Peer Review

Ancillary Materials for Psychological Adjustment

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Reviewed:: Mar 13, 2022 by Psychology

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

This learning object is a set of ancillary teaching materials -- PowerPoint slides, module outlines, and test banks -- for an East Georgia State University psychology course entitled Psychological Adjustment (PSYC 2101). These materials were created through an Affordable Learning Georgia Textbook Transformation Grant (Round Thirteen Mini-Grant for Ancillary Materials Creation and Revision). Grant awards supported "adoption, adaptation, and creation of no-or low-cost learning materials in USG courses."Topics covered are Concepts of Adjustment, Growth Mindset, Humanistic and Personality Psychology, The Self, Stress, Coping and Mental Illness, Wellness, Interpersonal Communication, Romantic Relationships and Love, Sexuality, Understanding Gender, Work and Choosing a Career, Understanding Loneliness and Solitude, Coping with Death and Loss, and Finding Meaning.

Topics covered include: Concepts of Adjustment; Growth Mindset; Humanistic and Personality Psychology; The Self; Stress; Coping and Mental Illness; Wellness; Interpersonal Communication; Romantic Relationships and Love; Sexuality; Understanding Gender; Work and Choosing a Career; Understanding Loneliness and Solitude; Coping with Death and Loss; Finding Meaning.

Type of Material:

Reference Material

Recommended Uses:

The materials can be used to support lectures, in-class activities, and quiz/test development. Due to the limited nature of text provided on the slideshows, these may also be used for offering guided note activities to students for in-class notetaking, or online notetaking through live or pre-recorded lectures.

Technical Requirements:

Users will need an updated web browser and access to PowerPoint, Adobe Reader, and Microsoft Word (to download and/or edit slides, module outlines, test questions).

Identify Major Learning Goals:

The materials specifically have been designed to support previously developed learning modules in a course entitled PSYC 2101 (Psychological Adjustment). The slides, outlines, and test questions are editable, and selected elements could be used by psychology faculty across colleges and universities. Although designed for Psychological Adjustment, the materials could be useful in other lower division psychology courses (e.g., General Psychology).

Target Student Population:

College Lower Division

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

No prerequisite skills are needed to access the materials (though they are designed specifically for use in the field of psychology).

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

The content is well-organized and well-detailed. Most (though not all) of the 14 module outlines start with measurable learning objectives that are linked to APA (American Psychological Association) goals. The outlines encapsulate the purpose of class readings and are replete with interesting activities that will help students to engage with the subject matter. The test questions are multiple choice and directly assess the content covered in the module. The PowerPoint slides serve to organize the module content and represent a foundation that faculty can modify to meet the needs of their individual course section(s).
The level of readings and activities is appropriate for the level of the course.
The PowerPoints provide an outline of the materials in each chapter.
The outlines and test questions provide additional support for these topics.

Concerns:

It would be useful for all modules to start with module-level learning objectives and for all modules to use the same format for presenting the objectives (e.g., mapping to APA goals, mapping to course goals).
It might be useful to consider adding short-answer essay questions to the test bank (to promote critical thinking and writing skills).
Some of the PowerPoints are more detailed than others. Some are more outlines or guided notes than in-depth lecture materials; it may be helpful to provide both detailed as well as outline notes, and offer both options to faculty. Several of the outlines do not include learning objectives, while others do. It would be helpful if they all did.
The materials can be edited due to the provided Creative Commons license, but are more helpful for those using the particular text and materials.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

A major strength of the material is that it represents a complete package of teaching and learning materials on the subject of psychological adjustment. Faculty can use the materials exactly as they have been developed or they may edit and modify the materials.
While it is typical to see continuity in design across slides, the variations here make them interesting.

Concerns:

The materials are specific to a specially developed course in the Georgia system. Thus, faculty in other colleges and universities who wish to use the material--in whole or in part--will want to modify and individualize. Nonetheless, the 14 modules of outlines, PowerPoints, and test banks provide an excellent starting place.
Some slides include font that is not easily readable and bright colors which are distracting. These may be challenging for many readers. Fortunately, these could be easily adjusted when adopted and edited, but could be a point of usability and accessibility to consider.
Additionally, the issue of accessibility and usability also exists with the outlines – some of the materials are not legible because of the images and background colors.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

The content is professionally presented, well-written, and very easy to follow.
The content is easy to download. Slides download in one folder. As .pptx files, anyone with access to PowerPoint should be able to easily edit them to fit their needs.
Outlines with test questions download into one folder.
Overall, materials are easy to access.

Concerns:

The PowerPoint slides--as well as the module outlines and test banks--incorporate background visuals/images that are colorful and interesting. However, in some instances the images hide the verbiage. Overall, the presentation of the material is not likely ADA-compliant and should be run through an accessibility checker to verify and correct any areas of access and usability.
Slides and outlines may be more useful were they labeled by topic rather than numerically.
Overall, adjusting the colors and images (to include better contrast) and employing more readable fonts would assist with accessibility.

Other Issues and Comments:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

CITATION: Lee, Deborah, "Ancillary Materials for Psychological Adjustment" (2019). Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Ancillary Materials. 17.https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/psychology-ancillary/17

Creative Commons: