Senate Document Number 0502F

Date of Senate Approval 12/10/02

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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

APC Document 2:   Computer Competency in Psychology

Effective Date: Fall 2003

Add: on page 191, "Under Major in Psychology, III. Other departmental requirements"

3. Computer competency: PSYC 201, 202 fulfills the computer competency requirements for

Psychology majors. Students must:

a. complete a literature review using an Internet search.

b. prepare an APA-style paper using a word processing program.

c. use computer software for data manipulation and analysis.

Impact: Implementation of these computer competencies does not require either curricular revision or new staff. PSYC 201 and PSYC 202 currently are requirements for the Psychology major, and three existing faculty share responsibility for providing sections of these courses. Our ability to meet student demand for these courses is historically below adequate levels and we expect this to continue to be problematic for our program. However, the introduction of these competencies does not exacerbate this existing problem.

Rationale: Our three goals define the basic computer competencies necessary to work effectively in psychology or an allied field. Because most high school students are required to achieve basic computer literacy prior to graduation, our goals in many cases involve refinement of existing skills plus an introduction to our professional report format. These three activities have long been elements of our Research Methods sequence, and this proposal serves to formalize their roles within those courses.