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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Social Psychology by Wesleyan University

4.7
stars
4,734 ratings

About the Course

Ever wonder why people do what they do? This course—which includes more than $1,000 of video and reading materials—offers some answers based on the latest research from social psychology. Students taking the course for a Certificate will also receive free membership in Social Psychology Network (SocialPsychology.org). COURSE DESCRIPTION FROM PROFESSOR PLOUS: Each of us is dealt a different hand in life, but we all face similar questions when it comes to human behavior: What leads us to like one person and dislike another? How do conflicts and prejudices develop, and how can they be reduced? Can psychological research help protect the environment, and if so, how? This course offers a brief introduction to classic and contemporary social psychology, covering topics such as decision making, persuasion, group behavior, personal attraction, and factors that promote health and well-being. Our focus will be on surprising, entertaining, and intriguing research findings that are easy to apply in daily life. The course will also draw from the websites of Social Psychology Network, the world's largest online community devoted to social psychology. I hope you'll join me for this course, have fun, and learn some useful information that enriches your life....

Top reviews

IV

Jun 12, 2020

Very interesting course, tons of great material. Of all the courses I have taken so far in Coursera, this is one of the few that has pushed me to focus on the material we were going over-great course.

RC

Aug 18, 2019

I loved this course. It covered all the topics I was interested in and was thoroughly engaging and well-organised. Professor Plous is a great teacher and has designed a wonderful course in this MOOC.

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126 - 150 of 1,951 Reviews for Social Psychology

By Glorife M C

Jul 8, 2020

This is my first online course and I've learned a lot plus you'll have free certificate after the course. Prof. Plous is a great teacher, he will explain all the topics clearly and he's also a funny professor which is a big help to lighten up the mood when you feel like you are drowning from the tons of learning, videos, readings. The assignments and tasks were challenging I thought I would not end up completing this course because it somewhat requires you to think deeply or in critical way but after submitting my entry for every tasks or assignments I felt happy and proud to myself until I completed this course. This course is indeed a complete package because it has different references, lectures, videos, pdfs, and an excellent professor.

I loved this course. It covered all the topics I was interested in and was thoroughly engaging and well-organised. Professor Plous is a great teacher and has designed a wonderful course in this MOOC.

By Olivera S

May 14, 2020

The course of social psychology at the University of Wesleyan, in the group of Professor Scott Plus, was a wonderful experience for me, offered me the opportunity to explore new skills and gain new knowledge.The video lectures and the offered literature were at a very high level, above all professional and interesting.

I had the opportunity to learn interesting and useful things that I hope will be useful in my life for the benefit of all.

Involvement in the process of personal growth and development improves the life of each individual in each field such as spiritual upgrading, improving the attitude towards oneself and others, quality family life, professional development and more.

Many thanks to Professor Scott Plus and his team for their hard work. Thanks to all the visitors of the course, with some we have already made a small contact and exchanged views on the discussion forum.

By Kabakov B

Jul 29, 2020

It was, probably, the hardest and time-consuming course on Coursera that I took. But it was enlightening, indeed :) Usually, one must spend a 1-2 calendar days for each Coursera's week. Thus, if the course consists of 7 weeks, you can expect to take 7-14 days to complete it.

But not for this course. It took 30 days for me to pass it and it was a time well spend. The course contains many readings, such as entire chapters from psychology textbooks, and many documentaries. Also, there will be a lot of links to optional readings and videos, which I recommend taking., despite that it will consume a significant amount of time.

The first week was boring one and I almost decided to leave the course, but other weeks were fascinating, thus I became a course fan at the end :)

I bet you'll spend a lot of time with friends discussing what you learned on the course.

By Tomáš H

Sep 24, 2020

Amazing course!

By far the best course I've done. Prior to the course I was interested in psychology in more general way, as it's important part of my life as an athlete and a coach. So I started the course with a vague knowledge of psychology and I was curious about what I can learn that will be useful for me in my life.

Fast forward 7 weeks, I have just completed the course, I have enrolled to a University to study Social Psychology and I am looking for new career opportunities. The course helped to ignite and grow my passion for psychology and how society can use it to make our world a better place.

Big thank you to Coursera and especially professor Scott Plous. It's been an entertaining, useful and all along awesome journey that has changed my life already and helped me adjust the direction of my future life.

By LAF2

Aug 12, 2020

Professor Plous is an excellent lecturer. I learned a lot. If you're undecided, take thew course. My main frustration is that there is no further course to take for which this course might be a prerequisite. The final quiz was harder than I expected. My counterfactual thinking has me studying a bit more. But not really. The course was valuable for me because it increased my understanding and undermined some of my previous "common-sense" beliefs. Yet the final quiz required more; it sometimes required me to know the names of researchers and the terms they used. I should have read the glossary (which I forgot to do). But even if I had read the glossary and memorized terms and names, I would forget all of them within a few weeks, I hope the concepts stay with me. I think they will. And I don't care about the grade.

By Anastasia R B

May 18, 2020

It was an interesting course. It helped me to learn new information about social psychology I haven't known before. I appreciate the way of wording by professor Scott Plous. It was easy to understand him. The information was provided in all of the possible forms: lectures, a written script of the lectures, additional movies and interviews, reading materials. Also, all the assignments were practically oriented, it helped a lot in memorizing new information. Also, it was interesting to participate in discussions on forums, share my own opinion about this or that subject and learn others' opinions. Thank you, everyone, who worked on this course. I certainly recommend taking this course if you're interested in social psychology in general or want to know any certain moment of social dynamics.

By Josh W

Dec 29, 2020

Dr. Plous did a great job putting this course together. He made it fun, interactive, and very informative. The resources he made use of, like the original videos from famous experiments, were extremely helpful in being engaged with the material. The entire "vibe" of the course was appreciated, with Dr. Plous making jokes and having fun with the camera effects. The course was incredibly unique in this aspect. The Social Psychology Network researce is also very interesting and I have already been able to find other subjects in psychology that I will now look into. I would be very inclined to take another course by Dr. Plous and, if he has not been involved in any others than this one so far, I hope he will consider teaching another psychology-related course in the future. Thanks! - Josh

By nirmal r

Oct 14, 2021

One of the finest courses that I have ever attended. Professor Plous teaches you and more importantly guides you to explore the profound knowledge available in this domain. He also motivates you to be a good human being. The knowledge accrued can be utilised to influence others positively in an ethical manner and also avoid getting exploited. As given in the overview of the course, the knowledge gained in the course will help you become a good human being. That is become a good person to yourself, others, animals and environment. Professor Plous explains very important and serious issues with his excellent teaching mixed with humor and supported by high quality videos and very good reading Content. An excellent course. Thanking Prof Plous, University of Wesleyan and Coursera.

By Shuping D

May 20, 2020

This is my first online class. I like it and completed the 6 weeks student. I am so proud. Psychology is a topic which i am interested and try to take a class for so long, but I did not have a chance/ motivated enough to do so (I do not need any certificate for my career). Covid-19 changed our life, but it did gave me the chance/ made me to attend this class.

The classes were really interesting, and fun in the most of the time. I can see how much efforts Prof. Plous had put in. I did learn so much from the past 6 weeks. it was worth my time and effort. Thank you so much!! I wish I could be your student to attend more fun class and learn more from you.

For Coursera, the program was nice and went through smoothly to me. Your program made my dream came true. Thanks a lot!

By Evita D

Oct 5, 2020

The Course was super incredible! All the weeks assigned lectures, reading and assignments were put forth systematically. It was an extremely engaging course! The weekly assignments and the final exam were not just theoretical but more application based. All the concepts were completely relatable through which it was easier to understand. All the moderators and students as well were very active in the discussion forums which gives way in obtaining a world perspective. The option of resetting the deadlines were also given incase we ran too late in the weekly work. At the end of each day I felt so happy and pleased to be doing this course! I'm really glad to have completed the course successfully! It was worth taking. Thanks!

By Paul T

May 23, 2020

I thoroughly enjoyed this course! What I learned is immediately applicable and useful in my life, both personally and professionally. There were a lot of "ah-ha" moments! during this course; it was like working on a puzzle of what makes people do what they do. Professor Plous made the course enjoyable and approachable. The Coursera platform is user friendly and easy to navigate. Even though it is an "On-Demand" course with no formal classroom interactions, the Discussion Forum served as real-time interactions with other students from around the world - it is a great feature of the class. Regardless of your profession or personal situation, if you interact with other human beings, this course will be beneficial to you.

By Lisa L

Jul 5, 2020

From the moment I started this course to the very end, the interesting lectures and reading materials motivated me to learn more about social psychology. I sincerely thank Professor Plous, the various mentors and the supportive peers in this course for making it such a wonderful experience. I have certainly learned a lot from this course and how I can improve my thoughts and actions. However, this course requires quite a lot of time in terms of reading and understanding some concepts, so if you are taking this course, be prepared to put in a lot of time and effort. If you are willing to put in the hard work, I am sure that this course will be a great experience and will help you to become a better person!

By Asmaa H

Dec 25, 2020

I am not sure what to say. I am so touched by your course content, I am so proud of myself and I am so grateful for you. I am not the same person who started this course three months ago. Professor Scott Plous, no words could be enough to thank you for sharing your passion through this brilliant well-prepared course's content. Your energy was totally vivid during all the introduced videos though providing the course by an online platform. Your dedication and your passion made me if I have the chance to attend a real face to face course with you. From the core of my heart, thank you … Thank you Coursera for making such effective educating and illuminating courses available though the distance barrier.

By Deborah P

Dec 22, 2020

I didn't participate in the program as a regular student would, I was just interested in learning about social psychology. So, I didn't complete assignments, etc. However, I LOVED THIS CLASS! Scott is a treasure and made everything fun and interesting. I took a massive amount of notes for future reference and would recommend this class (and have) to everyone. Because of this class, I am re-reading all of Malcolm Gladwell's class and I am able to better understand our current struggles within the U.S. with the Covid virus (lack of) response and our administration. The class was like watching (taking) a feel good movie. So positive and informative. Thank you Scott and all your guest speakers.

By H P

Dec 12, 2021

I'd like to thanks Prof. Scott Plous and his team as well as all the generous sponsors for the materials in this course for open access. The Social Psychology course in 7 weeks has really opened my mind about how many things/ people in the society work and why it happens the way it is. Not only the knowledge and personal life/ professional work has been beneficial from the course but also the online learning experience has been transformed tremendously during the course. The way the study content is designed and how learning is structured really proves the point that everything is about understanding human psychology and how to make it work effectively. Thank you so much for the course!

By ivy

Apr 9, 2021

Very informative for beginner to learn about different concepts and theories. The course is of the right length. There are lots of optional reading material. Forum discussion is great. Assignment is not too intense which is great for people like me that is full time working and only can devote a bit of time on the weekend.

The final exam is not a give away and you need to understand and study a bit..

I love the staff and instructor, very lively and helpful. I hope you guys can have more courses like this or a master course on social psychology that are intended for full time people who are interested in social psychology applications and not just like an academic course in university.

By Edwin C v E

Mar 7, 2019

A marvelous course to follow. The lectures are funny and interesting and the concepts that are covered can be applied to one’s daily activities instantly. Most certainly you will have the “so that’s why people behave like this” or “that’s what I do as well” feeling. The topics that are covered are a nice selection of the more popular subjects and well-known social psychological experiments. Professor Plous has gone through great lengths to make the course as interactive, versatile and interesting as possible. Kudos to the mentors in the forums as well. Questions are answered instantly, and the discussions add to the overall course experience. Highly recommended.

By Katharina T

Mar 23, 2021

Of the three Coursera courses I've taken so far, this was THE BEST! Though it is online and you're alone in front of your computer, Professor Plous found a way to "interact with you"! There are snapshot quizzes and you will verify your answers along the way. Besides the great digital framework Professor Plous and his team have worked out, the topics are very interesting and presented with a lot of warmth!

I would strongly recommend this course!! But my advice not to expect some easy lessons. In fact, you have to put a lot of effort in it because there are sort of homeworks which means written projects you hand in. So plan on spending time on it if you opt in.

By Hui S

Mar 16, 2021

A wide range of concepts were covered. Instructor videos are articulate, easy to understand, friendly and great reference videos were included. Course work could seem unnecessary first, but as you put effort into it, you can see why the instructor made it that way. Peer feedback actually worked well. I read some really helpful comments. Overall, I think it was time well spent. The only slightly negative review I have is: The snap quiz at the beginning was rather confusing. Since it was called a "quiz" I was trying to provide the "correct" answer instead of my own actual judgement at the moment. Also it was hard to remember all the concepts by the names.

By Piyushkumar S P

Oct 15, 2020

Psychology is a difficult subject to understand, especially for those who are from non psychology background, like me. But simple and effective explanation by Prf. Scott makes this course a must do course and understand that psychology is not simply a common sense, there is lot more to it. We can manage teams, and get effective business outcomes in professional life every day at our work while dealing with teams at different levels, as a individual contributor, as middle manager, as executive level, etc. Social Psychology should be applied to reduce crime, increase environmental awareness, effective law making will have larger impact make world more safer.

By Davi R B

Aug 16, 2020

Such a pleasure sharing this course with brilliant people from around the world. Special thanks to the mentors, direct and indirect collaborators, Coursera team and Scott Plous for making this possible. I'll never forget the time I spent studying so many interesting and useful things; my main goal is to apply those contents to my research and, mostly, to my daily life. This course is much more about sharing and changing than anything else: as you all shared with me, it is now my duty to share with other people in order to spread ideas that can change the world to a better place! This is the best way I can express my gratitude. Once again: thank you all!

By Aishwarya

May 23, 2020

This course was the best course so far for me ! The content, the readings , the way the course flows in a neat order , the unique and challenging assignments and of course our instructor Dr.Scott Plous , everything was brilliant , makes me wanna visit Wesleyan University at least once. This was my first psychology course and it exceeded my expectations and to be honest , I learnt a LOT , and I enjoyed the lectures , the discussion forums , and the subject itself . Social psychology is an amazing course ! And I’m glad I took this course !!! Thank you to all the people who worked hard to deliver this knowledgeable course to us . Thanks !

By mabel s

Jul 16, 2020

I am very happy, it was a great experience for everything, meeting such a bright, smiling, very professional person, a being of light like Professor S. Plous and having contact with many people in the world, it is wonderful. The excellent theme was very playful and it was socialized in an understandable way with clear examples, as it progressed it was like having that anxiety of knowing that there was more to learn, the truth did not want it to never end, they keep the student animated and curious . I congratulate all of the Coursera group, excellent human beings and professionals. A big hug from Colombia, I will not forget you.

Sofía

By Samia A

Jun 14, 2020

This has been an exciting and insightful learning journey since I completed my Masters in 2014! I have a natural love of and interest in why people do the things they do and until this course, had not thought of Social Psychology as a field of study I would pursue. Professor Scott Plous is an engaging and inspiring lecturer and the various techniques he incorporated into the course made the learning that much more interesting and fun. Now, I am very keen to pursue a PhD in Social Psychology (with a touch of forensic psych).

I truly loved this program and send sincere thanks to Wesleyan University and Coursera for making it available.