STEP - A System for Teaching Experimental Psychology

为了了解心理学中进行实证研究的意义，学生需要设计和分析他们自己的实验。然而，学生通常很少与使用微型计算机作为一种有效的实验室工具进行真正的互动。问题是缺乏允许本科生自己进行实验的软件。E-Prime系统的第一个版本于1999年夏天发货，为解决这一问题开辟了一条全新的途径。E-Prime是一个强大的商业实验生成系统。由于E-Prime正在成为心理学实验建设的标准，现在有可能构建一个基于网络的资源，它使用E-Prime作为各种教学材料的交付引擎。我们将这个系统称为STEP(实验心理学教学系统)。这个项目有七个具体目标。1.构建一套适用于心理学入门课程的经典实验。2.建设100个额外的实验作为高级本科生的榜样。3.制作计算机“向导”和QuickTime视频，教授实验创造。4.编写教程材料，向学生展示如何生成30个经典实验。5.编写讲师手册，其中包含E-Prime样例实验与当前实验设计和实验心理学教科书中的特定主题之间的超文本标记语言链接。6.与E-Prime开发团队合作，加入对实验心理学教学很重要的新功能。特别是，这些将包括显示和控制多媒体、管理调查和记录正在进行的观察行为的能力。7.创建支持STEP所需的社会结构。该项目将通过前测-后测设计、项目分析、客观使用数字和可用性研究进行评估。

In order to learn what it means to conduct empirical research in Psychology, students need to design and analyze their own experiments. However, students typically have few real interactions with the use of the microcomputer as a productive laboratory tool. The problem has been the lack of software that allows undergraduates to build experiments on their own. The shipping of the first version of the E-Prime system during the summer of 1999 opens up a fundamentally new way of addressing this problem. E-Prime is a robust, commercial experiment generation system. Because E-Prime is becoming recognized as the standard for building experiments in Psychology, it is now possible to construct a web-based resource that uses E-Prime as the delivery engine for a wide variety of instructional materials. We will call this system STEP (System for the Teaching of Experimental Psychology). There are seven specific goals in this project. 1. Building a package of classic experiments appropriate for introductory psychology classes. 2. Building 100 additional experiments as examples for the advanced undergraduate. 3. Building computer "wizards" and QuickTime videos to teach experiment creation. 4. Building tutorial materials to show students how to generate 30 classic experiments. 5. Writing instructor manuals with HTML links between sample E-Prime experiments and specific topics covered in current textbooks on experimental design and experimental psychology. 6. Working with the E-Prime development team to include new features that are important for the teaching of experimental psychology. In particular, these will include ability to display and control multimedia, administer surveys, and record ongoing observational behaviors. 7. Creating the social structures needed to support STEP. The project will be evaluated using a pretest-posttest design, item analysis, objective usage figures, and usability studies.