Psychology Research Project (FLEX)

In this class, students have the freedom to choose a research topic within Psychology, refine the idea with support from a teacher with academic research experience, and conduct, analyse, and write up the results of their project.


Week 1:
- Introductions and mind-mapping topic ideas via a shared class padlet board
- Video lecture on hypothesis-formation and types of research design, with a glossary to complete
- Submit a 2-3 paragraph description of your project idea (learners receive written feedback from the teacher, and make constructive comments/suggestions on their peers' topics) 

Week 2:
- Background research into your topic 
- Video lecture on literature searching techniques, and building a rationale for your project
- Introduction to citing your research sources (American Psychological Association / APA format) 
- Submit a 1-2 page "introduction" to your topic area, fully justifying your research idea (learners receive written feedback from the teacher) 

Week 3: 
- Video lectures on writing an effective description of your method, and ethical considerations/procedures in Psychological research
- Kahoot quiz with vocabulary relating to ethics (learners compete with each other) 
- Submit a 1 page "method" section of your report for teacher approval 
- Submit ethical documents, i.e. an information sheet and consent form for the participants in your project

Week 4:
- Constructing materials for your project (e.g. questionnaires or tasks) with Q&A support from the class and examples from the teacher
- Data collection: ask other learners in the class as well as your family members or friends to participate in your study!

Week 5:
- Video lecture on data analysis methods
- Produce graphs/charts/tables of your data as appropriate
- Conduct an analysis on your own data to test your hypothesis

Week 6:
- General guidance and individual written advice for writing the "discussion and conclusions" section of your report
- Submit your final report for teacher feedback
- Share your report with other learners, and give each other additional feedback


There will be some pre-recorded material, but additional support will be provided to suit each student's chosen topic area. At each stage, students may be required to make changes or re-submit a part of their assignments to ensure that their research project is appropriate and effective.

Previous knowledge: In the analysis week, I will assume that students are familiar with mathematical concepts such as the mean, median, and mode, and are able to compare the sizes of decimal numbers.