Syllabus SUNY at Cortland, Department of Psychology PSY 334 Psych of Adulthood & Aging (001)

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1 Syllabus SUNY at Cortland, Department of Psychology PSY 334 Psych of Adulthood & Aging (001) Course Information Instructor Information 3 Credit Hours Raymond D. Collings, Ph. D. Spring 2009 Office Phone: Lecture: SPRY CollingsR@Cortland.edu 11:30 am-12:20 pm. on Mon, Wed, Fri Office: Old Main 134C Office Hours: Mo & We 9:00-11:15 Course Description: Changes (in formal aging) in sensory and perceptual processes, in learning and cognition, in intelligence, in personality, in social relations; and other selected issues in aging. Prerequisite: PSY 101 or SOC 220. (3 sem. hr.). Class Attendance: Because a portion of your final grade will based on in class participation, it is a requirement that you attend classes. Should you miss a class, it is your responsibility to obtain lecture notes from one of your fellow students. (Please do not your instructor with the following question I am sorry that I had to miss class today. Did I miss anything? ). Missed work may only be made-up under extraordinary circumstances and only at the discretion of the instructor. By the way, leaving for or returning from Spring break is not an excused absence, so keep this in mind as you make your travel plans. Because it can be extremely distracting (and rude) when students walk in during a lecture, please be on time. *Excused absences require written documentation from the appropriate medical, legal, or administrative entity. Goals for Student Learning: This course is designed to introduce you to the study of psychological development during adulthood. I have found that learning occurs best when students take the time to think about the issues discussed in class and in the text. Consequently, I will expect each of you be prepared and willing to participate in class discussions. Each of you will also be expected to participate in a teaching presentation. This assignment will involve your doing some outside * to familiarize yourself with your topic, and you are expected to work with your partner(s) to prepare a suitable presentation. Finally, each of you will have a project that will involve your interviewing an older individual. In addition to your learning about their perspectives on your interviewee s life, I am hopeful that this assignment will enable you to re-evaluate your perspective of your own life. Texts and Materials Bee, H. L., & Bjorklund, B. R. (2007). The Journey of Adulthood (6 th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Course Requirements: Your final grade will be determined by your exam grades (70% of your total grade), interview project (15% of your total grade), presentation (10% of your total grade) and your participation grade (5% of your total grade). Timeliness: In fairness for your classmates, the instructor, and yourself, you are expected to turn in assignments on time. Late assignments will not be accepted, except under extraordinary circumstances and only at the discretion of the instructor*. Even when late assignments are accepted, points may be deducted from your grade. *Excused late assignments generally require written documentation from the appropriate medical, legal, or administrative entity. 1

2 Academic Dishonesty: Please note the College policies on plagiarism in the College handbook. Specifically, each student is expected to present his or her own work. All papers, examinations, and other assignments must be original, or explicit acknowledgment must be given for use of other persons ideas or language (p. 47). Class Courtesy: Students are asked to leave their cell phones, pagers, large screen TV s, and any other distracting devices turned-off during classes and lab sections. Students who disrupt lectures may be asked to leave. Students with Disabilities: If you are a student with a disability and wish to request accommodations, please contact the Office of Student Disability Services located in B-1 Van Hoesen Hall or call (607) for an appointment. Information regarding your disability will be treated in a confidential manner. Because many accommodations require early planning, such requests should be made as early as possible. Grading Policies Grading Scale: Your final course grade will be based on the number of points you have earned during the semester D % C % B % A % D 63-66% C 73-76% B 83-86% A 93-96% D % C % B % A % F 0-59% Exams: You will take four on-line exams this semester (see Assessments in E-learning), each covering approximately 3 chapters and lecture material. These will be predominantly multiple choice objective exams, designed to test your general understanding of the material covered in the text and in class. Although we may not cover all the material in the book, you are responsible for knowing it. You should take notes during all lectures, presentations, and videos, as this material may also be on the exams.. These tests will all be open book, so you can anticipate questions that challenge you to understand the material at a much greater depth than simply looking up the right answer. However, they will be timed tests, so you must have read the material in advance. I will open these exams up two days before the due date of the test, and you will have until 11:30 that night to complete the exam. However, once you begin the exam, you will have 60 minutes to complete it, with up to 2 attempts per test over a two day period. You should know that 45 questions would be randomly selected from a test bank for each administration, so you will never get the same exam twice. Students may not correspond with one another regarding the questions on the exams. Students suspected of collaboration may be 1) asked to retake a comparable exam in my office and/or 2) turned over to academic affairs for discipline. The highest score being counted toward your grade. Your average exam grade will be worth 70% of your grade. Group Presentation: Each student will participate in a group presentation of material for one of the topics covered in the course. The group will be responsible for one class meeting, in which they will present material related to, but not taken directly from a chapter in your book. Although you should read the chapter and select a topic that is related to the material, you will be responsible for doing some outside readings and research to find new material. You may be tempted to simply present information from the text book. However, that is not the assignment. Your grade will suffer greatly if you simply review the material in the chapter. I know that the hardest part of this assignment is picking a topic. However, you are all college students, and you have an entire library and the World Wide Web at your disposal take the time to use them! In other words, you are expected to learn some thing new, and teach it to us. You will be asked to choose four broad topics from the list below, in order of preference. These should be turned in to me before the second class meeting (see Assignments in E-learning). I will try my best to accommodate your preferences. Once you have been assigned to a group, you will then be responsible for coming up with a specific related topic to present on. I understand that some people enjoy working with groups, while others prefer to do individual projects. Each group must decide how unified they make their presentations. For example, the group might select a single broad topic, with 2

3 each member be responsible for a piece of the project. For example, your group might select psychological and psychiatric disorders in old age, related to Health. In this case, one member might discuss depression, one member might discuss substance abuse, one member might discuss psychoses, and one member might discuss anxiety disorders. On the other hand, your group might be less uniform, with each member handling a totally different topic related to the chapter. Even in this case, your group must make sure that there is no redundancy, and you may want to provide feedback to one another. Regardless of the organization, each member must do a 10 minute presentation on an individual topic. Your group should prepare for a 50 minute lecture/discussion. You are encouraged to use PowerPoint. You may use videos, but this cannot make up the bulk of your presentation; use only a few short clips. You are encouraged to be creative and to make your presentation interesting, but please keep it simple. The primary objective is to teach your material well. In order to prepare for your presentation, we will dedicate three class meetings to outside research (2/16, 2/18, & 2/20). I would encourage your group to meet at least once during this week, although you may choose to do this via your group discussion in E-learning. We will not meet on those days. However, you will be expected to give me a progress report each of those days, to let me know how you are doing (see Assignments in E-learning). Failure to make these progress reports will result in 1/3 letter grade deductions (per missed progress report) from your individual presentations. These should be short and sweet and done on time. At any point, you should feel free to make an appointment with me to discuss questions you might have regarding the material I am here to help! One word of caution: It has been my experience that the more personally relevant your topic is to the students, the more likely they are to be engaged. However, you should also be aware that some of the topics we will be discussing might be quite sensitive to individuals in the class. Use your best judgment, and understand that I may step in if I see the need. The possible evaluation points for your presentation will be broken down as follows: Peer Instructor Ratings Interest of material covered Thoroughness Clarity of Presentation Organization Overall quality or presentation Total In addition to my rating, you will be rated by your peers. I encourage you to be fair, but be honest. I do reserve the right to overrule overly harsh or overly fluffy ratings. Your grade on this presentation is worth 10% of your total grade. Broad Presentation Topics You must send me your preferences before the second class meeting, or, you will be assigned to a topic. Topics 1. Cognition 5. Meaning 2. Social Roles 6. Stress 3. Social Relations 7. Death and Bereavement 4. Work 3

4 Interview Assignment: This assignment will involve several aspects. First, you will complete the Self-Report Questionnaire under Assignments in E-learning. This should be submitted to me by 1/26 in Assignments. Retain a copy you will need it later. Second, you will conduct an interview of an older individual to get a perspective of how that individual s experiences during young adulthood have played out. The obvious choices for this interview would be a grandparent, relative, minister, teacher, or family friend. Although I would prefer that you interview someone who is retired or approaching retirement, I might permit you to interview another individual, provided that person is old enough to have had a broad life experience. If you have any questions about your candidate, please see me first. You will be given a list of questions that will serve as a foundation for your interview. However, I would advise you to take time to have a conversation with your interviewee about these issues do not just read your questions and write-down their answers. Feel free to make note of any addition information that you find interesting. I would prefer that you either conduct this interview in person or via the phone. However, you may do this via or letter. If your interviewee agrees, you might record the interview. Otherwise, you should take detailed notes. A copy of the completed interview will be due to me in Assignments by 4/15. Retain a copy you will need it. The third part of this assignment will be a paper, in which you will first provide a case-study of your interviewee. You should include your interviewee s answers to the questions provided, with a thorough discussion of how the person s life developed in relation to that person s expectations. I am especially interested in knowing the degree to which this individual s perspective has changed across their life. Your paper should also include a discussion of how your perspective of your own future may have changed because of what you learned from this individual and in this course. Note: If your perspective has not changed, you need to let me know why not. This project is worth 15% of your total grade. Participation: Throughout this course, you will be encouraged to think about the material and to contribute to discussions. Consequently, you will have an opportunity to earn points based on the degree to which you participate in these discussions. Part of this point allocation will be strictly objective (i.e. class attendance), and part of this point allocation will be strictly subjective (e.g. how much did you impress me as having thought about this stuff). Your participation grade is worth 5% of your total grade. Scholar s Day: Although we do not have a class meeting today, you are expected to make a showing to Scholars Day. In order to receive participation credit for today, you must post a short description of some presentation or poster you observed. It should be no more than a paragraph, so keep it simple, in your own words. (see Assignments) A Note About Written Assignments: In your written work, you are expected to display college-level writing. Substandard writing will not be accepted. So, prove proof your work! Help is available for all levels of expertise at the Academic Support and Achievement Program 1st Floor, Memorial Library, (607) Finally... I believe that it is important that you gain an understanding of this material. My goal is to help you accomplish this, by providing the material as clearly as possible during lectures, by providing you with opportunities to practice and apply the material in a variety of ways, and by being available to answer your questions during my office hours. My exams are designed to assess how well you understand the concepts presented in this course. Most of you will work hard and do well in this course. Unfortunately, a few of you may find this material challenging. Although I have high expectations for all of you, I also understand that sometimes you may need help. Please, please feel free to visit me during office hours or me if you start running into problems (the earlier in the semester the better). My goal is to help each of you to do well in this class, so let me know how I can do that. Using E-Learning: Each of you should be enrolled in the E-Learning course site by the end of the first week. To log onto the course, you should go to the SUNY Cortland Homepage; select the Technology on Campus option under Quick Links; select E-Learning. Then click on Log on to E-Learning. You should use your C # as both your username and your password. I encourage you to change your password. If you forget your password, I can always reset it back your C # later. Once you have logged on, you will find the site relatively easy to use. 4

5 Psychology 334 E-Learning Menu Options Course Tools Course Content Note: If Handouts are not visible, click on the double down arrow. By Clicking on this icon, you will be able to send to me. To compose a new message, select Compose Message, and then click Browse next to Send to. You should see a list of all students, TAs, and the instructor. Just select the recipient s name and click Select. Be sure to type the Handouts* appropriate subject. All course-related s should be sent to this account. In order to receive credit, you will also submit all papers as an attachment to an E-Learning sent. In the subject space, please include your name and the assignment (e.g. Experiment #1 Introduction/Methods). Announcements By clicking on this Icon, you will be able to download any class announcements I might post. You should check here regularly. Assessments By clicking on this icon, you can access your take home exams. You may take each of these exams up to two times, although each attempted will involve a different set of questions. The highest grade will be displayed. Assignments By clicking on this icon, you can access instructions for each paper assignment. You will post your papers as an attachment to the respective assignment here. Calendar You may access the course calendar for important exam and due dates Chat By clicking on this icon, you can engage in an online chat with who ever is on line at that time. By clicking on this Icon, you will be able to access ongoing discussions. This feature will be used for two purposes. First, students may post Discussions questions regarding the material, assignments, policies, etc. to which your classmates, the teaching assistant, or I can respond. Please do not post or reply privately, as that would defeat the purpose of having an open forum. Mail By Clicking on this icon, you will be able to send to me. To compose a new message, select Compose Message, then click Browse next to Send to. You should see a list of all students and the instructor. All course-related s should be sent to this account. Syllabus You may access another copy of this syllabus Who's Online You can use the Who's Online tool to chat in real time with users who are enrolled in any of your courses and logged in to the Blackboard Learning System at the same time you are logged in. My Tools My Grades By clicking on this Icon, you will be able to access your grades in the course throughout the semester. This way you always know how you stand, and if you and I have a discrepancy on a grade, you can let me know. My Files By click on this icon, you can create and access folders and files *May also be accessed by clicking on the icons under the course description. 1