Applied Experience
A number of opportunities exist for our majors to extend their learning beyond the classroom and into the laboratory or off-campus locations.
Research opportunities may be obtained by contacting individual faculty members who share an interest in a particular research area. Students are encouraged to consult the Faculty Research Interests page to aid in identifying the appropriate faculty member for a given topic. Also, some faculty members provide a link on the above page describing research opportunities with that professor and any requirements (e.g. GPA, previous coursework, etc...) that the professor may have for research assistants. In addition to the opportunity for course credit (see below), research experience is highly recommended for students intending to apply to graduate school.
Course credit for research can be obtained by enrolling in PSYC 194 (Cooperative Research) or PSYC 199 (Special Problems). Enrollment in these courses requires permission of a faculty member who agrees to oversee the research experience; hence students should follow the process described above to find an appropriate sponsoring faculty member. Once a sponsoring faculty member is found the student and faculty member complete the "Special Problems/Fieldwork/Thesis Petition" form available in the Department of Psychology office. On this form the student and professor specify the nature of the work to be performed by the student.
Fieldwork opportunities involve supervised experience in an off-campus setting where a student my further apply knowledge and skills gained through coursework.
Course credit for fieldwork can be obtained by enrolling in one of the many categories of PSYC 195 Fieldwork courses listed below. As in the selection of a research advisor, the most meaningful fieldwork experience requires a match between the interests of the student and the advising professor. Accordingly, students are encouraged to consult the Faculty Research Interests page to identify those faculty who share their interests. In addition, the following faculty have indicated a willingness to serve as fieldwork advisors for the different categories of PSYC 195. Keep in mind, however, that the following list of faculty advisors for each category is not exhaustive and a particular faculty member may elect not to take on additional students during any given semester.
PSYC 195A (Fieldwork in the Teaching of Psychology). Faculty advisors include: Any department faculty member.
PSYC 195B (Fieldwork in Child Observation). Faculty advisors include: Dr. Marya Endriga, Dr. Nancy Kalish.
PSYC 195C (Fieldwork in Industrial and Organizational Psychology). Faculty advisors include: Dr. Rachel August, Dr. Greg Hurtz, Dr. Oriel Strickland.
PSYC 195E (Fieldwork in Applied Behavioral Analysis). Faculty advisors include: Dr. Helene Burgess, Dr. Robert Jensen, Dr. Caio Miguel, Dr. Becky Penrod.
PSYC 195F (Fieldwork in Community Psychology). Faculty advisors include: Dr. Marya Endriga, Dr. Greg Kim-Ju.
PSYC 195G (Fieldwork). Faculty advisors depend on fieldwork topic, see link to Faculty Research Interests.
Finally, Fieldwork placement must be made in an appropriate off-campus organization. The fieldwork advisor should be consulted on this aspect of the experience, however the department has compiled a list of Fieldwork Opportunities which can be consulted for this purpose.
To summarize the process of enrolling in Fieldwork, the office staff has compiled a Step by Step Guide to Fieldwork Enrollment.