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Gotta Gripe?
Air it here. But remember this is an experimental class and we can't be expected to get it right the first time or two around!
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Sometimes I have a hard time understanding the questions asked about the web pages and what really is expected within the summary. In the one we are supposed to do now. I went into the one about prejudice and the question asked made no sense to me. I don't know if the web page answered the questions brought up by the person in question because I don't know who she is or what her question was.

Hi Anonymous!

Most of the time, the questions associated with Sites to Visit elaborate on some aspect of the text. Using your example of the prejudice site, P. Devine's theory of prejudice is discussed in the text (on p 501 specifically but also elaborated throughout.). So, in this Site, you get to see how Cole deals with prejudice. Do you think Cole and Devine would agree?

Check out the myths first. Do you think the second myth, "We should just stop thinking those prejudice thoughts," is a myth that Devine would agree is a myth? Whew! That's like a double negative there...but does Devine's research indicate that one cannot "Just stop thinking those thoughts?"

As I tried to describe in the first classes, and stated in the syllabus, we're trying to give you an opportunity to explore some topics in intro in more detail.

In terms of the summaries, the goal there is to be able to succinctly state what you guys discussed. It is easier to write a summary if you all have made several posts and therefore have more discussion. For example, you might want to include all the educated opinions formed in the discussion, e.g., "Person A thought the prejudice site was consistent with Devine because it tried to knock down the same myths that she demonstrated in her experiments. Person B, on the other hand, felt that Cole went too far, that Devine would not agree with..." then come up with a consensus, e.g., "We all agreed that..." Bringing up relations to the text and the real world is good to. Check out some of the summaries Patricia has cut and pasted into the Discussion Summary discussion and her comments. Often groups are called upon to summarize a discussion in the real world, so the goal of the summaries is to help you develop those skills.

Hope this helps. Thanks for your question!

Connie

I think that people shouldn't be able to just drop out of their group as for the summaries, I think that maybe the course should be changed so that each person does their own summary right from the beginning, so they know what to expect and they aren't getting a bombshell, when a group member decides to drop out. At least if they know from the beginning of the course they know that that is what is expected.

Anonymous makes a good point. I e-mailed everyone about discussion this morning and I will repeat what I wrote here: You still need to discuss in your group. The is no dropping out of a group and going it on your own. How can someone discuss anything with themself?

I had said that you could do your own summary but I may need to reconsider - or modify - that. The summaries have been quite good and the less excellent summaries are based on minimal discussion.

We can discuss this in class - I think one person each week should write a summary from the group, in rotation. If you don't like the summary, you may send in your own. But when it is your turn, you must still write the group summary.

The point to keep in mind is that these are summaries of discussion not short essays addressing the question(s).

Connie

Hi. I just wanted to say that I really enjoy the actual instruction in this class. Connie makes it very easy to be interested in Pshchology! Also, the mid-term study questions have been very helpful!

I agree with that, the objectives are great, and so are the sample questions, if if would be possible to get more sample questions that would be nice.

Howdy!

Thanks for the nice comments and...more sample questions are on their way!

Connie

In looking back, it seems that it was possible for certain individuals to manipulate which question the entire group would focus on by not responding to other questions. Maybe in the future you could have clear guidelines about having to engage in each set of questions.