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Discuss and Explain a Psychology and Law Article
5-Page Writing Assignment (10% of final grade)
OPTIONAL 3-Sentence Topic Description and Citation Due Sunday, March 7
th
on Blackboard
if you wish to use PsycInfo to select an article of your choice
Paper Due Sunday, March 21
st
by Midnight on Blackboard
Whether or not you ultimately major in psychology or continue to graduate school, an important skill is being able to write about the key findings of a study
in your own words
. Many findings by legal psychology researchers may seem puzzling or counter-intuitive, and it is useful to be able to explain to a general audience how research sheds light on them. For this paper, you should find one empirical article on a topic that you think will be of interest to either legal professionals or the general public from a respectable legal psychology journal (e.g.,
Law and Human Behavior, Psychology, Public Policy, and Law,
and
Criminal Justice and Behavior
are some of the leading journals in the field, though of course others are acceptable). If you are having technology issues, you also have the option of choosing from a pre-approved article from a folder in Blackboard. The assignment is to discuss a study’s methodology, findings, and application in detail in your own words. For example, you could use an article by Elizabeth Caufmann to discuss how adolescents have a different future orientation than adults. If it helps, you could think of your assignment as being to write a 1250-word long brief that summarizes a study’s findings in engaging way for a lay audience or legal professionals.
NOTE.
Many psychology articles contain more than one study. For this paper you need only discuss one of the studies in an article in detail, though you may briefly discuss findings from additional studies in your journal article in your Commentary/Critique section at the end of your paper.
OPTION 1: Find an empirical article on a psychology and law related topic of your choice using PSYCInfo or the references in your text and run it by your TA for approval. Submit a 3-sentence description of your topic and its citation to the Article Approval link in Blackboard by Sunday, March 7
th
.
Your TA will let you know if you have picked an appropriate journal article. If not, you will need to resubmit either a new topic, journal article, or both.
OPTION 2: Select one of the pre-approved empirical articles from the Writing Assignment 1 Articles folder in the Assignments link in Blackboard.
Your paper should incorporate the information you have learned from your reading of the article, but it should be written in your own words. Note that the writing rubric requires you to discuss one study in detail. If you are writing about a multi-study paper, discuss the methodology of
one
of the studies in detail. You may then choose to discuss the methods and results of other studies in the paper in a more cursory fashion. When the article you have chosen (or other material) is discussed, make sure to properly cite when needed (using APA format). Papers must adhere to APA format, be six pages long, typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font size 12. Five pages is defined as having the body of the paper be 1250 words long, not counting title page info or references.
An abstract is not required.
The final draft of the assignment will be due Sunday, March 21
st
by Midnight.
Assignment Details:
Youwilldomuchbetter ontheassignmentifyoutaketheoutlinebelowseriously andfollowthatoutlineinyourwritten assignment.
Yoursynopsisandcritiqueshould bewrittenusingthefollowingsectionsandallquestions withineachsectionshouldbeanswered:
i)
Rationale and ResearchQuestion:
This is the introduction to your essay. What phenomenon are you examining?Whyisthisinteresting? Whatisthemain researchquestion askedinthe target study of thepaper you are discussing? If your paper has more than one study, select ONE study as your target study for more in-depth discussion.
ii)
Introduction&MethodologySections:
Whatisthe purposeoftheexperimentandhowdidtheauthors studyit?Thatis,whatiscomparedtowhat,andexactlyhowandwhydoesanydifferencebetweentheseconditions(orlackthereof)answer thequestionposedin(i).Don’tfocusonthetrivialexperimentaldetails.Rather, emphasize themainideabehindthepaper(e.g.thetaskthesubjects performedislikelytobeimportant,theexactnatureofthestimulilikelyisnot.)
iii)
Results:
What werethemainfindings?Howdidtheyanswerthequestionposed? Don’t get bogged down in the minute details of the statistics. If you are having difficulty picking out the key findings from the results, they are summarized in the Discussion section.
iv)
Implications:
What canyouconcludefromtheresults—what arethebroader implicationsofwhattheauthorsfound?
v)
Commentary/Critique:
This is your summary and discussion section.Whatdoyouwant people to take away from this paper? Are there additional studies in the paper that shed further light on your topic?In a multiple study paper, this is the point where you may discuss the additional studies in less detail either together or sequentially. Doesthedesignmakesense,ordoyou see flawsandifsowhatarethey?Ifyoudo notseeanyflaws,couldyouhave answeredthequestionwithadifferentdesign?Whatfurther experimentswouldyou want totrynext,basedontheresults reportedinthispaper? How might the findings be applicable in a particular criminal or civil case?
ImportantPoint:
Pleasenotethatthedefinitionof“critique”is
adetailed analysis andassessmentofsomething
.Notethatthedefinitiondoes notimplythatthecritiquemustbenegative. WhatImeanis,theword“critique”doesn’tjustmean “teartoshreds”. WhatIam interested indoingisdevelopingyourscientificminds…encouragingyoutothink aboutwhatshouldcomenextintheresearch program.

Assessment 2: Differentiation (2000 words)
Ov
erview:
Choose TWO (2) of the 6 case studies, to plan differentiated instruction and assessment from a strength based perspective that demonstrates your knowledge of approaches to learning for diverse groups of students. Make explicit reference to content covered in this unit. (1000 words each)
Details:
The aim of this assessment is to give you an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of different theoretical approaches or perspectives on learning, the strategies linked to these perspectives, and how these support the learning of diverse groups of students.For each case study (in a maximum of 1000 words for each):
Briefly outline the key principles associated with the relevant theoretical perspective; and note the extent to which they relate to a developmental theory.
Provide a detailed example of a teaching strategy aligned with the relevant theoretical perspective that is appropriate for the level of schooling chosen i.e. in your classroom
Explain how this strategy supports the learning needs of diverse groups of learners with reference to at least two (2) types of diversity
Marking Criteria:
For EACH scenario the following are demonstrated:
Clear, accurate and concise understanding of the theoretical approach
Clear and detailed description and example of a teaching strategy aligned with this approach that is appropriate for the age group selected i.e. in your classroom
Understanding of how this strategy supports the needs of at least two types of diverse learners
Concise and coherent academic writing including appropriate referencing of the set text and a minimum of two additional, scholarly and peer reviewed sources for each scenario and only government websites e.g. ACARA, SCSA.
Case Studies:
Case Study One
: Your secondary school /primary school / early learning centre is exploring taking a behaviourist perspective and using direct instruction to improve the basic reading skills of the students who are from culturally diverse backgrounds.
Case Study Two
: Your secondary school / primary school / early learning centre is exploring taking a cognitive perspective and using collaborative learning to improve the basic reading skills of the students who are from culturally diverse backgrounds.
Case Study Three
: Your secondary school / primary school / early learning centre is exploring taking an information processing theory perspective to develop metacognition in the culturally diverse group of students / children with different levels of skills and abilities.
Case Study Four
: Your secondary school / primary school / early learning centre is exploring taking a cognitive perspective and using Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory to assist the learning of its culturally diverse group of students / children with different levels of skills and abilities.
Case Study Five
: Your secondary school / primary school / early learning centre is exploring taking a Humanist approach to develop a sense of competence in the culturally diverse group of students / children with different levels of skills and abilities in the school.
Case Study Six
: Your secondary school / primary school / early learning centre is exploring taking a Humanist approachdevelop a sense of personal responsibility and autonomy in the culturally diverse group of students /children with different levels of skills and abilities.
Attachments:
6612662_1_Overview-essay.docx