Course Information
SemesterCourse Unit CodeCourse Unit TitleT+P+LCreditNumber of ECTS CreditsLast Updated Date
4PSY 229Academic Writing in Psychology3+0+03503.08.2026

 
Course Details
Language of Instruction English
Level of Course Unit Bachelor's Degree
Department / Program Psychology (English)
Type of Program Formal Education
Type of Course Unit Compulsory
Course Delivery Method Face To Face
Objectives of the Course The aim of this course is to develop students' writing skills and, in particular, to develop scientific writing skills. For this purpose, various exercises will be conducted throughout the semester and a research paper will be prepared, following the guidelines of the American Psychological Association (APA).

As part of the course, students will gain experience in academic writing and scientific communication.
Course Content Throughout the semester, students will conduct quantitative research in groups and present their research processes step-by-step. Students will refine their research based on feedback received after each step. First, they will need to find a general research topic and conduct a comprehensive literature review. Based on the relevant literature they have read, they will formulate a hypothesis and design a suitable empirical study to test this hypothesis. They will prepare a research proposal to apply for ethical approval. (Due to the students' level in this course, data will not be collected from real participants; data will be generated using artificial intelligence.) Afterward, students will need to analyze their data using appropriate statistical analysis. Finally, they will write a research paper reporting and discussing the findings of their empirical study and present their paper in a conference paper format.
Course Methods and Techniques Application, Team Work, Project
Prerequisites and co-requisities None
Course Coordinator None
Name of Lecturers Asist Prof.Dr. Büşra Alparslan busra.alparslan@ankarabilim.edu.tr
Assistants None
Work Placement(s) No

Recommended or Required Reading
Resources Beins, B. C., & Beins, A. M. (2012). Effective writing in Psychology: Papers, posters, and presentations. (2nd Ed.). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
Course Notes American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
Additional materials will be assigned throughout the course.

Course Category
Social Sciences %100

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods
Activities are given in detail in the section of "Assessment Methods and Criteria" and "Workload Calculation"

Assessment Methods and Criteria
In-Term Studies Quantity Percentage
Assignment 10 % 30
Practice 1 % 30
Final examination 1 % 40
Total
12
% 100

 
ECTS Allocated Based on Student Workload
Activities Quantity Duration Total Work Load
Course Duration 14 3 42
Hours for off-the-c.r.stud 14 3 42
Assignments 10 1 10
Presentation 1 20 20
Final examination 1 30 30
Total Work Load   Number of ECTS Credits 4,8 144

 
Course Learning Outcomes: Upon the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
NoLearning Outcomes
1 Upon completing this course, students will gain experience in conducting quantitative research.
2 Upon completing this course, students will learn to conduct a literature review.
3 In this course, students will learn to understand and critically evaluate psychological research methods and statistical analyses.
4 In this course, students will learn to discern the difference between solid factually based research from popular science (pop science).
5 Upon completing this course, students will learn to critically read academic articles published in journals.
6 By the end of the course, students will have acquired the skills to prepare texts suitable for submission to national and international conferences.

 
Weekly Detailed Course Contents
WeekTopicsStudy MaterialsMaterials
1 Course Syllabus American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). Additional materials will be assigned throughout the course.
2 Writing as a process American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
3 Getting ready to write American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
4 Literature review American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
5 Hypothesis American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
6 Araştırma önerisi ve etik kurul başvurusu American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
7 Data collection tools American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
8 Midterm week: Data collection American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
9 Method American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
10 Results American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
11 Results and dscussion American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
12 Students Presentations American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
13 Students Presentations American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
14 Students Presentations American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
15 Poster Presentations American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
16 Overall Poster Presentations American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).

 
Sustainable Development Goals
Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12
All 5 5 4 4 3 5 5 4 4 5 3 3
C1 5 4 5 5 5 4 5 3 4 4 5 5
C2 4 5 5 4 5 3 3 3 5 5 4 4
C3 3 4 4 5 4 4 3 5 5 4 5 3
C4 4 4 3 3 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 4
C5 4 3 5 3 5 4 5 5 5 4 4 5
C6 5 4 5 4 5 4 4 3 4 4 5 3

  Contribution: 1: Very Slight 2:Slight 3:Moderate 4:Significant 5:Very Significant

  
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