What Students Know

1. What Students Know Introductory Psychology Student Access to, Use of, and Attitudes Towards, Instructional Technology Jamal Mansour

2. Introduction • What is instructional technology? • What is the purpose of the ITRL? • Are students learning to think like psychologists in PSYCO 104/105?

3. Rationale • Want to develop instructional materials for large enrollment classes • Need to know • What skills students need to complete their degree • Students who take PSYCO 104/105 • What students can and will do • Targeting first year students from a variety of faculties

4. Rationale – Enrollment • Fall 2002 – Summer 2003 • PSYCO 104 = 2513 students • PSYCO 105 = 1164 students • Total enrollment = 3677 students

5. Purpose • Need to assess the needs of the students we develop IT for • Will they be capable/comfortable using the instructional medium we choose • Must ensure the content is useful

6. Research Question • What kind of access to, use of, and attitudes towards, instructional technology do first year University of Alberta students have?

7. Related Research • Students must learn critical thinking tools for research and communication • UofA Faculty of Arts (http://www.registrar.ualberta.ca/calendar/Arts/40.1.html#40 ) • Principles of a Quality Undergraduate Education • Specifically, for psychology…. Intro Psych instructors want students to be able to think like psychologists

8. Related Research • Think critically, analytically, practically, creatively • Judge the validity and credibility of research • Understand field as dynamic and integrated • Have a base of knowledge about the field • Apply knowledge to everyday life

9. Related Research • How can we achieve these goals? • Actively engaging students • Research shows we can teach effectively in large enrollment classes

10. Method • Participants • 1340 PSYCO 104/105 students participating in mass testing • Term enrollment (Winter 2002) = 1581 students • Materials • Paper questionnaire • Included my questions plus additional ones • Two multiple choice questions • One 7-point Likert Scale question

11. Method • Procedure • Heard a summary of what they would be doing • Received our questionnaire as part of a package of a number of questionnaires • Received a paper debriefing

12. Questionnaire • How comfortable do you feel working with computers? a) Not at all b) Slightly c) Somewhat d) Comfortable e) Very

13. Word processing Email Using the Web Games Searching the library for print resources (e.g., books) Searching the online library databases Searching the Web Reading an essay for English Writing an essay for English Reading a Psychology journal article Writing a summary of a Psychology journal article Writing a Psychology paper Questionnaire • How would you assess your skill level in each of the following: • Participants chose from: None, Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent

14. a) Relevancy of the information b) Credibility of the source c) Credentials of the authors d) Recency of publication e) Source of the information (i.e., journal article, Web site, newspaper article) f) Findings supported by other research g) Findings contradicted by other research h) Ease of finding information i) Clarity of information j) Number of references k) Legibility l) Frequency with which the information is cited by other sources m) Ease of accessing the information n) Conciseness of the information o) Availability of the information Questionnaire Which of the following would you use to decide if you should use certain information in a Psychology research assignment? (Circle all that apply)

15. Faculty 40% Arts 46% Science 14% Other faculties Year of Study 59% First 27% Second 8% Third 4% Fourth 2% Other Age 84% ≤ 20 years Sex 63% Female 37% Male Fluency with English 98% considered themselves fluent Results – Demographics • Questioned 1340 of 1581 students

16. Results – Perceived Proficiency • Collapsed across all demographic categories

17. Results – Perceived Proficiency • Most students rated their skills as good or excellent • Email (93%) • Using Web (85%) • Word processing (85%)

18. Results – Perceived Proficiency Good or Excellent Other

19. Results – Perceived Proficiency • Fewer students rated their skill as good or excellent with other important research skills • Searching the library for print resources (47%) • Searching the online library databases (46%)

20. Results – Perceived Proficiency • Ratings tended to be lower for writingskills • Writing a summary of a psychology journal article • Writing a psychology paper

21. Results – Perceived Proficiency • Ratings tended to be lower for writingskills • Writing a summary of a psychology journal article • Writing a psychology paper

22. Results – Perceived Proficiency • Ratings of skill with non-psychology writing were higher than for psychology-related tasks Good or Excellent Other

23. Results – Perceived Proficiency • Ratings of skill with non-psychology reading were higher than for psychology-related tasks

24. Results – Informational Resources • Most likely material/information for determining use • Relevance (86%) • Credibility (80%) • Clarity of information (73%) • Least likely • Author credentials (31%) • Frequency with which others cite the work (20%) • Number of references (19%)

25. Discussion • Introductory psychology students are • Comfortable with computers, so Web-based instructional technologies can be explored as a way to support learning • Likely related to increased availability and use of computers • Comfortable with some of the tools of the field • English language • Email • The Web • Word processing

26. Discussion • Introductory psychology students are • Lesscomfortable using research and psychology-specific applications requiring skill with the Web • Online databases • Library searches • Lesscomfortable • Reading and writing Psychology papers than English papers

27. Discussion • Introductory psychology students • Are aware of factors affecting the usefulness of information • May not know how to critically appraise these factors • Items from our questionnaire were considered important to critical appraisal by expert researchers

28. Conclusions • First year students are • Not intimidated by computers • Confident using the Web • Not very confident using library resources • Not skilled with resources and tools specific to psychology

29. Implications • Intro Psych students have the foundational skills to learn how to use psychology-related resources • Large Enrollment Initiative • Web Searching module • Critical Appraisal module • Using PsycINFO module • The modules are being evaluated

30. Acknowledgements • Connie Varnhagen • Brad Arkinson, Jason Daniels, Peggy McFall, Sylvia Peske, Tara Peters, Bonnie Sadler-Takach • Tom Johnson • Funding provided by the Alberta Learning Learning Enhancement Envelope (LEE) 4 and the Faculty of Science (UofA)

31. References McGovern, TV. (Ed.). (1993). Handbook for Enhancing Undergraduate Education in Psychology. Washington: American Psychology Association. Morris, CG. (1997). Still Giving Psychology Away After All These Years. In RJ. Sternberg. (Ed.), Teaching Introductory Psychology: Survival Tips from the Experts (pp. 91-106). Washington: American Psychology Association. Sternberg, RJ. (1997). Teaching Students to Think as Psychologists. In RJ. Sternberg (Ed.), Teaching Introductory Psychology: Survival Tips from the Experts (pp. 137-147). Washington: American Psychology Association. Wade, CE. (1997). Thinking About Psychology. In RJ. Sternberg (Ed.), Teaching Introductory Psychology: Survival Tips from the Experts (pp. 151-162). Publisher: City. Bernstein, DA. (1997). Reflections on Teaching Introductory Psychology. In RJ. Sternberg (Ed.), Teaching Introductory Psychology: Survival Tips from the Experts (pp. 35-47). Washington: American Psychology Association. Varnhagen, CK.  (1999, June). Developing and delivering effective instructional technology.Presentation to the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Calgary, AB. Varnhagen, CK. (2002). Making Sense of Psychology on the Web. New York: Worth.