Recently in Education Category

The article that I really wanted to share with our class is in my Applied Psychology text book (Applying the Science of Psychology to a Public That Distrusts Science is the name of the exact article).  Since it is not readily available online, I'll give a breif overview of it and the discussion we had in my Applied Psych class.  While my class was talking about this article, all I kept thinking about was the blogs and posts that I constantly see on our website. 

We are all (or alot of us) are guilty of posting 'psychology' articles that are really not psychology at its best.  This article discusses how important it is that the average population can understand how research in psychology works, as well as appreciate and strive for more information.  It might be something that is hard for us (as psychology major or minors) to fully grasp because we are constantly surrounded by psychology jargon and statistics, whereas the general public may start to feel overwhelmed by seeing such aspects of psychology research.  Many people tend to give the advice that "less is more" when it comes to using statistics when talking to the public.  I feel that this may be the reason that some many people have distrust in the psychological community, because we are not sharing all of the information that we have with the public.  It's almost as if we are "dumbing it down" for them, which shouldn't have to happen.  The article suggests that we should teach research techniques as early as middle school and all through college, regardless of concentration or major.  He points out that the knowledge you can gain from research are not only important to the scientists that conduct research, but important to everyone in our society.  The skills that can be learned about reading research articles can help individuals throughout many situations in their life.

The article talked about the main problems that people (the general public) have when understanding psychology.  One major problem is that people assume that correlation leads to causation.  Now, most of us have had the phrase "correlation does NOT mean causation" drilled into our heads throughout our psychology classes.  However, this is not something that was expressed when we were in high school or in other classes outside of psychology.  The article discusses how we need to change this pattern of education in order to be able to communicate research results (not just in psychology, in any type of study) to the general public more effectively.  Another problem that people have when understanding psychology is that they tend to listen to more emotional language than statistical or concrete language.  Along the same lines, the third aspect of understanding problems is that people also prefer to hear about anecdotes rather than statistics.  People say that they don't want to have a bunch of numbers thrown at them, or that listening to a professor talk in front of class about his research is boring, but at the same time if we don't do these things properly and get out the information in the correct way, it can lead to some very misleading information.  The article talks about how media tends to take the most simplified version of the study and place it as it's heading.  An example could be that a researcher examines the effects of daycare on future bullying.  The media would headline this as "Daycare leads to future bullying." While over generalizing the results, this also implies a causal relationship.  In addition, people feel that they can relate to anecdotal stories rather than a real research article.  They would rather see or hear from people off the streets about how well something works rather than really look at the facts.  While this is definitely a problem, I feel it may be more of a bad habit than anything else.

Many of us have been posting what my professor refers to as "pop psychology" articles.  Things that take something that people are really interested (love, happiness, etc) and finding some way to make their research fit what people want to hear.  Although many times we don't know the exact facts about the studies, the main problem is that the main facts about the studies aren't present in the articles we read! Take a look at and Cosmo article, Fox News, MSNBC, or any other news station (Times and CNN are usually okay, though) and they have a severe lack of resources pointing to how you can find the original article about that research study.  The lack of citations is astonishing, and many times it seems as though the article just appeared out of thin air.  As psychologists, we are trained to be exact and meticulous about citing our references and crediting our sources.  Wouldn't you think that citing sources and references would be even MORE important when the information is released to the general public? Isn't that what we want to do? Get people's attention, and encourage them to dig deeper into the subject? If this were to happen, would psychology's reputation of being contradictory and unsure change if people read the original articles?

As we have discovered through our article analysis, many times even textbooks do not use information correctly.  We have seen in the Reeve textbook (2009) that many of the citations used in this text are correct, but the information itself is misinterpreted or misused.  This could cause for a big problem if a textbook that is supposed to be teaching future psychologists misuses information.  How are we supposed to get the correct information out to the general public if we can't even get the correct information out to the psychological community?  

Many of the articles that are posted provide cool information, but those same articles tend to lack sufficient references towards where this information is coming from.  Does this mean that these articles are less reliable than an article that comes from a noted psychology journal? Does it mean that these articles are less reliable because they came from Cosmo? Are they less reliable because they lack references?

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/teen-abortion-high-school/story?id=10189694

This article was unreal to me when i read it. How could a high school let a student get an abortion in the first place and second without the mothers knowledge?!? The article states that the school and it's health clinic did not break any Washington laws, which was surprising to me also.  To me this is just teaching the students that their actions have no consequence and that if they have a problem they do not even have to discuss it with their parents. I do not know how the school could even possibly think this was okay. To me the health center at this school is just helping teens to do things without the consent of their parents.

What do you think about this article? Should the school have the right to let students get abortions, even without consent of a parent?

If you're like me, you probably get on your laptop, check you're email, then head straight to Facebook. Then throughout the day you may check it once or twice more just to see what people are saying in their status' or if you have any new messages or comments. Like me, you are not alone because according to this article 65% of Facebook users do the very same thing. Well, researchers are now saying that this could be lowering your grades more than you think. It has been found that those who utilize Facebook are underachieving by a whole letter grade compared to those who do not have a Facebook! GPA's of Facebook users were also significantly lower than those who do not use the social networking site. One researcher's explanation is that people are getting of Facebook as opposed to studying. The article cites one student's experience of trying to write a 2,000 word paper with the distraction of Facebook. Her decision as a result of that distraction was to deactivate her Facebook account. This sounded extreme to me, but I remembered a friend of mine who did the exact same thing at the beginning of the school year! Most of Facebook users (79%), however, don't believe the time spent on Facebook has any impact on school work and grades.

I would have to say I'm partially a part of that 79% because when I read this article I was shocked! I know that Facebook is a distraction and I find myself constantly logging onto the site (even when I have to blog or do other homework online) but I would have never contributed my getting a B instead of an A to a social networking site.

Reeve (2009) discusses Relatedness being a psychological need to have social interaction that is warm, close and affectionate (p. 161). With technology advancing sites like Facebook seem to make our friendships less affectionate, but I think our rejection of homework for Facebook is to fulfill our need of Relatedness to a degree.

What kind of impact do you see Facebook having on the quality of your relationships as well as your studies?


I understand that we are an evolving society that revolves on technology tremendously, but what is our motivation for logging onto Facebook several times throughout the day when we are facing deadlines as college students? Have any of you deactivated your Facebook due to the distraction or know someone who has? Does anyone is this class NOT have a Facebook account?
Article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article6078321.ece

"Senioritis, from the word senior plus the suffix -itis (which refers to inflammation but in colloquial speech is assumed to mean an illness), is a colloquial term used in the United States to describe the decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school, college and graduate school careers"(Wikipedia).

 

I don't know about you but I sure had a bad case of senioritis when I was in high school, and even now in my last year here at UNI I am having a relapse, all the symptoms are coming back and I have found myself with an almost more severe case. So I am wondering where my motivation went, and if schools have an answer for their students who suffer from the same condition.

 

Here is an article about a medical school that has realized that students can have trouble with motivation during their final year in classes. They stated in the article that making the fourth year for medical students more of an option should be up for debate. Now they spend their fourth year not on learning anything medical related, but more of a general education year. What do you think about this? Would you want medical students to have the optional fourth year? Or would you want them to be required and maybe not put as much effort into their studies?

 

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/25/fourthyear

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2010/03/11/hundreds-of-students-rally-lawmakers-save-our-schools/

The Kansas City, MO school district announced this morning that the plan to close almost half of its schools passed the school board vote.  The school district, which is on the brink of bankruptcy, will close 29 of its 61 schools.  These closures will cost 700 jobs, including 285 teachers.  This will leave 18,000 students to attend 32 schools that may be k-12.  The major restructuring is causing many angry parents to speak out and consider home schooling.

http://farmer.newsvine.com/_news/2007/03/19/621317-students-who-never-fail-teachers-who-do

 

I found this article and thought it pertained to our class discussion on 3-2.  The article is abot the five steps a teacher must take in order to 'never have a student that fails.'.  

The five steps were as follows:  1)Explaination  2)Demonstration  3)Practical Exercise  4)Testing or Examination   5)Critique

 

I thought all of these steps really related to the term competence.  In our lecture, we discussed important environmental factors that involved one's competence.  One of these was the challenge and feedback.  In these steps, there are places for the practice (#3), challenge (#4), and feedback (#5).   Another thing we also talked about in relation to supporting onces competence, was the structure-- offering support and guidance.  Near the end of the article, the author described how he never had a student fail-- but if they didn't fully grasp the concepts from the first round (of steps 1-5) to start over until you've reached a point of success with the student.  I believe having this system is a good way to not give up on a student and just fail them.  But also, I do believe there can be an immense amount of motivation from the teacher, but what if the student has none?  What if the student has no desire to succeed?  Maybe then this system wouldn't work but a new system needs to be adapted so help change the student's mind about classwork. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/04/day-of-action-update-rowd_n_486276.html

http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/86029717.html

This article talks about Omaha Public Schools (OPS) making the change to a 'no-zero' grading policy.  Attempt the assignment but fail, not to worry, you'll get a 65% jusf for the effort.  This article doesn't lay out the specifics of what an attempt is but I'm guessing your name on the paper and a half-assed effort at a title is their definition of attempting.  Why do I say this?  Because, that's right, a student who doesn't even attempt to turn anything in still gets a 50%.  No more "my dog ate my homework" excuses in Omaha, they can now say "screw it, gimme the 50%." 

An elementary curriculum consultant says that it's not a free pass for the students and the teachers are on the students to get things done.

Really?  It's not a free pass?  Not doing anything and getting credit for it is okay?  I'd like a career like that.  "Boss, I didn't do anything this week so you only have to give me half my paycheck."

I looked up the definition of self-motivation on wiki (hey, I'm at the library and forgot my Reeve book at home.  I still get 65% under Omaha grading policies for coming to the library, right?) and it states "self motivation is the ability to motivate oneself, to find a reason and the necessary strength to do something, without the need of being influenced to do so by another person.  Working in a careful and consistent manner without giving up."

I wonder if the next push from the OPS will be to redefine self-motivation so they can let their students know they don't need to find the necessary strength to do something and only work at something until it gets too hard, then just give up.

I tend to be on the critics side of the argument where 'no-zeros' doesn't hold the student accountable and I feel this will lead to the students being less responsible as adults. 

What's your take?

 

Praise is not always motivating.

http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=The%20Power%20(and%20Peril)%20of%20Praising%20Your%20Kids%20--%20New%20York%20Magazine&expire=&urlID=21157633&fb=Y&url=http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/&partnerID=73272

"A growing body of research and a new study from the trenches of the New York public-school system�strongly suggests it might be the other way around. Giving kids the label of 'smart' does not prevent them from underperforming. It might actually be causing it."

In this youtube clip, President Obama (the then Senator), addresses some restrictive policies that underlie the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, enacted by former President Bush. Prior to his presidency, Obama proposes some structural modifications to the Act. First, he asserts how the assessment plans for NCLB are inadequate and lack the teacher input. Consequently, the teachers themselves are unaware of the specific conditions and terms that underpin this policy. Then, he questions the true standardized requirements for varying schools across the states, and how there is bound to be (and already is) a divide among states for test results. Such high measures are established a priori, but so many schools are provided with insufficient resources to produce higher results, based upon the standards already in place. Thus, instead of formatting schools so that they meet a comprehensive score, each school should be monitored throughout the year in different intervals, meeting more minimal and realistic goals. Obama argues that we should recognize the differences in cognitive abilities across the states, and not set up these schools with such a policy that will doom them to failure, or so that they need to dumb down their standards just to meet a goal, however reaching that goal might be.

As a result of implementing more standardized test measures by which these schools must abide, other resources, such as the arts and music, are slowing disintegrating from within. The textbook defines autonomy as "the psychological need to experience self-direction and personal endorsement in the initiation and regulation of one's behaviors." Schools should be a place in which students learn to foster their creativity and autonomy in certain aspects of their lives. If we are establishing policies that force students to take rigorous exams and cut out music and the arts, then where does that leave the students? It inevitably leads to to follow those strict rules, and inhibits their potential for pursuing domains that could allow them to flourish. We are by no means given decision-making flexibility in that systematic orientation of building a well-rounded self, as the school systems should be doing.

The main issue is that it is so difficult to administer other forms of intelligence tests that are not quantitative, objective, or standardized. Individuals might picture his or her as a disproportionate hierarchical system, with absolutely no flexibility to decide his or her educational path. As Obama mentioned in the clip, teachers had no input in this policy, so their autonomous qualities as teachers were compromised and disregarded. Although the educational system must adhere to some basic level of routine and structure, it all boils down to providing students with a genuine choice, and encouraging everybody's state of autonomy and intellectual freedom.

In what ways do you think schools could promote autonomy? Do you think the educational system could somehow effectively tap into intelligence without the use standardized testing?

I found an article that interested me on teacher evaluations. At the school mentioned in the article they are done differently than at UNI. Mid semester the teacher can choose to have the "Focus Feedback" done. About halfway through a normal class, the professor leaves and another person then leads a discussion about the class. Students are asked to critique the professors teaching style, both what the like and do not like. The information is then given to the professor, so if they choose to they can change the class for the rest of the semester.I feel like this would be really helpful, for both student and professor. If students can give input to a professor on something that could help them, competence levels would go up and so would most likely enjoyment for the class. Everyone wants to be competent in the activities we engage in, and this could only help. I know i have had classes in which i would have loved to be able to tell the professor things to change mid semester and have them actually taken into account.

 Often a professor does not know if they are getting the information across to the students, so I think this type of feedback would be useful. Feedback can be a very helpful source, in making changes for the better. Student evaluation is a good way for professors to get feedback on how well their teaching styles is appealing to and helping students learn. Performance feedback can also give the professors a sense of a job well done, if the feedback is positive, and give them something to change or think about if they are getting mostly negative feedback from students.  

            At this University only 20 professors took part in the Focus Feedback, why do you think that is?

            Why do you think so few professors at UNI do student evaluations at the end of the semester?

 

http://media.www.umdstatesman.com/media/storage/paper1351/news/2010/02/24/News/Optional.Teacher.Evaluations.Used.By.Few.Professors-3878429.shtml

 

 

http://www.ted.com/talks/kiran_bir_sethi_teaches_kids_to_take_charge.html

When I started to think about what I wanted to blog about today, I first thought of what motivated people to do things, anything, which eventually lead me to wonder what motivational principles underlie peoples need to attend college. 

I found this great article by Kathleen McKinney called "Encouraging Students' Intrinsic Motivation."  In this article the author gives nine different strategies that a teacher can use when trying to help motivate students.  The first is to know where the students are.  It is important to know the background about each of the students, so when making a lesson you know the appropriate level to start at.  Second, confront the monster.  This means talking to the students about motivation and the importance of learning. Third, fate does not rule.  Encourage the students so that they can have high self efficacy, try to help set the students up for success.  Fourth, gladly teach and learn.  Offer the students to give feedback about the course, so you can see how they learn most effectively. Fifth, all for one and one for all.  Make a learning community for the students; by having them work in small groups, but also have them do work individually.  Sixth, variety is the spice of life.  There can be a lot of diversity in a class room, so you need to make all things in the classroom diverse as well. Seventh, I did it my way. Give the students some control in the class, for example let them choose between assignments and pick which ones they would rather do. Eight, how many points to get an 'A'.  Some times it not always best to use a traditional grade system, encourage the students to learn and study for something other than grades.  Finally, practice what you preach.  Be a role model for the students, and have everything that is done in the classroom promote learning.

You can view this article at: http://www.cat.ilstu.edu/additional/tips/intMotiv.php .  It goes into detail more on each of the nine strategies.  I think that all nine would be great strategies that a teacher could use in their classroom. So what do you think are these nine strategies good to use in the classroom to promote intrinsic motivation?  Are there any other strategies that you can think of that could be incorporated into the classroom to help with student motivation?

Have you ever found it interesting when in school, that if you were given a chance to help out (when in elementary) and leave the class (in middle to high school and now college) that you were more motivated to complete or finish that paper or learn a task.  

When I was in 5^th grade, every other Friday we would have an afternoon where we could hang out, outside of the class room. Yet, in order to get that chance we had to have completed our homework and turned it in daily, been on good behavior and been to school every day. I found it really interesting when I look back on it now, but the teachers where trying to motivate us to do better and or at least the minimum in order to be able to go somewhere else in the school, or in my case the library. That is where the girls hanged out to talk and slack off; in reality we were supposed to be putting up books for the librarian.  It was an Incentive or reward, which motivated a certain behavior. I guess you can call it extrinsic motivation because we as children worked towards these goals in order to slack off later. Plus it did place some type of situational interest within us, which our textbook talks about as being a type of interest which is short term and can be seen as the shiny object that draws you in and creates a certain type of motivation or gain in knowledge. Even though situational interest is great, a teacher tries to create a more logical expectation of personal interest in a student, which is a long term interest and the student does these activates on their own accord.  Now, I was a student who did well regardless because I personally found that I wanted to achieve more than was expected for me, as well show my parents that I was a good student. I didn't receive an allowance and I didn't get a pass on my chores, but I knew in the long run that I would benefit someday from my motivation to learn. But for other students these incentives were what drove them to at least meet these requirements.

So I searched for ways to motivate students, now I understand that this list is aimed at a younger crowd, but can you imagine if these still worked for us today?

http://specialed.about.com/cs/behaviordisorders/a/rewards.htm

The list is funny to look back on, but I remember some of these working, here are a few of my favorite.

·         Take a bubble blower out at recess.

·         Free homework passes.

·         Leader for a day.

·         Earn points for class Video.

When you were a child in elementary what motivated you? What motivates you now? Were and are there rewards involved? Like an allowance or a pass of doing chores? Do you think that this reward system has or could have backfired potentially? Also, in thinking about this, our class has some fun activities and incentives as well and do you think that will affect your motivation in learning the material?

Have you ever found it interesting when in school, that if you were given a chance to help out (when in elementary) and leave the class (in middle to high school and now college) that you were more motivated to complete or finish that paper or learn a task.  

When I was in 5^th grade, every other Friday we would have an afternoon where we could hang out, outside of the class room. Yet, in order to get that chance we had to have completed our homework and turned it in daily, been on good behavior and been to school every day. I found it really interesting when I look back on it now, but the teachers where trying to motivate us to do better and or at least the minimum in order to be able to go somewhere else in the school, or in my case the library. That is where the girls hanged out to talk and slack off; in reality we were supposed to be putting up books for the librarian.  It was an Incentive or reward, which motivated a certain behavior. I guess you can call it extrinsic motivation because we as children worked towards these goals in order to slack off later. Plus it did place some type of situational interest within us, which our textbook talks about as being a type of interest which is short term and can be seen as the shiny object that draws you in and creates a certain type of motivation or gain in knowledge. Even though situational interest is great, a teacher tries to create a more logical expectation of personal interest in a student, which is a long term interest and the student does these activates on their own accord.  Now, I was a student who did well regardless because I personally found that I wanted to achieve more than was expected for me, as well show my parents that I was a good student. I didn't receive an allowance and I didn't get a pass on my chores, but I knew in the long run that I would benefit someday from my motivation to learn. But for other students these incentives were what drove them to at least meet these requirements.

So I searched for ways to motivate students, now I understand that this list is aimed at a younger crowd, but can you imagine if these still worked for us today?

http://specialed.about.com/cs/behaviordisorders/a/rewards.htm

The list is funny to look back on, but I remember some of these working, here are a few of my favorite.

·         Take a bubble blower out at recess.

·         Free homework passes.

·         Leader for a day.

·         Earn points for class Video.

When you were a child in elementary what motivated you? What motivates you now? Were and are there rewards involved? Like an allowance or a pass of doing chores? Do you think that this reward system has or could have backfired potentially? Also, in thinking about this, our class has some fun activities and incentives as well and do you think that will affect your motivation in learning the material?

The answer to the question of the title, for me, is YES, I am motivated to attend class when their is an attendance policy in place!  When I know a teacher is taking attedance I will not skip class, unless I absolutely have to because of personal reasons such as really sick, doctors appointment, or the weather and can't make it to class. 

In chapter 6 there was a figure that had Intrnsic Motivation and under engagement Class Attendance.  It caught my eye so I wanted to do a little more reasearch to see how other's felt about that.  I found an article that said a major predictor for college success is in fact classroom attendance.  Within this article Mississippi State University reaches out to their students who have skipped class more than two times, to see if they need help with anything and try to undertand why the student is not coming to class.  That could be a good thing for students, they see the professor actually cares about them and their learning, and will motivate the student to come to class.  

It's a feeling of autonomy support from the teacher, and will then have the student be motivated knowing that there is an attedance in affect.  Normally students who attend college don't want to do bad in any of their classes, so knowing that they HAVE to go to class and its not some free ride, will definitely up their GPA and graduate. 

As a student, are you motivated to attend class if there is an attendance policy in place, or do you believe you are not in high school anymore and should be able to come and go as you please and be treated like an adult?

 

The link to the article above is: http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0129/p15s01-lehl.html 

http://www.uni.edu/safety/

Here is a link that provides information on safety and services offered at UNI and you can also go to the UNI police department site which is below.

http://www.vpaf.uni.edu/pubsaf/police_division/index.shtml

The first link can help with a variety of things from the weather, students safety, alerts on campus and off, health center, H1N1 shots and so forth.

The second link also deals with a variety of things to help students from services, prevention, sexual assualt, drugs and alcohol, and even statistics of crime on campus.

I thought that since this past semester we had hate crimes going on not just on campus but in the Cedar Fall area off of campus that I would share a story I found on hate crimes on college campuses other then our campus.

http://socyberty.com/issues/hate-crime-on-college-campuses/

check it out for yourself. One psychologist found that offenders attack people because of their antisocial behavior and their hate against those who might be better than them.

Because college campuses account for 13% of hate crimes, colleges have had to increase their security.

 

Reeve talks about emotions in the textbook, and depending on what a person has experienced, going through or even a friend going through something traumatic can involve many students facing fear and anger. Everyone experiences things differently. Some may fear others, be angry towards others for what they did (e.g. sexual assualt, hate crimes etc.) and others might show no emotion what so ever. The UNI sexual assualt department had a lady talk to my violence in intimate relationships class on how they see people show emotions such as: fear, anger, laughing, crying, no emotion because no one experiences the same things the same way. Hope you enjoy this information and it helps someone.

For this post I wanted to find a really neat video to share. But instead I found a few and decided instead of sharing a video I wanted to share this whole site.  Maybe more people than I'm aware of know about TED but I just think it is a neat site to go to and learn and hear other opinions on various topics. So I want to encourage you all to go to this site and check out the different themes of videos and find one that is for YOU!

TED has the catch phrase "Ideas worth spreading".  They hold a few conferences each year where speakers will come and spread their idea.  They have some interesting topics that anyone could enjoy.  You should check it out!

I got carried away watching a few videos and decided to post one up anyway.  Do you remember the golden rule from when you were a kid?  "Treat others the way you want to be treated".  This stopped me in my tracks and made me really rethink how I was going about life now.  What would happen in this world if everyone started to live by that golden rule?  We should be sensitive to other's emotions by thinking of our own emotions.  I heard this analogy from someone else so I can't take all of the credit, (but just think about it).  Say you're driving and you realize you need to be over a lane, like NOW.  So you pull in front of someone and cut them off.  The way you react is most likely like, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to" and you just feel bad and apologetic.  But then on the other side of that coin, when someone pulls in front of you or cuts you off you might blow up, curse at them, call them names...make assumptions.  We should just be empathetic of others (just think what the world would be like if we did.)
   
http://www.ted.com/talks/karen_armstrong_let_s_revive_the_golden_rule.html

Here is the link to the website:
www.ted.com
From there you can explore, and please, post a comment with a video you watched or liked.

The common stereotype of fraternities and sororities is that they are organizations based purely one common goal, drinking as much as you can. Over years and years of this stereotype being glorified by movies like "Legally Blonde" it has become harder and harder to squash this image. A link on the Greek Life homepage of the Ohio Northern University website has finally started clearing the air and labeling the benefits of Greek life. 

I came across this life stress test when trying to look up a synonym for life events off of dictionary.com

I found this test interesting, it gives you a list to choose from that have happened in your life in the past twelve months and it generates your level of stress and gives you feed back and what to do.

I scored a 195 which stated that:

"According to the Holmes & Rahe* statistical prediction model your score means a moderate amount of life changes and a moderate susceptability (about 50% probability) to stress-related illness. However please keep in mind that there are many variables that interact on health including positive factors such as support from family, friends or work associates. If you are concerned about your stress levels then you should seek the assistance of a qualified counsellor or health practitioner."

To me, I think my life is a little more stressful, but the questions asked generate more for people who have had a family, been married and so forth. I'm sure there are other tests just like this one, but I'm sure once I get married and have a family and retake this test, my score would probably be more accurate.

It is widely known that chronic and acute stress have an impact on our immune system. Short periods of stress may actually provoke the immune system, setting off internal alarms for action. With long-term chronic stress can have a negative impact on the immune system. If one has a positive self-image, an optimistic outlook on life and good coping skills then the there might be slightly less impact of stress on one's immune system.

Check it our for yourself.

http://www.stresstips.com/lifeevents.htm

Music and the brain

I encourage you to read the entire article because some of the examples and explanations they gave were so amazing and powerful that a summary of it would not do it justice. 

The next time you are going over your notes, or studying for that test put on some baroque style music because it will activate both sides of your brain to maximize your learning!  But the key to the song selection is that it much be at or around 60 beats per minute.  The little article seems to have a sort of disclaimer in saying that just because you listen to music while you are studying does guarantee that you will remember it better, it simply stimulates the other side of your brain so that your attention and retention is better and more active. 

The article also states that baroque and classical era music is best to listen to because their beats and rhythm is based on math; it is ordered.  So if you are looking for some "classical" background music, check out those time periods. 

Fun fact for rock lovers. In the 70's teenagers would bring raw eggs to concerts and by the end of the show they would have been turned to hard boiled eggs.  Researchers say this is due to the high, shrill frequencies and kind of "mix things up". 

It's what everyone is talking about at our age.  Do I have enough money to do this?  Specifically, COLLEGE.  As well are all aware, college is expensive.  I hear young parents talk of 'putting this money in little johnny's college funds account'.  But is that the best financial option at this point?  I found an article that gives reasons and benefits from NOT saving money for your children's tuition costs. 

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/SavingForCollege/6ReasonsNotToSaveForKids.aspx?gt1=33006

This article doesn't diss on helping your children through college, but it implies that over time, things may change and that money may be put to better use toward something else.  The article mentions 'there isn't a loan for retirement'.  -- which is true.  Their are unexpected expenses throughout ones life that that money may need to help with.  I think saving some money can be done, but if a family is suffering financially (especially with the economy in the situation it is) is it worth putting the money in the bank?  Also, what about retirement? That is money you will be living off of when you've decided to take the plung into retirement.   When you think about the big picture, it seems putting these important dollars in the bank to stay for 18 years seems kind of silly.  

It also makes a valid point-- how much appreciation will be shown once someone goes to college-- their parents paying for their tuition VS. the student paying.  Does it seem as if a student making their own way through college would take it more seriously than those who do not? 

From Chapter 5 in the textbook, the authors describe intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.  Intrinsic refers to engaging in one's interests and to one's capacities -- to seek out and master their own personal challenges. Extrinsic motivation comes from environmental incentives-- such as money, awards, etc. In this situation, parents are using extrinsic motivation early in life where it may not be necessary.  They want the best education for their children, ultimately wanting a diploma, aka a better than average job for them.  These extrinsic goals may need to be put aside, even if they are in their child's best interest.   If the person going to college has the desire to fulfill their intrinsic motivation by completing their desired level of education, dont you think they'd find a way to complete school regardless? 

I thought this article was interesting, because I believe their is a lot of stress put on parents of children who want to continue their education in a college or unversity.  I'm not siding with either, because when parents help with tuition it takes a lot of stress off the student.  But should the parents put their own financial situation in jeopardy to do so?

 

It's what everyone is talking about at our age.  Do I have enough money to do this?  Specifically, COLLEGE.  As well are all aware, college is expensive.  I hear young parents talk of 'putting this money in little johnny's college funds account'.  But is that the best financial option at this point?  I found an article that gives reasons and benefits from NOT saving money for your children's tuition costs. 

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/SavingForCollege/6ReasonsNotToSaveForKids.aspx?gt1=33006

This article doesn't diss on helping your children through college, but it implies that over time, things may change and that money may be put to better use toward something else.  The article mentions 'there isn't a loan for retirement'.  -- which is true.  Their are unexpected expenses throughout ones life that that money may need to help with.  I think saving some money can be done, but if a family is suffering financially (especially with the economy in the situation it is) is it worth putting the money in the bank?  Also, what about retirement? That is money you will be living off of when you've decided to take the plung into retirement.   When you think about the big picture, it seems putting these important dollars in the bank to stay for 18 years seems kind of silly.  

It also makes a valid point-- how much appreciation will be shown once someone goes to college-- their parents paying for their tuition VS. the student paying.  Does it seem as if a student making their own way through college would take it more seriously than those who do not? 

From Chapter 5 in the textbook, the authors describe intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.  Intrinsic refers to engaging in one's interests and to one's capacities -- to seek out and master their own personal challenges. Extrinsic motivation comes from environmental incentives-- such as money, awards, etc. In this situation, parents are using extrinsic motivation early in life where it may not be necessary.  They want the best education for their children, ultimately wanting a diploma, aka a better than average job for them.  These extrinsic goals may need to be put aside, even if they are in their child's best interest.   If the person going to college has the desire to fulfill their intrinsic motivation by completing their desired level of education, dont you think they'd find a way to complete school regardless? 

I thought this article was interesting, because I believe their is a lot of stress put on parents of children who want to continue their education in a college or unversity.  I'm not siding with either, because when parents help with tuition it takes a lot of stress off the student.  But should the parents put their own financial situation in jeopardy to do so?

 

I found an interesting article about whether or not a person should go onto graduate school after college. I know almost all of us in this class are juniors and seniors, and we are trying to decide if grad school is what we want to do after college. I am currently in this boat myself. I am looking at a couple of schools and the process seems daunting.  More than anything this article just made me sure of the fact that I do want to go to grad school. It had some helpful information and underneath the article has links to some other articles that looked like they could be interesting.

The article has five main points and I think they are very good ones. The first point is to make sure you are going to grad school for the right reasons, not just because you are not ready to get a job or because you do not know what to do. The second point talks about knowing what career goals you have in mind and deciding whether or not graduate school will help you in achieving these goals. The next point is deciding on a specialty, because unlike undergraduate work, grad school is focused mainly on one area of study.  The fourth point, is do you have the drive to get through another 2 or even more years of school? Grad school is an overwhelming experience. I have a friend who is in her first year as a grad student at UNI and she never seems to have any free time for anything.  The last point the article made was about grades and personal qualities. But I think if you have gotten through school and been accepted to grad school you know how to get good grades, have good study habits and know your personal pros and cons.

http://gradschool.about.com/cs/shouldyougo/a/should.htm

Who has ever tried to lose weight but lacked the motivation to actual do it? Or tried to reach that BMI index that is healthy for their height and weight? Many people have started a diet and exercise program and either succeeded at this program or failed. What could be some possibilities that would get people to stick to their weight lose goals or reach that healthy BMI index? Could you say that it is health wise important, or you will have more energy if you do? How about if it were made a requirement for graduation? At Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, they are making it a requirement to have a BMI index of 30, which is higher than the actual BMI average of 22.

Here is the link to the NPR article http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2009/11/pennsylvania_college_makes_bmi.html

 

How they do this is have the incoming freshmen get their BMI measured and if it comes back higher than 30 they are required to take the "HPR 103 Fitness Walking/Conditioning" class, or they can't graduate.  The other students who took the BMI measurement and passed are not required to take any additional physical tests or classes while attending.

The logic behind this according to DeBoy a chair of the department of health, phys ed and recreation there at Lincoln said, "As health educators we're concerned with the whole student, not just the academic part, but all the components that make up health and wellness."

So as a student whose BMI is way over 30 and is as of my last check up in perfect health, besides some breathing problems that I have had way before I was considered unhealthy, find that this can create a problem. I would just not attend this college if I knew that I would not be able to reach this goal. I also would have a problem with the fact that this can cause some mental health problems for many students who find themselves perfect at their current weight.  It initially states that you may be healthy, but you are at risk and to save you, I think you should lose some weight.

What is your thought on this and is it a good start to achieving a healthier America? And foremost would this motivate you if our university made it a requirement for graduation?

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTR/is_4_22/ai_84599442/?tag=content;col1

Everyone always hears about all the college dropouts. Statistics show that 1 out of every 4 people will drop out of college by there sophomore year. Even more surprising is that 1/2 of college students wont complete their degree after their sophomore year or will leave to complete it elsewhere. This article discusses one guys struggle to stay in college. He was your typical straight A student, president of everything, star athlete type of guy. However, he dropped out of college before finishing his first semester. In this article he shares his struggles of how he dropped out, why he went back, and gives advice to those entering college.  One thing I found interesting in this article besides the 6 reasons it lists for dropping out, was that most of the drop out students are not permanent; many of them decided to go back to school later in life.  A lot of times when we talked about college drop out rate people don't consider the statistics on how many of them go back and complete their degree.

I was given this short article by one of my other professors, and I found it to be really helpful.  It gives a great overview of Social Cognitive Theory. It also describes how this theory stems from Social Learning Theory, and how it has evolved to what it is today.  It points out similarities of SCT to Behaviorism as well as other theories in psychology. The article describes how modeling and other types of social influence motivates certain behaviors and how these behaviors can then be changed or modified.  This article really cleared a lot of confusing parts of these theories up for me.  Hopefully it will help some of you also!

I thought that one of the most interesting parts of the article was the section on symbols.  Abstract thinking is a large part of social cognitive theory, which would entail the usage of symbols.  I never thought about it this way before, but using symbols is a way that many people learn and understand the environment around them.

Another area I thought was interesting is the section on modeling.  We have all learned about modeling in other classes, I'm sure.  In relation to the Reeve textbook, he discusses how modeling can effect and influence self-regulation (Reeve, 290).  The SCT article goes into death on the importance of self-regulatory behavior (p. 5), because self-regulatory behaviors act as a mediator between external influences and internal thoughts, feelings, and actions. Both the textbook and the SCT article also discuss goal-setting in relation to self-regulation, in that it helps people to achieve their goals successfully and drive them to go farther (Reeve, 290). Reeve also points out four crucial parts of the regulation process: "observation, imitation, self-control, and self-regulation" (Reeve, 291).  The SCT article also discusses these aspects, but in a less-direct manner.

Also discussed in the article are aspects of external and internal motivation.  On page 5, the authors discuss how getting an "A" in class is a great form of extrinsic motivation, and a rewarding experience. At the same time, the sense of pride we feel when getting an "A" is also a form of intrinsic motivation.  Extrinsic motivations are things that motivate us outside of the feelings or emotions we feel (receiving money, rewards, tangible things), whereas intrinsic motivations are more internally driven (Reeve, 111-113).  These types of motivations have a huge impact on how well we perform at a certain task or behavior, why we perform that task or behavior, and how often we perform that task or behavior.

The SCT article describes three factors that can influence how a person is motivated:

1.      Self-efficacy

2.      Feedback

3.      Anticipated Time

We have discussed all of these aspects many times in class.  How do these things relate from SCT back to what we discussed in class? Are the things we have been discussing (exercising, studying for a test, etc) all just forms of applying the SCT to real life?  What are some ways that these aspects can relate to other areas of psychology?

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnx3YWRpYW5wc3ljaHxneDo0YjRlYTlhODJiZGQ0NTRl

I'd like to know what you think of it. Do you think this article provides a good overview of these theories, or is the article too generalized?  Are these concepts too complex to be described in a few pages?  What do you think of SCT in general? Does it focus too much on self-efficacy and modeling while ignoring other important parts of motivation and learning?