Futures Initiative



Experimental Psychology : Research Question & Hypothesis Lesson PlanSarah JacobsonThis 100 minute lesson plan will cover these specific learning objectives:Generate a quality research question from a news headlineDevelop the research question into a working hypothesisExplain what makes a research question interesting and evaluate research questions in terms of their interestingness.Broad learning goals from syllabus:Identify, describe, and apply key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychological research.Interpret, design, and conduct basic psychological research.Present and critique ideas within collaborative scientific discussions.Materials: Read Chapter 2 of textbook, focusing on Section 2.2 before class Crump, M. J. C., Price, P. C., Jhangiani, R., Chiang, I.A., & Leighton, D. C. (2017). Research methods for psychology: A free, open educational textbook (creative commons). (attached)Two recent news headlines (one to review as a class and one for group work, see slides for examples)Slides with research questions as examples that could use improvementStudents should come to class having read section 2.2 Introduce idea of developing research questions from news headlinesShow first headlineHave students complete #1 on worksheet (5 min)Cold call on students for answersRecord answers on the board (5 min)Have students turn to a partner and choose one cause, effect or characteristic and turn it into a research question, record on worksheet (5 min)Call on 4-5 pairsRecord responses on board (5 min)Choose one question to evaluate using R.O.T.S. acronym (Repeatable, Observable, Testable, Specific) (10 min)Call on one student to say what the first term in R.O.T.S. meansCall on another student to explain whether the chosen question applies to the term and if not, how we should change it.Repeat for all of R.O.T.S.Introduce independent and dependent variables Call on students for definitions (should be review from Statistics course) (2 min)T-P-S Everyone write down what they think IV and DVs are for this question on worksheet (2 min)Share with partner (2 min)Call on a few students to share with the class (2 min)How do we make this a hypothesis? Record on worksheet (3 min)Call on 2-3 students for different ideasRecord the hypotheses on boardShow slides with 4 different incomplete research questions, have students use a response system (Kahoot or another polling website) to vote on which aspect of the research question needs the most improvement (R or O or T or S)Call on a couple of students to explain their choices after each (10 min)Provide the second headline and break students into groups of 4-5 to work through rest of worksheet (20 min)Mix up into new groups so that everyone in original group is with students from different groups (10 min)Everyone shares and justifies their research question as ROTSStudents record other research questions from their group on worksheetEncourage students to give each other feedbackCall on a few different people for independent and dependent variables (4 min)Call on three more people from different groups for their hypotheses (3 min)Ask students what it means for a research question to be interesting to the scientific community based on chapter, which factors might affect interestingness?Record answers on board (4 min)Minute response on worksheet to choose one of the research questions you wrote down from your group discussion that you think would be particularly interesting and why.Students turn in worksheets before leaving class. ................
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