Day 2

Opener:  Before the field of psychology developed, what do you think most people thought caused people to behave the way that they do?

Activity #1:  Psychology Today Project intro and "auction"

Students choose a recent development in the field of psychology and present their findings to the class in a brief 5 minute presentation (followed by a q&a period).  Students choose their day to present on the calendar and are responsible to have their presentations ready PRIOR to that date.

The guidelines for the project are as follows:

•Choose an significant recent advancement in the field of psychology (within the last year) that you believe might significantly change the way we understand the human mind, human behavior, or treat those who suffer from mental illnesses.  Sources may include legitimate newspapers, professional journals, documentaries, or university publications.

•Developments must represent a significant change that will likely have a lasting impact.

Your presentation must includes:

Slide #1 - Summary of the study or advancement and why is will alter the field of psychology

Slide #2 – How this discovery/change is tied to other developments in the field of psychology that we have, or will, study during the year

Slide #3 – What will change in the future as a result of this new idea?  Make a prediction!

Slide #4 – List of all resources used (minimum of 2)

Useful links: https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/health_medicine/psychology/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/news

Activity #2:  Think/Pair/Share

Take the next 12 minutes to think about an answer to each of the questions below.  Record your responses in you notebook.  Afterward, compare your responses to those of your neighbors and consider including their in your notebook as well.  Following this, we will share out with the entire class.

Question #1- What is the goal of psychology.
Question #2 - How does the field of psychology relate to the other social sciences (history, government, economics, sociology, etc) ?

Closing activity:  Unanswered questions - Students must generate a list of at least 2 questions that they still have about today's discussion, any assignments or activities, or general questions about the field of psychology.  These are recorded in their notebooks in the last ten paged of the notebook in the newly created "My questions" section.