PSY 495: Psychology Major Capstone

Course Description

This is the capstone course for the Psychology major and should be taken in the student's last semester. The student can have no more than 6 credits remaining in their major to complete in their degree program prior to enrolling in this course. The goal of the course is for students to conduct a literature review of both primary and secondary sources, and then synthesize this information into the writing of an in-depth paper featuring a hypothesis, research methodology, and conclusion. This course must be taken at Charter Oak State College. (3 credits)

Prerequisites

  • ENG 101: English Composition 1
  • ENG 102: English Composition 2
  • PSY 101: Psychology
  • PSY 216: Psychology Statistics
  • PSY 410: Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of the various sub disciplines of psychology, which may include, but are not limited to: cognitive, behavioral, physiological, humanistic, socio-cultural, and psychodynamic.
  2. Synthesize information from both primary and secondary sources of information (i.e., academic journal articles).
  3. Solve problems by applying previous knowledge to a new problem and then be able to identify the difference between what is a pseudoscience and what is based on the scientific method.
  4. Write about a psychological topic or phenomena with clarity and logical organization.
  5. Understand psychological phenomena both systematically and empirically.
  6. Use qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, including statistical reasoning, research design, and evaluation of data.
  7. Synthesize learning of the concentration through a research paper.

Course Activities and Grading

AssignmentsWeight

Discussions (Week 1-8)

24%

Proposal and Hypothesis (Week 2)

4%

Paper Assignments (Weeks 1, 3, 4 & 5)

16%

Paper Rough Drafts (Weeks 3, 4, and 6)

30%

Paper Submission to Turnitin.com (Week 7)

6%

Final Paper (Week 8)

20%

Total

100%

Required Textbooks

Available through Charter Oak State College's online bookstore

  • American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 7th ed. American Psychological Association. ISBN-13: 978-1-4338-3216-1
  • Undergraduate Writing in Psychology: Learning to Tell the Scientific Story, 3rd Edition. (2021). American Psychological Association. ISBN 978-1-4338-3389-2.

Course Schedule

Week

SLOs

Readings and Exercises

Assignments

1

1,4

Topic: Getting Started on the Capstone Project

  • Readings:
    • Undergraduate Writing in Psychology - Chapter 1 (pages 7-18) 
  • Read assigned material
  • Participate in Discussions
  • Submit Research Topics document

2

1,4

Topics: Writing and Submitting a Proposal

  • Readings:
    • Undergraduate Writing in Psychology - Chapter 2 (pages 19-32)  
  • Read assigned material
  • Participate in Discussions
  • Submit Proposal and Hypothesis

3

1,4,5

Topic: Title Page

  • Read assigned material
  • Participate in Discussions
  • Submit Title Page, Abstract Page, and First Rough Draft (pages 1-7 and five references)

4

2,4,5,7

Topic: Reference Page

  • Read assigned material
  • View Youtube videos
  • Participate in Discussions
  • Submit Reference Page, Annotated Bibliography, and Second Rough Draft (pages 8-14 and a total of ten references)

5

4,6

Topics: Method Section

  • Read assigned material
  • Participate in Discussions
  • Submit Method section

6

1,4,5,6,7

Topic: Third Rough Draft

  • Read assigned material
  • Participate in Discussions
  • Submit Third Rough Draft (pages 1-21 and a total of ten references)

7

2

Topic: Checking for Plagiarism

  • Read assigned material
  • Participate in Discussions
  • Submit paper to Turnitin.com

8

1,4,5,7

Topic: Final Paper Submission

  • Readings:
    • None
  • Read assigned material
  • Participate in Discussions
  • Submit Final Paper
  • Complete the Course Evaluation

COSC Accessibility Statement

Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.

COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources

Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.