Social Psychology with Virtual Labs and Sims
Price
TBA
Duration
2 Quarters, 1 Semester
Table of Contents
COURSE OBJECTIVE
While psychology studies how people act, think and feel, those thoughts, actions, and feelings are not isolated. They occur within a society. However, the way in which people's actions, thoughts, and feelings manifest within that society can vary, causing a person to act one way when they are alone versus another when they are around certain people or groups. This is where social psychology comes into play, but what is social psychology, and why is it important?
Social psychology, like psychology as such, studies how people act, think, and feel, but it does so within the context of society. Social psychologists aim to understand how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors manifest and change based on real or imagined interactions with others.
The course objective of Psychology 104: Social Psychology is to provide an overview of the work of prominent researchers in the field and introduce important psychological theories and research methods. Topics covered include research methods and ethics, social cognition and perception, attitudes and persuasion, and applied social psychology.
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, Social Psychology with Virtual Labs and Sims consists of two components: asynchronous and synchronous learning.
We use the Psychology 104: Social Psychology 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 104: Social Psychology 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 104: Social Psychology 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 psychology concepts, like prejudice, conformity, groupthink, interpersonal communication, leadership, self and identity.
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: 10; Lessons: 105
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 social psychology 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 social psychology. 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.
EXTREME EVENT RESILIENCE GAME
Natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods, are large-scale geological or meteorological events that pose significant threats to human health and safety, property, critical infrastructure, and homeland security. Natural disasters occur both seasonally and without warning, subjecting the nation to frequent periods of insecurity, disruption, and economic loss.
Extreme Event is an award-winning in-person role-playing simulation that gives participants a taste of what it takes to build community resilience in the face of disaster. Players assume roles as city leaders to prepare for and react to a natural disaster (earthquake, hurricane, or flood) through an engaging, fast-paced simulation. Working alongside students from other relevant courses such as Business, City Planning and Development, Game Theory, Engineering, Environmental Science, Ethical Leadership, Journalism, Macroeconomics, Meteorology, and Social Psychology, you'll collaborate to make critical decisions and develop strategies for community resilience.
Developed by the National Academy of Sciences’ Marian Koshland Science Museum (now LabX) in collaboration with the Resilient America Roundtable, Extreme Event’s content draws on recommendations from the seminal 2012 National Academies consensus study report Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative and has been reviewed by experts and staff of the National Academies.
Learning Objectives:
Understand what community resiliency is and why it is important, particularly in the context of natural disasters.
Convert awareness and understanding into personal action to increase readiness and resiliency in your home, school, and community.
Apply your knowledge of natural disasters to real-world scenarios.
Develop critical thinking, problem-solving, team building, and leadership skills in a collaborative environment.
Understand resource management and prioritization during a crisis.
Understand the importance of effective communication and decision-making.
Develop civic literacy and an understanding of building connections across communities, the nation, and the world as a whole.
Get ready to put your Social Psychology knowledge to the test in these exciting real-world simulations!
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:
Define and summarize social psychology
Compare and contrast the work of social psychology researchers, including Lewin, Milgram, Asch, Zimbardo and Elliot
Outline the types of research used in the social psychology field
Model and appraise memory tools, including schemas
Break down the role of emotions in attitudes
Appraise how people work in groups and make group decisions
Interpret the theories related to attraction
Outline and explain the ideas of stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination
Examine the misinformation effect
Summarize perceived helplessness
Evaluate the ethical considerations in conducting social psychology research.
Analyze the impact of cultural factors on social behavior and cognition.
Critically assess the role of social media in shaping attitudes and behaviors.
Apply social psychological principles to real-world situations and scenarios.
Formulate strategies for promoting prosocial behavior and reducing prejudice in society.
PREREQUISITES
There are no prerequisites for this course.
COLLEGE OR DUAL CREDIT
Psychology 104: Social Psychology 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
