APA formatting,
(Austad 171). When talking to Maddie in
while also building the student’s skill to
Chapter 3, I found that statement to be true
efficiently find secondary resources using the
among students at the University of Denver.
library and online databases. The second
Maddie spoke about how the University of Denver’s psychology department emphasizes understanding the content of the course and leaves out the tools to help students develop their writing skills to use
solution would be to adjust the curriculum to include more extensive research papers to mock assignments students would be expected to write in graduate school. The first change, to fix the
later on in their discipline. This is a problem
problem of students lacking the necessary
because as an undergraduate, students
writing skills for a psychology major, would be
expect to be taught the necessary
to implement an introductory writing course
information and skills to help them succeed
catered specifically to writing in psychology.
in this career path, and as a psychology
Some universities do not teach APA style in
major that usually means graduate school. As
their classrooms because they argue that the
a graduate student focusing on getting their
time commitment is too large and they need
masters or doctorate, students are expected
the time to teach the content.
to be able to write detailed scientific papers using the correct APA format.
In one study, Monica Stitt-Bergh, an author mentioned in chapter 1, found that only one out of the four professors from different
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universities actually taught the APA style.
research, there is no way that there is any
The other professors stated that they
depth being created in that paper. 5 pages are
“critiqued the student texts using APA style
not enough to dive into research, make
rules, however…[they] stated that…[they] do
connections, and explain what the author has
not always teach students APA style because
learned from that research. If a student turned
of the time commitment involved in doing
in a 5-page research paper to a graduate
so” (Stitt-Bergh 167).
professor, they would laugh and fail the
While it takes time to teach, universities should add an additional
student. Research papers are a skill learned by
introductory course that incorporates
practice, and practice comes from the courses
teaching the APA style and format because it
students take as an undergraduate. By adding
is the basis of professional writing. If
extensive research papers into the course
undergraduates do not learn the APA style by
curriculum, students will not only learn more
the time they graduate, they will be ill
about the topic they are covering, but they will
prepared for graduate school and the
build their skills as a writer and be better
professional world of psychology and have a
prepared for graduate school.
hard time finding success in this field. As well as the introductory writing
Of course, these are not the only changes that could be made to fix the problem.
course, the second change would be to infuse
One could argue that students can just check
more graduate level research papers to mock
out the APA Publication Manual from the
the assignments they will be asked to write
library and learn the style on their own, or look
later on in their career as a student or in the
on the Internet at sources such as Purdue OWL
field of psychology.
to figure out how to write in the style. While
Maddie stated in her interview that she has only been exposed to 3-5 paged research papers. Although she is doing research and coming to conclusions from that
this could work for some students, it would be more beneficial to the majority of students if there were a course solely focused on learning the APA format. This way, there are clear
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guidelines of how the student should write,
also ask students to write a research paper
what the professor is looking for in a
about the content of the course as their
student’s paper, and how it should be
“final.” These research papers should not take
formatted.
up class time, especially because if the
This introductory class would insure that the students knew the APA style and that there would be no confusions in expectations. By taking one quarter to learn the APA style, students would be able to focus better on the content of the classes because writing in APA style would not be stressful and they would not have to keep going back and wasting their time trying to learn it while learning the content. Another person could argue that implementing in-depth research papers would make the focus of the class smaller since they would not have enough time to do developed research papers and teach all the
introductory APA writing class were implemented, the students would already know how to find credible research and write a properly formatted research paper. Because no class time would be taken to teach how to research or write, professors would still have the regular amount of class time to teach the course content, while exposing students to graduate-level research papers. While there are many different viewpoints, these two proposed solutions would be the most beneficial for students in the long run. That being said, these changes will have an impact on a mix of stakeholders. The term “stakeholders” is defined as
content. Although this is a concern, there is a
any individual or group that is directly
way to balance the in-depth research papers
impacted by an imposed change. The first
with fitting in all of the content of the
stakeholder that would be affected by these
course.
changes would be the psychology department The research papers would correlate
to what is being taught in class and professors could assign a research paper for each main topic of the class. Professors could
at the University of Denver. The department would have to discuss how they are going to modify the curriculum and then discuss their changes with the board of academics to have
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their changes approved. The department
have never interacted with that type of
would have to develop an efficient
formatting before arriving at college.
curriculum for the introductory writing class and possibly hire new professors to teach this new class. They would also have to adjust the curriculum to incorporate the extensive research papers. The other stakeholder that would be
Also, it would provide an overall expectation of the level of writing students would do in any psychology course. They would learn the same exact techniques so there would be no confusion across the department on the level and expectations of writing. By
affected by these changes would be the
implementing in-depth research papers,
students majoring in psychology. These
students will have the exposure they need to
changes in the major requirements and
grow as a writer in order to be prepared for the
curriculum would affect the students who are
writing in graduate school and the professional
nearing the completion of their major. They
field.
would see the mandatory APA introductory class as redundant and could even set them back in their graduation plan. Also new courses would mean different materials and textbooks, which could be costly for students. By implementing these two solutions,
One way that students could be proactive in making these changes happen would be to write a petition asking to add a class focused on APA style. They could also set up an open table discussion where all of the psychology faculty would attend and students would be able to stand up and voice their
an introductory writing course focused on
opinions about the changes they think should
APA style and more in-depth research, the
be made.
psychology department at the University of Denver will be able to address the problem of the lack of skills in undergraduate students. It is important to add an introductory class about APA formatting because most students
This would allow the professors to listen to their students and hear them talk about how the students feel unprepared for graduate school because they feel the work does not correlate with the work in graduate 23 | P a g e
school. That way the psychology department could hear the concerns and talk about improving curriculum within the classes and adding an introductory class. In the end, the most important factor is what psychology students take away from their undergraduate studies as the move on to graduate school and then into the professional field. This is very important for psychology majors, especially the ones moving onto graduate school, because graduate school is a whole other level of research and expectations. It is important that students leave the psychology department at the University of Denver with the best possible skills they can get. That is why it is imperative that they know and understand APA formatting, and have had exposure to in-depth research papers. By implementing these changes, the students will be prepared as they can be for the next step of their career.
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CONCLUSION You have made it to the end of the book! I hope you were able to learn something new. If there is one thing I want
of Denver because you will encounter all of these. The problem that the psychology
you to take away from the book is that
department faces at the University of Denver is
writing in psychology is scientific. Learning
the fact that their students have never been
how to write scientifically will allow you to
taught how to write in APA style and that their
produce effective texts in any psychology
students are not being taught to produce a
course you take. Remember that scientific
scientific research paper.
writing is about being clear and concise, while still explaining the research or experiment. The APA Publication Manual is a great
A way to fix these problems would be to implement an introductory writing course focused solely on learning APA formatting by writing research papers, literary reviews, and
resource to refer to when writing for
other types of scientific writing found in
psychology. It outlines formatting structures,
psychology. Another way to fix this problem
grammar, word choice, and citations.
would be to update the curriculum to include
The Undergraduate Writing in Psychology manual is a great resource to refer to when want to know how to write a certain type of paper. It mainly focuses on research papers and literature reviews, but
extensive research papers that would give upper-classman the opportunity to experience they type of work they will have to do in graduate school. It is my hope that this book will be
also includes information on other types of
helpful throughout your career as an
scientific papers as well.
undergraduate psychology major. This book is
Genres are important to understand so when encountering one, you know the situation that surrounds it and the rules. There were five genres we discussed. All five –syllabus, research papers, assignment sheets, reflective journal entries, and the curriculum vitae–are important to understand
meant to be a tool you can utilize to make your time as a psychology student easier. The research presented in this book is thorough and should be helpful to you in many ways. It is my hope that you also take from this book the passion to try to make some of the changes we discussed to the curriculum in order to make
for the psychology courses at the University
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your time at the University of Denver for yourself and your fellow psychology major better. I make a call to action to take interest in your education and bring the issues to your professors to make sure that here at DU we can improve the psychology program. These issues presented will be important to you throughout your career and therefore it is my hope that you will take this book and move forward to have a successful psychology career.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Burbach, Maddie. (2014). Journal Entries. Collibee, Charlene. Romantic Relationships and Human Sexuality. Assignment Sheet. Fallahi, C. R., Wood, R. M., Austad, C. S., & Fallahi, H.A program for improving undergraduate psychology students' basic writing skills. Teaching of Psychology, 33(3), 171-175. Goddard, P. (2003). Implementing and evaluating a writing course for psychology majors. Teaching of Psychology, 30(1), 25-29. Kim, Pilyoung. (2014). Child and Lifespan Development. Syllabus. Madigan, R., & Brosamer, J. (1990). Improving the writing skills of students in introductory psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 17(1), 27-30.
Torrance, M., Thomas, G. V., & Robinson, E. J. (2000). Individual differences in undergraduate essay-writing strategies: A longitudinal study. Higher Education, 39(2), 181-200. Dirk, K. (n.d.). Navigating Genres. Writing Spaces. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from http://writingspaces.org/sites/default/file s/dirk--navigating-genres.pdf Landrum, R. E. (2008). Undergraduate writing in psychology: learning to tell the scientific story. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). (2010). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Weisbuch, Max. (2014). Social Psychology. Syllabus.
Miller, Pamela. (2014). Foundations of Psychological Science. Syllabus. Miller, Pamela. (2014). Social Psychology. Assignment sheet. Shaw, S. (2000). Writing in a psychology classroom: Learning and adopting the APA epistemology. (Ed.D., The University of North Dakota). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Stitt-Bergh, M. (2008). Good undergraduate writing in art, biology, and psychology: Implications for assessment. (Ph.D., University of Hawai'i at Manoa). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.
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