Sensation and Perception Lab - PSYC 4220

Common Course ID:  PSYC 4220
CSU Instructor Open Textbook Adoption Portrait

Abstract: Abstract:  This open-source materials are being utilized in a Psychology course for undergraduate students by Dr. Maruti Mishra at California State University Bakersfield. The main motivation to adopt open-source materials was to provide diverse resources that are affordable and customizable. Most students access the open book in online/web format.

Sensation and Perception Lab - PSYC 4220
Brief Description of course highlights:  The course involves a combination of computer-based simulations and practical hands-on experiments. It also includes reading articles to deepen understanding and writing reports on a range of topics within the realm of sensation and perception. The curriculum emphasizes developing a solid foundation in the scientific method, encompassing research ethics, research design, experimental techniques, rigorous data analysis, and proficient interpretation of results. Most of the experiments will be oriented in the visual domain, as I have expertise in that area.

These exercises will give you the opportunity to experience some phenomena firsthand, as well as the opportunity to generate and test some hypotheses of your own. By completing various assignments and interacting with your fellow students and me, you’ll be able to improve some basic skills in using PsychoPy, analyzing data in Excel/Jasp/SPSS, and communicating scientific findings. We will generally discuss one lab topic per week. The final project will involve developing a scientific experiment of your own and testing an original hypothesis. The schedule of each lab exercise and assignment will be announced as the semester progresses. I will be using Canvas exclusively for grading, assignment submissions, content upload, and class announcements. I  xpect students to use my Student Drop-In hours to clear any doubts or concerns that are not clear in the classes.

CSUB catalog: Participation in this course offers the opportunity to achieve multiple program goals and objectives outlined in the B.A. in Psychology curriculum. As students’ progress, they will actively engage in:
Goal 2: Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking
2.1 Use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological phenomena. (Laboratory Assignments, Article Critique, Reading club)
2.2 Demonstrate psychology information literacy. (Lab Assignments, Final Project, Reading club)
2.3 Engage in innovative and integrative thinking and problem-solving. (Lab Assignments, Final Project, Article Critique)
2.4 Interpret, design, and conduct basic psychological research. (Laboratory Assignments, Article reading)
Goal 3: Ethical and Social Responsibility in a Diverse World
3.1 Apply ethical standards to evaluate psychological science and practice. (Laboratory Assignments)
Goal 4: Communication
4.1 Demonstrate effective writing for different purposes. (Lab Assignments and Final Project, Reading club)
Goal 5: Professional Development
5.3 Refine project-management skills. (Final Project)
Class Format: Article reading and discussion, Group work, computer-based experiments, Project submission.
Student population:  Psych majors-(senior year students), Pre req- lecture course and Scientific and research methods.

Learning or student outcomes: 
1. Develop Core Knowledge in Sensation & Perception
• Understand foundational concepts, principles, and theories in psychological science related to sensation and perception.
• Build knowledge in psychology’s major subfields, especially research and experimental psychology.
• Apply psychological concepts to solve practical problems using sensory and perceptual processes.
2. Strengthen Scientific Inquiry & Critical Thinking.  Students will learn how to:
• Use scientific reasoning to investigate perceptual phenomena.
• Design, conduct, and evaluate psychological research.
• Develop and test hypotheses through computer-based and hands-on lab experiments.
• Use statistics (Excel, JASP, SPSS) to analyze data and evaluate quantitative findings.
• Interpret experimental results and connect them to existing research literature.
3. Practice Ethical Standards in Research
• Identify and follow ethical principles in psychological research, including proper handling of data, participant rights, and academic integrity.
• Understand academic honesty and avoid plagiarism.
4. Strengthen Communication & Technological Skills.  Students will:
• Interact effectively with peers during group work, discussions, and presentations.
• Write short and long lab reports in APA style.
• Present empirical research clearly and professionally.
• Demonstrate psychological literacy through reading, critiquing, and discussing scientific articles.
• Use software such as PsychoPy, JASP, Excel, and presentation tools to communicate findings.
5. Develop Professional & Project-Management Skills. The course emphasizes:
• Managing long-term assignments such as lab reports, article critiques, and experiment design projects.
• Working effectively in teams (e.g., visual illusion video project, class demos).
• Using appropriate technological tools for research and workflow.
• Preparing students for future work in psychology or research-oriented fields.
6. Gain Hands-On Experience With Experimental Methods. Through weekly labs and final projects, students will:
• Conduct sensory and perceptual experiments (mostly visual).
• Learn to collect, clean, and analyze behavioral data.
• Build skills in PsychoPy for experiment creation.
• Integrate statistical analysis with interpretation of perceptual phenomena.
• Design an original experiment using scientific reasoning and AI-assisted tools (ChatGPT), culminating in a final independent project.
7. Engage in Scholarly Article Reading & Critique.  Students will be able to:
• Read empirical articles with a critical eye.
• Present and lead discussions on research literature.
• Evaluate strengths, limitations, and implications of studies.
• Form deeper connections between course content and scientific research.

Textbook or OER/Low cost Title: It’s not a textbook. I compile online open access resources for this course and use open-source software for lab projects. I also use ChatGPT and build custom AI tutors for specific topics based on student needs.

Brief Description:  Psych 4220: Sensation and Perception Laboratory is an upper division course (3 WTU) for undergraduate psychology majors. This course relies on research articles around Sensation and Perception, PsychoPY software to design/run custom built experiments, open source APA formatting guidelines, JASP software for statistical learning

The course involves a combination of computer-based simulations and practical laboratory training. It also includes reading articles to deepen understanding of various topic in the field and writing laboratory reports on a range of topics within the realm of sensation and perception. The curriculum emphasizes developing a solid foundation in the scientific method, encompassing research ethics, research design, experimental techniques, rigorous data analysis, and proficient interpretation of results. The exercises give students the opportunity to experience the phenomena firsthand, as well as the opportunity to generate and test hypotheses of their own. By completing various writing and reading assignments and interacting with their fellow students and me, students will be able to improve some basic skills in using PsychoPy, analyzing data in Excel/Jasp/SPSS, and communicating scientific findings. The final project will involve developing a scientific experiment. Canvas was exclusively used for grading, assignment submissions, content upload, and class announcements. Box drive and google sheets were used to submit experimental data.

Please provide a link to the resource  The course has a variety of materials from multiple sources which is customizable. Here are the links to the software and resources.  This course relies on research articles around Sensation and Perception, PsychoPY software to design/run custom built experiments, open source APA formatting guidelines, JASP software for statistical learning

Authors:  Dr. Maruti V. Mishra

Student access:  Course management system and download the software on computers in the lab.

Provide the cost savings from that of a traditional textbook.
Virtual Lab Manual for Goldstein*s Sensation and Perception, 8th
Cost savings: 130.17

License*:  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. JASP is free software. The JASP software consists of two different executables which are licensed under two free software copyleft licenses respectively. The JASP-Engine is distributed under GNU GPLv2 The JASP-Desktop is distributed under GNU Affero GPL v3
PsychoPY software uses the GNU General Public License v3 (GPLv3), meaning it's free to use, adapt, and share for research/teaching, even commercially, as long as you keep the source open, share your modifications under GPLv3, and include the original license

Instructor Name - Dr. Maruti V. Mishra
I am an Assistant Professor of Psychology at California State University Bakersfield (CSUB)

Please provide a link to your university page.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=Jfj19GQAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate   

Please describe the courses/course numbers that you teach.  
Sensation and Perception Lab:  I approached this course as “learning through doing”. My goal is  to provide students with real laboratory experience in sensation and perception. Laboratory courses address multiple facets of research setup and provide practical knowledge to students. Students delve deeper into applying and testing scientific claims and theories (through lab exercises and observational recordings). They acquire valuable technical skills (computer literacy) and hone their critical thinking abilities through active discussions and idea brainstorming sessions based on research articles. Furthermore, the course cultivates crucial communication skills through peer interactions (discussions, presentations, group activities) and emphasizes clarity in thought and writing (proposing research ideas, drafting lab reports). Additionally, students get to do teamwork, fostering an understanding of individual contributions and fair workload distribution (peer review and evaluation). Finally, punctual attendance and maintaining academic discipline are instilled throughout the course. Within the theme of sensation and perception, I meticulously designed my lab sessions to mirror these essential aspects of research laboratories.

Sensation and Perception lecture course: Sensation and Perception is an upper-division course designed for undergraduate psychology majors, accounting for 3 Weighted Teaching Units (WTU). The course aims to explore theories and research related to how humans acquire information about the world, encompassing the study of disorders affecting these processes. The primary focus is on the biological foundations of perceptual phenomena, delving into the functioning of sense organs and brain mechanisms

Describe your teaching philosophy and any research interests related to your discipline or teaching.  
My teaching philosophy in the classroom has evolved to establish a mentor-mentee relationship rather than a teacher- student relationship. Being a mentor allows sharing of knowledge for effective learning outcomes rather than one-way passive knowledge transfer. Through teaching, I aim towards sharing my passion for science by providing a safe and supportive environment to help transform my students into well- informed community leaders for the future.

I use a three-step guide in my classroom, which I also follow in guiding my research questions. They are- the ‘Why,’ ‘What,’ and ‘How’ approach. The ‘Why’ aspect focuses on-why do we need to know this information? why I want to teach this course and why did the students choose to take this course? My aim is to bring in an enthusiasm and appreciation for the subject by providing perspectives from multiple dimensions on a topic. To do so, I leverage my interdisciplinary background, and years of international experience. In my lectures, I often bring in the flavors from philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, evolution, and biology, to build a robust foundation for student learning. The ‘What’ aspect focuses on- What are the key goals and objectives of the current batch of students? Do they align with what I have in mind as their learning outcomes? Often, I seek this information through anonymous feedback and tailor my course based on the requirements. The ‘How’ aspect focuses on - How do I ensure knowledge transfer has occurred? I use varied approaches to assess this, which include in class activities, networking within the student group for peer feedback, regular discussion and feedback, class participations and presentations, and final projects or written exams.

The past year has seen a tremendous shift in higher education with the release of LLMs like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other AI tools. Much confusion has been surrounding how not to let these AI tools replace critical thinking abilities in students and how to redesign courseware and train students to take personal responsibility of making sure they are learning and not using the tools blindly. I believe the job market is going to demonstrate drastic shift and using technology efficiently will be a top screening requirement for most jobs. With the field of psychology demonstrating a skewed gender ratio and studies showing gender gap in use of new technologies, my goal was to make sure all my students are equally literate on use and misuse of modern AI tools. My priorities during this shift have been a) to make sure students are literate with the new shift in technology and learn how to manage, use and ‘not to use’ the AI tools. b) to assess pros and cons of using such tools in different types of assignments and understand that it cannot be used blindly but when used with proper guidance can result in great learning outcomes c) change the courseware to accommodate best case use of ChatGPT and make sure that we can have open conversations and create a safe space to talk about use of AI tools in education. 

OER/Low Cost Adoption Process

Provide an explanation or what motivated you to use this textbook or OER/Low Cost option.  I was conscious about student needs, and I could customize the materials based on course needs.

How did you find and select the open textbook for this course?  I personally evaluated open-source resources based on my expertise in the area of sensation and perception and taking help from mentors and peers.

Sharing Best Practices: I think the above adoption can be customizable based on student needs.