PSY 4832 - Sports and Exercise Psychology

Personal Behavior Modification Project: (required)

Students are to choose a specific goal that applies to their particular sport or exercise performance.  Goal(s) must be established that are realistic but that will serve to push you beyond your current level of participation in your physical activity.  If you do not participate in any physical activity (sport or exercise), initiation and at least temporary maintenance of this may be one of your goals. Technique(s) that you read about to reach optimal performance should be used. A brief summary of your goal, what you did to reach your goal, how you kept track of your progress (e.g., self-monitoring charts or graphs), and why you think your self-interventions worked or not, will be turned in at the end of the semester.  Specifically, you need to:

1. Identify your goal(s) and the behaviors you choose to accomplish them (e.g., I want to lose 5 lbs by the end of the semester, and I will jog 4x per week to reach this goal)
2. Identify ways to measure and keep track of your goals and behaviors to reach them
3. For the first week of class, establish baseline measures of your goal(s) and chosen behaviors
4. Begin your modification program soon after establishing your baseline level of current activity; note techniques you utilize during the semester to keep to your goals and behaviors, and adjustments you needed to   
    make
5. Graph your results (e.g., using Excel) over time and turn these records in along with a written summary of your self-improvement project at the end of the semester

SAMPLE PROJECT

Guidelines for Journal Article Review/Critique: (required)

You must obtain, read, and summarize/critique in 4-6 double-spaced pages a scholarly article related to the course from a sport or exercise journal (or a psychology, sport science journal) such as The Sport Psychologist, Journal of Sports and Exercise Psychology, International Journal of Sport Psychology, Journal of Sport Behavior etc. Early in the semester you must let me know which journal and article you will use for the assignment. Talk with me if you're stuck or unsure about a topic. Late in the semester you must hand in the actual article along with your typed review paper. The best papers are well-organized, easily read, contain correct spelling and proper grammar, and integrate the chosen reading with other sources (e.g. class readings, discussions; journal articles, books). 

• APA format, following publication manual.
   
• Specific paper topic (name of journal and article title) is due in writing to me by the end of the 4th week of class; all topics/sources must be approved by the instructor. Papers (with attached article) are due in class 2 weeks prior to the final, with a 3-point penalty for each day the paper is late, including weekends. Papers will not be accepted after our final exam, so turn it in before the final.
   
• It is recommended that you begin researching and writing your paper early in the semester.  If you haven't written many papers, or have received poor grades on writing assignments in the past, it is strongly recommended that you seek help from the Writing Lab (474-2029).  My teaching assistant or I will be glad to review your paper if you have a complete draft of it ready at least 2 weeks prior to the due date, and you want feedback about how to improve it.  It will not be formally graded at this time. While feedback may increase the probability of writing a quality paper, it in no way guarantees you of receiving a top grade.
   
• The best papers are well-organized, easily read, contain correct spelling and proper grammar, and summarize/critique a scholarly source (e.g. journal articles,not internet web pages).  The paper will be evaluated on four equally weighted  (25% each) criteria:
   
  • Content - how thorough is the paper relative to length? Is summary of the article accurate and sensical? Does critique of the article (and methods used in the study if applicable) add to summary in a meaningful way? Does substance of paper connect with main goal of the article review assignment? Quality of professional source used? Is it organized or just a rambling connection of sentences?
  • Organization - how well is paper integrated?  Does it flow well?
  • Writing Style - clarity of writing, spelling, grammar etc.
  • APA Format - Does paper contain an abstract? Title page? Are other references, if used, cited appropriately in text and on a reference page?
    
    • See APA format website and sample format paper ....coming soon.

Extra Credit Assignments:

Video Presentation Project  (optional)

You must work alone, or with one of your classmates to produce a brief video clip that illustrates psychological facets of sport or exercise.  These clips should be no longer than 3-4 minutes and will be viewed by the class. You must describe to the class how your video piece illustrates concepts from the course. You should cite the required readings or other sources during your presentation to make clear the connection between concepts from the course and your video.  All presentations must be in VHS or DVD format, or online (UTUBE).  In the past, students have used video they took themselves, or clips from TV or movies. Total presentation time should be no longer than 10 minutes.

Current Events Notebook (optional)

Keep a current events notebook in which you place relevant course-related articles from magazines and newspapers with your type-written reactions to the article.  At least 15 articles and reaction essays must be compiled before you turn it in for credit before finals week.