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Academic Goals
Learning Goals for Psych 488: Stress and Coping
Ron Smith and other instructors
- Define what psychologists mean by stress and coping and how each influences behavior. Summarize and discuss both classic and recent theoretical developments in the scientific literature on stress and coping. Identify conclusions about stress and coping that are supported by the literature.
- Identify how stress and coping are measured and the pros and cons involved with different research designs.
- Develop your critical thinking, presentation, and discussion skills by giving presentations and leading class discussions. Summarize and evaluate the empirical literature, create engaging questions that prompt better understanding of readings and broader course topics, and think about directions for future research that are based on the current state of the literature.
- Formulate your own research questions about stress and coping that build on the current literature. Identify the research methods and designs needed to address your questions and understand the strengths and limitations of using various methodologies.
- Develop your critical thinking skills by locating and evaluating appropriate sources that address your research question. Consider the validity of the source and discuss the validity of the sources. Summarize findings from different sources, draw appropriate conclusions from the articles you selected, and summarize them in writing.
- Apply knowledge about stress and coping to you own life by evaluating the various stressors that you face and the coping strategies that you typically use to handle them. Use that knowledge along with the empirical literature to explore stress reduction techniques that may help to reduce stress in your own life.
