If anyone has some room for an elective this seems like an excellent
opportunity for the spring.

>Date: Sun, 01 Oct 2000 11:48:07 -0400
>From: Christopher Wolfe <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Wolfe Graduate Seminar
>X-Sender: [log in to unmask]
>To: Dr Alex Thomas <[log in to unmask]>
>MIME-version: 1.0
>Original-recipient: rfc822;[log in to unmask]
>
>Alex, Please make this seminar known to your graduate students. I
>will also send you hard copies. Thanks! -Chris
>
>Graduate Psychology Seminar
>
>PSY 620 (3 Credits)
>Cognition in Cyberspace:
>Thinking, Learning, and Experimentation
>on the World Wide Web
>
>Spring 2001
>Mondays 7:00 PM - 9:40 PM
>
>Semester Topic: Cognition in Cyberspace: Thinking, Learning, and
>Experimentation on the World Wide Web.
>
>Prerequisites: Graduate standing. General familiarity with the World
>Wide Web is assumed, but no specific technical knowledge is expected.
>
>Instructor: Christopher Wolfe, 127 Peabody Hall, 529-5670, [log in to unmask]
>
>This graduate seminar examines the role of cognitive psychology in
>cyberspace and the increasing influence of the World Wide Web (Web)
>on cognitive psychology. The Web may be thought of as a cognitive
>technology, and psychology has much to contribute to the Web. For
>example, contemporary learning theory has the potential to improve
>Web-based education. Similarly, theories of information processing
>may lead to development of better search engines. The Web also offers
>new tools and new phenomena for psychologists to explore. For
>example, psychologists are beginning to conduct survey and
>experimental research on-line - an exciting prospect that is
>encumbered with methodological and ethical difficulties.
>       To facilitate our exploration of cognition in cyberspace, the
>seminar will be organized around three modules:
>o Information Processing on the World Wide Web
>o Conducting Psychological Research on the World Wide Web
>o Learning and Teaching on the World Wide Web
>
>"Information Processing on the World Wide Web" explores the way
>people search for, retrieve, and utilize, and make sense of
>information on the Web, and turn "information" into "knowledge." The
>first module will explore the theory of information, the way
>computers process digital information, and human information
>processing. Search strategies and the design of search engines will
>be of particular interest in this module. Here we will consider the
>psychology of individual differences, as well as general theories,
>with the goal of understanding matches and mismatches between
>cognitive styles and Web-based information systems. Students will
>design and implement an evaluation of search engines and search
>strategies using psychological theories and methods.
>"Conducting Psychological Research on the World Wide Web" is the next
>course module. Here we will consider various techniques and resources
>for conducting psychological research on the Web. We will examine the
>literature on Web-based surveys and experiments, and contemplate the
>Web as a source of psychological data. Students will design and
>conduct on-line empirical research projects.
>The final module, "Learning and Teaching on the World Wide Web"
>explores the nature of learning and teaching in cyberspace. The Web
>poses special challenges and opportunities as a learning environment.
>Topics of particular interest include learning styles and the Web,
>reasoning and comprehension of Web-based materials, informal learning
>environments on the Web, and teaching psychology on the Web. Because
>people are social animals, the Web is also a social technology. Thus,
>these explorations will include discussions of social identities on
>the Web, the emergence of "virtual communities" and other
>psychosocial aspects of Web-based communication related to teaching
>and learning. Students will have the option of creating or assessing
>educational resources on the Web in this module.
>
>Texts: Course readings will be selected from a variety of books and
>Web sites such as:
>The American Psychological Association Web Site,
>The Dragonfly Web Pages (www.muohio.edu/dragonfly/), and
>Wolfe, C. R. (in press) Learning and teaching on the World Wide Web.
>San Diego, CA.: Academic Press.
>
>Readings will also be selected from psychology research journals including:
>Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers,
>Cognitive Technology,
>CyberPsychology & Behavior,
>Journal of Technology in Human Services, and
>Memory & Cognition.
>

-----------------------------
Alex Thomas
Miami University
201 McGuffey Hall
Oxford, OH 45056
(513) 529-6632
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