A SHORT COURSE IN SPORT PSYCHOLOGY Diane L. Finley, Ph.D. Associate Professor Prince George’s Community College University of Maryland University College

The Background of the Short Course University of Maryland University College’s mission is to serve the working adult Courses are offered in many “alternative delivery systems” Courses are given via distance formats, are given on Saturday and Sunday and on weekends One-credit courses were developed to promote psychology and provide 1 credit “fill-ins”

The Set-Up UMUC offers many 1 credit courses on special topics These 1 credit courses meet for 2 consecutive Saturdays, 8 hours per Saturday There are no enforced prerequisites Courses tend to be enrichment-oriented rather than core learning oriented. Course evaluation procedures must include 50% writing Faculty are encouraged to require students to complete a take- home exam to meet this requirement

The Challenges Covering the entire field of sport psychology in 16 hours Need to choose which topics will be covered Students come without necessarily having completed Introduction to Psychology – they do not understand all of the basic concepts Maintaining student interest for an 8 hour class Incorporating active learning Finding an appropriate textbook

The Solutions Use of Van Raalte/Brewer APA reader Careful choice of topics to avoid those that require prerequisite knowledge (e.g. behavioral learning) Liberal use of group work and inventory-type activities Videotape clips and role plays to demonstrate techniques

Solutions, cont. Heavy emphasis on application of techniques to many situations Application oriented take-home exam Web enhanced “classroom”

For information, contact: Dr. Diane Finley Prince George’s Community College 301 Largo Road Largo MD academic.pg.cc.md.us/~dfinley