Michael J. Renner DUE 9551430 West Chester U of Pennsylv FY1995 $ 35,422 West Chester, PA 19383 ILI - Instrumentation Project: Psychology Title: The Development of Laboratory Courses in Experimental Psychology, Including Use of a Shared Computer Laboratory Facility Although psychology is an empirical discipline, there are too few opportunities for psychology majors at West Chester University to obtain direct, hands-on experience with psychological principles. The proposed project will implement a laboratory component in each of four core courses within experimental psychology. Development of laboratory courses is underway, and inauguration of the new courses will coincide with the department's acquisition of a newly renovated building. NSF support is requested for equipping a shared computer laboratory,with appropriate instructional software,and acquiring some of the basic equipment for establishing these teaching laboratories. This equipment includes one rack of cage housing for laboratory rats, an operant conditioning apparatus, and a general purpose video tracking system. The shared computer laboratory would consist of 25 student workstations and an instructor's station (which will act as file server for a peer-to-peer local network within the laboratory), capable of projecting video or computer images for viewing by the entire class. Group data collection, data analysis, and tutorials are facilitated by the video projection system. The shared computer laboratory would also serve as a re.source for independent student research and other courses, including statistics, research design, and cognitive psychology.
