4/29/14

The inside scoop on staying engaged and up-to-date with the Psychology major!

The psychology undergraduate newsletter provides a weekly update on the latest course information, upcoming events, and currently available job, internship, and research opportunities relating to your major! Find past issues here. If you would like to start receiving the Psych Scoop directly to your inbox, send a request to: psyadvis@umn.edu.
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IN THIS ISSUE:
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
--1.Psychology Colloquium: Forty Years Later: What Happens to Mathematically Precocious Youth
--2.Seniors! Don't forget to RSVP
EVENTS
--3.Exam Jam is here!!
--4.Take Advantage of On-Campus Recruiting
--5.'Stressing' Academic Success: When Life Gets in the Way
--6.Now Hiring 2014 Grads!
--7.Kaplan Offering Free Course Scholarship
--8.Startup Weekend EDU
RESEARCH
--9.Measurement and Educational Psychology Lab looking for talented Undergraduate RAs!
--10.Opportunity for Undergraduate Research Assistants
ENGAGEMENT
--11.Volunteer in a Psychology Clinic
COURSES
--12.LASk 1001 Mastering Skills for College Success
JOB/INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
--13.Check Out GradStaff for Post graduation Jobs
--14.YouthCARE is Hiring!
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DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
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1.Psychology Colloquium: Forty Years Later: What Happens to Mathematically Precocious Youth
Wednesday, April 30th N119 Elliott Hall (NOTE: room change) 3:00-4:00pm. Findings from the first midlife follow-up of 1,650 participants from the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth's (SMPY's) two oldest cohorts will be presented. During 1972-1974 and 1976-1978, participants were identified at age 12 as in the top 1% in mathematical reasoning ability. They were surveyed from January 2012 to February 2013 on their accomplishments, families, and personal well-being. Particular attention will be devoted to their occupational attainments, creative accomplishments, and mate preferences, as well as how they invest their time currently and plan to in the future. Sex differences in occupational preferences, personal views, and life values will be reviewed and placed in a broader theoretical context. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of participants' satisfaction with their careers, personal relationships, and lives in general.
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2.Seniors! Don't forget to RSVP
Psychology majors who have applied for Spring 2014 graduation should have received an email invitation to the 2014 Psychology Undergraduate Celebration. This annual psychology undergraduate event recognizes award recipients and graduating seniors in front of peers, staff, faculty, and family for all of their accomplishments! The event will be held on campus Friday, May 9, 2014 from 4:00pm to 5:30pm. RSVPs are due by this Sunday, May 4th. Visit our Facebook page to view pictures of last year's celebration.
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EVENTS
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3.Exam Jam is here!!
The SMART Learning Commons and the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence are teaming up to provide students with an opportunity to get a jump on their preparations for final exams. Students can prepare for finals by connecting with other students for tutoring and review workshops! The schedule of review workshops for the week of April 5-10 is available at the Golden Gopher Workshop Database. Additionally, students may take advantage of a week of expanded tutoring hours, bookended by two Exam Jam Saturday events: May 3 1pm-5pm in 204 Walter Library (hosted by the SMART Learning Commons) and May 10 9am-1pm in 140 Appleby Hall (hosted by the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence). Tutor schedules and more details can be found online.
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4.Take Advantage of On-Campus Recruiting
On-campus interviews are open to CLA students seeking full-time jobs after graduation or full-time summer 2014 internships. Each semester we host local and national companies, both for-profit and non-profit, of all sizes. Check often as new schedules are added regularly! Search the 'On-Campus Interviews' section on GoldPASS for more information and a full list of on-campus interview opportunities.
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5.'Stressing' Academic Success: When Life Gets in the Way
All University of Minnesota campus community stakeholders (including faculty, staff and students) are invited to participate in the following colloquium: 'Stressing' Academic Success: When Life Gets in the Way, A Day of Conversations Leading to Actionable Solutions' hosted by The Provost's Committee on Student Mental Health. This event will be held Monday, May 19, 2014 from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at The McNamara Alumni Center (light refreshments and lunch provided). The motive is to create a University environment where students, faculty and staff can thrive and reach their full academic potential, while recognizing that mental health challenges dramatically impact our ability to thrive and be successful - permeating and negatively affecting all aspects of academic life. The purpose of this event is to provide a forum for all stakeholders to engage in the strategic conversation, strengthen campus-wide relationships, envision and create truly integrated and holistic University support systems, assess and demonstrate academic success. You must RSVP for this event. The Registration deadline is Friday, May 9th.
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6.Now Hiring 2014 Grads!
Seniors and recent graduates, attend this event to meet and connect with 30+ employers who are looking to hire University of Minnesota seniors and recent graduates! Now Hiring: 2014 Grads! provides University of Minnesota graduating seniors the opportunity to gain personal connections, explore job opportunities, and learn creative job search strategies directly from employers. This will be held Tuesday, May 6th from 2:00-4:00pm in the Carlson School Atrium. The event is free and open to ALL graduating seniors from the U of M Twin Cities campus. This is not a job fair. Business casual attire is required. Refreshments provided by The Cookie Cart. To register visit GoldPASS or The Edge and search the event Now Hiring: 2014 Grads!. For more information, to register, and to see a list of attending employers search for 'Now Hiring' in the 'Career Events' section in GoldPASS.
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7.Kaplan Offering Free Course Scholarship
As requested by numerous students, this spring, Kaplan will be raffling off one free course scholarship! The winner will receive a free Kaplan advantage on site, classroom anywhere or on-demand course for the GRE, LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, PCAT, DAT or OAT! The drawing is open to all University of Minnesota, Augsburg and St. Scholastica students, as well as young professionals in the Minneapolis area. Alumni are also eligible for the drawing! We will be holding the drawing on May 9th, and we will contact the winner via email. The course will need to be redeemed by August 1st, 2014.You can enter the drawing online. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Alyssa.johnson@kaplan.com.
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8.Startup Weekend EDU
Have you ever had an idea for improving education? Here's your opportunity to transform your education ideas into action in 54 hours. Find the right people with complementary skills and the passion & dedication to build an education product in one weekend. Design for learning, conduct user tests, receive coaching from experienced education designers & industry professionals and win prizes that will help take your idea to the next level! Startup Weekend EDU brings together a diverse group of people - educators, technologists, designers, and business professionals - passionate about making a positive impact on education. In 54 hours, participants share ideas, form teams, design products and launch education startups. Startup Weekend EDU begins with open-mic 60-second pitches on Friday night that result in the formation of small teams around the best, most viable education concepts. Teams spend Saturday and Sunday focusing on user research, customer development, validating their ideas and building prototypes with the help of experienced coaches from the education market. On Sunday, teams demo their education products and receive valuable feedback from a panel of expert judges. (Hosted by the Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota at Hanson Hall, 1925 4th Street South, Minneapolis, MN 55455). Ticket includes 7 great meals, plus some freebies from the sponsors. For more information or to buy tickets,go online.
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RESEARCH
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9.Measurement and Educational Psychology Lab looking for talented Undergraduate RAs!
Dr. Chun Wang (Quantitative/Psychometric Methods) and Dr. Panayiota Kendeou (Department of Educational Psychology) are looking for talented undergraduate research assistants to participate in their collaborative project. In this project, we will use the item response theory (IRT, one modern testing theory) for the analysis and scoring of a reading comprehension recall test. Recall tests are increasingly being used in reading research, while the psychometric properties of these tests are largely unknown. The present study aims to document these properties using an IRT approach. Expectations: Activities include working with children written protocols, applying a coding scheme, entering and checking data. Qualifications: Motivated and diligent undergrads are welcome! Interested individuals will work with both professors to gain research experiences and to learn the application of item response theory in recall test. If you are interested in this opportunity, contact Dr. Chun Wang.
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10.Opportunity for Undergraduate Research Assistants
We are looking for responsible, enthusiastic, and detail-oriented students who can work in Dr. Ted Christ's research lab and help with data entry, organization, assessment development, and other lab activities related to School Psychology and reading and math assessment research during the summer. There are options to continue into the coming school year. Credit and volunteer options are available. Please contact Dr. Mary Jane White by email (whit0782@umn.edu) if you are interested and attach a 1 page resume that includes information about your work and schooling experience, references, skills using Microsoft Office (WORD, Excel, etc.), Camtasia and other audio/video editing software, SPSS, R and/or other statistical software.
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ENGAGEMENT
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11.Volunteer in a Psychology Clinic
We are looking for individuals to volunteer at our psychology clinic. The work would be mainly administrative-scheduling clients, taking copays, making charts and various documents, but it would give volunteers an idea of the inner workings of a psychology clinic. Volunteers frequently talk to clients on the phone/including initial appointment intakes, and there are great opportunities to attend workshops for free and possibly sit in on sessions. This experience is a bit of a commitment, as we are looking for people to stay for about year because the training takes some time. If you are interested email b.shaheen@kenwoodcenter.org.
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COURSES
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IMPORTANT: Courses listed below are not offered by the Department of Psychology, and you will need to meet with your college advisor to find out how they will fit into your academic program.
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12.LASk 1001 Mastering Skills for College Success
LASK 1001, Mastering Skills for College Success, is a perfect 2-credit course for any student looking to hone their academic skills. It focuses on five factors for academic success: Active Learning, Self-Awareness, Study Skills, Life Balance, and Campus Engagement. While freshmen and sophomores benefit greatly from this class, juniors and seniors will also learn vital information that they can use throughout their academic and professional careers. Any student who would like to learn skills for working smarter and more effectively should check out this course! Go online for more information.
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JOB/INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
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IMPORTANT: Organizations listed below are not necessarily affiliated with or endorsed by the Department of Psychology or Psychology Undergraduate Advising. Please exercise the same discretion you would in viewing any other source.
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13.Check Out GradStaff for Post graduation Jobs
GradStaff provides employment services focusing exclusively on a unique labor pool - the college graduate. Using our proprietary interviewing technique, we invest a considerable amount of time getting to know each candidate and understanding their core skills and attributes. In understanding our candidates better, we then identify exciting employment opportunities that help them combat the often-frustrating "Catch-22" of needing experience, but not finding a job where they can gain that experience. We place our candidates in a variety of different areas: Banking, Benefit Administration, IT, Electronics, Customer Service/Sales, Financial Services, Human Resources, Insurance, Marketing, Operations and Retail Operations. All costs for our services are paid for by our client companies - graduates who apply with Gradstaff NEVER pay us a fee.
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14.YouthCARE is Hiring!
YouthCARE is a multicultural nonprofit organization that serves Minneapolis and St. Paul youth, 7-18 years old, from diverse ethnic, cultural and racial backgrounds. YouthCARE's mission is to promote respect for self and others, develop future leaders and provide youth with positive multicultural activities and relationships with caring adults. YouthCARE operates three highly regarded programs: Camp Sunrise, YouthLEAD and the Young Women's Mentoring Program. Program services include youth employment, leadership development, outdoor education and positive after school, weekend and summer social, recreational and educational activities. Camp Sunrise, a program of YouthCARE is the site of a residential Summer Program serving youth, 13-18 years old, from Minneapolis and St. Paul. Activities at camp include canoeing, hiking, camping, community service projects, arts and crafts and team building. YouthCARE currently has a Full Time Program Specialist Position open, and Summer Positions at Camp Sunrise that include: Program Coordinator, Junior Counselor Crew Leader, Head Cook, Counselor and Assistant Counselor. Go online for more information about these openings.
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