Lake-Sumter Community College Course Syllabus Course / Prefix Number PSY 2012 Course Title: Introduction to Psychology CRN: 30228, 30229 Credit: 3 Term: Course Catalog Description: Summer AE 2011 An introduction to the scientific study of human behavior with emphasis on the history of psychology, physiology, perception, learning, intelligence/testing, emotions/motivations, personality formation, mental disorders, therapy, and social interaction. Instructor: Beth McNulty Office Location: Distance Learning N/A Contact Information: Office Hours: N/A mcnultyb@lscc.edu or via Blackboard Mail Mode Phone contact as needed ; leave message with Faculty Staff Assistant ( Ms. Donna Glover) All students are required to use LakerMail for official college e-mail communications. See the college webpage for instructions on activating LakerMail. Prerequisites: Textbook and Other Course Materials: Technology and Online Computer Access Requirements: Successful completion of all college preparatory composition and reading courses indicated through placement testing Psychology Schacter, Gilbert and Wegner Publisher: Worth ISBN 13-978-7167-5215-8 and student resources as published within Bb Regular, reliable high speed internet access on a daily basis. Use of text based Student Resources available via Blackboard on course home page. All material in the text may appear on assessments. Students are required to read the text book. Access Bb on a daily basis for announcements/ mail from the professor or your peers. Please be aware of the time frames where maintenance occurs on the system. Waiting to the last hour to complete work for the week is not advisable. Provide an introduction to the science of Psychology including its major areas, terms and contributions. Develop an understanding of the scientific methods and research in the Discipline of Psychology. Course Objectives: (what the course will do) Foster a critical attitude toward behavior and an understanding of the Importance regarding the influence of individual differences in behavior. Help students discriminate facts from misconceptions about the field of Psychology via critical thinking skills. The successful student will be able to: 1. Demonstrate ability to research related topics via internet access. 1
2. Identify the individuals who have made major contributions to the field of psychology. 3. Define (including all relevant terms), compare and contrast the research methods used in psychology. 4. Compare and contrast the following perspectives; biological (medical), psychoanalytic, behavioral, humanistic, cognitive and sociocultural. 5. Describe the function and location the parts of the brain and other areas of the nervous system. 6. Describe the various procedures used to study the brain; describe the synapse and the various neurotransmitters; the relationship between sensation and perception. 7. Describe the various motivational processes; describe the physiological component of emotions and relevant theories of emotions. 8. Describe the levels of consciousness, the stages of sleep, and the research on sleep, and sleep disorders; understand the effects of psychoactive drugs. 9. Describe the processes of classical and operant conditioning, define all relevant terms, show the various ways in which they can occur, and be able to name the individuals most closely connected to each. 10. Describe parts of memory, their duration, and capacity. 11. Define and describe the use of standardization, reliability, and validity in test construction; describe the concept of IQ and theories concerning intelligence, and the impact of hereditary and environment on the development of intelligence. 12. Describe several key developmental theorists and their contributions. 13. Describe major theories of personality, and how they are used in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorder; use of psychoactive drugs. 14. Describe the conditions that lead to stress, how an individual determines whether an event is stressful, and the physical and emotional reactions to stress, including the general adaptation syndrome and the various methods of coping with stress. 15.Describe abnormal behavior, use of the DSM-IV; describe the major symptoms, category, causes of mental disorders; describe the disorders Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) Assessed in this Course: (what the students take with them beyond this course) Academic Integrity: Important Information General Education Competency Social Responsibility: Demonstrates understanding of the breadth and variety of human culture and/or the complex interrelationships between humans and the environment. The successful functioning of the academic community demands honesty, which is the basis of respect for both ideas and persons. In the academic community, there is an ongoing assumption of academic integrity at all levels. There is the expectation that work will be independently thoughtful and responsible as to its sources of information and inspiration. Honesty is an appropriate consideration in other ways as well, including but not limited to the responsible use of library resources, responsible conduct in examinations, and the responsible use of the Internet. (See college catalog for complete statement.) Any student with a documented disability who requires assistance or academic 2
for Students with Disabilities: Privacy Policy (FERPA): Attendance / Withdrawal Policies: Withdrawal Deadline: accommodations should contact the Office for Students with Disabilities immediately to discuss eligibility. The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) is located on the Leesburg Campus, but arrangements can be made to meet with a student on any campus. An appointment can be made by calling 352-365-3574 and specific information about the OSD and potential services can be found at www.lscc.edu, then go to Quick Links and click on Disability Services. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. 1232g; 34 CFR Part99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of a student s education records. In order for your information to be released, a form must be signed and in your records located in the Admissions/Registrar s Office. Students are expected to participate in the virtual classroom 5-7 days per week. If a student misses more than two assessments or assignments, the student may be dropped from the class. Regular and reliable internet access is required for success in this class. Last date to withdraw without a penalty is Friday, March 25th Quizzes, Unit Tests, Assignments. Total opportunity points to be earned over the semester are one thousand (1,000). Methods of Evaluation: Grading Scale: Students may be evaluated on a variety of assessments, assignments, group discussions, and group projects. There are no dropped grades, make up work, no late work accepted, or extra credit opportunities during the semester. See grading section below. The textbook must be read. You are responsible for all material in the text, and all text material may appear on exams. Course quiz schedule may be revised through the term. 900 1,000 A 800-899 B 700-799 C 600-699 D Course Calendar: To be distributed via BlackBoard Mail mode May 9 th 2011 Professional and academically centered communication a regular basis with professor and fellow student learners is required. Missing more than two assignments or assessments may subject student to withdrawal by the professor. All student communications will receive a response within 48 hours. Classroom Rules and Policies: Full participation is expected and is essential for success in the course. Less than full participation and incomplete assignments will diminish your grade. On line etiquette and class participation is required. Students may turn in work no less than 48 hours ahead of a due date in DRAFT form, with the title of the assignment in the reference line. The professor will review the material and provide feedback in order to maximize point value. Please be sure to use complete sentences when using email. Please address the professor and each other in a professional manner. This is not a social networking site. All assignments must be submitted using APA guidelines/format. If you are unfamiliar with this approach, reference material is available in the LSCC library, from one of the staff Librarians and on the APA web site. (APA.org) Any paper submitted with five or More grammar, spelling, syntax or punctuation errors will be returned with a 0 grade. 3
All work must be submitted as a doc, rtf or docx file. Word Perfect format is not acceptable and will not be graded. Computer literacy and efficiency is essential. You are required to use Internet access for research on specific assignments. You must have regular and reliable Internet access. If your online connection is not reliable, you may want to utilize computers at the college or use a computer that will not disconnect or time-out. Beginning the first week of the term, the instructor will assume that students are well acquainted with the Blackboard environment and have become proficient at the following: navigating through Blackboard; emailing through Blackboard; attaching documents; creating discussion postings; submitting assignments to the Assignments section; browsing the Internet; creating and formatting documents in a standard word-processing application; saving documents in rtf or "rich text format" or as a compatible WORD document All documents submitted must be in a DOC, DOCX, or RTF format By the second week of the term, all students should have resolved all technical issues with the Lake Sumter Community College Helpdesk and be ready to fulfill the requirements of the course. No exceptions will be made; no excuses will be accepted. Violence Statement: Syllabus Disclaimer: A USB Drive is REQUIRED: Do not count upon the stability of any online environment or of your computer s hard drive All materials for submission online should be FIRST saved on a USB/Flash Drive and submitted by using the upload or cut and paste feature of your computer. Portable drive back up files is a course requirement. Lake-Sumter Community College has a policy of zero tolerance for violence as stated in College Board Rule 2.17. Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken in accordance with Board Rule 2.17. Information contained in this syllabus is, to the best knowledge of this instructor, considered correct and complete when distributed to the student. The instructor reserves the right, acting within policies and procedures of Lake-Sumter Community College, to make necessary changes in course content or instructional techniques without prior notice or obligation to the student. 4
Distance Learning Orientation The following instructions are intended to familiarize you with the course and to provide some direction in how to access the course tools within the Blackboard system of course management. The log-in is your XID, starting with a capital X. Your password is your birth date written as a six digit number. For example, if your birthday is May 7 th, 1983, then your password would be 050783. After logging in, if you have disabled all of the pop up blockers, you will be viewing the homepage. You should see a large LSCC, and you may see some directions on how to proceed or a welcome message from your instructor. To the left is the listing of Course Tools that will provide access to all of the features and content of the course. The Announcements function is a place for the instructor to place information about the course. These messages will usually be brief postings reminding you of the coming week s material. They may not be frequent, but you can always check to see if there is a new posting when you log in each time. Often, the instructor will inform you that a new posting has been added. This function is read-only, so it is to provide information, but it does not allow student postings or conversations about the content. The Modules function is a place where you will find the weekly material for which you are responsible. These modules generally include web links for you to review, the assessments for the chapter material, Unit tests, and assignments related to the material. There is generally one Module for each week/chapter in the semester. The Professor reserves the right to modify Chapter material. The Assessments section of the course tools is where you will find quizzes and Unit tests. These quizzes are due at intervals given in the course agenda. They are timed, so do not begin a quiz until you have read the material and you are ready to select the answers. The time limit varies, so have your text ready with your notes to begin the quiz. Be sure to read the instructions before you begin the first quiz. Quizzes are graded immediately. If your online connection is not reliable, then you may want to take quizzes at the college or from a computer that will not disconnect or time-out in the middle of your test. There is no resetting or make up of quizzes or unit tests. Be cautious, and do not select the assessment until you are ready to begin. The Assignments section is where you can read the requirements for the assignment, where you can view the due date (the same one that is given in the syllabus), and where you submit your assignment. Fragmented sentences, spelling errors, grammatical errors, or non-responses will not receive full credit. This function allows you to write a note with your assignment and to read the instructor s comments after the assignment is graded. To submit an assignment, use the following steps: Select assignments from the course tools Click on the name of the assignment Click the add attachments button Click on the my computer icon Select the file on your computer where your file is saved Press the Open button You can add a comment for the instructor if you wish Press Submit 5
The Calendar function is something that you can refer to for reminders of important dates. The instructor will post some reminders and you can add dates for your own purposes. The Chat function is a communication tool that you can use when others are online at the same time that you are. For now, the instructor will not be assigning chat groups or requiring members to be in the course at a prescribed time, but if you refer to who s online you can send them an invitation to chat. Many in the class are working professionals, so don t be concerned if your chat invitation is refused. Sometimes people are taking tests or are otherwise occupied. The Discussions function may be a graded exercise to encourage you to communicate with your classmates. This is a public communication, so be aware that anything you post on the discussion board can be read by anyone in our class or anyone who has been given access to the course. This is not a social networking site, so please use your best language skills, The Learning Modules function is sectioned into units. We may cover more than one Chapter/Module per week, in some instances. This Learning Module supplies additional information to use with your text for each of the reading assignments. Information and additional links to information related to course content are located within this function. Links for interesting websites and biographical summaries are presented as well as some links for articles of specific psychological interest. It also includes the Chapter assessments, Unit tests, and Assignments. Use the Course Calendar ( sent to you the first day of class, within Bb) to determine what material is due during the week. The Mail function is for private, non-public communication. You may select the entire class or individuals from the class or the instructor as the recipient of your message. You also may add attachments to mail messages. You might note that the mail function is the method to use for submissions of revised quizzes or written assignments because after the deadline for submissions has passed, the assignments and assessments sections will no longer accept late work. Make sure that you use complete sentences and your best English when communicating with the instructor. The Syllabus function is your access to this document. If a link is given in the syllabus, you will find it is an active link. The Who s Online function gives a number of participants in the course, and if you select the function you can see the names of classmates who are currently active in the course. As the instructor I will sometimes be available and sometimes I will be a hidden presence in the course. Research For the Chapter assignments, Media Assignments, and essays, you need to use academic sources. To meet the minimum research requirement for each assignment, use the databases available through the library s databases. For research follow these steps: From the college homepage, http://www.lscc.edu select libraries from the quick links listing. Select Databases A-Z Select one of the approved databases Enter your Borrower Id (your XID) Enter your Pin number (the last four numbers of your social security #) After you have made your minimum research requirement from approved academic sources, you may add reliable sources from other sources. I advise against any use of wikipedia.com or casual internet searches. Even in the approved sources, you should be careful to use only critical or analytical information. 6
Documenting sources The best way to document sources is to use APA style. If you need additional help on how to use APA for documenting your sources, follow the steps listed here: From the college homepage http://www.lscc.edu, select libraries from the quick link choices. Select from the HOW TO menu How to cite sources There you will find many links to information. Be aware that sources that are not documented in the paper and on a work cited page are plagiarized and may not count toward your grade. The instructor has access to sources that can identify plagiarized sections or whole papers, so don t be tempted. The college catalog contains information about the penalties for plagiarism. After you have read through the orientation and have looked at each of the course tools described in the course, go back to the beginning of the syllabus and start reading the assignments and completing course requirements. Be sure to communicate with the instructor frequently and to ask any question that is not already answered by reading this syllabus. TIME MANAGEMENT: Managing your time is one of the most important elements for determining success in the course. Some weeks are crowded with reading and assignments. Please plan your time accordingly. COURSE AGENDA: The Course Agenda will be published the first date that Blackboard is available to students. It will be in the form of an email to each student via the BB mail function. It is critical you pay close attention to the due dates in order to manage your time and computer availability/access diligently. Some dates may be revised during the term at the instructor s discretion. Please check Bb on a daily basis. An online student is expected to: Participate in the virtual classroom 5-7 days a week Be able to work with others in completing projects Be able to use the technology properly Be able to meet the minimum standards as set forth by the institution Be able to complete assignments on time Enjoy communicating in writing. Stay up with the class and complete all work on time. Submit all assignments in APA format. No exceptions.. The course agenda will be published in an email within Blackboard to the students on the first day of classes.. 7