Psychology Internet Research Lab
Internet Research Resources for Psychology:
http://www.denison.edu/psych/mellon/mellon2.shtml
Web Lab:
http://www.denison.edu/psych/mellon/reslab
Department of
Psychology
Paper Presented at
the
Eighth Annual American Psychological Society
Institute on the Teaching
of Psychology
June 2001
Contact:
Psychology
Internet Research Lab
General
Goals
One general
goal of this project was to develop a web-based psychology laboratory that can
take advantage of the increasing number of research studies, experiments, and
tutorials and demonstrations that are available on the internet. Web-based
psychological research is quickly changing the familiar research laboratory
that is heavily dependent upon equipment, materials, physical space, and time
consuming supervision (Birnbaum, 2000; Bourke, 1999). Therefore, we decided to
produce a local WebPage to compile, organize, and annotate several external Web
sites representing a variety of psychology experiments and research
methodologies. This local internet research lab allows our faculty to
incorporate additional types of research methods that would not otherwise be
available due to equipment, technology, or time constraints. These web-based
experiments are used in laboratory assignments or as supplemental
demonstrations in lectures or seminars. Furthermore, students can use many of
these Web sites to conduct their own research projects. For example, students
can act as participants in a face recognition experiment conducted by
researchers at the
A second general goal was to develop this web-based
laboratory as a means of evaluating the use of new learning technologies in
higher education. Our work was funded by an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant
to Denison University and Kenyon College for a program called, “Enhancing
Learning: Collaboration with Technology” (http://www.enhanced-learning.org/mellon/goal/index.html). As part of
this larger program, we also sought to develop a web-based laboratory that
could be used by colleagues from both campuses.
Project Description and
Teaching/Learning Goals
We developed a web-based curriculum of research
demonstrations, tutorials, experiments, and projects in three general areas:
(1) cognitive and experimental psychology, (2) social and personality
psychology, and (3) industrial and organizational psychology. The local Web
site that presents this curriculum is called, “INTERNET RESEARCH RESOURCES FOR
PSYCHOLOGY “ (http://www.denison.edu/psych/mellon/mellon2). The home page
presents an index of internet research resources organized by topical areas.
Each sub-page (e.g., cognitive psychology, social and personality psychology,
and industrial and organizational psychology) presents an organized selection
of external Web sites where online research demonstrations, tutorials, and
experiments are briefly described. We also compiled a set of Web sites to
provide instructors with general information on internet resources for research
and teaching (e.g., resources, associations, journals, universities and
colleges, and ethical issues). Instructors can select resources from this part
of our WebPage for use in several courses including General Psychology and
upper-level content courses. Each Web site selected was evaluated with respect
to several criteria including (a) relevance to psychology courses in our
curriculum, (b) usability, and (c) pedagogical value (Plous, 2000).
We also developed an online "PSYCHOLOGY WEB LAB" (http://www.denison.edu/psych/mellon/reslab) that faculty can use to assign specific research projects
for our students in General Psychology, Social Psychology, Personality
Psychology, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Cognitive Psychology,
Sensation and Perception, and Psychology of Language and Thought. This Web site
compiles a smaller set of online research studies and experiments that are
annotated and described. Within our department, we also have developed several
laboratory assignments that are based upon these Web sites. For example, in the
Cognitive and Experimental Psychology Web Lab, students have conducted experiments
on the self-reference effect in memory, perceptual asymmetry in face
recognition, and a lexical decision making task. The Web Lab allows students to
(a) participate (as a "subject") in many of the discipline's
important research studies and to (b) design/modify experiments for independent
or group research projects. Thus, our project has attempted to enhance
students’ active learning of psychology, and their research skills, through the
use of computing technology based upon the internet (Newcomb, Berkebile,
Newman, & Parker, 1998; Smith,
1999).
Implementation and
Evaluation
We posted our Psychology Internet Research Lab on the
Internet over the past academic year in order to examine its usefulness. Within
our department, instructors have used the Web Lab for either research
demonstrations or projects in General Psychology as well as for upper-level
courses in Cognitive Psychology, Research Methods, Social Psychology, and
Industrial/Organizational Psychology. In a preliminary effort to informally evaluate
the Web site, we have collected comments from students and colleagues. Faculty
have commented positively upon the availability of a large number of Web sites
which are organized and described within specific discipline areas. The Web Lab
allows them to quickly demonstrate a particular research methodology or
experiment that is being covered in class. Students have commented positively
upon the value of having an online demonstration of a concept or psychological
principle. Our experience thus far has shown two areas of concern for
implementation and use. First, in order to ensure that instructors and students
will be able to use the Web Lab efficiently, it is important to increase the
number of “electronic classrooms.” In the past year, only two of our classrooms
were equipped with a computer, overhead projector, and Internet connections.
Thus, course-scheduling constraints affected the number of courses that could
make use of this technology. However, we will have more e-classrooms available
next year, and our department also is upgrading an old research laboratory by
adding 12 computers with Internet connections. The other factor that we need to
address is the number of Web sites that change addresses or that are no longer
accessible. Broken “links” not only are frustrating for the user, but they also
provide serious problems in planning research and teaching assignments. We have
found that Web sites posted by academic book publishers to be the most fragile
and we have tried to avoid including them in our WebPages.
We are maintaining our Web Lab and periodically update broken links and add Web sites to each of the three disciplinary sections. Our immediate plans include the development of a formal evaluation plan to administer in the next academic year. In addition, we recently proposed and received additional funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation project to extend significantly the breadth and diversity of psychology disciplines included in the Psychology Internet Research Lab. The current phase of development will focus on disciplinary areas which traditionally have not been included in research courses and which have been under represented in psychology curricula (e.g., race and ethnicity, sexuality, aging, and clinical). We are working on this extension during the summer of 2001 and the project will also include collaborators from Kenyon College. This addition to our Web Lab should be online by fall semester of 2001 and will be available at the same web addresses listed previously.
References
Bourke,
K. (1999). ‘Net gains for research. APS
Observer, 12, 1, 20-22.
Birnbaum,
M. H. (Ed.). (2000). Psychological
experiments on the internet. San Diego: Academic Press.
Newcomb,
A. F., Berkebile, N. M., Newman, J. E., & Parker, S. W. (1998). Student
projects embracing new computer technologies: Opportunities for student
scholarship on the web. Teaching of
Psychology, 25, 52-60.
Plous,
S. (2000). Tips on creating and maintaining an educational world wide web. Teaching of Psychology, 27, 63-70.
Smith,
B. D. (1999). Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow: Teaching the future of
psychology. APS Observer, 12, 14-15,
25.