Peer Review

Marky Lloyd's Careers in Psychology Page

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Mar 23, 2014 by Psychology

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: This site is a comprehensive overview of career options for those students pursuing a degree in psychology. The resources include information on how to maximize the value of an undergraduate degree program, graduate school resources, and career options as a function of education level (undergraduate, masters and doctoral).This resource is linked from PsychWeb.
Type of Material:: This is a collection of information, links and resources.
Recommended Uses:: • This site would be a nice resource for use in an introductory class for undergraduate psychology majors to help them prepare for their academic journey. In addition, the resources and information would be helpful for an advanced seminar class in psychology that examines post-graduation options for bachelor-degree students. • The site may be a good link to provide to students online or in a list of resources on a syllabus (particularly for undergraduate 100 and 200 level courses). Some resources are also provided for graduate students.
Technical Requirements:: None. The site is completely text-based and relies on hyperlinks to other sites and relevant information. It was reviewed in Google Chrome 31.0 with no reports of any difficulties in viewing content.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: This website is designed to assist students in: 1) identifying career options in psychology as a function of education level. 2) maximizing the value of an undergraduate degree in psychology. 3) understanding opportunities and processes related to graduate studies in psychology.
Target Student Population:: Undergraduate psychology majors. [Note: There is also a separate link to information for graduate students, including information on the application process for graduate school.]
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: None.

Content Quality

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Strengths:: • The information is relevant and timely; the site indicates that updates were made in the last year. • The information is comprehensive and provides valuable information for undergraduate students regardless of whether they are seeking employment or graduate school. In addition, the resources highlight a range of opportunities in psychology that span across the major sub-disciplines. • The content also includes useful general information that educates students unfamiliar with the discipline on what they may be able to pursue as a career.
Concerns:: • The information is high-quality, but the presentation is rather dry. The website includes no multimedia or visuals other than text and hyperlinks. • Some of the content appears to be presented primarily as opinion and without any support or documentation. It would appear more authoritative if it included references, perhaps with links to recommended e-books and print materials.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

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Strengths:: • The links are all functional and the recommended websites and resources are accurate, appropriate and scholarly. For students unsure of potential opportunities, this comprehensive resource center provides a host of valuable information that has been screened to ensure accuracy. • Students could easily be asked to review the site, locate potential career opportunities, and discuss and cite the identified information.
Concerns:: • One concern about the potential effectiveness lies in the area of engagement; the site may be less effective simply because students may not find the information presented in a manner that stimulates interest or attention.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

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Strengths:: • The site provides easy navigation via point and click of hyperlinks spread throughout a page of topics focused on psychology careers. No complicated functions are used, and the site itself is easy to navigate. • The links are all functional; the site author includes descriptions to guide exploration through the links. The flow of information is easy to follow and intuitive.
Concerns:: • Since the site relies heavily on hyperlinks, it is easy to click too far into the site and be unable to relocate relevant information. The navigation structure is not very sophisticated and relies on a linear search model. • The site appears to be a bit behind the times in terms of development and maintenance of the web design itself. A stronger use for this page might include the addition of a forum for students to post and discuss comments and questions relating to these paths for careers. As well, it may prove useful to link out to additional resources in a comprehensive page, rather than embedding links through various webpages (which is a bit cumbersome).

Other Issues and Comments:: • The site has great intent and mission, and it can certainly prove particularly useful in lower level psychology and social science classes. • Overall, this is high quality information that would benefit from a more engaging presentation mode.
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