Week 1 discussion
Critical Thinking
As you should have noted throughout your master’s program,
psychological knowledge stems mainly from research. Knowledge of the world,
however, in addition to coming from direct experience and observation, comes
from many sources including journals, textbooks, experts, and various media
resources (television, newspapers, and the Internet). An important question
regarding these resources is, “Are they all credible?” How do you
distinguish fact from fiction in evaluating research information, regardless of
its source? This Discussion addresses the importance of critical thinking in
evaluating information obtained through various sources including psychological
research. Critical thinking is an invaluable skill in life as well as for
completing your Capstone Project.
To prepare:
Review Chapter 1 of the course text, Asking the Right
Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking, focusing specifically on the
importance of asking the right questions to evaluate the credibility of resources.
Consider the types of sources used in obtaining the
knowledge learned in your master’s specialization.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 4 an explanation of the importance of critical
thinking and the implications of not questioning information, both in general
and as they relate to the Capstone Project. Be sure to support your postings
and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.
Respond by Day 6 to at least one of your colleagues’
postings in one or more of the following ways:
Ask a probing question.
Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
Offer and support an opinion.
Validate an idea with your own experience.
Make a suggestion.
Expand on your colleague’s posting.
Week 2 discussion
Refining the Problem Statement
Now that you have chosen a topic, this Discussion provides
the opportunity to share with your classmates your choice of topic and the
problem that you have identified.
Note: Please complete the Application Assignment prior to
the Discussion question this week.
To prepare:
Develop a brief summary of your topic to post to the
Discussion board, including a justification for your choice.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 4 a description of the topic you chose for your
Capstone Project and the problem you identified. Briefly explain why you
selected the topic.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.
Respond by Day 6 to at least one of your colleagues’
postings in one or more of the following ways:
Ask a probing question.
Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
Offer and support an opinion.
Validate an idea with your own experience.
Make a suggestion.
Expand on your colleague’s posting.
Week 5 discussion
Integration/Synthesis Challenges
Now that you have synthesized and integrated your resources,
you will have a chance to share your experiences with your classmates. In this
Discussion you will address some of the challenges you experienced as you
synthesized and integrated the resources for your Capstone Project.
Note: Please complete the Application Assignment prior to
the Discussion question this week.
To prepare:
Review the steps you used to write up the review.
Consider the difficulties you faced in writing the
literature review.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 4 an analysis of the challenges you encountered
as you synthesized and integrated the resources for your literature review.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.
Respond by Day 6 to at least one of your colleagues’
postings in one or more of the following ways:
Ask a probing question.
Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
Offer and support an opinion.
Validate an idea with your own experience.
Make a suggestion.
Expand on your colleague’s posting.
Week 6 discussion
Problem/Issue Cause and Effect
Now that you have critically analyzed the problem/issue, it
is time to present your findings to others in the course. Feedback from others
is useful in ensuring that the critical analysis is on target. Select one of
the causes deemed most influential in the development of the problem/issue and
post it in this week’s Discussion. Pay close attention to the questions posted
by your colleagues and use the information to further refine your critical
analysis.
Note: Please complete the Application Assignment prior to
the Discussion question this week.
To prepare:
Review Chapters 8 and 9 in the course text, Asking the Right
Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking, paying particular attention to the
questions to ask in determining cause and effect.
Review this week’s Application Assignment.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 4 an analysis of one cause/effect of the
problem/issue you selected. Include in your analysis what happened and who was
affected, negatively and/or positively.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.
Respond by Day 6 to at least one of your colleagues’
postings in one or more of the following ways:
Ask a probing question.
Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
Offer and support an opinion.
Validate an idea with your own experience.
Make a suggestion.
Expand on your colleague’s posting.
Week 8 discussion
Potential Resolutions
For those identified problems/issues with many causes and
effects, there are potentially many solutions, each with its own set of
advantages and disadvantages. The solutions may impact just one of the effects
or may impact several effects. The goal this week is to generate as many
solutions as possible based on the critical analysis of the problem created
earlier. At this stage, don’t worry about whether the solution is effective.
Simply generate as many potential solutions as you can. Once you have generated
a list, select two potential resolutions and identify the advantages and
disadvantages of each solution. You will share these with your peers; pay
particular attention to their responses about which solution might work best in
alleviating the problem/issue you selected.
To prepare:
Review the “Problem Solving Template,” located in
the Resources area on the left navigation bar.
Review the causes and effects that you generated in Week 6.
Review the critical analysis narrative that you prepared in
Week 7.
Think about some potential resolutions to your identified
problem and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 4 two potential resolutions to the identified
problem/issue and explain their advantages and disadvantages. Provide specific
examples.
By Day 6 respond to at least one colleague and suggest which
potential resolution you think he/she should select and why.
Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the
responses to your initial posting. Note what you have learned and/or any
insights you have gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.
Week 10 discussion
The Capstone
The focus of this week is to reflect on and evaluate your
Capstone Project experience and how it has helped you to become a
scholar-practitioner committed to fostering positive social change.
To prepare:
Reflect on your experiences with the Capstone Project
including but not limited to the following questions:
What aspects of the Capstone Project and course have helped
you to become more of a scholar-practitioner?
How have the program and project forwarded your contribution
to positive social change?
What aspects of the experience were less beneficial in these
regards?
What would you recommend to future students in the Capstone
experience?
Think about your commitment to fostering social change.
Consider how participating in and completing the Capstone
Project have contributed to your overall sense of yourself as a
scholar-practitioner and as someone who fosters positive social change.
With this in mind:
Post by Day 4 a brief synopsis of your Capstone Project and
a brief summary of your reflections on the Capstone Project experience.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.
Respond by Day 6 to at least one of your colleagues’
postings in one or more of the following ways:
Ask a probing question.
Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
Offer and support an opinion.
Validate an idea with your own experience.
Make a suggestion.
Expand on your colleague’s posting.
Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the
responses to your initial posting. Note what you have learned and/or any
insights you have gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.
Week 11 discussion
Personal and Professional Growth and Social Change
Now that you are at the end of your program, it is time to
take a moment to appreciate those who have supported you in both big and small
ways. It is time, too, to reflect on and analyze the impact of the MS in
Psychology program on your personal and professional growth. This is a great way
to see what you have learned and accomplished in the past few years.
To prepare:
Reflect on your journey through this program.
Evaluate what you have learned in this program.
Think about the knowledge, skills, and competencies you have
acquired from this program and how they have contributed to your personal and
professional growth.
Consider how this program has helped you develop as a social
change agent.
Think about the support you have received from others around
you and how you might reward them for supporting and “hanging in
there” with you.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 4 an evaluation of the impact of your MS in
Psychology program as it relates to your personal and professional growth. Be
sure to indicate how this program helped your development as a social change
agent. Finally, share how you will acknowledge and reward one person who has
been a support to you during this course, in the Capstone process, and/or in
the entire program.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.
Respond by Day 6 to at least one of your colleagues’
postings in one or more of the following ways:
Ask a probing question.
Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
Offer and support an opinion.
Validate an idea with your own experience.
Make a suggestion.
Expand on your colleague’s posting.
Week 1 assignment
Application: Time
Line
Planning a major project requires organization and planning.
Creating a time line is useful in planning the various stages of the project.
This Application Assignment will assist you in planning and completing your
Capstone Project by having you identify the various stages of the Project and
create the time line for its completion.
To prepare:
Review the “Capstone Project: PSYC 6393”
PowerPoint presentation in this week’s Learning Resources to determine the
components of the Capstone Project.
Review the document, “Creating a Time Line for the
Capstone Project,” located in the Resources area on the left navigation
bar.
Review the Syllabus, paying particular attention to the
Weekly Course Schedule.
Review the document, “Writing a Capstone: Things You
Should Know,” in this week’s Learning Resources.
The assignment:
Create a time line for the accomplishment of your Capstone
Project.
Capstone Project:
The Capstone Project will address a specific problem or
issue related to your MS in Psychology specialization. The Capstone Project is
a major paper that must include a problem statement and an integrative
literature review using critical analysis that leads toward resolution of the
specific problem. The Capstone Project is due by Day 7 of Week 10.
Week 2 assignment
Application:
Problem/Issue Selection
Note: Please complete the Application Assignment prior to
the Discussion question this week.
Now that you have selected a topic, you will identify an
important problem within the broad topic that you would like to explore. In
choosing the problem/issue, consider the following questions: Do you want to
address a work problem, community problem, or problem that affects the larger
society? Why is this problem of interest? Keep in mind that the more complex
the problem, the more complex the analysis and potential solutions.
To prepare:
Review the “Capstone Project: PSYC 6393”
PowerPoint presentation from Week 1 that describes the Capstone Project, paying
particular attention to the discussion of how to choose a topic.
Assess the critical considerations and how they relate to
your topic.
Read Chapter 3 of the course text, Asking the Right
Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking.
Think about a problem/issue that you would like to explore
in your Capstone Project, using the provided web sites for identifying a topic
if necessary.
The assignment:
In 1-2 pages, respond to the following:
Describe the topic you have selected for your Capstone
Project.
Describe the problem/issue related to the topic.
Justify your selection of the problem/issue.
Week 3 assignment
Application: Problem
Statement
Problem statements help to further define the nature of a
problem/issue, as well as provide the rationale for why a particular problem
was chosen. In this Application Assignment, you will write a problem statement
for the problem/issue you selected.
To prepare:
Review the “Problem Statement Description and
Examples” document in this week’s Learning Resources, keeping in mind your
Capstone Project.
Review your justification for the topic you selected in Week
2.
The assignment:
In 1-2 pages, respond to the following:
Write a problem statement for the problem/issue you have
selected for your Capstone Project.
Week 4 assignment
Application: Critical
Resource Review
The literature review provides the empirical justification
for the project. Literature reviews involve collecting resources directly
related to the selected problem, critically analyzing those resources, and
synthesizing them into a coherent narrative. The critical analysis not only
considers the validity of the argument, but the credibility of the source as
well. Where did the information come from? Was it the author’s personal
opinion? Did he or she conduct a study or analyze data? These questions should
be considered in completing a critical review of literature.
In this Application Assignment you will collect resources
related to your problem statement and demonstrate your skills in critical
analysis
To prepare:
Review the Torraco article in this week’s Learning Resources
on writing an integrative literature review.
View the links on how to critically evaluate resources.
Watch the course media segment on “Literature
Reviews” to gain a general understanding of the purpose of the review.
Find 10-12 research resources related to your problem
statement (including at least 4 peer-reviewed journal articles).
Review your problem statement.
The assignment:
In 2-3 pages, please complete the following:
Briefly synthesize one of the resources you selected.
Critically analyze that resource.
Cite 10-12 resources for you literature review. Four of
these resources must be peer-reviewed journal articles.
Week 5 assignment
Application: Resource
Synthesis and Integration
Note: Please complete the Application Assignment prior to
the Discussion question this week.
Synthesis and integration involve succinctly summarizing the
main points of the chosen resources and combining the summaries into a coherent
narrative. Synthesis and integration require skills that improve with
experience.
To prepare:
Review the Torraco article from Week 5, focusing
specifically on synthesizing and integrating the literature review.
Of the 10-12 collected resources, choose the 4 peer-reviewed
journal articles that most closely address the problem chosen for your Capstone
Project.
The assignment:
In 2-4 pages, respond to the following:
Cite the four resources you have chosen to synthesize and
integrate into a narrative. (You may copy and paste the citations from the list
of resources you submitted last week.)
Synthesize and integrate the four resources into a coherent
narrative that:
Begins with an introduction
Includes an integrated synthesis of the resources
Relates the narrative to your problem statement
Week 6 assignment
Application: Critical
Analysis I
Note: Please complete the Application Assignment prior to
the Discussion question this week.
Often there are many contributing causes in the development
of a specific problem/issue. These causes may be complex and may involve
individuals, institutions, and/or environmental factors, for example. This
complexity increases the difficulty in creating a solution for the problem.
Thus, prior to developing solutions, there must be a critical analysis of the
problem/issue. The analysis must address the many potential causes of the
problem/issue and determine which had the most impact on its development.
Critical analysis relies on the literature and resources that address the
specific problem.
In this Application, you will focus on a critical analysis
of the problem utilizing the findings from the literature collected in Weeks 4
and 5.
To prepare:
Review the resources you collected and summarized in Weeks 4
and 5.
Review the questions in the “Critical Analysis
Template,” located in the Resources area on the left navigation bar.
Think about the causes of the problem or the issue you have
identified, and consider who or what are the major contributors to this
problem.
Think about the impacts of the problem.
The assignment:
By Day 7, briefly describe, in 2-3 pages, the problem/issue
and the problem statement you developed.
Identify the major contributors to the problem (who, what)
and briefly explain how they contribute to/cause the problem.
Explain at least two causes of the problem.
Explain at least two effects of the problem.
Week 7 assignment
Application: Critical
Analysis II
Week 6 involved the identification of several causes and
effects of your identified problem/issue. This Application Assignment requires
that you integrate the top four causes and effects into a critical analysis
narrative. A critical analysis narrative includes a thorough discussion of each
cause (fully describe the source) and its effects (fully describe who is impacted
and how). Following the description of all four causes and effects, a critical
analysis narrative ends with a final paragraph that briefly summarizes the four
causes and your reaction to the relationship between these causes and the
development of the problem/issue.
To prepare:
Review Chapter 10 in the course text, Asking the Right
Questions.
Review the list of identified causes and effects that you
generated in Week 6.
Review the “Critical Analysis Template” (located
in the Resources area on the left navigation bar), paying particular attention
to the components of the critical analysis narrative.
Analyze causes and effects of a problem/issue.
Apply research to critical analysis of problem/issue.
Integrate causes/effects into a critical analysis narrative.
The assignment:
In 2-3 pages, respond to the following:
Identify the four causes and effects you have selected to
incorporate into an integrated critical analysis narrative.
Write an integrated critical analysis narrative that
incorporates the four causes and effects you identified.
Explain your reaction to the results of your critical
analysis. Could these causes have been prevented? Which one do you think was
most important in leading to the problem?
Week 9 assignment
Application: Proposed
Resolution
The last component of the Capstone Project involves the
identification and critical analysis of a potential resolution to the
identified problem. In this Application Assignment you will critically analyze
one of the potential resolutions you proposed in Week 8. What would be the
challenges and barriers to implementing the resolution?
To prepare:
Review the “Problem Solving Template” (located in
the Resources area on the left navigation bar), paying particular attention to
the section on analyzing the solution.
Review the list of potential resolutions generated in Week 8
and identify the resolution you deem most likely to address the identified
problem.
Review the feedback provided in the Week 8 Discussion.
Consider the following questions for the resolution you have
selected:
Is the resolution realistic?
What are the consequences of the resolution, and who would
be impacted?
What would be the challenges and barriers to implementing
the resolution?
The assignment:
Submit a 1- to 2-page description of the selected resolution
with its advantages and disadvantages. Also explain challenges and barriers to
its implementation.
Week 10 assignment
Capstone Project
It is now time to complete and submit your Capstone Project.
To prepare:
Review the PowerPoint presentation, “Capstone Project:
PSYC 6393,” located in the Resources area on the left navigation bar.
Refer to other documents and templates in the Resources area
on the left navigation bar and in each week’s Learning Resources area as
needed.
Review previous Applications and Discussions in this course.
Contact your Instructor with any specific questions.
The assignment:
Complete and submit your Capstone Project.
