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History of Experimental Psychology Experimental psychologists work to understand the underlying causes of behavior by studying humans and animals. Animals are studied within and outside laboratory settings for a variety of reasons. A researcher may wish to learn more about a particular species, to study how different species are interrelated, to investigate the evolutionary significance of certain behaviors, or to learn more about human behavior.

Experimental psychology flourished in the second half of the nineteenth century with the work of such figures as G. T. Fechner (1801-1887), whose Elements of Psychology (1860) is considered the first study in the field, and Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920), who established the first psychological laboratory in 1879. Others, including Hermann Ebbinghaus and E.B. Titchener (1867-1927), used laboratory methods to investigate such areas as sensation, memory, reaction time, and rudimentary levels of learning. While controlled laboratory studies continue to make major contributions to the field of psychology, experimental methods have also been used in such diverse areas as child development, clinical diagnosis, and social problems. Thus, the concept of experimentation can no longer be limited to the laboratory, and "experimental psychology" is now defined by method and by the kinds of processes being investigated, rather than its setting. An experiment in any setting tests a hypothesis, a tentative explanation for an observed phenomenon or a prediction about the outcome of a specific event based on theoretical assumptions. All experiments consist of an independent variable, which is manipulated by the researcher, and a dependent variable, whose outcome will be linked to the independent variable. For example, in an experiment to test the sleep-inducing properties of the hormone melatonin, the administration of the hormone would be the independent variable, and the resulting amount of sleep would be the dependent variable. In simplest terms, the effects of the independent variable are determined by comparing two groups which are as similar to each other as possible with the exception that only one group has been exposed to the independent variable being tested. That group is called the experimental group; the other group, which provides a baseline for measurement, is called the control group. Although ideally the experimental and control groups will be as similar as possible, in practice, most psychological research is complicated by a variety of factors. For example, some random variables-differences in both the subjects themselves and in the testing conditions-are unavoidable and have the potential to disrupt the experiment. In addition, many experiments include more than one group of subjects, and establishing a true control group is not possible. One method of offsetting these problems is to randomly assign subjects to each group, thus distributing the effect of uncontrollable variables as evenly as possible.

The subjects' attitudes toward the experimental situation are another condition that may influence the results. This phenomenon is best demonstrated by what is referred to as the placebo effect. Subjects in experiments that test medical and psychological AKMAL RAHMAN.B

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treatments often show improvement solely because they believe the treatment has been administered. Thus, the administration of a placebo (a supposed treatment that in fact contains no active ingredient) to a control group can disclose to the experimenter whether improvement in the subjects' conditions has been caused by the treatment itself or only by the subjects' belief that their condition will improve. Interference may come from an additional variable, experimenter bias, the unintentional effect of the experimenter's attitudes, behavior, or personal interests on the results of an experiment. The experimenter may, for example, read instructions to two groups of research subjects differently, or unintentionally allow one group slightly more or less time to complete an experiment. A particularly powerful type of experimenter bias is the self-fulfilling prophecy, whereas the researcher's expectations influence the results. In a well-known example, when laboratory assistants working with two groups of randomly selected rats were told that one group was brighter than the other, they treated the rats in such a way that the supposedly "brighter" group learned to negotiate a maze faster than the other group. Subtle differences in the assistants' handling of the "brighter" group had produced the results they were conditioned to expect. In experiments utilizing a placebo, experimenter bias may be prevented by a double-blind design, in which not only the subjects but also the persons administering the experiment are unaware of which the control group is and what results are expected. In general, experimenters can minimize bias by making a vigilant attempt to recognize it when it appears, as well as resisting the temptation to intentionally influence the outcome of any experiment. The results of experiments are generally presented in a report or article that follows a standard format of introduction, method, results, and conclusion. Experimental research can also be conducted through quasi-experiments, studies which lack the control of a true experiment because one or more of its requirements cannot be met, such as the deliberate use of an independent variable or the random assignment of subjects to different groups. Studies of the effects of drugs on pregnant women, for instance, are based on data about women who have already been pregnant and either taken or not taken drugs. Thus, the researcher has no control over the assignment of subjects or the choices with which they are presented, but he or she can still measure differences between the two populations and obtain significant findings. These findings gain validity when they are based on data obtained from large numbers of subjects and when their results can be replicated a number of times. Such studies provide a basis for investigations that would otherwise be impossible.

Introspection The process of introspection involves observation of one's own mental processes, thinking and emotional states. Some argue that introspection is a reliable guide to self-knowledge. This is problematic, however, because introspection is itself a thinking of process - can one engage in AKMAL RAHMAN.B

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introspection for the process of introspection itself? This will result in an endless spiral of infinite introspection, not to mention an infinite number of simultaneous mental events, meaning that at some process introspection must stop and unreflective thinking start.

The practice of introspection A few “guidelines” to practice introspection can be extrapolated from the theoretical (and, in few cases, experimental) literature: 1. Insights obtained from introspection, can guide experimental design directly (Gallagher, 2003). That is, distinctions known to us by way of introspection can form questions for experimental science to answer. 2. Subjects should be trained to “observe experiences” without prejudice. That is, experimental subjects may have conceptions about the nature of different kinds of conscious experience prior to an experiment, and subjects should therefore meet experimental situations in a “non-theoretical manner”. (Varela, 1996). 3. The character of mental states should not be predetermined by the experimental scientist

investigating them. Therefore, the scientist should therefore discuss the methodology for subjective reporting prior to the actual experiment (Ramsøy & Overgaard, 2004). 4. Post hoc interviews should be carried out for retrospective examination of the subjects’

experiences during the experiment to gather information too rich or complicated to investigate during the actual experiment (Jack & Roepstorff, 2002). Such interviews can inspire a re-grouping of data. The actual application of these methods, or others deriving from introspective or phenomenological approaches may inform and assist cognitive scientists to acquire much more exact data about what their subjects actually experience. In different areas of clinical work, better methods to obtain subjective reports may also be of help. Petitmengin, Navarro & Le Van Quyen (2007) have for instance applied a “neuro-phenomenological” approach to discover and prevent epileptic seizures.

Maier String Experiment The first evidence of this is from the Maier String experiment, performed in 1931. This experiment asked participants to tie together two strings which were hanging from the ceiling at such a distance that one string couldn't be reached while holding the other. There were three possible solutions to the problem using the props in the room: some weights, a chair, and another piece of string. Each time the participant solved the problem, he was asked to do it again a different way and the solutions were valued from easy to hard. Hardest was the solution of adding weights to the strings and setting them in motion like pendulums, so by standing in the middle one could eventually grab both strings. Maier found that most people (ie, the control group) were unable to come up with this solution on their own, but if the experimenter set one string swinging by bumping into it, the participant would often find the solution immediately. When asked how they figured it out, the participants replied with things like "It just came to me," and "Using the weights seemed like a good idea," -- they uniformly didn't recognize that the experimenter's movement had triggered their intuition.

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Nisbett & Wilson's 1977 moon-ocean experiment showed the same lack of understanding of one's own reasoning. It was ostensibly a test of medium-term memory where participants were asked to memorize a list of word pairs. In the experimental group, the list contained the pair moon-ocean, whereas the control group's list did not. After the results were taken -- and nearly all of the experimental group could recall the ocean-moon pair -- both groups were asked to name whatever kind of laundry detergent came to mind. Overwhelmingly, the experimental group named Tide, while the control group had a more even distribution. When asked why they thought of Tide, the experimental group mentioned its packaging, its name-brand recognizability, an ad they saw on TV last night, etc. As in Maier's experiment, they didn't (with two or three exceptions) mention the experiment as a cause of their action. Another experiment by Nisbett & Wilson asked participants -- passersby in a mall who volunteered -- to select the best stocking from four identical stockings attached to a board. The subjects chose the rightmost one much more than the others (a four to one ratio), an expected result known as the position effect. As usual, when the participants were asked to explain their motivation, they came up with all kinds of reasons that weren't the position, and were in fact hostile to the suggestion that position had anything to do with their choice. Nisbett & Wilson's work precipitated two rules about introspection which are held to be fact by the psychological community. In their words: 1. People often cannot report accurately on the effects of particular stimuli on higher order,

inference-based responses. The accuracy of subjective reports is so poor as to suggest that any introspective access that may exist is not sufficient to produce generally correct or reliable reports. 2. When reporting on the effects of stimuli, people may not interrogate a memory of the

cognitive processes that operated on the stimuli; instead, they may base their reports on implicit a priori theories about the causal connection between stimulus and response.

Observation Observation means studying and gathering information on an activity: of what happens, what your object of study does or how it behaves. Observation is visual: you use your own eyes, perhaps assisted with a camera or other recording instrument. Descriptive observation means that you do not wish to modify the activity in any way; you just want to register it such as it would take place without your presence. An activity can interest a researcher because all professions and all industrial production are essentially chains of activities. Besides, the product itself can be a process of activities, such as a computer program, course of education, drama or other presentation on stage or on TV. Also when the product is a static object with no action of its own, its use is an activity that you perhaps will want to study in its empirical setting. AKMAL RAHMAN.B

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There are many activities that can be difficult or expensive to study especially in their original setting "in the field", and before starting an empirical project it can be advisable to spend a minute in considering whether the information that you need could be reachable without direct empirical operations. Such methods might include: •

Finding the information in already existing texts and literature,

•

Interrogating people that know about the activity,

•

Indirect or "unobtrusive" study where you will not observe the activity itself but events or traces that the activity brings about, such as erosion or consumption of energy.

Observation can be done in three individual angles. 1. Motor Behavior. 2. Cognitive Behavior. 3. Social behavior.

Motor Behavior Understanding the processes involved in learning and performing motor skills will enable you to: • •

Design and deliver appropriate curriculum materials Conduct more effective practice and rehabilitation experiences used in a wide variety of motor skills

Example for Motor Behavior Experiment Asymmetry of Motor Behavior of the Goldfish in a Narrow Channel

They studied swimming of goldfish fries about 3 cm long in a narrow channel by calculating the numbers of spontaneous turns on different sides. The ratio of fishes preferring to turn to the right vs to the left was 1.5: 1.0, respectively; two-thirds of the fishes demonstrated an ambilateral behavior. Experiments with compulsory 10-min-long rotation of the fishes (clockwise around the longitudinal body axis for fishes preferring right-side turns and anticlockwise for fishes preferring left-side turns) showed that the behavioral asymmetry smoothed somewhat after such a procedure, and a greater number of the fishes became ambilateral in their preference to turn to one side or another. After a one- or two-day-long test, the initial asymmetry of motor behavior completely recovered. Compulsory rotation of similar fishes in the opposite direction exerted no influence on the asymmetry in the choice of the AKMAL RAHMAN.B

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turning direction. Adaptation-induced training of the fishes (using fatiguing long-lasting vestibular stimulation) resulted in some smoothing of motor asymmetry but did not change its general pattern. Thus, our findings allow us to believe that a noticeable proportion of the goldfish individuals (similarly to other animals and humans) is characterized by an innate asymmetry of the motor function with a clear preference for either right- or left-side turnings. These relations can be smoothed under experimental influences but are recovered later on, i.e., they are stable and are not fundamentally transformed. We assume that the asymmetry of motor behavior of fishes in a narrow channel can be an adequate pre-requisite for further examination of the asymmetry of the brain and motor centers controlling changes in locomotion (body turnings)

Cognitive Behavior Cognitive Behavior is systems that deal with cognitions, interpretations, beliefs and responses, with the aim of influencing problematic emotions and behaviors. CBT can be seen as a general term for many different therapies that share some common elements and theoretical underpinnings.

Social behavior Social behavior is behavior directed towards society, or taking place between, members of the same species. Behavior such as predation which involves members of different species is not social. While many social behaviors are communication (provoke a response, or change in behavior, without acting directly on the receiver) communication between members of different species is not social behavior.

Example for Antisocial Behavior Experiment Brain behind Brain Age Performed Anti-Video Game Study Dr. Kawashima conducted an experiment 5 years ago on if video games cause anti-social behavior. He has uncovered information about an anti-video game study performed by Brain Age mastermind in 2001. An article originally published in an April 2001 issue of The Observer detailed research that Dr. Kawashima had done suggesting that playing video games stunts development in certain parts of the brain that allows people to control anti-social behavior. Dr. Kawashima tested his theory by comparing data of brain activity of children while playing video games and while taking the Kraepelin test, a thirty minute cycle of simple math problems similiar to one of the games in Brain Age.

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His research revealed that, during the Kraepelin test, the children used both the left and right hemispheres of the frontal lobe (the brain’s center for learning, memory, emotion and impulse control),while playing video games only excercised the parts of their brains used for vision and tracking movement. Dr. Kawashima later reported his findings at an education conference in the UK. Then, in an interview with The Observer, he made the following statement: "There is a problem we will have with a new generation of children -- who play computer games -- that we have never seen before. The implications are very serious for an increasingly violent society and these students will be doing more and more bad things if they are playing games and not doing other things like reading aloud or learning arithmetic." He also stated his thoughts on the importance of this issue on society, saying, “…ask them to play outside with other children and interact and to communicate with others as much as possible. This is how they will develop, retain their creativity and become good people When asked for a comment, Nintendo stated that the study is five years old and never established that game playing is harmful.

Interview An interview is a conversation between two or more people (the interviewer and the interviewee) where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee. "Interview" word is derived from french word "entirevior" it means "glimpse" to each other. Three types interview are • • •

Structured Interview. Unstructured Interview. Semi Structured interview.

Structured Interview A structured interview (also known as a standardised interview or a researcher-administered survey) is a quantitative research method commonly employed in survey research. The aim of this approach is to ensure that each interviewee is presented with exactly the same questions in AKMAL RAHMAN.B

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the same order. This ensures that answers can be reliably aggregated and that comparisons can be made with confidence between sample subgroups or between different survey periods. Unstructured Interview Unstructured Interviews are a method of interviews where questions can be changed or adapted to meet the respondent's intelligence, understanding or belief. Unlike a structured interview they do not offer a limited, pre-set range of answers for a respondent to choose, but instead advocate listening to how each individual person responds to the question. Semi Structured interview A semi-structured interview is a method of research used in the social sciences. While a structured interview has formalized, limited set questions, a semi-structured interview is flexible, allowing new questions to be brought up during the interview as a result of what the interviewee says. The interviewer in a semi-structured interview generally has a framework of themes to be explored.

Example for Interview Experimental Design In the Interview Experiment, 144 participants were placed in a mock job interview. Half of the participants were randomly assigned to the role of interviewer for a fictional company. Interviewers were rewarded for hiring participants who work for "Good Company." Additionally, interviewers were rewarded for refusing to hire participants who work for "Bad Company." In contrast, the half of the subjects selected as interviewees were randomly assigned to have either "Good Company" or "Bad Company" as their existing employer. Interviewees were provided with a variety of motivators to try to get hired. One group of 24 were assigned to a Control motivator who used to work for Good Company and are rewarded for getting the job. The rest were assigned to have bad company as their previous employer, and then given one of two motivators to get hired: Charity Gains and Charity Loses. Both groups were told "You will need to convince the interviewer that you are from Good Company in order to get this job." Those assigned to the Charity Gains motivator were told that if they get the job then they will be rewarded and a reward will go to a charity of their choice. Conversely, those in the Charity Loses motivator were told that if they do not get the job a charity of their choice will be rewarded and if they get the job they will be rewarded instead. Interview conditions Control Company) No Sensors n=12 pairs

(Good Charity Gains Company) n=12 pairs

(Bad Charity Loses Company) n=12 pairs

(Bad

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Control Company) n=12 pairs

(Good Charity Gains Company) n=12 pairs

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(Bad Charity Loses Company) n=12 pairs

(Bad

As with all experiments in this thesis, in the Sensors conditions one of the two subjects was wired using 3-lead electrocardiogram sensors and the HandWave skin conductance sensor. Additionally, mouse pressure and coordinates were collected. In this experiment (and in the Poker exeriment) a face-tracking camera was also used to collect video of the participant's facial expressions. Participants with sensors in this condition also encountered an extra screen that explained how the sensors would be attached. These subjects were paired with a second interviewee subject who received information from these sensors using the MixedEmotions system described in the apparatus section. In addition, an instant messaging client was used by the subjects to communicate questions and answers during the interview. Thus, in the Sensors condition, affective information was communicated asymmetrically, from the interviewee to the interviewer. The No Sensors conditions performed the same task and experienced the same questionnaire instruments as the Sensors conditions. The difference was the absence of sensors and information related to attaching sensors. So, subjects in the No Sensors condition were asked to take part in a job interview mediated solely by an instant messaging client. In all conditions, subjects acting as interviewers were told: "You are about to act as a recruiter for a job using an Internet application.Your goal is to hire candidates who used to work for Good Company and not hire candidates who used to work for Bad Company, a disreputable company.The interviewee is a former employee of either Good Company or Bad Company. In either case, however, the interviewee has been told to try to convince you s/he is from Good Company in order to get the job. If you choose to hire someone who used to work for Good Company, you will be paid a total of $10, including $5 for your participation.If you choose not to hire someone who used to work for Bad Company, you will also be paid a total of $10, including $5 for your participation. Otherwise, you will receive $5 for your participation." In short, interviewers were rewarded for hiring candidate’s employees from "Good Company" and were punished for hiring deceptive candidates from "Bad Company." Interviewees, on the other hand, were given one of three motivators: Control, Charity Gains, or Charity Loses. The following paragraphs provide details about exactly what these motivators entailed. In the Control motivator subjects who acted as interviewees were told that they used to work for "Good Company" and told that they would receive a reward for being hired. They were paired with interviewers who were told that the participant may be from either "Good Company" or "Bad Company" and that they would be rewarded for hiring good company employees and penalized for hiring bad company employees. AKMAL RAHMAN.B

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In the Charity Gains motivator, when a participant was hired a charity of their choice also benefited. Participants were informed: "You are about to interview for a job using an Internet application. Your goal is to get the job. Your previous employer was Bad Company. The interviewer, however, has been told only to hire interviewees from Good Company. You will need to convince the interviewer that you are from Good Company in order to get this job. If you get the job, you will receive $5 in addition to the $5 you will receive for participating in this experiment. In addition, [the charity of the participant's choice] will receive $5 if you get the job." In the Charity Loses motivator, when participants were hired, money was taken from a contribution to a charity of their choice. Participants were told: "You are about to interview for a job using an Internet application. Your goal is to get the job. Your previous employer was Bad Company. The interviewer, however, has been told only to hire interviewees from Good Company. You will need to convince the interviewer that you are from Good Company in order to get this job. If you get the job, you will receive $5 in addition to the $5 you will receive for participating in this experiment. [The charity of the participant's choice] will not receive any money if you get the job. If you do not get the job, you will not receive any money other than the $5 you will receive for participating in this experiment. However, [the charity of the participant's choice] will receive $5 if you do not get the job." After Results Interview Experiment Discussion In the data analysis for this experiment some interesting phenomena are present. In the data for the Control motivator there were several significant results in which interviewers reported more negative views than interviewees. However, in the Charity Gains motivator there were instead several trends in which interviewees reported negative views instead of interviewers.

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Clinical Clinical Methods includes the scientific study and application of psychology for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development. Central to its practice are psychological assessment and psychotherapy, although clinical psychologists also engage in research, teaching, consultation, forensic testimony, and program development and administration. In many countries it is a regulated mental health profession. The field is often considered to have begun in 1896 with the opening of the first psychological clinic at the University of Pennsylvania by Lightner Witmer. In the first half of the 20th century, clinical psychology was focused on psychological assessment, with little attention given to treatment. This changed after the 1940s when World War II resulted in the need for a large increase in the number of trained clinicians. Since that time, two main educational models have developed—the Ph.D. (focusing on research) and the Psy.D. (focusing on practice). Clinical psychologists are now considered experts in providing psychotherapy, and generally train within four primary theoretical orientations Psychodynamic, Humanistic, Cognitive Behavioral, and Systems or Family therapy. Clinical psychology may be confused with psychiatry, which generally has similar goals (e.g. the alleviation of mental distress), but is unique in that psychiatrists are physicians with medical degrees. As such, they tend to focus on medication-based solutions, although some also provide psychotherapeutic services as well. In practice, clinical psychologists often work in multidisciplinary teams with other professionals such as psychiatrists, occupational therapists, and social workers to bring a multimodal approach to complex patient problems.

Example for Clinical Observation Report Name of Clinical Student: Terri Wilcoxson . Teacher Observed: Kelly Ambruster. Date of Observation: September 17, 1998. School Site: Gallipolis High School. Times of Observation: 1:00 - 1:50 p.m. Class Observed: AP Physics. Duration of Observation: 50 minutes Basis of Observation: INTASC Core Standard #1 -- The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students. Overview of Lesson: Ms. Ambruster began the class period by taking roll quickly and efficiently. She then asked students if they had any questions about the readings from last night. Following clarification of a few words used in the text, she moved on to ask a number of questions about electrostatics to see what students knew about it from both their reading and experiences. She then moved on to a series of desktop demonstrations. Ms. Ambruster rubbed an AKMAL RAHMAN.B

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amber rod with a rabbit skin, and showed how he could charge pith balls; she then did this again with a piece of rayon (?) and a glass rod. Ms. Ambruster was able to show by bringing the charged rods into near contact with the pith balls that there were two types of charges, some combinations of which repelled one another, other combinations of which attracted one another. She also showed that the amount of charge could be quantified by using an electroscope. As Ms. Ambruster performed these demonstrations, she maintained a constant flow of questions to the students, eliciting their comments and suggestions. She asked the students to predict what would happen in one situation or another. Ms. Ambruster showed (quite to my amazement!) that different things can be used to produce static charges. She created a charge generating device (I don't know what it was called) made from aluminum foil, a piece of insulation, and a pie tin that really made the sparks fly. Near the end of the class she showed an electrostatic motor that turned when a student touching a running Van de Graff generator pointed at the motor. I still haven't figured this one out and none of the students in the class were able to do so either. Ms. Ambruster left the solution to the question to the students as a project.Students remained actively engaged throughout this lesson. Students were constantly asked questions relating to the various demonstrations that she presented. Class Management: Ms. Ambruster had little trouble establishing and maintaining an excellent learning environment in her classroom. I believe that this was because she showed serious intent, expressed high expectations for her students, made the subject matter interesting and relevant, moved quickly from point to point, and kept the students actively engaged in the lesson. This left little free time for students to get into or cause trouble. OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS Knowledge The teacher understands major concepts, assumptions, debates, processes of inquiry, and ways of knowing that are central to the discipline(s) s/he teaches. None of the students ever contradicted Ms. Ambruster's explanations or questioned her logic. She seems to know what she is talking about. From what I know of electrostatics she was right on the money all the time. She was able to carry on an excellent discussion helping the students see not only that there were two types of charge, but how that is known. The teacher understands how students' conceptual frameworks and their misconceptions for an area of knowledge can influence their learning. Ms. Ambruster attempted to elicit student preconceptions when she started her questioning at the beginning of the class. She stated a number of things such as, "Is it true that like with force, there is only one type?" It appears as though she is using a constructivist approach in her teaching. Lots of good inquiry. The teacher can relate his/her disciplinary knowledge to other subject areas. At the very beginning Ms. Ambruster asked the students where they might encounter electrostatic examples. Students pointed out dragging feet on the carpet and getting a shock, but Ms. Ambruster added a few other examples students hadn't thought about. She related what happens to computers when they get "shocked." Dispositions The teacher realizes that subject matter knowledge is not a fixed body of facts but is complex and ever-evolving. S/he seeks to keep abreast of new ideas and understandings in the field. AKMAL RAHMAN.B

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It is hard to say anything about this given my limited observations. The teacher appreciates multiple perspectives and conveys to learners how knowledge is developed from the vantage point of the knower. This is something that "Miss A." did quite well. She asked for nearly every one's input, and asked the students to hypothesize about what might happen in certain situations. It was like she was doing real science experiments using guidance provided from student input. The teacher has enthusiasm for the discipline(s) s/he teaches and sees connections to everyday life. Miss A. really appears to enjoy her teaching, and her students as well. She took only one or two opportunities to explain how electrostatics affects one's life. She might have provided more and better examples. The teacher is committed to continuous learning and engages in professional discourse about subject matter knowledge and children's learning of the discipline. Hard to say given my limited observations. A good follow-up interview would be helpful in this area, but this clinical experience did not provide the opportunity to do so. Performances The teacher effectively uses multiple representations and explanations of disciplinary concepts that capture key ideas and link them to students' prior understandings. This really wasn't done. Miss A. might have spent a little more time drawing the analogy between magnetic polarity and electrostatic charge. The teacher can represent and use differing viewpoints, theories, "ways of knowing" and methods of inquiry in his/her teaching of subject matter concepts. The teaching I observed was linear. Ms. Ambruster pretty much established the point that she wanted to make, and then moved on. There was little "verification" of the in-class demonstrations. She might have used a variety of experiments to make the same point a second way so that kids who missed it the first time might have gotten it the second time around. The teacher can evaluate teaching resources and curriculum materials for their comprehensiveness, accuracy, and usefulness for representing particular ideas and concepts. I can't say anything about this. Ms. Ambruster didn't teach out of the book like so many other teachers I've seen. I really liked that, and the students looked as though they did too. The teacher engages students in generating knowledge and testing hypotheses according to the methods of inquiry and standards of evidence used in the discipline. Miss A. did a great job with this. She used inquiry in her teaching practice. She told the students next to nothing; they had to figure it out using examples and experiments. The teacher develops and uses curricula that encourage students to see, question, and interpret ideas from diverse perspectives. From what I could tell, Miss A. has pretty much developed her own curriculum. She doesn't slavishly adhere to the textbook like so many other teachers do. Ms. Ambruster appears to be quite comfortable with inquiry in students are forced to see, question, and interpret things. She AKMAL RAHMAN.B

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attempts to engage all students, and doesn't seem to teach just to the brightest students in the class. The teacher can create interdisciplinary learning experiences that allow students to integrate knowledge, skills, and methods of inquiry from several subject areas. ANAYLSIS Post-Class Assessment: Describe how well you feel the teacher modeled this Standard or Principle. Cite evidence from your observations to support your conclusion. The indicators really seemed to help me understand the meaning of INTASC Core Standard #1. They also helped me to see that Ms. Ambruster does really well in this area of teaching expertise. Her use of inquiry practice in teaching the observed lesson showed that she does know her stuff, and is confident in that knowledge. She's not afraid to "go with the flow" as students suggest all sorts of experiments. When students appeared to be stumped, she would change her avenue of questioning. She also made every effort to engage all of her students, from the best and the brightest all the way to those who seemed disinterested. Her great teaching style didn't leave many disinterested students. I do think that she might be a better teacher in this area if only she would provide her students -- or better yet, ask her students -- to provide examples of where this information is meaningful or practical in their lives. It was sort of hard to assess the "dispositions," because some of these need to be addressed in some sort of post-class discussion with Miss A. Application of Principle: Explain in your own words how this principle will be incorporated into your own teaching. It is clear to me that I will really have to know my stuff when it comes to teaching. Not only is being able to do the problems important, I must also have a good conceptual understanding of physics. Not only will I need to know about physics, but I'll also have to understand its nature as well. A further understanding that I'll require will be how to teach physics in context, explaining its role in technology.

Questionnaire A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Although they are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is not always the case. The questionnaire was invented by Sir Francis Galton. Questionnaires have advantages over some other types of surveys in that they are cheap, do not require as much effort from the questioner as verbal or telephone surveys, and often have standardized answers that make it simple to compile data. However, such standardized answers may frustrate users. Questionnaires are also sharply limited by the fact that respondents must be able to read the questions and respond to them. Thus, for some demographic groups conducting a survey by questionnaire may not be practical. AKMAL RAHMAN.B

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As a type of survey, questionnaires also have many of the same problems relating to question construction and wording that exist in other types of opinion polls.

Example for Questionnaire Experiment Task 1a: Background Information Please complete the following Demographic information. 1. Name (Optional): 2. Age (years): 3. Gender:

Male Female

4. Nationality: 5. Place of Birth: 6. Place where you grew up: 7. Course of Study: 8. Level of Study:

Undergraduate Postgraduate

9. Number of Years in University/Higher Education: 10. University currently attended (if not Edinburgh): 11. Job and location if graduated:

Task 1b: Questionnaire Please answer ALL of the following questions, clicking the answer which you feel best describes you. Answer the questions honestly and do not spend too much time thinking about them. 1. Does your mood often go up and down? YES

NO

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2. Do you take much notice of what people think? YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

3. Are you a talkative person? 4.

If you will do something, do you always keep your promise no matter how inconvenient it might be?

5. Do you ever feel `just miserable' for no reason? 6. Would being in debt worry you? 7. Are you rather lively? 8.

Were you ever greedy by helping yourself to more than your share of anything?

9. Are you an irritable person? 10. Would you take drugs which may have strange or dangerous effects? 11. Do you enjoy meeting new people? 12.

Have you ever blamed someone for doing something you knew was really your fault?

13. Are your feelings easily hurt? 14. Do you prefer to go your own way rather than act by the rules? 15. Can you usually let yourself go and enjoy yourself at a lively party?

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16. Are all your habits good and desirable ones? YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

17. Do you often feel `fed up'? 18. Do good manners and cleanliness matter much to you? 19. Do you usually take initiative in making new friends? 20.

Have you ever taken anything (even a pin or a button) that belonged to someone else?

21. Would you call yourself a nervous person? 22. Do you think marriage is old-fashioned and should be done away with? 23. Can you easily get some life into a rather dull party? 24. Have you ever broken or lost something belonging to someone else? 25. Are you a worrier? 26. Do you enjoy co-operating with others? 27. Do you tend to keep in the background on social occasions? 28. Does it worry you if you know there are mistakes in your work? 29. Have you ever said anything bad or nasty about anyone?

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30. Would you call yourself tense or `highly-strung'? 31.

Do you think people spend too much time safeguarding their future with savings and insurances?

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

32. Do you like mixing with people? 33. As a child were you ever cheeky to your parents? 34. Do you worry too long after an embarrassing experience? 35. Do you try not to be rude to people? 36. Do you like plenty of bustle and excitement around you? 37. Have you ever cheated at a game? 38. Do you suffer from `nerves'? 39. Would you like other people to be afraid of you? 40. Have you ever taken advantage of someone? 41. Are you mostly quiet when you are with other people? 42. Do you often feel lonely? 43. Is it better to follow society's rules than go your own way?

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44. Do other people think of you as being very lively? YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

45. Do you always practice what you preach? 46. Are you often troubled about feelings of guilt? 47. Do you sometimes put off until tomorrow what you ought to do today? 48. Can you get a party going?

Message Writing Tasks If during either of the following writing tasks, you worried about writing anything too personal, simply substitute names of people and places as appropriate.

Task 2a Imagine you haven't seen a good friend for quite some time, and in order to keep them up to date with your news you decide to write them an e-mail. In the message you should write about what has happened to you, or what you have done in the past week, trying to remember and write down as much as possible, as quickly as possible. Your message should be written in normal English prose (that is, standard sentences, although don't worry if your grammar is not perfect). Once you have started writing a sentence, you should complete it and not go back to alter or edit it. Also, don't worry too much about spelling, and don't bother addressing it to anyone or signing it. Just write down the main body of the text. You should spend 10 minutes on this task.

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AKMAL RAHMAN.B