Psychology of Motivation with Virtual Lab and Sims
Price
TBA
Duration
2 Quarters, 1 Semester
Table of Contents
COURSE OBJECTIVE
What motivates people to behave the way they do? For generations, psychologists have been trying to answer that question.
In psychology, motivation is the reason or reasons why a person behaves or acts in a certain way. Generally, a person's desire to do something is fueled by their motivation. This is a crucial element in attaining goals in one's life. These goals can be personal, competitive, and based on society. A lack of motivation can lead to depression and other mental illnesses.
Many psychologists have developed reasons for which people are motivated, and they can apply to certain situations. However, all theories apply needs through the same process: needs which affect well-being and behavior, which then affect satisfaction. Everyone's needs are different, and the pursuit of the satisfaction of those needs is different in each person's behavior. The motivations for which a person behaves to achieve those needs are most commonly separated into drives and motives. Meeting biological needs, such as eating, breathing, and drinking, typically drives a person to act immediately. Drive reduction occurs after those needs are met, returning a person to a state of homeostasis.
The objective of this course is for you to be able to understand and discuss motivation as it relates to psychological needs, neuroscience, emotions, personal control, personal growth and other factors.
COURSE FORMAT
The class meets 90 minutes twice a week (M/W or T/Th) for 20 weeks. Like all other courses in our curriculum, Psychology of Motivation with Virtual Labs and Sims consists of two components: asynchronous and synchronous learning.
We use the Psychology 315: Psychology of Motivation course for the asynchronous flipped classroom portion of the course. This makes up 30% of your overall grade.
Your academy instructor will facilitate the virtual in-person synchronous portion of the course. This makes up 60% of your overall grade.
Asynchronous Learning
Psychology 315: Psychology of Motivation course on Study.com was created by a panel of expert instructors who break down concepts with bite-sized, animated video lessons organized into topical chapters that improve comprehension and retention, making learning fun and engaging. Each video is approximately 5-10 minutes long and comes with a quick quiz to help you measure your "first exposure learning" during the pre-work phase before the actual class. At the end of each chapter, you will complete a chapter test to see if you're ready to move on or have some material to review.
You should expect to spend 50-70 minutes per week on these homework assignments. The academy intentionally schedules no classes on Fridays to provide dedicated time for homework assignments and out-of-class projects.
Synchronous Learning
Our academy instructor, who will also serve as your Gamemaster, will facilitate the live, virtual classroom sessions, which will supplement and build upon the Psychology 315: Psychology of Motivation course. Additionally, they will answer any questions you may have about the asynchronous material.
Our in-person sessions are designed to make learning fun and interactive! Here's what you can expect:
Interactive discussions: We will delve deeper into key concepts from the asynchronous material and address any common misconceptions.
Team-based activities: You'll work collaboratively with your fellow students to earn points and badges, and climb the leaderboard as you embark on scientific edventures!
Labs and Simulations: We will conduct virtual labs and simulations to provide hands-on experience with key concepts in the psychology of motivation, like goals, perseverance, drive reduction, needs satisfaction, achievement, and more.
Exams
There will be a comprehensive mid-term exam over all content covered during the first quarter and a comprehensive final exam over all content covered during the second quarter. Both of these exams are weighted equally, and the combined average will count as 10% of your course grade.
COURSE TOPICS
Chapters: 13; Lessons: 121
INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION BOARD
Each chapter features an interactive discussion board powered by Discussion Hero, a gamified platform developed by Northwestern University. Students choose between "hero" and "villain" roles and avatars, earning points for their contributions. This fosters a sense of competition and engagement, making discussions even more rewarding.
Benefits of Participating in Discussions:
Develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills: Go beyond memorization and passive learning by analyzing information, evaluating different perspectives, and forming your own conclusions.
Enhance communication skills: Practice clear communication, learn to articulate your ideas effectively, and develop respectful listening and rebuttal skills.
Fosters a collaborative learning environment: Learn from each other, share knowledge, and collaborate on problem-solving, creating a dynamic and enriching learning community.
Deepen your understanding of the content: Actively engaging with the course material through discussion solidifies and expands your understanding beyond lectures and readings.
Provides diverse perspectives: Discussions expose you to different viewpoints and interpretations, encouraging critical thinking and broadening your understanding of the subject matter.
Offers opportunities for self-reflection: Examining your own thoughts and arguments in response to prompts and engaging with others' perspectives helps solidify your learning and identify areas for further exploration.
Apply knowledge to real-world scenarios: Apply course concepts to real-world situations through discussions, enhancing the material's relevance.
Build a digital learning portfolio: Discussions serve as a reference for your learning journey, allowing you to revisit key concepts and track your progress.
Develop digital literacy: Discussions provide a platform to practice online communication etiquette, including respectful disagreement, constructive argumentation, and responsible information sharing.
To actively engage in meaningful learning and reap the benefits mentioned above, participation in each chapter's discussion board is expected and will contribute to your overall grade. Your instructor will provide a clear rubric within Discussion Hero outlining the expectations for participation and how your contributions will be evaluated. This ensures consistent and transparent assessment while allowing you to showcase your understanding and critical thinking skills throughout the course.
LABS AND DEMONSTRATIONS
To strengthen high school psychology curriculums, the American Psychological Association (APA), with the assistance of a dedicated group of high school and college teachers, created a series of lab exercises. Each of the exercises provides high school students with the opportunity to plan and carry out investigations utilizing laboratory procedures just as would occur in biology, chemistry, and physics courses, including suggestions for data analysis and preparation of lab reports.
The APA has also developed and made available an online psychology laboratory that includes dozens of interactive labs and demonstrations across several domains in psychology. These, too, present data for analysis.
Your instructor will select specific lab exercises and demonstrations from these resources to enhance your learning experience, utilizing them for individual and small-group assignments.
The APA lab exercises provide high school students with the opportunity to:
Develop critical thinking skills through designing, conducting, and analyzing research investigations using the scientific method.
Gain experience with the scientific method, including hypothesis development, data collection, and analysis.
Practice applying research methods and data analysis techniques.
Learn to interpret psychological findings and draw evidence-based conclusions.
VIRTUAL SIMULATIONS
The Sims 4: Your Virtual Behavioral Science Lab
Imagine exploring human behavior not just through lectures, textbooks, and case studies, but by creating virtual worlds and shaping the lives of the virtual people (Sims) who inhabit them! Our innovative virtual simulations, featuring the popular game The Sims 4, bring key concepts in behavioral science to life in a fun and effective way.
The Sims 4 isn't just a game – it's a life simulation powerhouse, with some role-playing game (RPG) elements, that caters to diverse learners. This open-world environment empowers you to create your own narratives and experiment with theories of the psychology of motivation in a safe, controlled setting. Unlike traditional games, The Sims 4 has no set goals or win/lose conditions, allowing you to focus on maximizing your learning impact.
Throughout the course, you'll participate in various solo and team-based simulated challenges related to key themes and concepts in the psychology of motivation. Your instructor will provide clear guidelines, including the theme, backstory, learning objectives, goals, rules, constraints, and scoring rubrics. Additionally, they may offer suggestions on other parameters such as storyline, Sim traits, or other demographic characteristics like age, marital status, profession, lifestyle, and socioeconomic background, to ensure a comprehensive and dynamic learning environment.
Ready to Dive Deeper?
If you're new to the game, you can explore specific aspects of The Sims 4 and how they contribute to our virtual simulations.
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
These assignments will challenge you to research and write an essay about extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation and write a comprehensive research paper about the psychology concepts you studied throughout the course. Some of the skills you will draw upon to complete these assignments include the following:
Research academic sources on motivation and goals
Use critical thinking skills
Apply this research to real-life examples
Summarize sources and provide information on the details of the study and information
Explain how motivation impacts an example from your own life
FOR EACH OF THESE ASSIGNMENTS: As part of your research, you must use at least three credible, outside sources and cite them. Please include a mix of both primary and secondary sources, with at least one source from a scholarly peer-reviewed journal.
Primary sources are first-hand accounts such as interviews, advertisements, speeches, company documents, statements, and press releases published by the company in question.
Secondary sources come from peer-reviewed scholarly journals, such as the Journal of Psychology and Brain Studies. You may use sources like JSTOR, Google Scholar, andthe American Psychological Association, and Social Science Research Network to find articles from these journals. Secondary sources may also come from reputable websites with .gov, .edu, or .org in the domain. (Wikipedia is not a reputable source, though the sources listed in Wikipedia articles may be acceptable.)
These assignments will make impressive additions to your online portfolio by showcasing your passion for psychology and research to college admission officers and potential employers for summer internships.
PEER-REVIEW CAPSTONE PROJECT
You’ve grasped an important and challenging scientific theory, concept or principle. Now it’s time to share your insight into this big breakthrough idea. In this project, you'll transform your scientific knowledge into an engaging video, honing your communication, creativity, and critical thinking skills. You'll also have the opportunity to compete in the Breakthough Junior Challenge (BJC), a prestigious global science competition for high-school students with exciting prizes!
As long as the subject of your video relates to Life Sciences and for example, discusses brain function and physiology as opposed to strictly behavior, you are encouraged to submit your final capstone project to the BJC! Below are branches of Psychology that would qualify.
If your video is selected as the Winner, you will receive:
If you’re looking for guidance, you can see some of the prior years’ top-scoring entries here and the playlist below. But remember, to show ‘creativity’ your film should be as original as possible.
COURSE OUTCOMES
After completing this course, you will be able to:
Select different parts of the brain and show how these areas contribute to motivational feelings and actions.
Connect physiological phenomena within the body to behavioral changes in thirst, hunger, sexual arousal.
Distinguish between internal and external factors of need, motive, and consciousness that influence a person's motivation
Examine how goals and goal-setting strategies contribute to psychological well-being.
Report how emotion and components of personal growth can change the perception and achievement of positive motivation and meaning-making.
Evaluate the influence of neurotransmitters and hormones on motivational behaviors.
Analyze the interplay between genetic and environmental factors in shaping motivation.
Understand how reinforcement and punishment influence behavior and motivation.
Analyze how societal and cultural norms impact motivation and goal-setting.
Evaluate ethical considerations in motivation research, such as consent and confidentiality.
Apply self-regulation techniques to enhance personal motivation.
Explore the relationship between motivation and cognition, including cognitive biases.
Develop strategies to boost intrinsic motivation in education and work.
Assess the effectiveness of motivational techniques in achieving goals.
Reflect on personal experiences to enhance intrinsic motivation and self-determination.
PREREQUISITES
There are no prerequisites for this course.
COLLEGE OR DUAL CREDIT
Psychology 315: Psychology of Motivation has been evaluated and recommended by ACE for 3 semester hours and may be transferred to over 2,000 colleges and universities. If you're seeking college credit, after completing this course, you can take the online proctored exam at any time for an additional fee.
Your Instructor
TBD
