Using Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality to teach the scientific method to Psychology undergraduates
post by Weisguy · 2012-08-23T14:50:18.554Z · LW · GW · Legacy · 12 commentsAs a psychology graduate student I have the opportunity to teach an introductory psychology course. I'm hoping to take what I have learned here and start helping my students improve their rationality. Specifically, I'm planning to have the students read excerpts from Ch 22 & 23 of HPMOR as a fun and interesting way to start learning to think like a scientist. I'm hoping the community can assist me with possibly narrowing down the sections I'm going to have them read and consider possible methods of assessment. As of now, I know that I want to have the students analyze the methodology used by Harry in his two experiments from those chapters (Harry and Hermione testing spells and Harry and Draco "testing" the blood hypotheses), and I probably want to have students come up with their own hypotheses and methods to test them. Any help the community wants to provide is most appreciated.
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comment by [deleted] · 2012-08-23T15:34:39.717Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
You might want to crosspost this in http://reddit.com/r/hpmor - in addition to helping, it might make a good testing ground for anything you want to try.
Replies from: Weisguy, tgb↑ comment by tgb · 2012-08-25T15:42:50.149Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Here's a probably relevant thread from that: What Experiments Should Harry Run on Magic?
comment by Fourtytwo · 2012-08-24T23:04:37.260Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Excuse me. I am browsing the internet and found this site. Unfortunately I cannot start my own discussion thread, and I'm sorry. I don't want to interrupt, but I'm here just for one thing and will be gone as soon as I can, and I need some help.
I am looking for good and free online maths courses for a girl of elementary school and middle school age. I am having a difficult time though. This website looks to have lots of discussions going on here, and I would like it very much if any of you could assist me. This girl is smart, but she doesn't have access to very good teachers. Can anyone please provide her with a list of high quality free online maths courses, through me?
Thank you very much, in anticipation of any help that we might get. I am sorry this is in the wrong spot. Again, thank you.
Replies from: Xachariah, Fhyve↑ comment by Xachariah · 2012-08-25T00:27:44.223Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Khan Academy would probably be your best bet. It's free, it's in a visual medium, and the instructors are incredibly good. You can also find their videos by searching youtube for "Khan Academy ", however, youtube only has the lectures and doesn't have the practice problems. There are lots of other free math tutoring options, but Khan Academy is the only one I know that is accessible to children. (Also this post would probably have been best in this in this month's open thread, but I don't think anyone will mind too much.)
You don't need to leave the site after getting your answer though. There's lots to see here. You might want to check out the welcome thread for new members or take a look at the FAQ to see what we're about.
↑ comment by Fhyve · 2012-08-26T00:36:42.178Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
reddit.com/r/math
reddit.com/r/learnmath
http://code.reddit.com/wiki/help/faqs/math
Also, search youtube. As Xachariah said, Khan Academy is good and you will probably find it as a suggestion as a source in a bunch of the places I posted.
And hey, while you are here, check out the site: the about section.
comment by bramflakes · 2012-08-23T21:29:05.591Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Are the two hyperlinks meant to point to your user page?
Replies from: army1987↑ comment by A1987dM (army1987) · 2012-08-24T01:23:17.151Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
And why are they doubly underlined and that garish shade of orange? (Well, Redshift is likely making them look brighter than they actually are, but still.)
Replies from: Weisguy, Manfred