APS 2020 Virtual Posters: Intro Psych Discussion

[sue_frantz]

Because of the pandemic the Association for Psychological Science (APS) canceled their 2020 convention. In its place, they invited all of their poster presenters to upload their posters to the “APS Virtual Poster Showcase” which runs June 1, 2020 through September 1, 2020.

If you’re teaching Intro Psych this summer, ask your students to register. Registration is free.

This is an amazing opportunity for students to see current psychological research (hundreds of posters!) and, if they’d like, ask the researchers about their studies.

While I have framed this activity as an online discussion forum, this can be adapted for discussion in a synchronous class or as a stand-alone assignment.

Here are some discussion forum questions that would be appropriate for the Intro Psych development chapter. Amend the topic for other chapters.

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There are several ways psychological scientists share their research. They will, for example, publish their research in peer-reviewed journals—journals where others who are doing similar research will review articles that have been submitted for publication, and offer critiques that will make the article better. Psychological scientists also present their research at conferences. In some cases, they’ll stand in front of an audience (just like your I do when I teach face-to-face) and talk about their research. In other cases, they’ll print a summary of their research on a big poster (something like 3 feet x 4 feet) and then post that on a bulletin board in a big hall with 50 to 100 other researchers and their posters. A poster session will typically last an hour. Conference attendees can visit the hall, read the posters, and ask each researcher questions about their studies.

While we won’t be able to go to a psychology conference during this class, one conference’s research posters are coming to us. The Association for Psychological Science (APS) has asked the psychological scientists who had their posters accepted for presentation at this year’s APS conference to make their posters available online.

Visit this webpage, and register for free for the Association for Psychological Science’s Virtual Poster Showcase.

Once you’re registered, visit the posters. In the left navigation menu, click on “Virtual Posters,” and select “Cross-Cutting Theme Posters—Risk and Resilience During Emerging Adulthood.”

Choose a poster title, and read the abstract—a short summary of the research. In your initial post, please address the following:  

1. What is the title of the poster you’ve chosen? Who are the researchers? What college or university are they from?
2. In 50+ words, why did you choose this particular poster?
3. After viewing or downloading the poster, quote a sentence or two from the poster that stands out to you. In 50+ words, explain why you chose this quote.
4. Lastly, after having read this research poster, in 50+ words, please share what else you would like to know about this topic.

Please respond to the initial posts of two classmates. In each of your responses, use at least one of these types of comments to reply to the initial post’s answer to #3 and to #4. For example, in response to their quote, you may choose a compliment, and in response to what else they’d like to know about the topic with a question of your own.

• A compliment, e.g., "I like how... because...," I like that... because..."
• A comment, e.g., "I agree that... because...," "I disagree that... because..."
• A connection, e.g., "I have also thought that...," "That reminds me of..."
• A question, e.g., "I wonder why...," "I wonder how..."