Social Psychology is a scientific field related to sociology, anthropology, and general
psychology. Its field of study includes: (I) How social settings affect people's behavior;
(II) How social organization of community life creates a socio-cultural environment which
directly and decisively affects people's health, thoughts, emotions, and feelings. Its
method includes: (I) systematic gathering of social data through observations; (II)
analysis of data through graphs and matrices; (III) theorizing about the patterns of
observations.
Studying Social Psychology can provide you with some valuable, new skills. Among these: (I) a gain in your ability to describe people's behaviors over and above `common sense' descriptions; this gain shows itself in your ability to give objective analyses of what's going on around you, in your community, day to day living; (II) A gain in your ability to represent your own behavior and mental life in an objective manner; (III) a gain in your ability to theorize, as shown by reasoning from data to hypothesis testing to more data.
Yes. The methods and approaches that are used vary according to the educational philosophy of the instructor. The most common method used in large-size, introductory courses (such as this one) involves the use of one of the many available textbooks in Social Psychology. Often, the text, or the instructor, assigns exercises and projects. The latter include: replicating well-known experiments; filling out paper-and-pencil tests and measuring instruments; and field projects such as interviews, unobtrusive observations, etc.
The method used in this course reflects the particular educational philosophy of Dr. Leon James sand Dr. Diane Nahl. Together, they have developed a new approach, aided by the students at the University of Hawaii, who help improve the method by their active co-operation. We chose the name "Generational Community Classroom" for this new approach and expect it will be adopted in other courses at the University of Hawaii and elsewhere.
There are many in education today who believe that learning and development are more a function of the classroom environment than of the students' capacities, motivations, personalities, intelligence, sex, racial-genetic background, etc. Therefore, the best teaching strategy would be to concentrate on controlling the classroom environment so as to make it maximally favorable to learning and development of all students, irrespective of their intelligence, personality, etc. To accomplish this, the instructional staff and the class as of whole agree in advance to respect and obey a "community classroom constitution" which specifies the set of rules that shall govern all matters in the classroom, viz. topics, assignments, grade-point system, tests and exams, class atmosphere, socializing activities, team work, etc.
Since the "Generational Community Classroom" is
still being developed, the current role of the instructor is necessarily global and
pervasive and unspecified. In the future, the instructor's role may be more specialized.
It is within this ex-officio frame of responsibility that the instructor of a Community
Classroom enters into permissible agreements, in accordance with the Community Classroom
Constitution. The instructor's main role, by far, must be that of a teacher in the fullest
and richest sense of that concept in education.
Yes. The usual University rules and regulations hold.
Officially, a Community Classroom is an internal academic matter between the instructor
and the officially registered students. It is equivalent in status to all other decisions
proper to a teacher within a recognized educational setting. At the University of Hawaii,
it is part of accepted standards that faculty should decide on the methods of teaching, as
long as none of the activities violate any existing regulations. Students aware of any
such violations are honor bound to bring these violations to the immediate attention of
the instructor.
This is the first time that a Community Classroom Constitution is being used, in the same sense that prospective students were told in advance that this is a "generational community classroom" and, were also told of the set of rules to be followed. We developed these rules during the past 5 or 6 semesters, on a gradual basis, adding several new rules, each semester. For the Fall 1979 Generation of Psych 222 (2) we picked 67 rules most of which we tried out in earlier semesters here at the University of Hawaii. Former students in Psych 222 (2), as well as graduate students in Social Psychology, have generously given their time and dedication, to help in this task, and have thereby themselves gained valuable experience in skills related to managing and controlling social environments.
Unlike such subjects as Math, Chemistry, Biology, or
Accountancy, which have a well-defined topical area and are presented to the students by
"levels" (introductory, follow up, advanced, professional), Social Psychology
does not have a well-defined topical area, nor is it arranged by "levels."
Instead, the content of courses is much dependent on the choices of the instructor and the
school of thought with which the instructor is identified. There is however an overlap
which can be specified: e.g.
--social perception and illusions
--interpersonal relations
--social attitudes and ideology
--personality and demography
--group dynamics and management
--inter-group relations
--cross-cultural communication
--psycholinguistics (language and culture)
--attribution process and other cognitive processes
The accompanying TABLE lists the three main principles and specifies six techniques which are to be put into effect (for the first time all together) during the Fall 1979 semester.
| Affective Intentional |
Cognitive Generational |
Sensorimotor Organic |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Orientation for course 2. Ingathering for classes 3. Individualized (choices) 5. Non-Punitive Grading (points) 6. Professionalized Student (literacy skills) |
1. DRA Indexing -- (SW; CM; DR) 2. Con-Con 3. Cumulative; Long-Term Projects (aviary; etc.) 4. Field Contacts 5. Alumni Activities 6. Folklore (Readings; Hey Cards |
1. All Are Essential 2. Consensus Management (Social Cells) 3. Feed-Back Forms (Shared) (CFF; DR) 4. Team Quizzes and Exercises 5. Newsletter & Posters 6. Diversity and Size Are Mined As a Cultural Resource |
The topics of Social Psychology
lend themselves peculiarly well to their study through the Community Classroom approach. This is because the large-size and diverse composition of the class form a social microcosm which can be directly used as a source of data on interpersonal relations, group dynamics, social attitudes, and the like, which constitute the overlapping core of Social Psychology. By arranging for small group meetings, team exercises, and other group projects, and by treating the class-as-a-whole, as a "generation", the topics of Social Psychology are made to come alive and appear real and concrete, directly involving the students' own experiences and observations.With bookstudy and assigned readings, the student practices "thinking about" what others have written, and learns the new terminology. To go beyond this, however, is possible only by doing some social psychology. One technique instructs students on how to generate data through the "experimental method." The second technique instructs students on how to generate data through the "natural history method" (or, "field methodology"). It is this second technique that is used in Community Classroom. Students participate in prescribed exercises with one another. These participatory activities constitute the field or dynamic social setting, from which the student much learn to extract data. Studying the patterns of these self-obtained data provides the practical experience for the study of Social Psychology.
One might call this attitude: "openness and assertiveness." To be open is to refrain from judgments and conclusions (until much later in the course). The tendency is to react against novelty that challenges you in a new and unfamiliar manner. This calls for courage and good will without which the unhappy student is faced with discouragement and resentment. Seriousness of purpose and peer discussion are the best antidotes to "being lost and confused." Special class management procedures make peer exchanges occur frequently. Class feedback forms and progress reports read by the instructor keep him in touch with each student on a weekly basis.
A Community Classroom has a lecture
component and a standing projects component. The latter provides students with real-life
dynamic social settings in which they participate in small work-teams. This actual
"field exposure and experience" gives students direct practice in generating
data and in recording. The accompanying TABLE shows the standing projects for the Fall
1979 Generation.
| I. DRA Indexing |
II. Self-Monitoring |
III. Communications |
IV. Services |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Generational Annotations B. Community Atlas C. Hey Cards |
A. Class Feedback Forms B. Progress Reports C. Discharge Reports D. Short and Long-Term Consequences |
A. Newsletter; Posters B. Orientation and Registration C. Alumni and Con-Con (generational constitutional conference) D. DRA Folklore |
A. Ancillary Readings B. Computerized Grading C. Practice Quizzes D. Campus Aviary E. Scholarship Prizes and Certifications |
Every lecture is constructed with the following components:
(I) PREPARATION: Study "CHART-for-the-lecture" in Lecture Notes provided by the
instructor; (II) INGATHERING: Spend five minutes in class doing "relating
exercises" to reduce anonymity and provide peer mingling; (III) ORAL PRESENTATION:
explanations of the CHART while (I) students listen without note taking; (IV) ORAL
PRESENTATION: II: explanations given a second time while students take notes; (V) PRACTICE
QUIZ: a "formative" exercise to give students an immediate feedback on their
comprehension; (VI) QUESTIONS AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION: open discussion, student views,
further explanations. A syllabus is provided along with Lecture Notes containing
preparatory STUDY-CHARTS and other study aids. Lecture topics are integrated with
exercises and standing projects (q.v.) so as to provide students with both a
"cognitive" and an "experimental" learning component.
A point-system of economics is used. Course procedures are arranged so that students receive points for a pre-defined set of activities throughout the semester. Points are obtained for: attendance; practice quizzes; regular quizzes; team quizzes; team projects; individual projects; and some others. Thus every student can balance their interests as against their talents and receive points in a variety of manners. Total number of points accumulated determine your final grade according to cut-off points announced in advance. Thus you know your grade, and there are no surprises or "curve grading". Points are given in full according to an announced TABLE whenever the student's work being evaluated meets the standards, as specified in advance in written instructions.
Ingathering activities are usual and necessary in our regular social gatherings. When we go see someone for a particular purpose, we spend the first few minutes doing "ingathering" talk (asking about family, health, mood, etc.). This contrasts sharply with more formal situations involving strangers in public places. The Community Classroom attempts to create a favorable learning environment through the use of the ordinary social mechanisms, as they are familiar to us from our daily life in community. As a result, activities are used to make possible peer exchanges which do not happen spontaneous by in large-audience settings. Ingathering activities help create an organic-generational Community Classroom.
Because the Community Classroom gives the student some new challenges which are unfamiliar as well as of a particular character, it is important that the student know in advance, and exercise a choice on it. (The other section of Psych 222 is not a Community Classroom.) For exactly the same reasons it is important to announce the existence of such a class to prospective students so that those who can benefit most should be aware of its availability. Interest, available time, and academic curiosity are desirable pre-requisites.
Several mechanism are used to achieve a generational
classroom environment. These are the most important: (I) Generational Indexing: students
work in teams or individually, then make written reports. These are annotated by other
students, both same generation (or semester), and across the generations. Successive
generational annotations bring students of different semesters in contact with each other
through this literary medium. For a look first hand, please visit the Generational Curriculum Online Virtual Super-Document.
(II). Standing Projects: students do their class work within the frame of long-term
projects which span semesters. Thus, each generation picks up and continues the work of
the previous generations; (III) Alumni Activities: the student's relationship to the
Community Classroom continues (voluntarily) past the semester through activities that
benefit the former student as well as the Community Classroom. See the Online Daily Round
Archives Index which is the work of the student alumni.
Self-monitoring is done for two reasons: (I) To insure that the Community Classroom works as a whole or totality ("organic function"); (II) To provide students with direct practice in generating and analyzing social data in a real setting ("microcosm function"). A by-product of self-monitoring is their partial use for program evaluation. This is required within the context of educational experimentation an innovation. Self-monitoring by students include the following: (I) Class Feedback Form for every class; (II) Audiotape of every lecture (deposited in library right after each class); (III) Progress Reports; (IV) Discharge Report; (V) Student-earned points bookkeeping; (VI) Project Reports and all other Written Documents deposited in the Daily Round Archives (DRA).
Community Classroom creates a learning environment which is dependent on large size and diversity of composition. Regular classrooms are based on teaching approaches that are dependent on small size and homogeneous composition. Size and diversity have their own special advantages which are then maximized through appropriate pedagogic techniques (exercises; topics; projects). These techniques are designed to create forces ("dynamic conditions") which counteracts anonymity and competitiveness, while at the same time, enhance community-based resources that create excellence in learning (e.g.: cooperation; objectivity; peer modeling; mutual facilitation).
There are general as well as specialized skills that the student can expect to acquire by taking this course and doing all the required activities. Specialized skills include, as course objectives, the following: (I) knowing how to generate data from one's own observations of social setting s and people's behavior in them; (II) knowing how to analyze these data in a scientific manner and to theorize about their significance; (III) knowing topics and terminology related to contemporary ideas in Social Psychology. General skills include: (IV) a demonstrable gain in student-role skills (e.g.: not taking; reading with assimilation; relating to peers and faculty); (V) a demonstrable gain in one's ability to objectify one's self-observations.
Yes. At the University of Hawaii, no Psychology course may be taken without first taking Psych 100 or equivalent. Apart from this, no other special skills are assumed except the usual (note taking; peer discussions; typing; quiz taking; following written instructions). These basic literary skills should be a principle background objective for every college student. In a Community Classroom the student is given opportunities to improve these literary competencies through peer modeling, and through exchanges involving the display of these skills to one another in class. Since the focus of the student is arranged to be on the class itself as a social community, students learn general principles of group management.
Yes. Since the focus of this course is on participatory observation of community organization, students become proficient in perceiving directly some of the social forces that affect people's behaviors. Then, they learn to "notate" or "record" the effects of these forces and to inspect these records with a view to theorize concerning their source, course, control, etc. This kind of systematic examination of the relation between behavior and social settings is expected to facilitate the student's comprehension of the literature, and of scientific ideas in psychology and related disciplines. Co-lateral readings in textbooks and the Social Psychology literature (including the World Wide Web -- since 1993), are available, and students earn points for these as they do for quizzes and projects.
BACKGROUND: "Group Dynamics" is a field theory
(q.v.) concept referring to s.-p. "forces" acting upon a person in any social
setting, but is used particularly to refer to forces which stem from an individual's
relationship to others with whom some group is formed. There are "natural
groups" such as the family, waiting lines, co-habitants, audiences, and so on, and
there are "task groups" such as work teams, clubs, committees, professional
associations, and so on.
SIGNIFICANCE: "Group Dynamics: is the specialized study of how to affect people's
behavior -- individual and collective, -- through managing the group's environment: e.g.,
size; composition; structure of interactions; rules of interaction; selection of
participants; nature of tasks to be performed; communications network; reward system; and
many others. See this chapter on Kurt
Lewin for a discussion on field theory and personality as they apply to
community-classroom.
BACKGROUND: Communities are composed of a diverse cultural
and sub-cultural groupings according to a system of classification determined by the
people involved, since every sub-cultural grouping always related itself to surrounding
groupings. As well, groupings within a community retain distinctive characteristics that
serve to bind together those that share these distinctive traits, and simultaneously to
exclude those that lack these traits, features, or characteristics. "Demography"
is the study of these distinctions among the sub-groupings of the population of a
community.
SIGNIFICANCE: In Social Psychology, "personality" refers to the demographic
traits of a person, especially the way in which these "personal characteristics"
are acquired from one's associations with others and are maintained through transactional
exchanges with others.
BACKGROUND: A sub-field within the
"interdisciplinary" frame of psychology and linguistics; still young and
incompletely defined. For a technical treatment, see this online work for a technical
treatment. Also related to "cognitive" anthropology; to
"socioliguistics"; and to "philology", among others.
SIGNIFICANCE: Human relations are governed by shared conventions. These conventions are
not observable to anyone who is ignorant of the language of communication and thinking
used by the interactants. "Psycholinguistics" is the study of the stream of
discourse produced in talk, thinking, and writing. Some important issues are: (I) relating
the stream of discourse to the s.-p. forces in the setting; this is called "the
functional analysis of the verbal community"; (II) controlling the stream of
discourse through the use of "prompts," such as questions; clues, forms; scales;
adjacency-pairs; formulaic expressions; close procedure; etc.; this is called
"applied psycholinguistics in social psychology".
BACKGROUND: "Attitudes" in Social Psychology
refer to verbal declarations people make when asked to give an "evaluation" or a
"value judgment" or "an opinion on a controversial issue" or "an
expression of agreement or disagreement." In Social Psychology, "theories of
attitude formation and change" is a much researched area.
SIGNIFICANCE: In the social sciences and in the humanities, "ideology" refers to
the dynamic power of ideas, i.e. the power of ideas whereby we can say that "ideas
move men." Thus, ideology is a system of ideas that motivates people to action of a
particular kind. Since social attitudes are value-laden declarations concerning others,
they are the "skeleton" upon which ideology is based. For example, the
disapproval we may feel upon seeing someone cheat on an exam, is a social attitude upon
which the American ideology of "fair competition" is based.
BACKGROUND: "Conversation" refers to a type of
"transactional exchange" between people in a community. It involves verbalizing,
signing (with gestures and expressions) and information processing. It is now a new and
heavily researched area in "psycholinguistics" (q.v.).
SIGNIFICANCE: "Conversational analysis" is usually based on social data we
ordinarily call "transcripts." A transcript is a partial and incomplete record
of a conversation. The latter is always a particular, unique, event that took place in
time and was carried out by real individuals having unique identities. Hence, the record
of the event as represented by the transcript must be supplemented with annotations
explaining the verbalizations appearing on the transcript. By studying annotated
transcripts you can gain a greater comprehension of the process of conversation, and thus
come to manage your conversations better.
BACKGROUND: The everyday topics of so-called "sexual
politics" and "sexism" are instances (among others) of "intergroup
relations" since males and females are treated as two distinct groups
("inter-group").
SIGNIFICANCE: "Transcript analysis" reveals that "conversational
management" techniques employed by the two sexes are contrastive. For instance, under
many ordinary situations, in talk between couples and cross-sex intimates, the man
performs a greater number of interruptions and performs a greater number of minimal or
defective answers (e.g. "Mmm." or no answer at all) towards the woman, than is
the case the other way round. Other examples include more tentative assertions by women
(e.g. "I think...", "I would say that...") and different signaling
habits (body and facial gestures). These male-female differences in conduct functions
"regulating mechanisms" between the two groups' relations.
BACKGROUND: All scientific disciplines have a
"methodology," which refers to the main procedures used to generate data in that
field, or sub-field. In Social Psychology, there are two main methodologies recognized and
practiced today: one is called the "Experimental method" (q.v.), and the other,
the "Natural History Method."
SIGNIFICANCE: Also discussed under the name of "FIELD METHODOLOGY," the natural
history method includes the following essential steps: (I) Delimit the area to be observed
(e.g., place, time, people, nature of activity); (II) Construct a recording format (e.g.
forms; prompts (oral or written or sensory); transcripts; formulaic paragraphs); (III) Use
the recording format at the delimited area; (IV) Annotate data records for explanations;
(V) Represent patterns in the data through a suitable notation system (e.g. graph; matrix;
chart; math; logic).
BACKGROUND: This is the second of the two main
methodologies practiced in Social Psychology today -- the other is the NATURAL HISTORY
METHOD (q.v.) which is also known as "FIELD METHODOLOGY."
SIGNIFICANCE: The experimental method in Social Psychology consists of the following
essential steps: (I) Become familiar with a sub-field and know what its research topics
are; (II) Formulate a hypothesis concerning some controversial or not yet known phenomenon
discussed in the research literature or in oral exchanges with colleagues or students;
(III) Design an experiment following prescribed procedures in manuals of research and in
oral exchanges between specialists; (IV) Get subjects under specified conditions and put
them through the prescribed procedures while you record those responses of the subjects
which were decided upon ahead of time; (V) Analyze data statistically.
BACKGROUND: Everyone recognizes that the environment
influences behavior. Various theories and schools of thought exist concerning the
mechanism or "functional relations" that tie behavior to the social setting in
which it occurs.
SIGNIFICANCE: In the school of thought associated with field theory in Social Psychology
(q.v.) a social setting is defined as an environment or "field"
("space/time" location) in which numerous forces act upon people who are located
in that setting. A common example of forces acting upon you in social settings can be
mentioned: you're sitting in your seat in class and now all eyes are upon you as the
professor addresses you by name: you feel the change in forces as soon as you're on the
spot, and then, off the spot. For further examples, see: STANDARDIZED IMAGININGS (13) AND
ATTRIBUTION PROCESS (14).
BACKGROUND: It's safe to say that thinking is as natural
for people as eating, walking around, and talking. It's also safe to say that thinking is
influenced by the social setting (q.v.) just as eating, talking and walking around are
thusly influenced.
SIGNIFICANCE: Walking pattern or style is clearly influenced by family and community
customs. So is eating pattern, (i.e. what you eat, what combinations, when, how much and
how fast, etc.). So is talking influenced by community customs (when, what, how, to whom
-- you talk, etc.). And so is thinking: what you think about x and how you thinking about
it in different circumstances (or, social settings), is similar in some ways (and unique
in others) to how others in the community think about it. Those shared, common background
thoughts in a community called "standardized imaginings."
BACKGROUND: "Standardized imaginings" (q.v.)
refer to commonly held thoughts and ideas about the world and shared community life.
SIGNIFICANCE: Human transactions always involve two channels: what is visible or made
explicit and what is not directly visible, i.e. "implicit or "implied." Our
shared thoughts and ideas on the common, daily round world around us, forms the basis of
the "background knowledge" we need to share in order to interact with each
other. Background knowledge includes items of information and a reasoning logic. Thus,
when we observe happenings in social situations, we attribute a cause-effect chain to them
so that we see one thing causing another and leading to still another, etc. in a network
of attributions. This network of ideas about what's what in social settings form the basis
of our "standardized imaginings." For a discussion on standardized imaginings in
driving see this chapter on the social
psychology of driving behavior
Introduction to the Generational
Curriculum
Social Psychology Textbook for Generational
Community Classroom
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