ETHNOCULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY (PSYC 2777) Sections 001 & 002 Fall 2012 Classroom Science & Technology C309 Instructor Dr. Michael Baker Class Times Section 001: MWF 8:00 8:50 AM Section 002: MWF 9:00 9:50 AM Office Rawl 322 Office Hours Tuesdays & Thursdays from 11 AM 1:30 PM Also available at other times by appointment. Phone (252) 328 6059 Please note: Communication via e mail is preferred. E mail bakermich@ecu.edu (please include PSYC 2777 in subject line) Twitter @PsychologyBaker (http://twitter.com/psychologybaker) Course Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/psyc2777.fall2012 Required Text Shiraev & Levy. (2013). Cross Cultural Psychology (5 th ed.) ISBN: 978 0205253234 A copy of this text is on reserve at the circulation desk in Joyner Library and can be checked out for three hours at a time. Note: Except for changes that substantially affect grading, this syllabus is a guide for the course and is subject to change with advance notice. Any changes will be announced in class. IMPORTANT: This syllabus will remain available on the Blackboard course website throughout the semester. If you would like a paper copy of it, please let me know in person or via e mail and I will gladly provide one for you. Course Description and Objectives Content: This course is designed to provide you with an introduction to the study of psychological perspectives on culture and ethnicity. A list of the topics to be covered can be found in the course schedule on the last page of this document. Methods: Objectives for this course include 1) developing a working knowledge of past and present research and theory in cross cultural and ethnic/social psychology and 2) learning about the research methods this field of study. Broader Impact: Psychology majors will benefit from being able to apply the knowledge gained in this class to their future professional pursuits. Both majors and non majors will benefit from a better understanding of their social world and culture. Instructional Style Although this is a lecture based course, I strongly encourage students to ask questions if they are not confident in their understanding of a given topic. When questions are presented to the class for discussion, students are expected to do their best to respond.
Aside from participating during our normal class time, you are expected to read the sections in the textbook either before or after they are covered in class. Some students prefer to read the book prior the lectures so that they can get additional clarification regarding the topics from the readings. Other students prefer to be introduced to the material in class and then get additional details from the textbook. Either way, it is important to use your textbook. Most of our lectures will follow the textbook fairly closely in order to make it easy for you to match material that you learned in class with the coverage in the text. You can see which chapter(s) we will be covering on any given day by using the course schedule at the end of this syllabus. Finally, I encourage you to continue to think about the material from this course during your daily life and to share your thoughts and observations with me and the rest of the class. You should do this by using the social networking resources that are available to the class on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/psyc2777.fall2012) and Twitter (@PsychologyBaker or http://twitter.com/psychologybaker). Please limit your posts to information that you sincerely think is relevant to the course. For example, if you see something in the campus newspaper or on an episode of a TV show or on a movie or news program that you think is a good example of a concept that we covered in class, you should share it online. You are also welcome to share observations from experiences in your personal life (e.g., things that you ve observed when walking around campus or interacting with your friends or family). However, you should always be careful and sensitive about what you share and make sure not to share any personal information that would embarrass you or anyone else. You should also be respectful in any comments that you make on other people s posts. Any comments or posts that I deem to be offensive or abusive (e.g., racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.) or confrontational will be deleted at my discretion. Student Evaluation & Testing EXAMS: There will be a total of four exams consisting of three unit exams and one cumulative final exam. Unit exams will consist of approximately 50 multiple choice questions. The cumulative final exam will consist of 100 questions, 50 multiple choice questions from the last unit covered and 50 questions from the material that was covered over the course of the entire semester. Exam content will be drawn from both the lectures and the textbook. A study guide for each exam will be made available on Blackboard. QUIZZES: A quiz will be made available on Blackboard at the conclusion of each chapter. Each quiz will consist of ten multiple choice questions that will typically refer to information that was covered in the textbook and that will often be covered in class. Each quiz will only be available for a limited amount of time (typically a 2 3 day period) that will be announced in class. You may retake each quiz one time as long as the quiz is still available online but after taking it a second time, you may not take it again. You will need a different PASSWORD to access each quiz. The passwords will be announced in class. You may use your notes and textbook while taking the quizzes but remember that each quiz has a time limit of 15 minutes. Exam Make up Policy Exam dates are not negotiable. You may make up a missed exam if you missed it due to an excused absence. It is YOUR responsibility to contact me within one week of
missing an exam in order to explain why you missed it and arrange to make it up. The best way to do this is to contact me via e mail. If you fail to contact me within one week of a missed exam, you will receive a grade of zero for that exam. Any exams not taken by the day of the final exam will be assigned a grade of zero. Course Grades Your final letter grade for the course will be based strictly on your performance on the exams and quizzes and will be determined using the scale below. Any requests for inflated grades will be ignored. Grading Scale Letter Grade Percent Score Letter Grade Percent Score A 93.45% 100% C 72.45% 76.44% A 89.45% 93.44% C 69.45% 72.44% B+ 86.45% 89.44% D+ 66.45% 69.44% B 82.45% 86.44% D 62.45% 66.44% B 79.45% 82.44% D 59.45% 62.44% C+ 76.45% 79.44% F Below 59.45% Starfish Retention Solution Starting in Fall 2011, East Carolina University began using a software package called Starfish Retention Solution in an attempt to increase the student retention and graduation rate at ECU. Instructors who use this system can give kudos or flags for their students depending on how the students are performing in class. Kudos are given in order to praise students for excelling in their coursework whereas flags express concerns about low grades, attendance problems, or disruptive behaviors. This information is then shared with the student via e mail and notifications are also sent to the student s academic advisor and the Pirate Tutoring Center in Joyner Library. The point of this system is to make sure that students and those who can help them are made aware of any problematic trends as early as possible. I typically give kudos to praise students who earn a grade of A on any exam and raise warning flags for students who earn grades of D or F. The people who see these notifications will not see the exact grade that you earned but they may contact you to provide advice. Attendance and Lateness Policies Attendance will not be taken regularly in this class. However, you can expect your grade to reflect your general level of attendance. Some exam questions may be drawn from lectures, and can NOT be found in the textbook. Therefore, your grades on the test will likely suffer if you do not attend class. Attending class on time is STRONGLY encouraged as class will begin promptly at the assigned time. If you need to arrive late or leave early, please do so as quietly as possible so that the class will not be disrupted. Excused Absence Policy Students who miss exams or other coursework may make them up if their absence is excused. There are two ways for an absence can be excused. 1) It may be a university
excused absence that is authorized by the Dean of Students. Please see the appropriate section of the 2012 2013 ECU Undergraduate Catalog for more information on this type of excused absence (http://www.ecu.edu/cs acad/ugcat/regulations.cfm#attendance). 2) Absences that are not official university approved absences may be excused at the discretion of your instructor. A documented circumstance that is beyond your control (i.e. car wreck, illness, plane flight delay) is most likely to be excused. Notes Taking good notes is very important to success in this class. The notes will not be posted on Blackboard so it is important that you attend class so that you will be able to take notes yourself. If you miss a class for any reason then you may review the notes during my office hours. If you miss a class due to an excused absence then I will e mail a copy of the notes for that day to you upon request. Mass distribution of the notes via e mail or social network for any reason (for profit or not) is strictly prohibited. Violations will be considered to be acts of academic dishonesty and will be prosecuted accordingly. To clarify: you may share notes with individual classmates but you may not sell or distribute notes by sending out mass e mails via Blackboard or other online systems. If you miss a day of class, please do not send out a mass e mail request for those notes. Instead, try to get them either from your instructor during office hours or from a fellow classmate via an individual request. Office Hours Please feel free to meet with me during my office hours. If you are unavailable during my regular office hours, you may schedule an appointment with me via e mail (bakermich@ecu.edu). If you are having difficulty understanding the course material or the exams, if you missed a lecture or need to review or ask questions about the material that was covered, or if you would like to go over your exams or talk about grades, my office hours are an ideal time to discuss these issues with me. Unless otherwise noted by an announcement, I will always be in my office (Rawl 322) during this time. These are open office hours so you do not need to make an appointment if you would like to meet with me during my regular office hours. Policy on Disruptive Academic Behavior East Carolina University is committed to providing each student with a rich, distinctive educational experience. To this end, students who do not follow reasonable standards of behavior in the classroom, or other academic setting may be removed from the course by the instructor following appropriate notice. Students removed from a course under this policy will receive a grade of drop according to university policy, and are eligible for a tuition refund as specified in the current tuition refund policy. Academic Integrity The ECU Student Handbook (http://www.ecu.edu/cs studentlife/policyhub/handbook.cfm) contains important information on Academic Integrity and what you need to know about possible violations. Academically violating the Honor Code consists of the following: Cheating: The actual giving or receiving of any unauthorized aid or assistance or the giving or receiving of any unfair advantage on any form of any academic work Unauthorized aid or assistance or the giving or receiving of unfair advantage on any form of academic work.
Plagiarism: Copying the language, structure, ideas, and/or thoughts of another and passing (adopting) same as one s own original work. Falsification: Statement of any untruth, either verbally or in writing (either spoken or written), regarding any circumstances relative to academic work. Attempts: Action toward the commission of any act that would constitute an academic violation as defined herein(that is, cheating, plagiarism, and/or falsification) shall be deemed to be a violation of the Honor Code and maybe punishable to the same extent as if the attempted act had been completed or consummated (Attempting any act that if completed would constitute an academic integrity violation as defined herein) Violations of the honor code will be prosecuted in accordance with the procedures listed in the Student Handbook. NOTE: Asking your fellow classmates for the passwords to the web based quizzes or giving out these passwords via mass e mail or by other means is NOT authorized and will be considered a violation of the academic integrity policy. Students with Disabilities East Carolina University seeks to comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Students requesting accommodations based on a disability must be registered with the Department for Disability Support Services located in Slay 138 ((252) 737 1016 (Voice/TTY)). For more information, go to http://www.ecu.edu/cs studentlife/dss/ Policy Regarding Severe Weather and Other Emergencies A time may arise when severe weather or another emergency event prevents a regularly scheduled class meeting from taking place. University emergency information can be found on the ECU homepage. It is usually highlighted with a red bar that will specify the alert. http://www.ecu.edu or go to http://www.ecu.edu/alert or by calling the emergency hotline: 252 328 0062. Contingency Plan for Continuity of Instruction Instruction will continue should the university be closed for face to face instruction. In such an event, students will still be responsible for reading the relevant material that would have been covered in class that day. Lecture slides and streaming video of the lectures will be made available as soon as possible via blackboard in the event of such an emergency. Relevant notifications will be sent out via e mail if such an event occurs. GPA Hours at ECU (identified in Transcript in Banner Self Service) plus transferred credit hours Retention requirements Old Retention New Retention Requirements Effective with Requirement All Fall 2011 grades courses taken at ECU All courses taken at ECU 1 29 semester hours 1.6 GPA 1.8 30 59 semester hours 1.8 GPA 1.9 60 74 semester hours 1.9 GPA 2.0 75 or more semester hours 2.0 GPA 2.0 Please discuss the retention requirements, entrance to major requirements, and your goals with your academic advisor.
Course Schedule (Note: This schedule is subject to change if necessitated by unforeseen circumstances.) Date Material 8/22 Syllabus Overview 8/24 8/29 Chapter 1: Understanding Cross Cultural Psychology 8/31 Chapter 2: Research Methods 9/3 Labor Day Holiday 9/4 & 9/5 Chapter 2: Research Methods (Continued) 9/7 9/14 Chapter 3: Critical Thinking 9/17 Exam 1 (Chapters 1 3) 9/19 9/24 Chapter 4: Cognition 9/26 10/1 Chapter 5: Intelligence 10/3 & 10/5 Chapter 6: Emotion 10/8 Fall Break 10/10 Exam 2 (Chapters 4 6) 10/12 & 10/15 Chapter 7: Motivation 10/17 10/22 Chapter 8: Development 10/24 10/31 Chapter 9: Disorders 11/2 Exam 3 (Chapters 7 9) 11/5 & 11/7 Chapter 10: Social Perception & Cognition 11/9 & 11/12 Chapter 11: Social Interaction 11/14 & 11/16 Chapter 12: Applied Cross Cultural Psychology 11/19 Special Issues: Race 11/21 & 11/23 Thanksgiving Break 11/26 Special Issues: Sexual Orientation 11/28 Special Issues: Religion 11/30 Special Issues: Socioeconomic Status 12/3 Review Session 12/7 Final Exam for 8 AM Class (Section 001) 8:00 10:30 AM 12/10 Final Exam for 9 AM Class (Section 002) 8:00 10:30 AM