PSYCH 302 / 305

Class meetings

Twelve Wednesday evenings, 18:00–21:00. Each week has one computing tool and one ordinary psychology example. The University is closed 30 September. Reading Week includes 11 November. Weekly reports (weeks 1–9) are due the following Tuesday at 17:00; drop the lowest. Copy lab-notes/TEMPLATE.md.

50% weekly reports · 15% midterm check-in · 35% individual final No graded group project. No graded peer review.

Week 0 · Wednesday 2 September 2026, first hour

Week 0 on Canvas

Tool: GitHub account

We catch everyone up on the GitHub form before the playground. Create an account, start Education, paste the six-line form. Do not buy Copilot. Complete / incomplete. Due tonight 21:00.

Week 1 · same night, after GitHub

playground.html

Tool: own repo, Pages, fork, then a pull request

Customize the starter page in three ways. Then, in order: your own repo with index.html, GitHub Pages on that repo, the same file as the default index.html on a fork of the entire class repository (kylemath/Psych302-305-KyleMathewson), and a pull request from that fork back to the class repo. The instructor will merge the coolest one as the new default homepage.

18:00 GitHub account: Week 0 form on Canvas. Neighbours help. No credit card.
Then demonstration: Open the past course projects on the homepage (Brain Games, Brainimation, p5.eegedu, the PSYCH 403 portfolios, and kylemathewson.com), then customize the playground, save index.html, create a repo, turn on Pages, fork the whole class repo, replace that fork’s index.html, and open a PR. The coolest student PR becomes the new class homepage.
Exercise: Three personal changes, then all four GitHub steps.

Results: Paste own-repo, Pages, fork, and PR URLs on the Week 1 Canvas assignment. List the three changes.
Modification: Arts: how it feels. Science: one change can be a number or a time. Disclose any AI use.
20:45 Discussion: Agentic coding: you stay the author; an assistant may propose an edit; you run it, read it, and keep or change it. Do not paste classmate data. Do not buy a plan. Full note on the Computing page. Week 4 is the first graded loop.
Preparation: Laptop. A GitHub login, or time in the first hour to make one.

Week 1 report: own-repo URL, Pages URL, fork URL, PR URL, three customizations, disclosure. Due Tuesday 8 September, 17:00.

Week 2 · Wednesday 9 September 2026

p5.html · rt.html

Tool: p5.js pieces, then a timed response and a CSV

First hour: six short p5.js sketches (pixels, refresh rate, variables, a stimulus, buttons, one timed click). Then the real instrument: simple reaction time and optional choice RT. Anticipations under 150 ms and lapses over 2500 ms are excluded from the mean.

18:00 Introduction: A program is input, memory, and a display. We name the parts before we measure.
18:10 Studio: Walk p5.html in order. Remix a number or a string and Run.
19:15 Break: Write a predicted mean for the real block before the first trial.

19:25 Instrument: Instructor demo on rt.html, then a simple-RT block (~20 usable trials). Export the CSV.
20:05 Modification: Arts: the mark. Science: choice RT and the two means.
20:45 Discussion: Toy trial vs instrument: exclusions and a file. The number comes from the export, not a chatbot.
Reading: A short note on Donders (1868). Skim.

Report: prediction, mean RT, n, SD, one limitation (practice, anticipation, fatigue). Push the report and the CSV. The p5 sketches are the lesson, not a second product.

Week 3 · Wednesday 16 September 2026

inventory.html

Tool: a form, a score, and a data table

Example: a ten-item teaching inventory with two items in each of five domains. Likert responses, reverse scoring, subscale means, CSV. This is a classroom instrument, not a clinical scale.

18:00 Introduction: Self-report as data, not as a diagnosis. Write a predicted range for one subscale.
18:25 Demonstration: Complete the scale once as a class walk-through. Export.
18:40 Exercise: Students complete the inventory and save their table.

19:25 Results: Report one subscale mean and what it is (and is not) a measure of.
20:05 Modification: Arts: wording and layout of the items. Science: check a reverse-scored item by hand.
Reading: A short scale-construction note from the instructor.

Report: one subscale, item count, one limitation of self-report. CSV in data/.

Week 4 · Wednesday 23 September 2026

report.html

Tool: a report from Markdown, a script, and LaTeX

Example: your Week 2 reaction times or Week 3 inventory scores. Write the paper in report/REPORT.md, compute with report/scripts/summarize.py, typeset with report/main.tex. Run, read, change, run again. Do not type the mean by hand.

18:00 Introduction: A report is a pipeline. The number in the paper must come from a file the script can read again.
18:25 Demonstration: Instructor runs build.sh on a sample CSV, reads the output, changes one line, runs it again.
18:40 Exercise: Copy the starter if needed. Point the script at your CSV. Write the prediction first.

19:25 Results: The generated block and one limitation. No draft exchange.
20:05 Modification: Arts: the sentences. Science: the script (exclusion or a second descriptive), then rebuild.
Reading: report/README.md and agentic coding.

Report: paths to the Markdown, the script, the generated snippet, and the .tex. Name one iteration. Due Tuesday 29 September (no class on the 30th).

No class · Wednesday 30 September 2026

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

University closed. Week 4 report remains due 29 September. No new work assigned.

Week 5 · Wednesday 7 October 2026

compare.html

Tool: a two-condition comparison

Example: simple versus choice RT, or two inventory subscales. One comparison, written before you look.

18:00 Introduction: A difference needs a prediction and a spread, not only two means.
18:25 Demonstration: Compare two groups from a sample file.
18:40 Exercise: Run or reuse two conditions from your own data.

19:25 Results: Two means, two ns, one sentence on the direction of the difference.
20:05 Modification: Arts: a table a classmate can read. Science: a note on overlap.
Reading: None required beyond the note on the laboratory page.

Report: the comparison you wrote at 18:10 and whether the data agreed. Due Tuesday 13 October.

Week 6 · Wednesday 14 October 2026

cite.html

Tool: find, cite, and file a paper

Example: Donders (1868) or a short methods paper on self-report. Half-page annotation in the repository, with a complete reference.

18:00 Introduction: What belongs in a citation. Library search, not a chatbot bibliography.
18:25 Demonstration: Instructor finds one paper and files the PDF or link in a repo folder.
18:40 Exercise: Students locate one assigned or approved paper and write five to eight sentences.

19:25 Results: Read your annotation: question, method, one limit. No exchange of drafts.
20:05 Modification: Arts: clarity of the note. Science: name the dependent measure in the paper.
Preparation: Library access. No extra article beyond the one you file.

Report: lab-notes/ANNOTATION.md and a file or URL in papers/.

Week 7 · Wednesday 21 October 2026

methods.html

Tool: write a Methods section

Example: document the reaction-time or inventory procedure you already ran. Markdown in lab-notes/.

18:00 Introduction: Participants, materials, procedure, data handling. Write so someone else could repeat it.
18:25 Demonstration: A short weak Methods and a clear one.
18:40 Exercise: Draft the section for one of your earlier laboratories.

19:25 Results: Instructor checklist: could a stranger run this? No draft exchange.
20:05 Modification: Arts: wording. Science: timing, keys, and exclusion rules stated in numbers.
Reading: None. Bring your Week 2 or Week 3 CSV.

Report: lab-notes/METHODS.md in the repository.

Week 8 · Wednesday 28 October 2026

midterm check-in · 15%

Tool: a results webpage

Example: one claim from your data, a figure, and a paragraph. The graded work tonight is the individual midterm check-in, not a critique.

18:00 Introduction: A result is a sentence plus a figure, not a gallery of charts.
18:25 Demonstration: A page that states a claim and one that does not.
18:40 Exercise: Build a short HTML results page from an existing CSV. Complete the check-in file.

19:25 Results: Instructor reads the check-in: question, tool, prediction, existing files.
20:05 Modification: Revise the check-in until the project is one comparison, not a programme of research.
Preparation: Bring a CSV and a one-sentence project idea.

Due in class: project/CHECKIN.md. Weekly report: path to the results page and the claim.

Week 9 · Wednesday 4 November 2026

last weekly report

Tool: a browser game that studies a question

Example: play or remix the go/no-go instrument on game.html. Write the question first. Last weekly report. Tonight’s n is still small; that is not the week’s lesson.

18:00 Introduction: A game is an instrument if it records a comparison you stated first.
18:25 Demonstration: Play eight practice trials. Write a predicted false-alarm rate.
18:40 Exercise: Run a scored block and export the CSV into data/.

19:25 Results: One sentence: condition, n, and what you will not claim.
20:05 Modification: Arts: feel and theme of the mark. Science: one extra logged variable.
Reading: The laboratory on game.html. Optional extra: sample.html.

Report: path to the exported CSV, the question you studied, and one limit. Use Reading Week to begin the final page.

No class · 9–13 November 2026

Reading Week

Work on the individual final. Do not collect classmate data over the break. Self as participant is the default.

Week 10 · Wednesday 18 November 2026

project.html

Tool: turn the check-in into a page

Individual project. Use a tool already taught. No new libraries. Classmate data are optional and must stay in the room unless you wrote a one-screen consent the instructor approved.

18:00 Introduction: Common failures: no prediction, no file, appearance without a result.
18:25 Demonstration: A thin page that still states a claim.
18:40 Exercise: Build. Instructor circulates. No peer review.

19:25–20:45 Laboratory: Keep the project to one comparison.
Preparation: Bring the midterm check-in and at least one CSV.

Due: none tonight. Final is 2 December.

Week 11 · Wednesday 25 November 2026

project.html

Project laboratory

Can someone who is not you open the page and state the measure or the claim?

18:00 Introduction: Checklist: file, prediction, result, limit, disclosure.
18:25–20:30 Laboratory time: Individual work. Instructor circulates.
20:45 Discussion: What is still missing. No graded peer run.

Arts check: Can a stranger read the page?
Science check: Is there a number or a documented method, and a saved file?
Preparation: Come with a page that already runs.

Due next week: running page, short Methods/Results, example CSV if you collected data.

Week 12 · Wednesday 2 December 2026

final · 35% · last meeting

Submit the page

The page is the examination. There is no slide deck and no graded talk. A few people may demo if time remains; that is not a grade.

18:00: Push the final page and project/FINAL.md checklist.
18:15–20:30: Instructor reviews running pages. Optional short demos.
20:30–21:00: Confirm the push. ZIP only if git is unavailable. No registrar examination.

Graded: A clear measure or claim, a written prediction, a visible result, and a stated limit.
Not graded: Framework fashion or extra features for their own sake.

Due dates

Assessment against the calendar

50% laboratory reports, weeks 1–9, Tuesday 17:00. Drop the lowest. Week 4 is due 29 September.

15% individual midterm check-in: 28 October, in class.

35% individual final: running page on 2 December.

Catalogue dates: 1 September–8 December 2026, Wednesday 18:00–21:00. Closed: 30 September and 11 November.