General Psychology Syllabus for 2017-2018
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Course

PSYC-2301-DC001 General Psychology

Prerequisites

<p>Prerequisite: RDNG 0331-minimum grade of C or a score on a state-approved test indicating college-level reading skills</p>

Course Description

General Psychology is a survey of the major psychological topics, theories and approaches to the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Student ResourcesStudent Resources Website

Department Expectations

Occupational License Disclaimer

Notice to Students enrolled in an educational program for preparation of issuance of certain occupational licenses:

Students enrolled in an educational program in preparation for obtaining certain occupational licenses are potentially ineligible for such license if the student has been convicted of an offense. For further information, please contact your advisor, the Legal Clinic, or the faculty member in charge of the educational program that you seek to enroll in. The further information you will receive will include notification to you of your right to request a criminal history evaluation letter from the licensing authority in order to clarify your particular situation.

Hours

(3 sem hrs; 3 lec)

Class Type

Dual Credit Course

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

Bundle Exploring Psychology, with Launchpad Access Card 9^th Edition, David G. Myers

Supplies

Textbook, syllabus, pencil, pens, spiral notebook, and access to a computer. If you do not have your own computer, you will need to use computers on your high school campus, or AC computers located on the 4^th floor of the Library. It is very important to have reliable service on your computer, if you do not have reliable service please contact me and we can work something out.

Student Performance

These are the MINIMUM competencies. After studying the material presented in this course, the student will be able to do the following as evaluated by the faculty in the department/program:

1. Identify various research methods and their characteristics used in the scientific study of psychology.

2. Describe the historical influences and early schools of thought that shaped the field of psychology.

3. Describe some of the prominent perspectives and approaches used in the study of psychology.

4. Use terminology unique to the study of psychology.

5. Describe accepted approaches and standards in psychological assessment and evaluation.

6. Identify factors in physiological and psychological processes involved in human behavior.

Students Rights and Responsibilities

Log in using the AC Connect Portal

In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at https://acconnect.actx.edu .

If you are an active staff or faculty member according to Human Resources, use "Exchange". All other students, use "AC Connect (Google) Email".

Expected Student Behavior

This is a college-level course, and is taught as such. I also have very high-performance expectations for you as college students. I expect you all to attend class online, read and study your textbook, participate in class discussion boards, be prepared for class discussion and exams, and respect everyone else who is the class. I cannot tell you how important reading your textbook is in this course. You will have a Reading Quiz over every chapter. I suggest going through your textbook doing pre-reading (scanning the chapter), then read the chapter, then go through and highlight important concepts and terms. Each student is expected to engage in academic honesty and refrain from cheating and/or plagiarism. means that although this class is online you should be doing your own work. I whole heartedly expect you to use your notes and books on all assignments and exams, you just may not use your friend or classmates. The point of college and college courses is to prepare you for your “real life” and “real career”. If you cheat your way through college then all you have learned is how to cheat and that is not very useful. All students are expected to be tolerant and respectful of other students’ responses within class. There will be zero tolerance for any type of harassment!! I want this to be an environment everyone can learn and feels safe!! I need to address late assignments…I do not accept late work. Now saying that I am somewhat lenient if you need some extra time. You need to email me, and let me know what is going on and if I can help.

Grading Criteria

The percentage points will be as follows: (all categories are color-coded throughout the syllabus & online)

• 40% of overall grade – Exams (4); each Exam is worth 10% of your total grade

(I will replace your lowest exam grade with your highest at the end of the semester)
25% of overall grade – Social Learning Project
25% of overall grade – Discussion Questions & Papers
10% of overall grade – Reading Quizzes

• Exams (40%):
  • You will 4, 50 question multiple choice exams on-line; each exam is worth 10% of your grade. You will get to replace your lowest exam grade with your highest exam grade
  • Exams will open on Wednesdays, and close on Sunday nights at midnight.

• On-line Discussion Questions & Papers (25%):
  • you will be required to respond to different discussion topics on-line
  • the discussion will need to include relevant information discussed in class lecture notes, web links, YouTube videos and in your textbook.
  • All discussions will be worth differing percentages; total for all discussions and papers will be 25% of your overall grade. There will be points for your initial response and points for your responses to your classmates.
  • The initial response for every Discussion Question/paper must be 3-5 paragraphs. Always write your Discussion Questions like you are writing a paper in an English class. One paragraph with many spelling/grammatical errors will not get credit.
  • You will be required to respond to 2 classmates’ responses. Your comments need to be relevant responses that show that you have read and understood what your classmates have posted and their point of view. Nice job is not enough. Responses to classmates should be 1-3 paragraphs.
  • Initial Discussion Question posts are due on Wednesdays by midnight, and comments to classmates is due by Fridays at midnight.

• Reading Quizzes (10%):
  • It is essential, and required, that you read the chapters of the textbook each week.
  • You will be tested on that material in the exams, but you will also be tested on your reading each week. There is a Reading Quiz at the bottom of each Chapter folder. These quizzes are 10 questions, and worth 10 points each…equaling 100 for each. The Reading Quizzes are timed, and you will have only 15-minutes to answer the questions. If you are not finished at the end of the 15-minute period, the quiz will close and auto-submit what you had completed.
  • These reading quizzes can help, or hurt, your grade. Keep on top of the reading and you will be successful.
  • Reading quizzes are open on Monday, and are due on Friday’s by midnight.

• Social Responsibility Assignment (25):
  • You will be required to do 4 hours of community service at your chosen agency in the community. You must provide signed documentation that you completed the required hours.
  • You will upload your Documentation Form from the agency where you volunteered, along with the Essay Questions for this assignment in the Last Folder for Chapters 12-15. It is an assignment box at the bottom of the folder.
  • You will answer 5 questions with short essays and a few short answers over reading a graph. Each essay question has a rubric which will be used for grading. The questions are worth a different amount of points for a total of 100 points. You will be able to access the rubric when you are taking the exam. The example of what one of the rubrics will look like is below.
  • This project is due Monday, November 20^th. No late assignments will be accepted since you have all semester to work on it.

Attendance

You will need to check online every day for updates and assignments. You need to check your AC email at least 2 times a day.  If you miss assignment and exam due dates then that will negatively affect your grade.

Calendar

Additional Information

The best way to reach me is my e-mail: janorman@actx.edu

If you email me within the AC connect class then when I reply it will go to your gmail account that is connected with this course. If you do not check your gmail then make sure to email me from the email you use most with your section number so I know what class you are enrolled in.

We can always try to set-up an appointment that will work for both of us. If you do not hear back from me by email then as a last resort you can call. (806)371-5214