Mission Statement

The following is an outline of the goals and objectives of our project as submitted to NWACC, Spring of 2000. Please feel free to contact us with any/all questions.

Title:

Multimedia, Web-Based Laboratory Tutorials For Use In Research Methods in Psychology Courses.

Project Description:
-We will create a multimedia enriched, web-based laboratory manual that provides the end-user with a variety of hands-on laboratory practicals, (both local and hyperlinked), data simulations, and demonstrations.

-The completed site will be built upon the latest multimedia authoring tools, (e.g., Macromedia's Flash, Director, and Dreamweaver software), thus allowing us to present high-caliber teaching/learning tutorials typically available in commercial-quality packages only.

-We see the site as a highly interactive teaching tool, designed for use by instructors to enhance their existing lab-based courses in psychological research methods.

-We envision a site that allows us to make use of a wide range of psychological research, be it clinically-based, social, physiological, cognitive, or otherwise, with an emphasis on ease-of-use and intuitiveness.

-Psychology continues to be one of the most popular majors on college campuses today, with virtually all psychology departments requiring students to complete a research methods course. Thus, we feel the time/demand is right for the proposed site and its implementation would allow us to tap/facilitate this growing level of interest.

One of the biggest hurdles to overcoming development constraints of web-based, professional-quality teaching/learning tools involves the level of sophistication required for mastering some of the latest programming tools. Whether it be generation of Java-based applets or the learning curve associated with authoring via various software applications, (Dreamweaver, Flash, Director, etc.), most faculty simply do not have the time (or interest level) necessary to commit to such endeavors. As a result, the bulk of the workload often falls squarely upon the shoulders of IT personnel, with the end-product generally being somewhat of a compromise between "where one would like to go" vs. "where one finds themselves." We propose a different approach. For the present project, both the PI (psychology faculty member) and co-PI (IT end-user consultant) enter the arena having just completed a series of professional training courses in use of Macromedia's Director, the premiere multimedia development package for creation/implementation of interactive, web-based teaching tools.

At present, we have done paste-up work on two modules: the Stroop color-word naming experiment and the Sperling Partial Report task. Both of these make use of the latest multimedia authoring technology and can be viewed in Shockwave format over the web. Our desire is to make every available exercise one wherein the end-user can use "as is," or can modify slightly so as to allow for inclusion of some of their own information (e.g., there will be a text window that will allow a user to make notes, import .doc files of their own for lecture purposes, etc.). With both PIs now Macromedia certified in use of Director, these kinds of add-ons will be considered the rule rather than the exception. Moreover, with both PIs currently pursuing training in use of Macromedia's Flash 4.0, we also have plans to include vector based graphics on the site.

Given that we will be using the latest, most innovative development tools available, (software costs for this project are virtually nonexistent as both PIs are licensed owners of individual copies of Macromedia Director 7.0 (itself a $900 retail package), we will be developing and delivering learning modules that will be highly interactive and, thus, very user friendly.

At every stage of development, we will be mindful of the fact that these tools will be accessed by a number of different types of users, and for a variety of purposes. For example, it is conceivable that a research methods instructor may simply wish to enhance his or her lecture materials. Just as likely is the methods instructor seeking to offer his or her students a number of hands-on lab practicals, each of which might provide an independent means by which to collect behavioral data. Finally, one might imagine that instructors of Introductory Psychology courses might also find this site useful, providing yet another reason for us to remain vigilant to the level of sophistication we offer in each module.

Each module will be fronted by a page or more of text and graphics, the purpose of which will be to familiarize the user with the topic in question, (e.g., "mental rotation, what is it?"), as well any pertinent background information on the researchers themselves, (e.g., "George Sperling of the University of California, Irvine...”). The idea here being that the end-user will know a bit about the activity/demonstration in advance of their actually beginning the lab exercise itself. Following the background information/interactives, end-users can then access a demonstration of the methodology/task used to assess the phenomenon in question.

The third and final element of each learning module will allow the end-user to collect actual behavioral data on him/herself, or on classmates as part of a group project. Either way, each module will accept input/provide output as to descriptive statistics that the user can then export to a statistical package for more sophisticated analyses.

In summary, we propose a powerful, feature-rich, dynamic website for use by students and instructors of research methods courses in NWACC-affiliated psychology departments. Our plan is to combine our experiences in teaching (PI 1) and webpage development (PI 2) to create a site that is informative, useful, and fun. We encourage the committee members to please take the time to visit our site, (url above), so as to ascertain for themselves just how user-friendly and innovative a site for research methods can be!