(How) have students in this class learned to navigate ambiguity? (with student comments in quotes)

“I learned that there are more than one way to think about results of the study and how to operationalize certain constructs, so it is important to have your mind open to a plethora of ideas and possibilities through psychology and life in general.”

“Ambiguity can mean there is more space for extended research but can also mean surplus meaning and confounds. The ambiguity I think is more of a question so we can grow by thinking through these ambiguous sections of research and trying to think of alternate explanations.”

“I don't think I have ever been afraid of ambiguity --- I have always prided myself on pushing through something, regardless of whether or not I knew why I was working so far. However, I think this class has helped me to understand navigate is not necessarily analogous to work through. Sometimes the beauty is in the not knowing, which thus allows us to ask questions in order to learn new, exciting information.”

“Look at the bigger picture of something seems ambiguous. What is the context? Then you can try to find smaller details.”

“Reading with more focus and definitely using more structured ways of analyzing. For example, if I am given a study with many variables, earlier I would get super confused and call it impossible to understand. Now I know how to go about it, how to separate and structure concepts and identify the mechanisms of understanding confusing things. Its kind of like a life skill for me, to now structure things in order to understand them, after this class.”

“I've learned that as is the nature of ambiguity you may not be able to settle on a definitive explanation, but you can be just as comfortable with ambiguity as with certainty when you can settle on a possible explanation and provide an informed explanation for why your interpretation of the ambiguity is valid.”

“I’ve learned to be efficient and look for certain things.”

"I have learned, from homework assignments and class time, that ambiguity is going to be everywhere almost always. With that, I have learned that I can do well and figure things out by taking it in smaller steps and starting with what I know and going from there."

“In the beginning of the class, I could not think of any single ambiguity or possible error the first research paper that we read as an assignment can have . However, at this moment at the end of the semester, I think my ability to find out the potential problem in the research papers has been increased slightly--because I can notice several methods or data analysis parts which look strange or weird (although I cannot clarify it nor suggest an alternative).”

“I feel like I have better learned how to sense when the researcher isn't quite telling the truth. I also learned to be a clear writer myself and to repeat myself so what I am saying is understood by the reader.”

“I have learned to question the authors motives and to really think what concepts we are using, which can be difficult at times because they tend to blur together. However, I think that revisiting those concepts when there is ambiguity reinforces that information that I am unsure about when reading an article for example.”

“I feel that I learned to navigate ambiguity by being more creative and ask other people's opinions. [YES! Ask other people: share the responsibility/fun!] If an answer to a question was vague, then I can take what response I got and try to understand what I can and then try to understand what the person meant by connecting their response to other resources (like the textbook, notes, and the internet). Also, I ask for clarification or opinions from others to see if I can piece the puzzle together.”

“Ask for help or a ask around to get different perspective on a problem.” “You have to use you own initiative and will power to figure things out outside of class by talking to a friend, tutor, mentor, professor, piazza, the textbook, or all of the above.” “First, review the reading. If it is not helping me, asking questions and going to talk to the professor will.”

“Creative questions and confidence in one's own capabilities allows one to successfully navigate ambiguity.”

“One thing regarding ambiguity I've learned in this class is that: When in doubt, trust the data (but not after you carefully examine how the data was gotten). After all, numbers don't lie while our intuition may."

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