Environmental Psychology Lab
Course Description
This course gives an overview of key topics in Environmental Psychology including conservation behavior, attitudes towards the environment, human relationships with the environment, and the effects of the environment on mental health. We will also explore how these topics are researched by environmental psychologists. The course involves a final project where you will use an existing data set to answer a hypothesis associated with the topics covered in the course and write these results up into an APA-style research paper.
Example Assessments
Capstone Research Project
Throughout this course students have the opportunity to learn about various key theories and research methods that environmental psychologists use to address topics relating to how humans interact with their environment. The capstone project requires students, as a group, to pose a research question relevant to the topic and existing data source they have been assigned. Students then address that research question by analyzing the existing data set, present their findings as a group and write an individual APA-style research paper.
Throughout the quarter students complete several smaller assignments that build on each other and guide them to their final research paper:
Topic Article Worksheet
This step is designed to get students thinking about what research question they want to answer, a potential hypothesis that could address this research question, how the data they have been assigned could attempt to answer it, and what theories might be relevant to this question. This also allows me to give the students feedback and guidance early on and to shape the content I cover in upcoming lectures.
Download the assignment instructions
Three Article Breakdown
As part of any research project, students will need to read other papers. These are papers that ask the same (or a similar) question as the research question the students are asking. They might use the same (or similar) data set or method of answering that question. What students read during this stage should inform how they go about answering their own research question and they will ultimately include information about these papers in the Introduction section of their final paper.
It’s important to not leave locating and reading relevant articles until late in the research process. So, for this assignment, I have students find three peer-reviewed articles relevant to their research topic/data set and answer a few prompts about each of them.
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Group Research Project Proposal
Now that students have had some feedback on their initial ideas and we have covered some key theories and research methods relevant to environmental psychology they are ready to submit a full research proposal about their final research project. This step in the process is designed to:
Give students practice in APA-style writing
Make progress on a literature review for the background of their research question
Propose a more polished version of their research study
Allow myself and their peers to give feedback on their research proposal early enough for them to make any adjustments
The project proposal consists of two parts: a literature review of the topic of their study and a proposed study design. It is written in APA-style format and forms the basis of their final research paper. This assignment is similar to a grant proposal that researchers write in order to get funding for their studies. It’s an important part of the research process and an important skill to develop if you want to continue with research (either in graduate school or in industry).
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Peer Feedback
One of my favorite parts of research is getting to hear about other people’s projects and brainstorm ideas together. We do some of this in class together, but students also complete a peer feedback assignment to give specific feedback to their classmates based on their research proposal. They then also receive feedback on their research proposal from their classmates. Learning to give constructive feedback is an important skill that helps students in almost every aspect of their life.
This project is designed to give students practice at:
Identifying what parts of someone’s project need feedback,
Paying attention to what they want feedback on,
Supporting their peers in their learning and growth by acknowledging their successes,
Providing critical feedback that guides their peers supportively and avoids being unkind.
It also provides them with additional feedback for their research proposal outside of the feedback that I give them.
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Feedback Reflection
Enaging in academic work is a continuous dialogue. This dialogue happens between the person that creates the academic work and many other people - those students are communicating their ideas with, those evaluating them , and those they are working alongside with. Students are very familiar with the production of academic work (writing papers, answering test questions, or participating in class discussions), but this part of the assignment focuses on what happens after students produce that work and get feedback on it.
Sometimes receiving comments about their work can be anxiety producing for students, especially if there are elements of that feedback that are critical. But this part of the academic dialogue is just as important as the production part! This is where growth and learning happen.
This assignment encourages students, as they read the feedback from myself and their peers, to think about that feedback as guidance towards the success of their final project (as well as future projects) and enjoy the process of getting to work with their peers.
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Final Research Paper
This is the final product of the research that students have completed over the quarter. Students submit a complete research report in APA-style. It includes all components of a typical APA research paper, including a title page, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, references, and at least 1 figure. It is expected (and encouraged) that students revise the literature review and methods from their group project proposal to be the introduction and methods of their final paper.
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Reflection Journal
This assignment acts as a way of assessing active participation in the class as well as encouraging reflection on the material at different stages of learning.
The reflection journal consisted of:
Pre-class reflections - Each week there is a prompt for you to reflect on before you interact with the material for that week. This is designed to get you thinking more deeply about what is coming up, and also gives me a sense of what you are interested in and where your thoughts are at to help guide discussion in class.
Post-class reflections - Similar to your pre-class reflection, you will respond to a prompt after we’ve covered the material for the week with the things that stood out to you and what you would like to learn more about. This also includes some extra credit opportunities which reward you for further exploring the topics you are interested in.
To earn full credit, students must supply:
At least one full sentence per prompt (aim for 2-3 sentences)
Write in your own words
The journal was shared as a Google document which had the prompts available for students from the start of the quarter. It was assessed weekly which allowed me to see what parts of the course content students were interested in or struggling with. It also allowed me to give specific feedback on a regular basis and answer questions that students might not have felt comfortable answering in class.
Download a copy of the reflection journal
Teaching Evaluations
Quantitative Data
Response rate for both 2023 & 2024 was 30% out of a class of 28.
Qualitative Feedback
Comments on how the class created a welcoming and supportive learning environment that valued and supported equity, diversity and inclusion
2023
Debra created a learning environment helped by our class set up: since the class was like in a conference room, we all sat around the table conference style. She also encouraged people to speak whenever we had discussions about environmental topics, allowing everyone in the class to understand their classmates’ perspectives.
Professor had meaningful opportunities to participate and work with one another. Regularly cited limitations due to lack of cross-cultural data, WEIRD science.
She always made everyone feel very welcome and had a very positive attitude.
2024
Everyone was included and felt heard. There was an equal opportunity for everyone to learn and grow.
I have accommodations and my professor was extremely helpful in making sure that I was accommodated and successful in this course. I really appreciated the quick responses and helpful suggestions the professor made that helped me succeed in this course.
Not only did the professor regularly engage the class to seek varied perspectives, but they provided readings that encouraged a broadening of the subject at hand.
Comments on specific aspects of the course and/or teaching practices that particularly helped you to learn the material
2023
Debra provided a lot of background information prior to teaching it in lecture. She was also very welcoming of other points of view, noting to incorporate it into her own presentations for later. I believe that without these aspects, I wouldn’t have grasped environmental psychology the way that I did.
Lectures were always well structured and enabled reviewing of reading materials for better understanding.
She would go over the readings in class and ask for any questions before she moved on with anything.
2024
Office hours were really helpful and the professor was very accommodating for students that needed to have office hours at other times. She also made sure to listen to student emotions and help those that might need anything.
The justice lessons were very helpful at dismantling myths about who cares about the environment and why, which will help to level the disproportionate negative consequences of climate change.
I felt like I could always ask clarifying questions.
Comments on specific aspects of the course that helped you to feel engaged with the course material
2023
During lab she would always have us do activities that directly related to the work we were going to do and leading up to the final project.
Every lecture had several opportunities for engagement. Professor made sure to extend multiple learning opportunities when I was impacted by family duties/emergencies.
Since most of us in the class likely didn’t have much experience with the field of environmental psychology, Debra made sure to guide us along by having more broken down concepts, making environmental psychology feel more personal such as explaining place attachment theory as places that we cherish as kids and want to keep intact as adults.
2024
The lectures were very helpful, and I think I learned more in this lab about research and statistics than I have in any other class at UCSD. This was an amazing course and the professor set everyone up to succeed in any graduate program.
This professor always created assignments and group discussion activities that allowed engagement, learning, and understanding of the course material. Further, they always found ways to highlight what students were doing well as a means of encouraging them to continue expanding from that point.
Comments about the Reflection Journal assignment
2024
I enjoyed going back to the material on Fridays or Saturdays and it reminded me of what I had learned earlier in the week. It was very helpful when taking the weekly quiz to have that refresher.
It helped me analyze my knowledge on the topic and it was very insightful as she gave back effective feedback.
They were amazing tools because they allowed me to write my concerns to my professor directly and get feedback in a timely manner. I think every lab and class should have this tool.