3.1 The beginning of the research process What distinguishes psychological research from common sense is that psychologists approach information and knowledge in a systematic and consciously articulated way. They use rules and procedures about how to build and apply theories, how to design studies to test hypotheses, how to collect data and use them as evidence, and how to evaluate all forms of knowledge. (See Figure 1, ‘The cycle of enquiry’ in Author(s):
3 A brief look at psychological methods We have looked briefly at the kinds of data that psychologists use as the basis for their evidence and we now offer an overview of the methods used to collect these data. Learning about methods is a skill necessary to building up psychological knowledge and moving beyond the base of common-sense knowledge about people that we all use. This section will outline the fundamentals of research procedures and provide you with a terminology – the beginnings of a research language that will
2.3 A brief look at different kinds of data For a long time there has been a very important argument about what are the ‘legitimate data’ of psychology – what can and should be used as evidence. We have already seen that, from the very beginnings of psychology as a formal discipline, psychologists have used experimental methods, observations and introspection. In one form or another these methods continue to be central to psychology. The experimental method, adapted from traditional science, has most consistently been considered
1.1 Introduction This online tutorial is designed to help you familiarise yourself with the software package SPSS and learn about basic statistics. You will need to follow the instructions within each activity in the sequence presented to complete the unit. Some activities have questions, whilst others will encourage you to explore the various software options. All are designed to help you think about how SPSS works and how to carry out some basic statistical work. All the required work for this u
4.4.5 Do – provide information Clear information for students and advisors is essential. Disabled students need to know whether they can complete all the learning objectives and what adjustments they can expect. They need this information in good time before they start the course so that they can plan ahead. We have more to say on this subject in the section, ‘Informing students’.
3.5.2 Magnification Some people who require large fonts, or who need to enlarge pictures or icons, may use a software magnifier. A basic magnifier is available within operating systems such as Windows and Mac OS. More sophisticated software magnifiers are also available, which provide additional functionality, such as the following: Magnification of the whole screen (see picture below)
Author(s):
3.3.1 Colour-blindness People who are colour-blind cannot distinguish between certain ranges of colour. The most common form is red-green colour-blindness. People with red-green colourblindness do not see these colours in the same way as most people do, and cannot distinguish between them. Approximately 1 in 10 men and 1 in 200 women are affected by red-green colour-blindness. Colour-blindness is either inherited or is caused by an underlying eye condition, such as macular degeneration (BBC, 2005, ‘Men's healthâ€
3.3 Visual impairment There are approximately two million people in the UK who have a sight problem. The Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) defines someone as having a sight problem if they are unable to recognise someone across the road or they have difficulty reading newsprint even when wearing glasses (RNIB, 2005, ‘About sight loss – changing the way we think about blindness’). When discussing visually impaired people it is important to distinguish between partially sighted people (also kn
3.2 Mobile accessibilty A few mobile devices have accessibility features and there are some specialist computers designed with a disabled-only accessible interface; for example a portable computer with Braille-only input and output. We will concentrate on the most widely used products: that is software and hardware added to a PC, most often using a Windows platform.
2.5.1 References Channel 4 (undated) ‘Watch your language’ [online], London, Channel 4 Television, www.channel4.com/life/microsites/B/bornfreak/language.htm (Accessed 31 July 2007). DEMOS (2003) website http://jarmin.com/demos/. DEMOS (2002) ‘Disability Awareness’ module [online], Manchester, DEMOS Project, http://jarmin.com/ demos/Author(s):
1.5.2 Disability statistics United Nations Statistics Division, ‘Human functioning and disability’ USA National Center for Health Statistics, Surveys and data collection systems
1.4 Activity task 1: list of challenging activities Drawing on your own experience and your study of this unit so far, write a list of activities that might be expected of a student on a course that has online and distance components. Which of the activities on your list do you think might be challenging for disabled students? Are there any activities in your list that might be easier for disabled students to do online rather than by traditional methods? Save your list of the challenging activities so that you can add to it a
1.2.2 Usability The second factor is good practice. In general terms, and business terms, it is good practice to make a product available to as wide a market as possible. A design that incorporates the requirements for disabled students is likely to be more accessible and useful for non-disabled students than a design without such consideration. One example would be a user interface that is usable by a blind person will also be usable by a person whose eyes are busy (for example people who are doing a task t
Introduction There are many compelling reasons for introducing a global dimension in science education. This unit, aimed at teachers in secondary schools explores why the global dimension in science education is so important and how you might incorporate it in your lessons. This unit is from our archive and is an adapted extract from A global dimension to science education in schools (TL_SCIT5) which is no longer taught by The Open University. If you want to study formally with us, you may wish to e
1.1 Experiencing film music People hear and experience film music differently, and it is important to respect and explore this subjectivity. No answer is wrong, but merely representative of different cultural perceptions. ‘All that I can say about my method in writing music for films is that it is intensely personal. I work completely emotionally. I cannot intellectualize about the role of music in film. I decide if it should be there purel Acknowledgements Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this unit: Learning outcomes Once you have completed this unit you will be able to: clarify your own ideas on literacy criticism; explore with your pupils what makes a good book; produce a range of writing frames to encourage pupils to write book reviews; encourage your pupils to follow some of the award schemes for children's books and perhaps start one of your own. 5.2 Case study 3: Menon poetry The class teacher (Menon, 1999) was keen to develop the sense of a ‘writing community’ early on in the term. In the first few weeks she invited her students to form groups of their own choice, research a poet from a selected list, then plan and carry out a presentation. Students were encouraged to use the internet as part of this research. At such an early stage in the academic year, when getting to know a 5.1 Introduction Creativity should not be considered a separate mental faculty but a characteristic of our way of thinking, knowing and making choices. Creativity seems to emerge from multiple experiences, coupled with a well-supported development of personal resources, including a sense of freedom to venture beyond the unknown. The most favourable situation for creativity seems to be interpersonal exchange, with negotiation conflicts and co 1.2 Influences on creativity In the late 1630s, the poet John Milton travelled from England to Italy. While there he visited the astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei and observed the skies above Florence through the telescope through which Galileo was studying the moon and Saturn. When viewed through
Author(s):
