Preliminary Analyses of Student Use and Usefulness of introKpsych Connie Varnhagen Ian Winship Xornam Apedoe

introKpsych Technologically Enhanced Introductory Psychology Keynote Lecture Sites to Visit Asynchronous Discussion Multiple Choice Exams

Analysis of Student Use and Usefulness Student reports Log files Correlations with marks

Student Reports of Use & Usefulness

Student Reports of Time Involvement

Average Number of Pages Accessed Each Day

Type of Page Accessed Each Day

Average Number of Posts Made Each Day

Correlations

Conclusions: Student Use and Usefulness Students generally use introKpsych in ways we expected they would Student use is related to performance

Critical Thinking for Introductory Psychology Assess credibility of a source Identify assumptions Distinguish cause and effect from correlational relationships Draw inferences from data Recognize inconsistencies in reasoning Be open minded

Assess Credibility of a Source A group of students are debating the issue of a pheromone sense. John says, “I read in the new edition of the text that a number of published studies indicate that there is a pheromone sense located at the top of the nasal cavity.” Sarah says, “That’s right. Heavenly Scents, the aroma therapy store, just completed a controlled study that shows both men and women can detect pheromones from the opposite sex.” (a) John’s statement is more believable than Sarah’s statement. (b) Sarah’s statement is more believable than John’s statement. (c) John’s and Sarah’s statements are equally believable. (d) Neither John’s nor Sarah’s statement is believable.

Identify Assumptions From the choices below, select the one that is most probably the unstated assumption in the following: The fact that no physiological evidence has been found indicates that there is no pheromone sense. (a) No sense has been identified that doesn’t have a physiological organ. (b) Sensation requires a physiological entity. (c) A lack of sensation indicates a lack of a physiological sense. (d) There is no physiological evidence for a pheromone sense.

Distinguish Cause and Effect from Correlational Relationships From the choices below, select the one that most exactly reflects the relationship in the following: Practicing meditation (A) will lower your blood pressure (B). (a) A and B are related. (b) A causes B. (c) B causes A. (d) A and B are unrelated.

Draw Inferences from Data From the choices below, select the one that most reflects the the following: The pigeon, which had been pecking at the disk was distracted by the sound of the door slamming, and it hesitated while it considered whether to keep pecking or not. (a) This statement is an inference. (b) This statement is an observation. (c) This statement is neither.

Recognize Inconsistencies in Reasoning Some research indicates that males can detect small amount of female pheromones. Researchers haven’t found any evidence yet for a pheromone sense organ. Physiologists must work harder to find the sense organ. (a) The underlines conclusion follows necessarily from the statements given. (b) The underlined conclusion contradicts the statements given. (c) The conclusion neither follows necessarily nor contradicts the statements given.

Critical Thinking and Discussion

Conclusions: introKpsych and Critical Thinking introKpsych discussion is important for critical thinking. We aren’t doing a good job of measuring or rewarding critical thinking in introKpsych. We need to more specifically examine the development of critical thinking before making causal statements.