Essay Instructions

The Essay assignments occur in Module 2, Module 4, Module 6 and Module 8. Each essay should be in APA format and should discuss the required prompt. This assignment does not require a Title page or Abstract page, but does require a Reference page and in-text citations.

Each essay will review a different topic from the text and will also link each topic with Scripture. Each essay should have a word count of at least 500 words.

Using the Jerry Falwell Library, select two full-text, scholarly (peer-reviewed) journal articles that directly relate to the topic for each essay. The textbook may be used, but does not count toward the two required scholarly references.

Essay Topics

Module 2: Examine Adler’s 3 safeguarding tendencies in the text. Select 1 of the tendencies and compare that tendency with instances of safeguarding that you find in Scripture. Demonstrate how that situation would have been improved if safeguarding tendencies were not used.

Module 4: Identify Maslow’s 5 basic assumptions regarding motivation as well as Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs. Discuss each assumption and hierarchy level. Include specific examples from Scripture regarding motivation.

Module 6: Review the section in Chapter 13 titled “In Search of the Big Five” (pgs. 381 – 392) as well as the article “Big Five Personality Factors and Facets as Predictors of Openness to Diversity” (Han & Pistole, 2017). Select one of the Five-Factors and discuss how this factor relates to an open attitude toward diversity as related to Costa and McCrae’s Five-Factor Model of Personality?

Module 8: Analyze the 4 common elements in most human disturbance according to Kelly (threat, fear, anxiety, and guilt). Compare each of these constructs with what Scripture says regarding these particular elements.

Selecting Appropriate Journal Articles

If you need assistance finding scholarly journal articles, click here to learn how to navigate through the Jerry Falwell Library.

When searching Liberty University’s online library, from the Jerry Falwell Library home page, select “Advanced Search” and be sure to select the appropriate dates (within the last 7 years).  Under Show Only select the following: “Items with full text online”, “Scholarly materials, including peer-reviewed.” Under Exclude from results: select all three options. To find useful articles, narrow the search by selecting, keywords or phrases to use as your search parameters.

The articles researched must be from scholarly journals. It is preferred that the journal have the word “Journal” in the title (Journal of Marriage and Family, etc.). Ideally, each journal that you review should have a Methods section as well as Data, Results, and Conclusion sections, but these sections are not required. Please note: You may not use book reviews, magazine articles, or online articles that have not been published in scholarly journals.

Week 2: Ready, Set, Stop: Approaches and the Problem Set-Up

Problem solving can take you down a path filled with continuous forks or junctions; choosing one direction or approach over another might significantly alter the outcome, or become an alternative route to the same destination. Recognize that the path you choose is one of many paths that may lead to a good solution.

In this week, you continue to explore problem- solving approaches. In addition, you address hypothesis creation, causation and correlation, and intuition and how these topics relate to the problem-solving process.

Photo credit: Billinger, J. (Photographer). (2009, 06 15). Fork in the Road [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1355424

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze different approaches to problem solving
• Create hypotheses for solving problems
• Analyze role of intuition in problem solving
• Evaluate information to determine causation and correlation
• Analyze role of perspectives in problem solving
• Analyze insights related to problem solving

Discussion: Hypotheses and Problem Solving

Note: Please read the Introduction to all Discussions. Then proceed to participate in the required Discussion A, and your choice of Discussion B or C. There is also an Optional Open Forum you may participate in at any time.

Discussion Introduction (Applies to Discussions A, B, and C)

Have you ever thought you identified the cause of a problem, only to find out later that you were mistaken? When one event or action regularly follows another event or action, you may be likely to conclude that the initial event caused the second event. You may be correct, but, as you learned in this week’s Learning Resources, correlation is not the same as causation.

When you create hypotheses, you use your experience and the resources at your disposal to guess what may have caused a problem and to identify a solution that may address it. For this Discussion, you apply your understanding of causation and correlation to create and discuss hypotheses.

To prepare for the following Discussions, review this week’s Learning Resources including the Problem-Solving Guidance Handout.

Discussion A (Required for all students)

For this Discussion, focus on the various scenes and vignettes that Watzlawick presents in his book, The Situation Is Hopeless But Not Serious: The Pursuit of Unhappiness. For each scene or vignette, consider Watzlawick’s approach to the problem of “the pursuit of unhappiness.” What hypotheses does he propose to address the problem? Based on your own experience, would you consider these plausible hypotheses? Why or why not?

State one hypothesis Watzlawick proposes in the first five chapters of his book. Then evaluate whether, in your view, Watzlawick’s hypothesis is plausible. Provide support for your position.

In addition, create a hypothesis to suggest another explanation that may be equally plausible. Include in your answer an explanation of how intuition might play a role in the approach to this problem.

By Day 3

Post a minimum of 100 words to Discussion Question A.
Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to at least one of this unit’s Learning Resources. Additionally, you may opt to include an academic resource you have identified or something you have read, heard, seen, or experienced.

By Day 5

Respond to the posts of at least two different colleagues. One must be a response to a colleague’s post about the question you did not select. Respond in one of the following ways:

• Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
• Expand on your colleague’s posting.

Discussion B (Select B or C)

Scenario: 

The gentleman living next door has scolded you three times in the past 2 weeks because, in his view, you parked your car too close to his car. Review the assigned pages in the Watzlawick text, as well as Attribution Theory in this unit’s Learning Resources.

Using attribution theory, describe what motivations you can attribute to the neighbor. Create a hypothesis that may help you frame a possible solution to the problem.

By Day 3

Post a minimum of 100 words to your choice of Discussion Question B.
Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to at least one of this unit’s Learning Resources. Additionally, you may opt to include an academic resource you have identified or something you have read, heard, seen, or experienced.

By Day 5

Respond to the posts of at least two different colleagues. One must be a response to a colleague’s post about the question you did not select. Respond in the one of the following ways:

• Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
• Expand on your colleague’s posting.

Discussion C (Select B or C)

Scenario:

At work you are presented with a list of possible reasons why your department was over budget for the last 3 months:
Unauthorized use of overtime
An increase in the costs of supplies
Staff with improper training for the tasks that they complete
Too many managers on vacation at the same time
Inadequate facilities/space to complete the job
A flu outbreak that required temporary help while paying paid time off for full-time employees
You are asked to determine which of the factors on the list contributed to the overage.

Create a hypothesis that may help you frame a possible solution to the problem.

By Day 3

Post a minimum of 100 words to your choice of Discussion Question C.
Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to at least one of this unit’s Learning Resources. Additionally, you may optto include an academic resource you have identified or something you have read, heard, seen, or experienced.

By Day 5

Respond to the posts of at least two different colleagues. One must be a response to a colleague’s post about the question you did not select. Respond in the one of the following ways:

• Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
• Expand on your colleague’s posting.

Optional Open Forum

Add anything that is interesting or notable based on your study of problem solving in this week’s resources, other resources, or your problem-solving experiences.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:
Week 2 Discussion Rubric

Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 5

To participate in this Discussion:
Week 2 Discussion A

To participate in this Discussion:
Week 2 Discussion B

To participate in this Discussion:
Week 2 Discussion C

Optional Open Forum

To participate in this Discussion:
Open Forum