FALL 2012 SYLLABUS

Course Number: PSYC 101 (3 credits)

Course Title: Introduction to Psychology Meeting Time: MWF 1:10-2:00 p.m. (Section F)

Instructor: Dr. Marnie L. Moist

Office: Scotus Hall, Rm. 102-C *E-mail: mmoist@francis.edu Office Phone: 814-472-2887

Blackboard Course Tool Log In: https://courses.francis.edu

Office hours: MWF 9:00-10:00 a.m. TR 11:00-12:00; 4:15-5:15 p.m.

BROAD PURPOSE OF COURSE

This course will encourage you to think about foundational psychology concepts as you work to improve your general study/learning skills, read information critically, write clearly in an effort to deepen your self-awareness, interpret data as support for your arguments, and develop critical thinking skills. Course content will first focus on the major theoretical perspectives utilized by psychologists to interpret behavior, use of the scientific method in psychological research, brain-behavior relationships, human sensation/perception processes, learning mechanisms, and personality theories. Later in the semester we will discuss altered states of consciousness involved in sleep, dreaming, and substance abuse, child development and age-related emergence of skills, human memory and problem-solving, symptoms of mental disorders, and the influence of groups/culture on individual behavior.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Course Goal	APA Goal
Communication
Distinguish relevant from irrelevant information through critical thinking quiz questions, covering both class notes and assigned readings.	Goal 7 – Communication Skills
Write a paper that encourages personal development through use of quantitative reasoning and critical thinking.	Goal 7 – Communication Skills
Quantitative Reasoning
Calculate means and correlations using Excel 2010.	Goal 2 – Research Methods in Psychology
Interpret the meaning of averages and correlations in order to support written arguments.	Goal 2 – Research Methods in Psychology
Life-Long Learning
Improve one’s own ability to study and organize information in a way that facilitates later task performance.	Goal 9 – Personal Development
Critical Thinking
Analyze course concepts through compare/contrast writing and “Key Feature”/ ”Order” quiz questions.	Goal 3 – Critical Thinking Skills
Integrate ideas from multiple areas when writing to increase self-awareness and when studying for quizzes through “Not-one-of-these” quiz questions.	Goal 3 – Critical Thinking Skills
Apply course concepts to real life examples through writing and “Application” quiz questions.	Goal 3 – Critical Thinking Skills; Goal 4 - Application
Scientific Method
Understand major psychological theories, concepts, and their applications.	Goal 1 – Knowledge Base of Psychology
Identify and apply the key elements of the psychological scientific method.	Goal 2 – Research Methods in Psychology

REQUIRED TEXTS

Hockenbury, D.H. & Hockenbury, S.E. (2011). Discovering Psychology (5^th Ed.).

New York, NY: Worth.

NOTE: Make sure to read the Blackboard calendar notes (by selecting the date on the calendar that each chapter should be read by) for specific pages to be read, since most Hockenbury & Hockenbury chapters are not assigned in their entirety. In place of certain chapter sections, I have assigned journal articles from the Pettijohn book.

Pettijohn, T.F. (2007). Classic Edition Sources: Psychology (4^th Ed.). Dubuque, IA:

McGraw Hill.

RECOMMENDED COURSE MATERIALS

The best guide for APA-style is the American Psychological Association’s (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6^th Ed.). Kirszner and Mandell’s (2010) The Brief Wadsworth Handbook (6^th Ed.) is also useful for APA-style, but if used please note that I am requiring you to use the publication format not the student paper format. Both books are on reserve in the SFU library at the Reference Desk; you may examine them within the library only for 4 hours. Also see link to APA-style online tutorial in Blackboard.

HOW TO USE BLACKBOARD

Log On Instructions

1. Using Internet Explorer, type http://courses.francis.edu/on the command line. Alternatively, if your browser is set to automatically go to http://my.francis.edu, you can select the Blackboard link under Campus Resources.
2. To the left of the username/password screen, select the link that says, “Please login using your SFU username and password”. It will tell you how to search for your username (which is identical to the first part of your SFU e-mail address, i.e., the part that comes before @francis.edu). Your initial password will be: the first 2 letters of your lastname + the first 2 letters of your first name + the four digits (month & day) of your birthday. It is recommended that you change your password ASAP (see link within this same area for how) since the same username/password will be used to access your e-mail, Blackboard, and my.francis.edu.

EXAMPLE: Student: John B. Conrad Birthdate: 05/23/1991

John might have the following login info: Username: jbc101 Initial Password: cojo0523

LAPTOP POLICY

You MAY use your laptop during class to take notes. I am not the thought-police, laptop misuse during class time means you have only yourself to blame should your grades suffer. If you observe someone misusing their laptop during class time in a way that is disruptive, I will address any concerns brought to my attention.

If your laptop malfunctions, contact Nick Weakland at 472-2800. Nick's office is Library 105. Nick will fix your laptop for no charge and will lend you a laptop to use until yours is repaired. Nick’s goal is to follow the 15-minute rule, which states that you will be provided with a loaner laptop within 15 minutes after bringing in your laptop for repair.

ACCOMMODATIONS, TUTORING, AND LIBRARY HELP

Accommodations: Any student who feels she/he may need an accommodation based on a disability, in this or any other course, must contact Ms. April Fry in the Office of Disability Services in 106 Saint Francis Hall at 814-472-3176 or afry@francis.edu, before the semester begins or as soon as possible after the semester begins. A student requesting accommodations must provide recent documentation of his or her disability to Disability Services. After the proper documentation is approved, students must then schedule individual meetings with individual faculty in their offices to discuss the specific needs for courses.

Tutoring: The Writing & Tutoring Center is located on the 3^rd floor of the SFU library, and it is open M-R 1:30-7:00 and F 1:30-5:00. Most relevant to this class, please request the PSYC 101 tutor. Paper-writing assistance is also available. Students may walk in as needed without advance notice, but you may also make an appointment with someone to fit your specific needs by contacting April Fry at tutoring@francis.edu .

Library research help: The SFU library strives to support student learning and research by providing access to reliable, academic research materials, quiet and group study areas, and expert research assistance. Students can receive help with their research (selecting the best topic, finding materials, citing materials, etc.) by contacting a reference librarian at 814-472-3161, at AIM screen name sfulibrarian, or in person at the Research Help Desk in the library. For more information and hours available see http://libguides.francis.edu/researchhelp.

GRADING POLICY

NOTE: At any point in the semester, you can view only your own grades by going to Blackboard, then selecting My Grades from the left-hand menu list.

Five Quizzes (100 pts. each X 5 = 500 pts. total) Extra Credit Opportunity for each Quiz: At the end of some class days, I will post one extra-credit multiple-choice question at the front of the room. It will be about material covered in the lecture that same day. If you get it correct you will earn 1% extra credit added to the next quiz. If you get it wrong, no harm done.

3-Part Self-Analysis Project (350 pts. total)

Part I: 1-page Critical Life Incident Essay - 20 pts.

Part II: Discussion Group A and B Activities - 30 pts.

Part III: 10-12 page Self-Awareness Paper - 300 pts.

Attendance and Participation (150 pts. total)

TOTAL = 1000 points

92% - 100% = A 78% - 79% = C + 90% - 91% = A – 70% - 77% = C 88% - 89% = B + 60% - 69% = D 82% - 87% = B 59% and below = F 80% - 81% = B - Note: To be fair, I do not round up grades at anyone’s request.

Quizzes

Material on all quizzes will be taken from both required textbooks and lectures. In order to do well, you will need to complete all assigned readings and attend the lectures. Some questions will be taken from the readings that will not be covered in class, some will be from the notes only, and some questions will be from both. Each quiz will cover 1-2 chapters, and the question format will be multiple-choice. Please see Blackboard for Quiz Tips, which includes quiz study guide questions useful for guiding your reading (and for earning extra credit on quizzes!!!) along with examples of multiple-choice item formats.

You can view your quiz grade shortly after it is taken by viewing Blackboard My Grades. Although correct answers will not be discussed in class, you are more than welcome to compare your quiz to the answer sheet and/or discuss it with me during my office hours.

You are required to complete quizzes on the date they are given. Athletes with scheduled away games MUST schedule the quiz to be missed with me 1-2 days prior to the actual quiz date in order to avoid making up a quiz on the end-of-semester “Quiz Make-Up Day”. In the case of an absence on quiz day, a non-athlete (or athlete who fails to set up a quiz time prior to the scheduled quiz) will only be allowed to take the missed quiz during the “Make-up Quiz Day” towards the end of the semester. Only one quiz maximum can be made up at this time, and completing a quiz for which you were absent earlier in the semester means that you will not be able to drop your lowest quiz grade by re-doing that quiz in essay format on “Make-up Quiz Day”. Overall, you may select from one of three options on “Quiz Make-up Day”: a) make up a quiz for which you were absent earlier in the semester using an essay test format, b) drop your lowest quiz grade by replacing it with an essay test on the same chapter(s) and class notes for which you earned the lowest grade, or c) have a day off from class if you have not missed any earlier quizzes and if you are happy with your current course grade.

Assignments

All assignments will be posted on Blackboard - BB (i.e., select BB Assignments from the home page). They can be downloaded from there for printing out. I will not hand out the assignments in class, so you must go to Blackboard to get them. Aside from the Chat Room assignment, all work must be typed and submitted in hard copy form at the start of class on the due date (see BB Calendar for all due dates). Typed work must be double-spaced and consist of 12-sized, black font with normal 1-inch margins. You are expected to keep up with all due dates on your own as I usually don’t think to remind you of them.

I will accept late assignments, but you will lose 10% from your grade for each week your work is late. For example, if you do not hand in an assignment on the due date, 10% will be taken off your grade immediately up through the following week. If the assignment is not handed in exactly one week from the due date, 20% will be taken off your grade. Any assignment more than two weeks late will not be accepted.

NOTE: "Technical difficulties" is not an excuse for turning in late work. I recommend that you save all your homework files on the student SFU network drive (I: drive) and/or save a back-up along with your laptop C: drive; if your laptop malfunctions, you will still be able to obtain any needed files.

Participation and Attendance

Participation is worth 50 points. Points will be deducted at my discretion based on lack of participation in class and based on my own observation of any student’s lack of cooperation and effort during collaborative activities.

Attendance is worth 100 points. Two points will be taken off your attendance grade for each unexcused class day missed. Only the following instances will NOT result in removal of points:

a) verified participation in a Saint Francis game as an athlete or in another official Saint Francis event (e.g., a play, awards ceremony, etc.)

b) a doctor-signed and dated proof of hospitalization for either yourself or an immediate family member.

During the first two weeks of class, all athletes must provide a copy of a game schedule listing the dates of all games, along with a team membership verification sheet from the athletic department. Any athlete who fails to provide this information will be penalized for each game day missed; please warn me of upcoming missed classes so I can remember to excuse your absence. Athletes have the same coursework due dates as everyone else; if you know you will be missing an upcoming quiz, please speak with me so that we can schedule the quiz a day or so before the missed quiz.

All other reasons for missing class, which are too difficult for me to verify (e.g., funeral attendance, not feeling well, etc.) will result in a removal of two points per day, so please do not ask for exceptions.

PLAGIARISM

Cheating is forbidden by Saint Francis University policy. Any student caught cheating will be assigned an automatic grade of F on the relevant assignment or test. Continued cheating will result in an F for the entire course. For a description of what is considered cheating, see the SFU Academic Honesty Policy at:

http://www.francis.edu/AcademicAdvisingHonesty.htm?terms=Academic+Honesty

CLASS SCHEDULE

NOTE: See the Blackboard Calendar in the left-hand menu list of the home page for all due dates. Click on the date itself in the calendar to view specific assigned reading pages.

Week of Topic

Aug. 27^th Syllabus, Learning Style and Personality Type Tests (W); Personality (F)

Sept. 3^rd NO CLASS (M); Personality (W); Discussion Groups A+B (F)

Sept. 10^th Learning (MWF)

Sept. 17^th Theoretical Perspectives in Psychology (MW); Scientific Method (F)

Sept. 24^th Scientific Method (M); Using Excel, Practice Studies, How to Study (WF)

Oct. 1^st Quiz 1 (M); Brain & Behavior (WF)

Oct. 8^th Brain & Behavior (M); Sensation & Perception (WF)

Oct. 15^th NO CLASS (M); Sensation & Perception (T); Quiz 2 (W); Altered States (F)

Oct. 22^nd Altered States of Consciousness (MW); Developmental Psychology (F)

Oct. 29^th Developmental Psychology (MW); Quiz 3 (F)

Nov. 5^th Memory (MWF)

Nov. 12^th Language, Thought, and Intelligence (MWF)

Nov. 19^th Quiz 4 (M); NO CLASS/Thanksgiving (WF)

Nov. 26^th Mental Disorders (M); Make-up Quiz Day (W); Mental Disorders (F)

Dec. 3^rd Mental Disorders (M); Social Psychology (WF)

FINAL EXAM WEEK: There will be no cumulative final exam. Instead, Quiz 5 on the last two chapters of the semester (Mental Disorders and Social Psychology) will be taken during the scheduled time for our final exam testing period – Monday, Dec. 10 at 10:10 a.m.