Assignment: Learning And Cognition Handbook

The primary goal of the Learning and Cognition Handbook assignment is to integrate concepts from the discipline of learning and cognitive psychology into a usable and professional guide that is designed for a specific audience based on your career goals. The purpose of this handbook is to share helpful strategies and apply what you have learned from the course to six major topics in the field. You will incorporate your findings from required sources and the relevant sources you researched in the Week 2 Discipline-Based Literature Review, as well as those from the Week 3 Assignment: Choosing Your Focus.

To complete this assignment, you may utilize the Learning and Cognition Handbook template or create your own using the template as a guide. Your handbook should include the sections listed below, incorporating a minimum of one visual (e.g., table, figure, or image (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.) with a maximum of five visuals per section. Each image must be retrieved and cited based on current copyright laws. You may wish to use the Where to Get Free Images guide for assistance with accessing freely available public domain and/or Creative Commons licensed images.

Handbook Sections:

Table of Contents
List all sections and subsections included in the handbook with the applicable page numbers.

Preface (100 to 150 words)
Provide an overview of the handbook and its potential use by your chosen audience.

Introduction to the Major Topics (200 to 300 words)
Provide an introductory summary of the six topics listed below and discuss any careers in psychology specifically related to at least one of them: Career (Teacher)

• Traditional learning theories: Operant and classical conditioning
• Traditional learning theories: Behaviorism and social learning theory
• Attention and memory
• Decision-Making
• Language acquisition
• Organizational and lifelong learning

Describe how one or more of these areas may be connected to your future career goals. (Teacher)

Major Topics (1 to 2 pages for each major topic)
Communicate the extent to which the six major topics of learning and cognition affect related sub-topics by synthesizing the course learning principles and/or theories. Consider how these sub-topics may be related to your future career goals. For instance, if you intend to become an applied behavior analyst, behaviorism and related technique for learning may be directly connected to your future role. For each major topic, apply basic research methods and skeptical inquiry to explain the theoretical perspectives and empirical research that substantiate the relationship between the topic and at least two related sub-topics. In your review, consider how these topic and sub-topics are directly connected to evaluations and interventions in psychology practice in various fields. Focus on the areas most related to your future area of practice, paying particular attention to how theories are examined in research studies. The following are some sub-topics to consider:

• Comprehension
• Operant and classical conditioning
• Behaviorism
• Social learning theory
• Problem solving
• Memory development/retention
• Lifelong learning
• Individual and group learning
• Organizational learning
• Mentorship
• Apprenticeship models of learning
• Effects of demographic differences (e.g., gender, socioeconomics, religious affiliation, race) on learning

Although creative liberties are encouraged, all information incorporated should be supported and professionally presented through the consistent application of ethical principles and adherence to professional standards of learning and cognition psychology as applied to the chosen audience.

Assignment: Learning And Cognition Handbook

Conclusion (200 to 300 words)
Summarize the importance of the topics within the learning and cognition domain and their applicability within the psychology profession for the chosen audience.

• The Handbook….. Must be 12 to 15 pages in length (see instructions and rubric for each section and sub-topic) following the Learning and Cognition Handbook template as a guide. Although a handbook differs from a written paper, all citations and references must be formatted according to APA style (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a title page with the required information from the handbook template:
  • Title of handbook
  • Student’s name
  • Institution’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must use at least six scholarly sources in addition to the required resources.
  • The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
• Must include the sections and subsections required as indicated in the handbook template.
• Must address the topics with critical thought and substantiated assertions.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
• NO PLAGIARISM                                NO PLAGIARISM                NO PLAGIARISM

Example of the handbook and material that can be used is attached.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, including a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two-sentence responses, simple statements of agreement, or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’s level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’s level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.