9  Moderation

9.1 Guidelines for Short Moderation Papers

For the Moderation Board (during the second semester of the sophomore year), the student prepares two short papers (Academic Past and Future) that describe their academic past experiences and future plans, and a longer paper that summarizes and analyzes an empirical article.

The short papers (about two or three pages each) are required for moderation College-wide. More information can be found on the registrar’s website.

The following are meant to be guidelines only, not a rigid format. You should think of them as areas you should address. The format of the papers is up to you.

9.1.1 Academic Past

This paper should be an overview of your college education to date. It should include:

  • a discussion of your coursework to date, including how your interest in psychology has evolved, particular courses taken, and so forth. Also, a discussion of academic experiences outside of psychology would be welcome
  • a critical evaluation of your strengths and weaknesses as a student
  • a discussion of how your objectives have evolved since coming to college
  • any other issues which are relevant to an understanding of your academic work

9.1.2 Academic Future

This paper should be a discussion of your plans for Upper College work and post-college. We understand that the first and especially second of these may not be completely formed. In any case, the paper should include:

  • anticipated areas of study within psychology and outside of the field
  • your ideas about work after college, including plans for graduate or professional school, career plans, summers, intersessions, and so forth
  • an indication of what you might like to study for your Senior Project

Please bear in mind that Moderation is a concentrated advising experience. We want, therefore, to learn as much as we can about you as student from your short papers.

9.2 Moderation Project

The Moderation Project provides you with an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to evaluate empirical research in Psychology. Your goal is to respond in writing to a small number of prompts after reading one of a selection of empirical journal articles provided to you. The article selection will be available one week before the response is due, as per the calendar.

Specifically, students will be asked to respond, in no more than 2 double-spaced typed pages, to the following prompts:

  1. State, clearly and succinctly, the primary hypothesis(es) being addressed by the chosen article.
  2. Describe the general design of the study. Focus on the logic of the study rather than the procedural details.
  3. Characterize the strengths and weaknesses of the particular methodology the researchers used to address their question.
  4. Identify a key figure or table in the article and provide an argument for why this is the key figure or table.
  5. Explain whether and why the article reported support for the primary hypothesis(es).

Faculty may be consulted with general questions about the instructions for this assignment, but there are limits to the amount of help we can provide in terms of the content and interpretation of the reading. For example, we will not explain statistical methods in detail, but we will direct you to resources so that you will be able to comment on the experimental results in a manner that reflects your level of understanding. You may not consult any individuals (or “Artificial Intelligence” or chatbots) about your assigned article or your written response, with the exception of faculty members in Psychology. If you use any outside resources (including websites or other articles), they should be referenced in your submission.

Students will upload their responses to Google Classroom by the assigned deadline and be prepared to discuss the article and the responses to the prompts during their scheduled Moderation board. Importantly, students should bring copies of their Academic Past/Future papers, along with the chosen article and their response to it, to the board meeting.

Notes: Students must have completed at least one semester at Bard before sitting for Moderation (i.e., transfer students may not moderate in their first semester at the Annandale campus). The Psychology Program wishes to acknowledge the Biology Program for providing the basis of this Moderation Project.