Course Requirements
Track 1 - Thesis Project
Track 1 or the honors thesis project follows a traditional “mini-masters” model in which students work with a faculty mentor to develop an original research document incorporating original research in a student’s area of interest. Students interested in the honors thesis track must identify a faculty mentor BEFORE enrolling in PSYC 4701 .
Applications for the Track 1 or Honors thesis track will be accepted on a rolling basis given admission is predicated on a faculty mentor.
The guidelines below are meant to be flexible enough to allow for student creativity while also providing a roadmap.
During the first semester (PSYC 4701 ), the main steps students work through include:
- Development of inquiry, the student identifies their topic of inquiry or research question.
- Conduct a literature review to provide the relevant information to readers/observers to understand your project and your questions. (Together steps 1 and 2 cover the development of the project Introduction and literature review.)
- Define the product and present the hypothesis, expectations and goals. Is your product going to be a research manuscript? A pedagogical advancement in teaching psychology? Or a creative project with a unique product? (This will be the description of study; i.e. Present Study section of manuscript.)
- Describe, in detail, the steps you are going to take to meet your project goals. What procedures and methods will you use? What type of data will you be working with (if applicable) and how will you collect it? What planned analysis (if applicable)? Basically, describe in detail how you plan to conduct your project. A reader should be able to reconnect your project based on the details you provide. (This will form the methods section of your project proposal.)
The guiding steps above will yield a proposal comprising a literature review of relevant information, a project description, and planned methods and analyses. The Proposal will be due at the end of the first semester. At the end of the first semester there is also a formal presentation of the proposal before a committee of faculty members and other interested students.
During the second semester (PSYC 4702 ), the student follows through on the activities they proposed in PSYC 4701. Traditionally, students have conducted the research and/or analyses described in the proposal: they gather data, analyze the data, and write a final APA manuscript style honors thesis. At the end of the semester, there is a formal presentation of the completed thesis in front of a faculty committee and other interested students.
Track 2 - Directed Project
Track 2 or the honors directed project is an applied research document involving research and application to a real-world problem or opportunity. Students interested in the direct project track do NOT need to identify a faculty mentor.
Applications for the directed project track will be due each year on March 31st. If accepted into the Honors Track 2 program, PSYC 4701 will be completed in the fall semester and PSYC 4702 will be completed in the spring semester of the academic year following the March 31st application. The directed project track follows a traditional academic year cycle.
During the Fall semester (PSYC 4701 ), students will be required to pick two sub-areas or sub-specialties of psychology (e.g., clinical, neuro, developmental, health, cognition, social, etc.) to view a particular research topic of their choice. Students will then spend the semester examining the major concepts, philosophies, and theoretical approaches together in a “big picture” understanding of how the research topic is explored from their chosen specialty perspectives. At the end of the semester, students will have three products reviewed by the Honors in Psychology program director and two other faculty members holding positions on the department’s Honors Committee.
For PSYC 4701 , students will complete a 1500-2500-word literature review (product #1) accompanied by an annotated bibliography that includes 15-20 peer reviewed sources (product #2).
The third product is a brief recorded presentation and accompanying slides of the literature review. This presentation should be conference style talks in the form of research spotlights, limited to 3 minutes, that reflect the content of literature review (i.e., nothing extra). Three-minute research presentations are helpful in the development of academic, presentation, and research communication skills. The three-minute presentation format requires presenters to synthesize ideas and condense research findings and to craft presentations that are clear, concise, engaging, and convince a non-specialist audience of its importance and significance.
During the Spring semester (PSYC 4702 ), students will create a final product that integrates the project literature review submitted at the end of the previous semester and reflect on what this combined approach contributes to our understanding of their chosen research topic. The final product should be an alternative format (e.g. Book, Podcasts, Portfolio, etc.), not a traditional research manuscript. Students are encouraged to develop a product that aligns with their personal and/or professional goals. Products will be disseminated either on the Department of Psychological Science’s website or presented at an undergraduate research conference.
Final products will be reviewed by the Honors in Psychology program director and two other faculty members holding positions on the department’s Honors Committee.
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