After reading all of the class projects, complete this assignment - deadline = November 17, 1999
After reading all of the class projects, evaluate your team and its work - deadline = Dec 3, 1999
Psychology 472 #44394 FALL, 1999
Dr. John M. Morgan M & W; 4 PM to 4:50 PM
Natural Resources, 201
REQUIRED TEXT: Human Neuropsychology
By G. Neil Martin
Prentice Hall Europe
ISBN# 0-13-802331-X $57.50 paper
This method of conducting my courses stems from the
philosophy that the students should bear a reasonable share of the work of
a course. The semester will be divided into two sections, each with its own
team project. Each project will be published on the Internet on our class's
home web page for anyone in the world to read. The class sessions (with
required attendance and participation) will consist of class discussions of
the topic, of the content of the textbook and team discussions of the
projects (in private and in public) with coaching of the teams by the
instructor.
The projects will explore the workings of the human brain and its
control of behavior by examining the changes in behavior resulting from
lesions to the brain and/or by examining the results of a variety of imaging
techniques while the test subjects are performing various tasks. The first
half of the course (after examining the mechanics of the nervous system)
and project will explore the changes in behavior after lesions to the
Corpus Callosum, Frontal Lobes and several forms of Agnosias arising from
different parts of the brain. The second half of the course will explore
theories and the data supporting the theories of the organization in the
brain for a variety of behaviors and neuropsychological assessment.
The teams will consist of 5 or 6 students from our class (depending
on class size) and each student will accept responsibility to research,
explore and describe for the team and the rest of the class one of the
factors listed below. Each student will select a different team topic and a
different individual topic for each of the projects during the semester.
FIRST PROJECT
The first project will explore the workings of the brain by requiring
that each student team explore the effects of a tumor or a lesion to a
specific part of the brain on human behavior. The lesion may be caused by
an accidental trauma to the head, a stroke, a penetrating projectile, etc.
I. Each student topic will research the cause of the change in the
behavior of the person and what to do about the change from the
prospective of the:
Neuroanatomy of the brain area, including inputs and outputs
Synaptic transmitter systems utilized by the area
Neuropsychological tests utilized to diagnose behavioral changes
Behavior changes resulting from the lesion
Interactions of the neurons in the area with those of other areas of
the brain underlying the control of the behaviors
Adaptations required on the part of the patient, family, employer, etc
in response to the changes in the patient's behavior
II. Each team will explore the above different aspects of a tumor or
lesion to one of the following brain areas:
Frontal Cortex
Corpus Callosum
Causing Agnosia
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SECOND PROJECT
The second project will explore theories and the data supporting the
theories of the organization in the brain for a variety of behaviors. Each
team should select a behavior treated in the textbook and explore more
deeply the theories and data surrounding the selected behavior. The
projects should emphasize the recent data.
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III. Process of the project:
Solo Each student selects a group in which to participate (II. above)
Each student selects the aspect of the brain effected (I. above)
Team Members of the team negotiate with each other so that each
student is assigned a different brain aspect on which to
concentrate (I. above)
Solo Each student researches his/her topic and assimilates the
material, then writes a 2 page report in the format and style
agreed upon by the team.
Team Members of the team meet during class time and produce a
team report that integrates each of the member's reports in a
publishable format and that maintains each student's section
separate and signed.
IV. Resources:
Text book of the course
Book section (stacks) of the library.
Periodical section of the library (see my www home page)
Search of electronic indexes through the library, e.g. Medline,
Psychlit, ERIC, etc.
Internet newsgroups and lists (see my www home page)
Search internet for specific topic home pages
Physician, Patient and/or survivor home pages and/or newsgroups
on internet
V. Final Report will be published on the Internet as a product of our
class. Only those reports that are of sufficient quality will earn course credit
and be published for all to read. The individual student will write his/her
part individually but the team will be responsible to insure that each part fits
well with each other part. Therefore, the team needs to meet during the
class periods in order to insure that the individual reports mesh together in
substance and style. Each section needs to use some or all of the
resources listed above and referenced on the third page of each individual
report for all to reference. The individual reports should be 2 single-spaced,
full pages. Each of these reports needs to be highly compacted
with knowledge and data written in a very concise form. There is no room
for sentences which do not materially advance the topic or that repeat a
previously state thought. Personal, unsubstantiated opinions have no
place here. This is not an "I think" piece or a composition for an English
class but a report on hard data that extends the textbook treatment of the
topic.
Please be sure to follow these guidelines:
1 Establish your specific topic with the other members of your team after
repeated meetings.
2 Research and write your part of the team report in the word processor
of your choice consulting periodically with your team members.
3 When completely finished with your part, examine it to follow these
cautions:
a Use only one set of formatting codes and place them only at the
beginning of your report.
b Use Courier or New Courier font only
c Use 12pt font size only - do not change this anywhere in the body of
your report.
d Use single space vertical line spacing only.
e Use 1" margins at the top, bottom, left and a 1.5" margin at the right.
Otherwise, the lines overrun the viewers screen.
f Do not use hyphens anywhere in the text. They will not translate
well.
g Do not use fancy formatting anywhere in the text, e.g. avoid hanging
indents for the bibliography.
h. Avoid underlines, italics, etc. because they will not translate to the
web.
4. Save your work to floppy disc using only ASCII (DOS) TEXT file type,
not ASCII delimited nor your word processor's proprietary file type.
5. Get together with the rest of your team and join all of your team
member's individual reports together as one sequential team report,
eliminating any formatting codes in the body of the team report and placing
them at the very beginning of the document only.
VI. Chronology:
First Team Project Oct.15, 1999
Second Team Project Dec.10, 1999
VII. Evaluation: Total Points
Mandatory:
2 projects: Solo portion @ 200 points each 400
Team portion @ 50 points each 100
2 Take home over the published team projects @ 30ea 60 60
(use on-line form)
2 Team peer evaluation @ 20ea 40
(use on-line form)
Class Session participation
1 page written summary of each week's topic
(best 10 scores) @ 30 points each 300
5 min presentations to class on subtopics of
week's material(best 10 scores)@ 30pts each 300
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Total for the Semester 1200
Voluntary extra credit:
Volunteering to be a subject in a research project sponsored
by faculty of the Psychology dept. - up to 2 occasions
@ 30 points each
1 extra credit term paper can increase your letter grade by
either 1/3 or 2/3 or 1 letter grade (ask for guidelines).
My Wide World Web home page address is http://users.humboldt.edu/jmmorgan.
My Internet email address is jmm4@axe.humboldt.edu.
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Copyright © 1999, Dr. John M. Morgan, All rights reserved -
This page last edited August 5, 1999
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