In July 2005 I decided to test out the effectiveness of the PsYonline Coursework Area by taking students away for a few days to run their experiments for Mod 6.
As soon as students came back from AS exams we started to work on Mod 6 by using the Coursework Area of PsYonline to help the students get started with topic suggestions, Project Brief and then with their literature reviews. This took up 2 weeks of lessons.
I booked the students, myself (and my husband) in to Lancaster University for the last 4 days of summer term and we called it the Psychology Coursework Residential Trip. The university provided rooms, all food, teaching rooms and access to computers, at a very reasonable price.
Team building exercises took up the first afternoon but after that, the students worked from 9.00 until 6.00 every day, producing materials, gathering and analysing data, using the other students who were attending summer schools at the university, as their Participants.
They used PsYonline to check their method etc without being prompted! In the evening we showed them films with a psychological theme such as Das Experiment (a must see film based on the Zimbardo Prison Experiment) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
By the end of the 4 days they had completed the experiments and were ready to write up their reports. I have always submitted coursework in June but this year it is being submitted in January.
I am confident that PsYonline gave them a head start on their coursework module and that it was a major contributor to the early submission, alongside the concentrated work.
I will definitely repeat the trip next year and would recommend it to anyone brave enough to take his or her students away for 4 days! It was hard work but well worth it. Only problem is, I'm marking coursework during half-term...
Christine Davis
Head of Psychology
Arnold School, Blackpool