Much like a crock pot used to cook large meals with minimal effort, data science can be used to improve efficiency, quality, and edibility of your products. Automation, simple algorithms, and machine learning (i.e. using data to create predictive models) are all tools that can be utilized to increase efficiency and accuracy and reduce costs, while visualization techniques help to communicate your analyses clearly and in an easy to digest way.
Although the vast majority of students who declare majors in psychology claim that they aspire to continue their education in graduate school, the reality is that most psychology graduates will instead enter the workforce. The Center for Workforce Studies of the American Psychological Association estimates that approximately 73 percent of psychology majors will end up using the knowledge and skills they acquired in some kind of workforce job after graduation (Lin & Stamm, 2018).
Contemporary challenges — such as climate change, and food, energy and water security — demand that people think scientifically. These challenges are often complex and interrelated; for example, society’s increasing demand for energy contributes to human-induced climate change, which in turn, limits freshwater and food supplies (Wheeler & Von Braun, 2013). While many socio-scientific challenges are seriously impacting local, regional and global communities, an increasing availability of information has contributed to what many call a “Post-Truth Era,” where emotions and personal beliefs override scientifically valid evidence and explanations. Combating mythological and unproductive thinking in the face of current change requires increased scientific literacy, which involves knowing both what scientists know and how scientists come to know what they know.
Imagine that you are one of the 125,000 individuals who just earned your bachelor’s degree in psychology. Congratulations. Now what?
Recently, in my educational psychology class, I overheard two students talking about how they were right-brain thinkers (i.e., are holistic thinkers, problem solve using intuition, creative, etc.).
Two weeks later, I heard my one of my developmental research methods students say, “I think the best way to study is to use color-coded highlighters” followed by “It also helps me on tests when I listen to lectures because I am an auditory learner.”
For many students graduation is a few months away. Unfortunately, chances are many of them haven’t taken the necessary steps to prepare for life after college. Of course, some of them will be on their way to graduate school. But what about the roughly 72 percent of students (National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2018) who will be directly entering the workforce?
As a new teacher, I spent most of my time focused on instruction, my primary concern being what I needed to teach and how I was going to teach it. Assessment and grading was at best a nuisance and at worst a necessary requirement. Needless to say, my consideration of assessment and grading was an afterthought, usually poorly developed and poorly constructed measurements of student learning.
There is a growing body of research which suggests that blogging can enhance education through reflective practice and can help you to look at your own experiences to improve the way you work. In addition, the emerging field of blog psychology tells us that blogging brings a host of mental health benefits, and it offers us opportunities to expand our knowledge.
Interest in Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology, the psychology of the workplace, has gained a lot of traction in recent years. Unfortunately, even with increasing interest many Intro to Psychology students, especially non-psychology majors, rarely get exposed to this dynamic field. Why is this exposure important? First and foremost it broadens a student’s knowledge and understanding of psychology’s application in various contexts. This was the main reason I was drawn to I-O as an undergraduate. I attended a predominately business-oriented college and initially planned to major in economics and finance. That changed when I was introduced to I-O — the perfect marriage of my desire to major in business and my new-found interest in psychology. Secondly, understanding I-O can be extremely beneficial in navigating the world of work, an important skill for students who are starting their careers.