3. Standards
The College Board AP Psychology – Social Psychology
AP students in psychology should be able to do the
following:
• Apply attribution theory to explain motives (e .g .,
fundamental attribution error, self-serving bias
• Describe the structure and function of different kinds
of group behavior (e .g .,deindividuation, group
polarization)
• Explain how individuals respond to expectations of
others, including groupthink, conformity, and
obedience to authority .
• Discuss attitudes and how they change (e .g ., central
route to persuasion) .
• Predict the impact of the presence of others on
individual behavior (e .g ., bystander effect, social
facilitation) .
• Describe processes that contribute to differential
treatment of group members (e .g ., in-group/out-
group dynamics, ethnocentrism, prejudice) .
• Articulate the impact of social and cultural categories
(e .g ., gender, race, ethnicity) on self-concept and
relations with others .
• Anticipate the impact of behavior on a self-fulfilling
prophecy .
• Describe the variables that contribute to altruism,
aggression, and attraction .
• Discuss attitude formation and change, including
persuasion strategies and cognitive dissonance .
ISTE Standards – Students
• Creativity and Innovation
• Communication and Collaboration
• Research and Information Fluency
• Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and
Decision Making
• Digital Citizenship
• Technology operations and Concepts
5. Outcome Goals for Students
• Students will develop an appreciation for that which makes us
all different and yet similar at the same time
• Students will gain an appreciation for the concepts of our
social world that shade all of our experiences, such as
stereotypes, prejudice, or the fundamental attribution error
• Students will utilize technology so as to further the growth of
competent and appropriate digital citizenship
6. Technology Tools Needed
• Mobile Phones and/or iPads will photo-taking and audio
recording capabilities.
• Access to presentation platforms such as VoiceThread or
Schoology
7. Activities
• Students will be introduced to the blog “Humans of New York”
They will explore the blog and view a few videos of interviews
with Brandon Stanton about his project and his technique for
capturing the images and stories of average New Yorkers.
• Students will be assigned the task of finding 5 “strangers” in
Huntington to interview and photograph for the project. They
may work alone or in pairs. In all cases, it is 5 people per
student. They will use their mobile devices to photograph and
record the interviews of their subjects
• The photos, along with appropriate captions will be uploaded
to a site such as VoiceThread or Schoology to be recorded and
commented upon by other students in the class
8. Assessement
Assessment will be threefold:
• Students will be required to capture and upload images of
their subjects along with an appropriate caption to a site such
as VoiceThread or Schoology, which will allow other student to
view their work
• All students will be required to view the work of their
classmates and provide feedback of the same
• Each individual student will write or record a reflection on the
experience of completing the project and how it relates to the
concepts learned in the social psychology unit
9. Considerationsfor Students Who Do Not Have
Accessto MobileTechnology
• Students who do not have their own BYOD will be given a
school owned device to use for the project. They will sign the
device out in the same manner as they do for textbooks.
Information will be sent home to inform parents.
10. Management of Technology Tools
• In large part, the management of the technology tools will be
in the hands of the students
• Initially, attention must be given to ensure that each student
has access to the appropriate apps in order to successfully
complete the tasks.
Editor's Notes
This lesson is intended to be a culminating project after completing the Social Psychology unit in AP Psychology. Social psychology is the the study of how we think about, try to influence and interact with others. This lesson is designed to let students “put theory into practice”.
This lesson allows for many of the standards from both the College Board for AP Psychology and ISTE Standards for technology to be met
The lessons would take place at the beginning and the end of the project. The first lesson would be to introduce the project and technology to be used. Once completed, the second lesson would come at the end when students present their work and reflect on the experience.
The main focus of this project/lesson plan is to allow student to explore the concept of social psychology will also furthering their technology skills in a personal, meaningful manner.
Brandon Stanton began his “Humans of New York’ blog in 2010. His initial intent was to simply catalog the stories over average New Yorkers, at least one per day. It blossomed into so much more…a chronicle of the very human and personal experience of individuals, capturing the essence of the social experience us all. This project is designed to allow the humble Cold Spring Harbor high school student to step out their comfortable bubble and interact with individuals they might normally pass by without a second thought. Parental consent will be asked for in order to ensure the safety of the students. The ability to work in pairs is also an option as a safety measure as well.
The idea that this project is both private and public at the same time is very important. I want the students to have and intimate experience in gathering their interviews while also being involved in the “big picture” of the shared experience.
We have a full cart of iPads dedicated to the social studies department for use in such a project. In reality, very few students in our district lack access to their own mobile devices.
Again, I don’t see this as being a big problem in that most of my student are appropriately tech-savvy already.