Hey Whadda 'bout a Masters!??

Good morning! I just figured out its been about five days since writing. Didn’t mean to be so neglectful. We’ve had a very busy week since last Saturday. About the only thing we’ve got on our mind is the Masters Degree. Our mind has had some pretty big switches in thought though. We changed the Universities we were interested in, and majors for that matter. We’re now fairly committed to a Masters of Psychology with a Specialty in education. We’re going with Capella instead of Western Governors University, but both have been on-line schools.

It has taken some soul searching to get to this point. I got as far as the point of thinking that ... still no matter what ... my basic desire is to understand how the mind works. I am most interested in staying within the field of developmental disabilities, and with adults in particular. Besides studies of getting people back to work, this is virgin territory. I am going to need understanding abnormal psychology, because some of our clients have or will have this extra obstacle, but primarily, I want to study how people learn. I still have goals in establishing programs for learners. And, we are happy to note that we can take a few extra classes to help us with funding for non-profit and grant writing. But, that is a ways down the line.

All, but these last two courses are all in the field of psychology. That makes me feel real good, because as much as I like education, I feel more comfortable in a base that I’m familiar with. I also know that I want to be around other psychology students. It’s been a pretty good bunch of folks from what I’ve seen so far. Hehe there is a side advantage in thinking that also they are the least to be surprised with my own disability of multiple personalities. I find some comfort there.

I’m going to list out the courses that we’re most interested in taking. I figure that the program is going to take just about two years and it’s going to cost me a loan of $29,000. I believe $6,000 of that money is the money they add just to take care of incidental costs, such as books, technology, whatever. I’m hoping to use some of this money to pay off my computer. Let’s see $24,400 for 16 courses, $2,000 books at $250 each quarter, and $2,000 computer ... that would leave $400 slip away money. K. That works. That is a big concern in the back of my mind off my mind due to the amount of interest on the new computer. Also, we’ll save $3,240 over the next year because the school loan we’re currently paying for will be deferred. YAYYYY! The cost includes a few extra classes to substantiate my needs. BTW - Each quarter is 12 weeks long ... so it seems like we get a week off every three months! If you want to skip the next part (courses), please do, or otherwise read on. We’ve been immersed in these thoughts.

Courses:

PSY7011 - Foundations of Psychology Master's Learners - 5 credits (May, June, July - 2005)

Learners describe professional roles, organizations, licensor requirements and codes of ethics in the field of psychology. Learners identify and describe their choice of study in psychology and the educational steps necessary to accomplish their goal. PSY7011 and PSY7012 must be taken concurrently by master’s learners in their first quarter.

PSY7012 - Masters Learner Success Lab - 0 credits (May, June, July - 2005)

This lab is designed to provide new master’s learners the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in their academic programs. The lab familiarizes learners with the Capella online environment and support resources provided to ensure success. Learners build skills in the selection and use of methods, techniques, and library resources. Working with the academic advisor, learners will develop a degree completion plan. PSY7012 is an advisor-led course taken in the first quarter in conjunction with PSY7011, and carries no credit.

PSY7006 - Research and Writing for Graduate Learners - 4 credits (July, August, September - 2005)

This course is designed to prepare graduate learners for the rigors of academic writing. Academic writing requires a series of related critical thinking and writing skills, including: understanding the nature of academic research; developing strong arguments based on primary and secondary research; evaluating, summarizing, paraphrasing, and citing sources; drafting, revising, and editing multiple drafts of major projects; and producing clear, accurate, and error-free prose. Because this is
a writing course, learners should expect to write a lot: the course includes weekly writing assignments, several short writing projects, and one long writing project. Learners will submit a final portfolio at theend of the course.

PSY7210 - Lifespan Development - 5 credits (July, August, September - 2005)

A comprehensive survey of contemporary and classical theory and research related to physical, cognitive, psychological, and social development throughout the lifespan. Particular attention will be given to topics in the areas of human development that have applications for psychologists working in
clinical, educational, and organizational settings.

PSY7410 - Psychology of Learning - 5 credits (October, November, December - 2005)

Classical areas of learning theory are surveyed, including instrumental and classical
conditioning paradigms, habituation, reinforcement variables, stimulus generalization and transfer, and memory. Current theory, relevant research, and application to clinical, educational, and organizational settings are also reviewed in this course.

PSY7421 - Cognitive/Affective Psychology - 5 credits (October, November, December - 2005)

Introduction to the normal and psychopathological factors of cognitive and emotional functions on behavior. These include learning, perception, imagining, language, memory, reasoning, affective processes, and judging. The course examines the organization of the perceptual world into a unified and hierarchical pattern of belief, attitudes, and expectancies. These dynamics will be applied to contemporary issues and psychological problems in human behavior.

PSY7520 - Social Psychology - 5 credits (January, February, March - 2006)

Overviews behavior that is influenced by the presence of others, or behavior that is under the control of society. Interpersonal relationships, social cognition, social inference, emotion, and personality will be considered. The social psychology of decision making, attitude formation, and social attribution will be reviewed and applied to contemporary issues. Application of social psychological theory and research will be applied to various clinical, educational, and organizational settings.

PSY7540 - Multicultural Perspectives in Human Behavior - 5 credits (January, February, March - 2006)

An examination of substantive and theoretical issues concerning the application of psychological principles in a variety of culturallydiverse populations. Issues to be addressed are the role of culture-specific programming, special issues and needs of cultural subgroups, and psychological approaches to working with culture-specific issues. Current theory and research will be applied to specific clinical, educational, and organizational issues.

HS7501 - Fundraising Strategies for Non-Profit Organizations - 4 quarter credits (April, May, June - 2006)

This course examines a variety of strategies for securing resources for a non-profit organization such as donor research, annual giving, endowment and capital campaigns, major gifts, planned giving, social enterprise, and special events. The key practices, principles, and processes of fundraising are also analyzed to enable the non-profit executive to create, participate in, and manage fund development programs and staff.

HS7502 - Grant Proposal Development and Administration - 4 quarter credits (April, May, June - 2006)

Grant funding is one of the major keys to the financial survival of non-profit organizations. This course provides insights into the success strategies for grantseeking such as effective research, compelling prose, and constructive relationships, and for grant-making perspectives such as effective writing and proposal preparation. A comprehensive overview of private and corporate philanthropies is examined along with other research resources including the Internet.

 

PSY7610 - Tests and Measurements - 5 credits (July, August, September - 2006)

Introduction to the general area of mental measurement. Theory and content of measuring devices in the fields of intelligence, interests, personality, and special aptitudes will be reviewed. Includes an analysis of the psychometric procedures used to develop and validate educational and psychological instruments. Attention will be given to the appropriate applications of each type of methodology. Specific techniques used to facilitate proper interpretation of test scores such as percentiles, standard errors of measurement, validity and reliability indices, and standard scores will be discussed. The professional standards for test development and use will also be covered. Ethical and legal considerations of testing and research with human participants as set forth by the American Psychological Association (APA) are also considered as a part of this course.

PSY7620 - Inferential Statistics - 5 credits (July, August, September - 2006)

Application of parametric statistical procedures to psychological research and the strengths and limitations of conducting quantitative studies. Sampling issues, experimental design, and concerns of internal validity will be examined. Tests of difference between and among groups and correlation will be studied. This course may involve the use of software in the analysis of data sets provided by the instructor.

PSY7630 - Qualitative Analysis - 5 credits (October, November, December - 2006)

This course covers qualitative methods appropriate to content of phenomenological, observational, and ethnological research. Emphasis will be given to such methods as case studies, interviews, narrative journals, and field surveys. Data analysis techniques for qualitative data will be covered.

PSY7650 - Research Methods - 5 credits (October, November, December - 2006)

A review of behavioral science research designs and methods appropriate for applied psychologists. Topics include philosophy of science, ethical issues in research with human subjects, hypothesis formulation, experimental and quasi-experimental designs, measurement, descriptive designs, and the analysis and interpretation of data. Application of research methods to clinical, organizational, and educational settings will be emphasized. Application of the skills gained in the course will be applied to the learner’s dissertation and other research projects.

PSY8110 - Teaching psychology - 5 credits (January, February, March - 2007)

This course will review traditional and current methods of formulating objectives of instructions; examination of student characteristics which affect learning; discussion of basic learning processes; analysis of instructional variables which affect learning; selection of instructional methods, technologies, and materials; evaluation of learning outcomes; and evaluation of the instructional methods and systems appropriate to teaching psychology courses.

PSY8170 - Principles of Instructional Design - 5 credits (January, February, March - 2007)

Application of learning principles and cognitive information processes to the acquisition of classroom educational outcomes. Emphasis is given to the design of instructional
strategies that meet the educational learning needs of individual students.

PSY9101 - Master's Integrative Project - 5 credits). (April, May, June - 2007)

This capstone project provides learners in the academic tracks an opportunity to demonstrate mastery of knowledge, scholarship, and research proficiencies in the identified field of psychology

Wow! Still trying to get over it each time we read the course descriptions. Every word seems to be loaded with learning implications. Everything seems relevant to the work I do, or more so propose to do. I think I accept this explosion in my mind more by going over and over it. We’re a little frustrated this morning, because we’d found something yesterday that allowed us to dig into depth about what happens in each of these classes. It included the syllabus and such. Can’t figure out for the life of me how to get back there. I just want to be absorbing new knowledge and preparing my mind for concentrated studying.

As far as the regular site for the school Capella.edu, I have read almost every single link. I’ve got a terribly snoopy mind that wants to keep figuring things out. Not sure how that happens. We still worry about our memory, but Dr. M. was saying, we actually have a good memory just have trouble accessing it. But, by doing the degree on line, we have at our finger tips accessibility to what we write, think and what’s been written already by others. This is going to help us a lot.

From my understanding a "good" student will pry into how others are processing thoughts on the same subject matter too. Each class has a message board that is initiated by the Prof. This is to continue a thread of conversation about the topics on hand. From what I saw, participating in these "debates" is like 30% of your grade. And, you have to obtain a 3.0 or A/B average to remain in the program, and to maintain your funding. I’m now in that anticipation stage of questioning if I’ll be at least equal to my peers. I need to stop asking the question, "Am I smart enough." Seems like this is more a psychological means of punishing our esteem. Dr. M. was trying to help me understand our tendencies of thought.

Seems like what we aren’t able to do is keep a constant sense of self-appreciation for who we are or what we know. It’s as if we are only the "person" we were "up to" during our last conversation. I know this is the consequence of being a multiple. I don’t believe we have what might be considered an ego identity. We hold many. We adapt our identity to the other person. Instead of having an ego defense, we seem to defend the other’s ego integrity. If this makes sense... We don’t often think in terms of ego. But, it all seems plausible. V? Your thoughts?

Anyway ... our intent is to begin the grad program on May 2nd. We’re hoping all the cardsfall in the right order over the next week or two. I’ve deposited my admissions fee, filled out the application for enrollment and taken care of most the financial fancy foot work. There is a waiting process to wait for all the paperwork to catch up, but it is incredible how much is able to be done on-line. And, they’re checking process at the University is phenomenal. For every step I have or have not taken, an admissions counselor and financial aid person has made sure all's in order.  They pick up exactly who is where within their network.  I think it will be the same during actual school time, because I saw the log you can look at to note your time spent on each part of the program.  The University is based in Minneapolis. That’s the same city as I was born! YAYYYYYYYYY! An Omen!  And, one more thing ... being in the program alows us on-line use of Johns Hopkin Univerity libray!!!

When in the process of applying, you work yourself down a checklist. Most of the tasks seem to have a point toward the end where they flash, "Hey, you’ve done it! You’ve completed another section." Well, not exactly, but it feels like that. I’m fairly sure that is going to be the general educational experience of on-line learning. They have a list of things you need to do, and your chore is to knock them off one at a time. That is the second 30% of the grade.

The last 40% of the grade seems to be in the completion of some integrative course project. It would depend what the course is as to whether it is a test, paper, or something else. *Ugh* shuttering at the thought of taking tests again. What’s the term? It’s going to be "tough?!"

As you might have noted, we’re taking 10 credits almost every quarter. This is a "full-load." I think the ratio is for every course, you are to study for about 10-15 hours a week. This doesn’t seem real outrageous as long as things on the outside world are going pretty normal. We talked to Dr. M. quite a bit about getting sick. This iswhat has happened to us since we started back to college in ‘90. Dr. M. Rephrased it in that we’re at a "new deal." We haven’t been sick for almost two years. He thinks we’ve gotten better able to handle the crises’ that have come our way and will continue to do so.

Sure hope so ...

When not sick, we’ve been able to maintain A/B work. Shoot grades! This is terrible! Already psyching ourselves in the wrong direction.

Ok, clear path here!

Can you believe ... Right at the start ... they are going to be teaching us how to write logically!!! Won’t that be somethin!

Hmm, just thinking here ... If I were to be preparing psychologically ... how would I accomplish that ... and the thought came to mind that I might want over the next couple of weeks, not only to keep a clear vision of work and grantwriting skills updated, not to mention house priorities, but as well, maybe I should finish/restart that book on "How to Read a Book." That would seem to be a fairly handy thing over the next couple of years. I wonder if it is in my kitchen, or like I think ... down in the car. Damn. *Sigh* Quite that! Not going to overcome us! Going to have to start getting mail too. :( Oh yeah, and lest we forget, we’re going to make a real dinner today. Maybe I should defrost that chicken in the microwave? Hmm, we’ll worry about it in a couple of hours.

Best get on with it! Need to make good use of time :)

Happy mi!