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Psy 496 Independent Study and Psy 498 Independent Research
Kim Barchard
Summer 2010
Students Enrolled:
Psy 496Heather Johnson (1 credits),Jane Park (3 credits),Joshua Musicant (3 credits), Raelara Mendez (3 credits), Anne Scully (3 credits), Hunter Speich (3 credits), Bryan Watson (1 credit), Kelly Grob (3 credits), Meghan Birch (3 credits), Mariam Fernandez (3 credits), Jenya Verenikina (3 credits)
Psy 498Brian Kautz (full-time),Emily Anderson (full-time), Shatoyia Burns (part-time)
InstructorKim Barchard
Office phone: 895-0758
Office number: CBC B346
Lab phone: 895-3093
Lab location: CDC 520
Kim’s website
Talk to your instructor about course registration and grades. / Lab Manager
Emily Anderson
Lab phone: 895-3093
Lab location: CDC 520
Lab website
Talk to the lab manager about lab meetings and record keeping, and all the things you do to assist us in the lab that count towards lab hours: data entry, scoring, data collection, etc.
Project Teams
Team 1: Joshua, Hunter, Anne, Shatoyia, Bryan / LEAS Training & Certification / Meeting times to be announced
Team 2: Kim, Bryan, Brian, Jane, Raelara / Data Checking Study / Meeting times to be announced
Team 3: Emily, others / Promoting Double Entry / Meeting times to be announced
Team 4: Anne, others / LEAS Paper Scoring Manual / Meeting times to be announced
Team 5: Raelara, Hunter / LEAS Appropriateness / Meeting times to be announced
Poster Teams
Team A: Hunter, Raelara, Meghan / LEAS Appropriateness (item 1) / Wed 11am – 1pm
Team B: Bryan, Joshua / LEAS Training and Certification / Meeting times to be announced
Team C: Brian, Mariam / LEAS and PEQ / Meeting times to be announced
Team D: Jane, Kelly, Jenya / LEAS and Metaphors / Tue and Thurs 5:30 – 6:30
Poster Supervisor: Anne Scully,
Send your completed poster assignments to the Poster Supervisor for feedback.
Mission Statement
The Interactive Measurement Group will: (1) prepare students for post-baccalaureate education and careers, by helping them identify career and educational goals, develop their leadership and teamwork skills, develop their communication (oral and written) and computer skills, and develop their research skills; and (2) conduct research on psychometric topics, by collecting, scoring, and analyzing data on psychometric topics, and presenting results in professional forums (e.g., conferences, publications).
Course Objectives
This course will introduce students to all aspects of the research process, including (1) literature review, (2) study design and creation, and (3) scoring, data analysis, and presentation. Students will read and present research literature. They will be involved in the creation and administration of new research studies. They will score, enter, and analyze data. They will present research findings both verbally and in written form.
Required Text
American Psychological Association (2009). APA Publication Manual, 6th Edition. Available from the UNLV bookstore, and
Course Requirements
▪ Work on lab activities for a specified minimum number of hours.
▪ Some students will be involved in creative projects that result in a new scoring technique, training materials, or studies.
▪ Some students will also write a term poster with a team (topic decided in consultation with Dr. Barchard).
Students can enroll in 1 – 6 credits of Independent Study or Independent Research. Students will only be allowed to enroll in less than 3 credits if they have already been in Dr. Barchard’s lab for at least one semester.
Credits / Minimum Lab Hours / Including Poster / No Poster1 / 60 / Bryan Watson, Shatoyia Burns (volunteer)
2 / 120
3 / 180 / Heather Johnson, Jane Park, Joshua Musicant, Raelara Mendez, Anne Scully, Hunter Speich, Brian Kautz (volunteer), Kelly Grob, Meghan Birch, Mariam Fernandez, Jenya Verenikina / Emily Anderson (volunteer)
4 / 240
5 / 300
6 / 360
Lab Hours Wed 4 – 7pm
Lab hours will be held every Wednesday from 4:00 - 7:00pm. The Lab Manager and Assistant Lab Managers will be in the lab during this time. They will help students with any tasks they are working on and also provide training. Students will usually work on general lab work during this time. Students may work on projects during these official lab hours if they have no general lab work that needs doing, but they must not have project or poster meetings during this time.
There will be weekly lab meetings every Wednesday, usually from 6:00 - 7:00pm, chaired by the Lab Manager. During these meetings, students will be taught useful skills (such as how to present your research, improve writing skills, and learn about various software programs) and will discuss preparation for graduate school. These meetings will also review progress on lab projects, such as data entry, scoring, and study design. Attendance at these meetings is required and counts as general lab work, regardless of the content of the meetings.
Possible Topics for Lab Meetings
Week / Date / New Lab Members 4:00 - 6:00 / Returning Lab Members 4:00 - 6:00 / Lab Meeting 6:00 - 7:001 / May 19 / Syllabus; lab hours / Syllabus; lab hours; Data Checking Study / New members: Word Workshops
2 / May 26 / Excel, Our computers / Data Checking Study / Lab website bios
3 / June 2 / PEQ data entry / LEAS Set C / Goal setting and time management
4 / June 9 / PEQ data entry / LEAS Set C / Letters of Recommendation
5 / June 16 / Posters / Posters / Stress management
6 / June 23 / LEAS Training / Data Checking Study Training / GRE
7 / June 30 / Posters / Posters / Interpersonal Communication
8 / July 7 / LEAS Training / Data Checking Study Training / Interpersonal Conflict
9 / July 14 / LEAS Training / Data Checking Study Training / Leadership
10 / July 21 / LEAS Training / Data Checking Study Training / Assertiveness
11 / July 28 / Smart Goals / Smart Goals / Project Presentations
12 / Aug 4 / Poster Presentations / Poster Presentations / Planning for Fall
Meetings with Dr. Barchard
Project leaders and assistant managers will ensure smooth progress through synchronous and asynchronous communication with Dr. Barchard. They will have regular synchronous meetings with Dr. Barchard, usually in-person, in her office. If the student is out of town, they will have a long-distance meeting, using phone and/or Internet. Check with Dr. Barchard regarding the workshops you should complete to prepare yourself for these long-distance meetings.
Lab Activities
Dr. Barchard and the Lab Manager will ask you to complete a number of tasks that directly assist Dr. Barchard in collecting data and publishing her findings. You may also be asked to participate in activities that help keep the lab running. Some activities that help Dr. Barchard collect data include: 1) designing a new psychological test, 2) selecting measures for inclusion in a new study, 3) designing a website that collects data, 4) proof-reading a website, 5) answering email questions regarding an on-going study, 6) assigning credit for an on-going study, and 7) designing a new method of scoring a test. Some activities that help Dr. Barchard publish her findings include: 1) entering data, 2) scoring tests, 3) finding materials through PsycINFO and the library, 4) copying materials, 5) proof-reading SPSS Syntax files, and 6) proof-reading manuscripts. Some activities that help keep the lab running are 1) keeping the lab orderly, 2) keeping the computers running by performing virus scans and critical updates, 3) giving orientations to new lab members, 4) training other students, and 5) helping other students with their research tasks and conference presentations.
The work you do in the lab is divided into three types of activities: general lab work, projects, and posters. All of the time spent on all of these counts as lab hours. This section describes general lab work and projects. A later section describes posters.
General lab work is everything that is not directly related to a project or poster that the student is assigned to. When a student provides feedback to help another team with their project, for example, that counts as general lab work. General lab work also includes creating and attending workshops (that are not directly related to a project that the student is assigned to), mentoring new students (on skills that are not directly related to a project that the student is assigned to), data entry (that is not directly related to a project that the student is assigned to), and scoring (that is not directly related to a project that the student is assigned to). Each student must commit to doing at least 3 hours of general lab work each week.
Projects are completed in teams. The student team members will meet among themselves twice weekly meetings and will have a set of concrete goals. They will meet once per week with Dr. Barchard, or will provide a detailed written progress report by email, if they cannot meet with Dr. Barchard in person. Most project teams will create a product: a website, a program, or a paper. Some project teams will create multiple products. The project team will work with Dr. Barchard to agree upon their goals. All time spent working towards all of these goals counts as project hours. Every team member must commit at least 4 hours per week working towards these goals. Some team members will focus solely upon one project and will devote 8 or more hours per week on those goals. Others may join two projects, but must devote at least 4 hours to each project each week.
When a project team jointly decides that its members will work on a particular task, that time will count as project hours: the project team meeting minutes will explicitly state that the TEAM decided that a team MEMBER will do a task. However, when Dr. Barchard or the lab manager or even a project team asks a LAB member to work on a task, that work will generally fall under the heading of general lab work. For example, if a team who is creating a website asks a team member and a non-team member for feedback on their website, the team member will count it as project hours and the non-team member will count it as general lab hours.
Don’t stress out about the distinction between general lab hours and project hours too much. Make sure that all of your time in the lab gets listed either as general lab hours or gets listed under one of the specific projects you are working on. And if you find you are often uncertain, then ask the Lab Manager or the Lab Hours Supervisor for help distinguishing between them. The goal of recording general lab hours and project hours separately is simply to ensure that everyone contributes to on-going lab work that needs doing, and that no one lets their project team membersdown.
Students are encouraged to spend time in the lab, even when they are not doing things related to this class. However, time in the lab only counts as lab hours if the student is working on tasks relevant to the lab. As well, during the lab hours from 4:00 - 6:00pm on Wednesday, students should be working on lab tasks such as training, general lab work, and workshops. Project meetings must be done outside of the Wed 4 – 6 lab hours, so that Dr. Barchard is free to schedule training or other student meetings during those hours.
Students will record the hours they spend on general lab work and on each project to which they are assigned, using the lab hours GoogleDocs spreadsheet. It is important that students keep these records up to date, because Dr. Barchard uses these recordsto determine if any students are falling behind or are being overwhelmed. It is also important that student update their planned hours weekly. Plans change. Students get sick and they have family emergencies. Sometimes students have three exams on the same day. Finally, if students feel like they have too little or too much work, or if they feel like they aren’t being challenged enough or are being overwhelmed, they should email both Dr. Barchard and the Lab Manager. They will work with you to adjust your tasks appropriately.
Projects
Working Together
Students will work on their projects in groups of 2 to 4 students. Most students will find that working in groups makes it less time-consuming to complete their project and that their projects are of better quality. In addition, this will make it possible for students to work on advanced projects, even if they do not yet have all the necessary skills. For example, a student who has not yet taken a statistics or research methods course can be involved in original research.
Getting Help with Your Project
All project team leaders will meet with Dr. Barchard for at least an hour every week. In addition, teams may email her with questions or requests for additional appointments.
If the team is writing a document, they are also encouraged to send their document to a designated lab member (often the poster supervisor) each time they add a new section or do a substantial revision of an old section, to receive feedback on the clarity of their writing and their conformance to APA style. Please note that the lab member will usually not be able to provide any guidance about the direction and goals of the project, nor the content of the writing; Dr. Barchard will work with the teams on those issues. When asking the lab member for help with the clarity of your writing, tell him or her the new or revised section that you want them to provide feedback on, and ask them to answer the following questions: (1) where were you lost of confused about where the paper was going? (2) what section was the hardest to read and understand? and (3) do you see any obvious violations of APA format?
If the team is creating another product, such as a website or computer program, they are also encouraged to send their materials to a designated lab member each time they add a new section or substantially revise an old section. That lab member cannot provide guidance on the direction and goals of the project nor the content of the materials, but can provide feedback on the clarity and organization of the materials.
Project teams should also ask for feedback from additional lab members. For most projects, you will ask non-team members for feedback twice during the semester. To avoid over-burdening lab members, though, include the fact that you want to ask non-team members for feedback in your weekly goals, and receive approval from Dr. Barchard before proceeding.
Workload
Students are required to commit at least 4 hours per week to each project and each poster that they are working on. In addition, every lab member must commit to doing at least 3 hours of general lab work per week.
If you are taking 3 credits for 180 hours, this is 15 hours per week during the summer, and 12 hours per week during the fall or spring. Students could focus entirely on general lab work. Alternatively, some students may choose to focus their time on one project, and spend 8 or more hours per week on it. Others will work on a project and a poster (each for at least 4 hours per week), and some will work on two projects (each for at least 4 hours per week). Each team will meet in person for a minimum of two hours each week, and this counts towards the minimum of 4 hours per week. Students should also plan to work on the projects between each meeting.
Project and Poster Meetings
You will meet with your team members at least two times a week for a minimum of 1 hour, at regularly scheduled times. These meetings count as part of your project hours. The meetings times for each team are listed above. Note: if you are on two teams with the same people (such as a project team and a related poster team), you will meet with those people for four hours each week.
Because of the importance of meeting regularly, attendance at these meetings is required. If a team member misses a meeting without a very good reason, their course grade will go down by 1%. The day and time of the next meeting must be specified in the minutes from the current meeting, to avoid any confusion. The day and time of a meeting can be changed (either temporarily or permanently) with the agreement of ALL team members. It is important to note, however, that team members are under no obligation to acquiesce to someone’s request to change the meeting time. When you agree to meet with your team at a certain time each week, it is your responsibility to do so. Students do not expect teachers to reschedule class times to suit their schedules.
The purpose of these meetings is to work on the specific goals of the project or poster and to discuss the topic in general. If you complete all of your goals for the week before the end of your second meeting of week, you must stay for the rest of your meeting time and discuss the topic in general. Try discussing one or more of these topics:
1.Why is this research question important? Why do we need to know the answer to this?
2.If our projector poster turns out the way we expect, what are the implications of this? Why does this matter? How should people treat each other differently after they hear about our research? How should researchers design their studies differently after they hear about our research?