56:830:590
Research/Fieldwork Practicum
Spring 2008
btucker@camden.rutgers.edu
Instructor: Bill Tucker Office: 225-6545
Office: Armitage 345 Home: 354-0119
Office hours: Tues, Wed,
5:00-6:00 Dept: 225-6520
Course
Description:
The research Practicum has two components. The first component is an apprenticeship with
your faculty mentor, allowing you to work with an experienced researcher on a
collaborative project with the potential to develop into your master’s
thesis. The second component is a weekly
seminar, the sole purpose of which is the opportunity for a collective
discussion of your own and your fellow students’ research.
There is a similar course—“Thesis Seminar”—scheduled
for students in the second year of the program, who are working on their thesis
and expect to complete and defend it by the end of the spring semester. Because, at this point in the growth of our
graduate program, there are at most four students at this point, they will be
joining the Practicum class. That is,
students registered for either one of these two courses will meet in a single
group to discuss their research.
Evaluation:
One half of your grade in the course will be
determined by your mentor and the other half by the instructor. In determining the latter each of the
following will be considered, though not weighted equally: revision of the
paper submitted at the end of the proseminar; class presentations; class
discussion; and the research proposal due at the end of the course.
The first draft of the research proposal, which I
will read, is due on March 25th; the second draft, which will be
read by your mentor, is due on April 15th. The final proposal is due on April 29th. The intent is for this research proposal to
form the basis for your thesis. Indeed,
approval of this proposal by your thesis committee is necessary for you to
register for the Thesis Supervision course.
Since the goal of the Practicum is to facilitate
progress on your own research, with a single exception—an article to be
distributed at the first class meeting—there are no readings assigned by the
instructor. However, in addition to
designing a study that could evolve into your thesis, this course is intended
to provide an opportunity for you to develop the breadth and depth of knowledge
in your field that is the precondition for making a contribution to it. Consequently, in accord with the schedule
below, each of you will be requested to construct your own set of readings
during the course—i.e., the body of literature that you, in consultation with
your mentor, determine you will need to master in order to present yourself as
truly knowledgeable in your chosen area.
To promote an informed discussion in class and to assist your
classmates, not to mention your instructor, to expand their own knowledge of
psychology, the week before you present your own latest thinking you should
suggest an article or (at most) two for the rest of the class to read.
Presentations:
Each student in the practicum will make three presentations
in the course. It is not expected that these
presentations will be formal lectures or that they will offer some tightly
designed study that you intend to conduct.
Especially earlier in the semester you may have little idea of your
exact research direction, but you should have an area of interest or a group of
studies that you can discuss with the class and a sense of the sort of research
question you wish to ask or the problem you wish to solve. As the semester progresses, you should continue
to share with the class a frank description of your thinking and ongoing
efforts. The whole idea of the practicum
is to provide a mutually supportive environment, in which the reactions and
suggestions of your classmates can help to clarify your own thinking and to
work out problems in designing and conducting your research.