June 17th, 2021 

Auna Allen 

Course Reflection 

PSY 285 

Course Reflection 

At the beginning of this course, I believed I could master the content and improve my

understanding of how drugs affect humans. As a senior in college, I have seen drugs impact

friends, family, and many others. Therefore, I think that classes like these are extremely

important in understanding the neurobiological effects, as well as the psychological, and

physiological effects drugs have on our society. I also think this class is important because we

are surrounded by factual evidence by which increases awareness and understanding in college

aged groups.

One of the most enjoyable things of this class was finding research that related to the

course by which expanded on the material we were learning. I am extremely motivated to read

about research to eliminate any bias I have towards medications. At the beginning of this course,

I was already advocating for the usage of recreational marijuana, and psychedelics. At the end of

this course, I am even more amazed by the evidence that continues to back up medicinal usage of

these drugs. I would say the most valuable thing I have taken away from this class is that

research is extremely important especially in the pharmaceutical aspect. Without research from

both ends, positive and negative, we would not have a great understanding of how these drugs

affect individuals. Thought emphasis on research had also increased my skills for my psychology

major. Since we had to write lab reports in APA format, I found areas where I could work on,

and also areas where I had strengths. Understanding the statistics was sometimes difficult, but I
felt I had improved my skills. The last time I had taken a statistics course was my sophomore

year so, I was a little rusty. I think without having research methods in my background this

course would’ve been extremely difficult. Therefore, I think that research methods should be a

requirement if it is not already. Another thing I really enjoyed about the course was no group

work. In the past I’ve had some issues working with others due to lack of motivation from online

school. I enjoyed that this class was depending on my motivation to succeed. I also believe that

this class would give incoming college students a great foundation for understanding drugs and

scientific writing. As a psychology major, I would recommend this class to other science related

fields as well. Of course, it is a requirement, but I think we get a great outlook on the things we

could be potentially harming our bodies with.

For example, the unit we had talked about alcohol had showcased how is a can impact

your health and a negative way. College students are prone to binge drinking by which affects

their health in ways they might not understand. If a student were to take this class, I truly think

their behaviors would change.

Overall, I recommend this course to all students. I really think the material was engaging

in a way that made the course exciting. I always looked forward to what was coming next, and

what I was going to learn that I did not know before. My understanding of scientific method had

improved significantly. I found most of the time I was able to use my critical thinking to apply

and describe how drugs alter mood, our thoughts, and our behavior.