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Northern Illinois University
Psychology
Level of Course:
First-Year Undergraduate, Undergraduate
Instructor:
Lisa Finkelstein
Course Subject:
PSYC 101- YO1 University Experience in Psych
Number of community participants:
280 total in 4 communities
"I was amazed at what I saw unfold. I participated as well and always got all my points - in fact, I have to admit I got a little hooked on it. It was so cool to be able to see how they were relating to the material and each other."
"I have used Yellowdig in two different courses. The first course was an upper-level undergraduate research course in industrial/organizational psychology. It is typically taught in person but went online due to the pandemic. This is a writing-intensive, 4 credit course. Students (about 24) meet with me as a group and then break into two smaller groups to meet with the TA for laboratory where they design and execute a research study and then write up that study in APA style individually.
The other class was called University Experience in Psychology and was a combo of "how to be a great psychology major" and "careers in psychology". It is a one credit, asynchronous online course and all majors will take it. For this premier offering, there were 280 students! Since I would have no direct contact with them unless they came to office hours, I knew Yellowdig would be crucial to creating a sense of connection and community."
By The Numbers
280
Total Students
4
Different Communities
10%
of Course Grade
Results
"I was introduced to yellowdig when I took a course from our Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, which is a wonderful resource. I took the course over the summer of 2020 to learn how to teach a great online course. It was an intensive course so we could see what it was like to be an online student. Yellowdig was part of that course and I thought it was a lot of fun, and asked to be part of the pilot to use it in Fall."
Students thanking Dr. Finkelstein for an amazing semester using Yellowdig.
"[I] felt like I was getting to know these online students better than I got to know the ones I interacted with prior in person... I knew I'd want to use Yellowdig for my huge asynchronous class and was so glad I did. I broke them down into 4 groups so it was more manageable for them, but I communicated with all groups. In that course I also added a bunch of fun topics right from the beginning so they'd know it was ok....TV (what's everyone binging?), music (anything new we should check out?), cute pics of your pets, hobbies or clubs they were joining, etc."
Finally, Dr. Finkelstein writes "You can get to know the students on a different level... it facilitates them sharing more authentically with each other. It also allows faculty to have more insight to what their students think is important and what they struggle with. And, honestly, it's a lot of fun." Thank you Dr. Finkelstein for your insight and support of Yellowdig!
"I felt like Yellowdig was better than any discussion board thing we have done in the past. It was easy to navigate and was nice reading other people's responses."
~
Anonymous NIU Student
About the Instructor
Lisa Finkelstein
Ph.D.
Professor, Psychology
Dr. Lisa Finkelstein has been on the psychology faculty at Northern Illinois University for over 25 years. She teaches courses in I/O psychology, social psychology, and most recently taught a newly-designed intro to the major course. She publishes research on aging and age stereotypes at work, stigma at work, mentoring relationships, high potential designation, and humor in the workplace.
About the Institution
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a premier research-centered public university focused on student career success. NIU is nationally ranked for quality and value and offers abundant academic opportunities and a rich campus life. NIU is located in DeKalb, IL, which is about 65 miles (105 kilometers) west of Chicago.
(https://www.niu.edu/international_admissions/life-at-NIU/index.shtml#:~:text=Northern%20Illinois%20University%20is%20a,and%20a%20rich%20campus%20life.)
