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Application Project
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As the semester progresses, you are realizing psychology impacts your everyday life in a
multitude of ways! Your goal for this project is to search for the meaningful ways that
psychology plays a role in your future career path. No matter what field your studies are leading
you to, an understanding of behavior will play an important role. You will use three (3) academic
sources to demonstrate the connections between psychology and your chosen field of study.
These sources may be in the form of scientific literature, documentaries, and interviews with
professionals in the field, for example. The next step will be to organize your research in the
form of a presentation. You will have the option of either submitting your presentation with a
voice over of your presentation or with a transcript of what you would say if you were to present
this to an audience. Your presentation (which may be created in any presentation format;
Microsoft Powerpoint, Google Presentations, Prezi, or other online formats available) will reflect
the main points of your research. You are encouraged to use images, video clips, visual
illustrations of data, links, bulleted points, etc. to provide a comprehensive picture of your
research.
Pretend as though you are presenting your project at a conference (in which you usually have a
limited amount of time to present) – a few questions to consider: What do you want your
audience to know and see about these connections between psychology and your career path?
How / what information would you choose to share with others in a brief amount of time? What
behaviors, which may be specific to your field, may be better understood or explained through
psychological science and methodologies used in the field? In what ways will your knowledge of
psychology help you to be a more competent professional in your field?
Guidelines for your presentation:
Step 1: Start exploring the connections between the course content and your academic pursuits.
Find a theory, topic, concept, historical figure in the field, data set or experiment that addresses
the logical position that psychology intersects with your career field. What behavior(s) can
psychology help explain/predict in your field? Why may psychological science be important or
relevant to our understanding of this career/work force?
Step 2: Start investigating how others have used psychology in your field! Start examining
academic resources for more specific information on the role psychology plays in your future
work. Select at least three (3) sources that increase your knowledge of these connections.
Step 3: Start creating your presentation! Introduce and define your field of study; state your
reason for choosing it and briefly describe the role of psychology. Your introduction should be
concise, clearly defined, and stated early in the presentation.
Step 4: After the introduction, review the literature/resources you found. Analyze, organize and
describe (in your own words) the research findings on your topic. Your literature review should
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clearly and succinctly summarize previous research findings. Discuss the methodologies and
variables of interest that may be used to investigate your topic. Point out the important findings
and explain how they support, and are relevant, to your field. Be sure to address whether these
findings are correlational and what limitations may exist. Cite and give credit to your sources.
Step 5: Next, you should evaluate and draw your own conclusions from the research. What
implications can be derived from your investigation? Give at least two (2) examples, supported
by your literature review, of how psychology may be used to describe, explain, and/or predict
behavior(s) related to your field.
Step 6: Have fun and be creative with your presentation! Use visual / audio representations and
media if available. Take this opportunity to fully consider psychology’s role in your world in a
way that can enhance your own personal and professional development; and that of others.
Grading Rubric:
Analysis of Research Literature = 50 points
· Utilizes at least three (3) scholarly sources relevant to topic.
· Organizes and describes relevant research findings
. Uses research to illustrate the relationship between research findings and career field.
· Addresses research methodologies, variables, and limitations.
· Draws conclusions that supports how the chosen topic(s) helps to explain behavior(s)/aspects of
the nature of career work.
Applications = 25 points
· Applies the topic to human or animal behavior; drawing conclusions based on research
investigation.
· Deduces at least two (2) ways this research knowledge may be used to understand behavior(s)
related to field.
Format = 15 points
· 10 – 15 slides; including a title and reference slide. · Information is presented in an organized,
logical, and creative manner.
· Research authors are given credit and cited on appropriate slides.
· Free of spelling/grammatical errors
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Presentation = 10 points
– Voice over or screen sharing presentation of project (less than 10 minutes in length) OR a
written transcript/script of project presentation (2 pages, double spaced, 12 point, Times
New Roman font).
Resources:
Click here for tips on evaluating source credibility
Click here for the step-by-step TCC research guide to help find your scholarly research
Click here for the TCC library database (page ‘P’ and scroll down to PsycInfo or PsycArticles)
Click here for APA databases
Click here for a free online screen sharing tool
