Cognition in Cyberspace:
Thinking, Learning, and Experimentation
on the World Wide Web
PSY 620 Section A (3 Credits)
Time & Place: Monday 7:00 - 9:40 21 Peabody Hall, Western Campus & the Tappan Center
Professor: Christopher Wolfe
Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday 1:00-3:00, 127 Peabody Hall
Contact Information: 529-5670, WolfeCR@MUOhio.edu
Prerequisites: Graduate standing. General familiarity with the World Wide Web is assumed, but no specific technical knowledge is expected.
Course Description
This graduate seminar examines the role of cognitive psychology in cyberspace and the increasing influence of the World Wide Web (Web) on cognitive psychology. The Web may be thought of as a cognitive technology, and psychology has much to contribute to the Web. For example, contemporary learning theory has the potential to improve Web-based education. The Web also offers new tools and new phenomena for psychologists to explore. For example, psychologists are beginning to conduct survey and experimental research on-line - an exciting prospect that is encumbered with methodological and ethical difficulties. To facilitate our exploration of cognition in cyberspace, the seminar is organized around two themes:
• Conducting Psychological Research on the World Wide Web
• Learning and Teaching on the World Wide Web
"Conducting Psychological Research on the World Wide Web" is the first theme. Published studies routinely report Ns of greater than 1,000 for psychological studies conducted on the Web. Here we will consider various techniques and resources for conducting psychological research on the Web, including the largest sites for on-line psychology experiments at the University of Zurich and the University of Mississippi. We will examine the literature comparing Web-based surveys and experiments to more traditional research methods, and contemplate the consequences of using the Web as a source of psychological data. As a major component of this course, students will design and conduct on-line empirical research projects.
The second theme, "Learning and Teaching on the World Wide Web" explores the nature of learning and teaching in cyberspace. The Web poses special challenges and opportunities as a learning environment. Topics of particular interest include learning styles and the Web, reasoning and comprehension of Web-based materials, informal learning environments on the Web, and teaching psychology on the Web. Because people are social animals, these explorations will include the emergence of "virtual communities" and other psychosocial aspects of Web-based communication related to teaching and learning. Students will create brief, interactive decision-making learning games to teach undergraduates about psychology.
Course Goals
By the end of this course you should:
• Have a firm grasp of the literature comparing psychological research on the Web to more traditional research methods, including the major Web sites where psychological research is conducted.
• Have a working knowledge of the key theoretical concepts relevant to the theory and practice learning and teaching on the Web.
• Be able to design and implement original Web-based psychological research on the Web -- including the recruitment of participants, random assignment of participants to conditions, presentation of stimulus materials, and the collection and analysis of empirical data.
• Be able to design and implement brief, interactive decision-making learning games on the Web for teaching psychological concepts.
• Have developed well-reasoned positions about conducting psychological research and teaching on the World Wide Web, and the potential role of these activities in your career.
Miscellaneous Expenses
In addition to the books and reader you are expected to have a Zip disk or several 3.5 inch computer disks to backup your work. Although you will have access to a large array of hardware and software, some students may need to purchase specialized software to complete projects based on your particular needs.
ASSIGNMENTS
Grading for the course will be based on a 1,000 point scale, with letter grades being assigned in the traditional fashion (e.g., 80%-82%= B-, 83%-86%=B, 87%-89%=B+, etc.). The number of points for each assignment is outlined below. A check (*) indicates a "process deadline" that must me met, but which is not formally assessed.
Assignment Points
On-line Experiment
Research Proposal 100
Human Subjects Proposal *
Working Version of Experiment Running and Pilot Data Collected *
Experiment Implemented On-line *
Data Collected *
Draft of Introduction and Method Sections 100
Final Research Report 250
Learning & Teaching on the Web
Project Proposal 100
Interactive Decision-Making Learning Game 250
Preparation and Participation
Seminar Participation 100
Web-based Course Preparation 100
PowerPoint Presentation of your Research *
On-line Experiment
The Web holds both promise and pitfalls for the research psychologists. A major component of this course is giving you first hand experience in designing and implementing a psychological research project on the Web. Toward these ends, you will conduct original empirical research on the Web (these studies may include replications of published studies with an original "twist"). You will write-up and present your results to your classmates. I will also encouraged you to publish your work in a psychological journal, and present your findings at the next meeting of the Society for Computers in Psychology (where you may compete for the Castellian award for student research).
Research Proposal (10%)
You will write a brief proposal outlining your research questions and methodology in the context of the psychological literature.
Human Subjects Proposal
Because it is likely that you will wish to publish the results of your Web-based research, each student must submit a formal proposal for review by Miami’s Committee for the use of Human Subjects in Research (the IRB).
Working Version of Experiment Running and Pilot Data Collected
Prior to going on-line, we will pilot test each other’s experiments to work out any bugs.
Experiment Implemented On-line
You will be expected to put a working version of your on-line experiment on the World Wide Web by the week of March 5.
Data Collected
In Web-based research, the end of the study is somewhat arbitrary, since one can always leave an experiment on-line a little longer and collect more data. For the purposes of this course, all data will be collected by the week of April 16.
Introduction and Method Sections Draft
The Web-based research project will culminate in a full research report. To help us accomplish all of our course goals in limited time, a draft of the literature review (introduction) and methods sections is due after spring break.
Research Report Due (25%)
A complete final report of the results of your Web-based research, of 20-25 typed, double-spaced pages in APA style, is due as a take home final exam.
Learning & Teaching on the Web
Our consideration of learning and teaching on the World Wide Web will culminate in the creation of a Web-based learning experience for undergraduates, teaching psychological content of your choosing. You will be encouraged to submit your work for possible publication on the Psyber Site (maintained at Miami University by Richard Sherman).
Project Proposal (10%)
A brief proposal outlining what you are trying to teach, and how you plan to go about teaching it on the Web.
Interactive Decision-Making Learning Game (25%)
You will create a working version of a Web-based interactive decision making learning game with brief, illustrated expository text. The learning experience should utilize relevant theory to teach psychological concepts of your choosing.
Preparation and Participation
Participation is key to the success of any seminar, and a course meeting once a week for 2:40 on Monday evenings will pose particular challenges. You are expected to actively participate in all aspects of this course.
Seminar Participation (10%)
Our class meetings will be divided between discussions of readings (and other experiences), and hands-on work in the Tappan Center for Computer Assisted Learning of the Western College Program. I will make a subjective evaluation of your contributions to seminar discussions, including active listening, and your demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with others in designing and critiquing on-line experiments and Web-based learning experiences.
Web-based Course Preparation (10%)
Each week, we will make use of the Blackboard educational Web system in preparation for seminar discussions. Generally, I will pose a question or comment to the Web site, and ask you to comment yourself, and respond to comments made by other students. The use of this Web sites will serve two purposes: (a) to facilitate preparation for our seminar meetings; and (b) to give you first-hand experience with one of the most popular commercial educational Web systems.
PowerPoint Presentation of your Research
On the last meeting of the semester, we will present our research results to one another using the PowerPoint presentation software. These presentations will employ the format of a conference session at a professional meeting.
COURSE SCHEDULE
(Note: All readings and assignments should be completed prior to the class meeting. Bold indicates assignments due or special events. As a general rule of thumb, expect a reading load of about 50-75 pages from journal articles, or about 100 pages from books each week. Additional readings and exercises may be assigned.)
Week 1 (Introductions and Overview)
Monday 1/8/01 Read this course syllabus
Introductions & Overview of the Course
Register with the Blackboard Web Site
Overview of Psychology Experiment Web sites
Overview of the PsyberSite and Dragonfly Educational Web Pages
Week 2 (Introduction to Psychological Research on the Web)
Monday 1/15/01 Martin Luther King Day (no class)
Hopefully we will have a shorter meeting later this week.
Book: Birnbaum, Introduction to Behavioral
Research
on the Internet, Section I. (CH 1-8, about 95 pages)
Week 3 (The Practice and Validity of Web-Based Research)
Monday 1/22/01
Book: Birnbaum, Introduction to Behavioral Research on the Internet, Section II. (CH 9-11, about 35 pages)
Book: Birnbaum, Psychological Experiments on the
Internet, Chapters 2, 3, & 4 (71 pages)
Week 4 (The Nuts and Bolts of Web-Based Research)
Monday 1/29/01
Book: Birnbaum, Introduction to Behavioral
Research
on the Internet, Section III-V. (CH 12-21, about 120 pages)
Week 5 (The Methodology of Web-Based Research)
Monday 2/5/01
Reader: Hewson, Laurent, & Vogel (1996, 6 pages)
Reader: Smith & Leigh (1997, 10 pages)
Reader: Williams, McGrew, & Tew (1999, 5 pages)
Reader: Schmidt (1997, 6 pages)
Reader: Krantz (2000, 9 pages)
Reader: Morrow & McKee (1998, 3 pages)
Week 6 (The Techniques of Web-Based Research)
Monday 2/12/01
Research Proposal Due
Human Subjects Proposal Due
Book: Birnbaum, Psychological Experiments on the
Internet, Chapters 9- 12 (84 pages)
Week 7 (Comparing Web-Based and Traditional Research)
Monday 2/19/01 President’s Day (no class). Monday/Tuesday Switch Day -- Class Meets Tuesday
Tuesday 2/20/01
Book: Birnbaum, Psychological Experiments on the Internet, Chapters 1 & 7 (53 pages)
Reader: Birnbaum (1999, 9 pages)
Reader: Krantz (1997, 6 pages)
Week 8 (Comparing Web-Based and Traditional Research)
Monday 2/26/01
Working Version of Experiment Running and Pilot Each Other’s Studies
Book: Birnbaum, Psychological Experiments on the Internet, Chapters 6 & 8 (45 pages)
Reader: Stanton (1998, 17 pages)
Reader: Weible & Wallace (1998, 7 pages)
Week 9 (Comparing Web-Based and Traditional Questionnaires and Personality Inventories)
Monday 3/5/01
Put Experiment On-line
Book: Birnbaum, Psychological Experiments on the Internet, Chapter 5 (17 pages)
Reader: Buchanan & Smith (1999a, 7 pages)
Reader: Buchanan & Smith (1999b, 20 pages)
Reader: Pasveer & Ellaer (1998, 5 pages)
Reader: Davis (1999, 6 pages)
Spring Break 3/10/01 - 3/18/01 No Class!
Week 10 (Overview of Learning and Teaching on the Web)
Monday 3/19/01
Reader: Eamon (1999, 11 pages)
Reader: Wolfe et. al (1998, 22 pages)
Reader: Sherman (1998, 5 pages)
Book: Wolfe "Learning & Teaching on the Web" Chapters 1-3 (68 pages)
Intro and Method Section Draft Due
Week 11 (Theory Guiding the Dragonfly Web Pages)
Monday 3/26/01
Book: Wolfe "Learning & Teaching on the Web" Chapters 4-6 (57 pages)
Reader: Wolfe & Myers (1996, 4 pages)
Reader: Wolfe, Myers, & Cummins (in press, 12 pages)
Reader: Wolfe (in press, 10 pages)
Week 12 (Broader Issues in Web-Based Learning)
Monday 4/2/01
Web Learning Project Proposal Due
Book: Wolfe "Learning & Teaching on the Web" Chapters 7-10 (81 pages)
Reader: Maki et. al (2000, 10 pages)
Reader: Washburn (1998, 6 pages)
Week 13 (Design Issues in Hypermedia)
Monday 4/9/01
Reader: Burton, Moore, & Holmes (1995, 25 pages)
Reader: Mayer (1997, 19 pages)
Reader: McLellan (2000, 11 pages)
Reader: Bra (2000, 7 pages)
Reader: Dillon (2000, 5 pages)
Week 14 (Assessing Web-Based Learning)
Monday 4/16/01
Data Collected
Interactive Decision-Making Learning Game Due
Wolfe Book "Learning & Teaching on the Web" Chapters 11 & 12 (42 pages)
Reader Owston (2000, 8 pages)
Reader: Buchanan (1998, 9 pages)
Week 15 (no reading)
Monday 4/23/01
PowerPoint Presentation of Your Research
Final Examination Week 4/30/01 - 5/4/01
Final Research Report Due (as take home final exam) in Regularly
Scheduled Period (TBA).
Required Readings
Birnbaum, M. H. (2001). Introduction to Behavioral Research on the Internet. Inglewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Birnbaum, M. H. (2000). Psychological Experiments on the Internet. San Diego, CA: Academic Press
Wolfe, C. R. (2001). Learning and Teaching on the World Wide Web. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Wolfe, C. R. (2001). Cognition in Cyberspace Reader. Oxford,
OH: Oxford Copy Shop.
Table of Contents
Hewson, C. M., Laurent, D., & Vogel, C. M. (1996). Proper methodologies for psychological and sociological studies conducted via the Internet. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 28, 186-191.
Smith, M. A., & Leigh, B. (1997). Virtual subjects: using the Internet as an alternative source of subjects and research environment. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 29, 496-505.
Williams, J. E., McGrew, K. O., & Tew, M. D. (1999). Undergraduate labs and computers: The case for PsychExps. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 31, 287-291.
Schmidt, W. C. (1997). World-Wide Web survey research: Benefits, potential problems, and solutions. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 29, 274-279.
Krantz, J. H. (2000). Tell me, what did you see? The stimulus on computers. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 32, 221-229.
Morrow, R. H., & McKee, A. J. (1998). CGI scripts: A strategy for between-subjects experimental group assignment on the World-Wide Web. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 30, 306-308.
Birnbaum, M. H. (1999). Testing critical properties of decision making on the Internet. Psychological Science, 10, 399-407.
Krantz, J. H., Ballard, J., & Scher, J. (1997). Comparing the results of laboratory and World-Wide Web samples on the determinants of female attractiveness. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 29, 264-269.
Stanton, J. M. (1998). An empirical assessment of data collection using the Internet. Personnel Psychology, 51, 709-725.
Weible, R., & Wallace, J. (1998). Cyber research: The impact of the Internet on data collection. Marketing Research, 10, 19-24.
Buchanan, T., & Smith, J. L. (1999a). Research on the Internet: Validation of a World-Wide Web mediated personality scale. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 31, 565-571.
Buchanan, T. & Smith, J. L. (1999b). Using the Internet for psychological research: Personality testing on the World Wide Web. British Journal of Psychology, 90, 125-144.
Pasveer. K. A., & Ellard, J. H. (1998). The making of a personality inventory: Help from the WWW. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 30, 309-313.
Davis, R. N. (1999). Web-based administration of a personality questionnaire: Comparison with traditional methods. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 31, 572-577.
Eamon, D. B. (1999). Distance education: Has technology become a threat to the academy? Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 31, 197-207.
Wolfe, C. R., Crider, L., Mayer, L., McBride, M., Sherman, R., & Vogel, R. (1998). Toward a Miami University Model for internet-intensive higher education. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 9, 29-51.
Sherman, R. C. (1998). Using the World Wide Web to teach everyday applications of social psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 25, 212-216.
Wolfe, C. R. & Myers C. A. (1996). The Dragonfly's web: Courseware for children created by college students on the World Wide Web. Behavioral Research Measurement, Instruments, and Computers, 28, 161-164.
Wolfe, C. R., Myers, C. A., & Cummins, R. H. (in press). The Dragonfly Web Pages: Informal science education on the World Wide Web. Cognitive Technology.
Wolfe, C. R. (in press). Plant a tree in cyberspace: Metaphor and analogy as design elements in Web-based learning environments. CyberPsychology & Behavior.
Maki, R. H., Maki, W. S., Patterson, M., & Whittaker, P. D. (2000). Evaluation of a Web-based introductory psychology course: I. Learning and satisfaction in on-line versus lecture courses. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 32, 230-239.
Washburn, D. A. (1998). Copyright law and multimedia or Internet-based educational applications. Behavioral Research Measurement, Instruments, and Computers, 30, 199-204.
Burton, J. K., Moore, D. M., & Holmes, G. A. (1995). Hypermedia concepts and research: An overview. Computers in Human Behavior, 11, 345-369.
Mayer, R. E. (1997). Multimedia learning: Are we asking the right questions? Educational Psychologist, 32, 1-19.
McLellan, H. (2000). Experience design. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 3, 59-69.
De Bra, P. (2000). Pros and cons of adaptive hypermedia in Web-based education. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 3, 71-77.
Dillon, A. (2000). Designing a better learning environment with the Web: Problems and prospects. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 3, 97-101.
Owston, R. D. (2000). Evaluating Web-based learning environments: Strategies and insights. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 3, 79-87.
Buchanan, T. (1998). Using the World Wide Web for formative assessment. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 27, 71-79.