Research and Teaching, MA-PSY Specialization

This course is an introduction to graduate studies in Psychology. Students will have an opportunity to review psychological theories, ethical principles, and history of the field, including the emergence of diversity in the field of Psychology. In addition, graduate level skills, such as academic integrity, effective use of the University Library, comprehending complex scholarly texts and research articles, and use of APA form and style in professional communication will be introduced. Students will complete the course with a roadmap to navigate their way to completion of their educational aspirations.

The APA Code of Ethics is a comprehensive document. However, its application can be complex. Ethical decision making involves commitment to principles, a comprehensive understanding of the issues involved and the ability to view issues from the viewpoint of different stakeholders. This course provides you with an opportunity to apply the Ethical Principles in a number of settings and to develop an understanding of a number of basic ethical concepts. This course also emphasizes the importance of knowing state laws and regulations which may differ from the ethics standards established by the American Psychological Association or other national organizations.

In this course, the student will study human development from conception through late adulthood. Students will engage in a variety of activities and applications through which they will explore, understand, and reflect upon key theories and concepts related to physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development across the lifespan. Students will develop an appreciation of the impact of the cross-disciplinary importance of the study of human development.

This course focuses on the fundamentals of quantitative and qualitative approaches to psychological research. Students will gain an understanding of the strengths and limitations of each approach, and how these methods apply to their areas of research interest. This course also provides students with background on research ethics and skills in conducting critical reviews of peer-reviewed research articles.

This course will examine the foundational theories related to cognitive and emotional influences on behavior. Themes to be traced will include process and application of memory, perception, language, problem-solving, decision-making, and creativity. The course will examine how emotion impacts cognition as well as the interactive characteristics of human cognition and affective functioning.

This course provides an introduction to descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, margin of error, and the visual representation of statistical data. The emphasis in this course is on developing a conceptual knowledge of how statistics are used in psychological research, applied psychology, and everyday life. The student will learn about many of the commonly used statistical tests in psychological research such as t-tests, ANOVA, correlation, regression, and chi-square are along with their interpretation. The application of these concepts to experimental psychological research, applied psychology, and everyday life will be explored in this class.

This course provides students with a fundamental background in assessment and measurement as well as the ability to evaluate the psychometric strengths and weaknesses of individual psychological tests and measurements, using both conceptual and applied. This course focuses on psychometric principles (e.g. validity and reliability), test and items analysis, test construction, and applications of psychological testing in a wide variety of settings.

This course will provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to critically evaluate and design qualitative research. Course content will focus on assisting students in understanding why scientists perform qualitative research, and how they can critique and utilize existing studies to develop new and meaningful research questions. Students will explore a range of qualitative designs throughout this course, including phenomenology, grounded theory, case study, narrative research, ethnography, diversity, equity, and inclusion in research, and qualitative descriptive designs. The course will conclude with instruction on how to select appropriate methods of data collection and analysis, as well as how to accurately interpret findings, and engage in research/evaluation report writing.

This course will provide students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to teach psychology in academia. Course content will focus on understanding the varied duties which faculty typically perform, including how to effectively design and deliver quality lectures and create engaging learning materials. Students will explore a range of topics throughout the course, including testing and assessment, diversity and inclusion, legal and ethical issues, learning theory and pedagogy, classroom management, effective communication, and how to use technology in the classroom. The course will conclude with students creating a mock lecture on an approved topic in psychology.

As a student seeking a Master’s degree in psychology, you may opt to complete your degree by taking an Internship in Research and/or Teaching of Psychology instead of the Capstone course. During the internship experience, you will meet weekly with the assigned professor as well as your approved internship site supervisor to discuss your experiences. Weekly assignments include submission of required evaluations and preparation for the final theoretically grounded presentation summarizing the internship experience. Internship experiences are designed to guide candidates through specific standards-aligned experiences with resulting growth in competencies demonstrated through application in practice.