Psychology 100 - Syllabus
Introduction to Psychology
Winter 2003

Welcome ... I'm pleased to have you in class this term. In this syllabus I've made an attempt to explain what you need to know in order to complete this course. Here, you'll find:

• expectations; the details on the assignments, the exams, and the time lines for the course;
• the resources available to you; and
• an explanation of how grades will be determined.

Greg Asher Social Science Department - Psychology Chemeketa Community College 4000 Lancaster Drive N.E. P.O. Box 14007 Salem, OR 97309 (503) 399-5197 greg@chemeketa.edu

This picture was taken last summer by a fellow that works for The Statesman-Journal, the local newspaper in Salem, Oregon. I'm never very happy with pictures of myself, and this one seems very large here, but I thought I'd include it to give you an image you can hold while we interact this term.
 

Required Textbook:

Visit the Chemeketa Bookstore or check your class for the latest text

Recommended Supplements:
These supplements, paper-bound or on the web, are optional ... you're not required to have or to use any of them. BUT, having said that ... I can't imagine many valid reasons not to take full advantage of such a wealth of collected tools ... other than a simple I don't want to.  To me, these are invaluable resources.

Student Study Guide to accompany Exploring Psychology, Fifth Edition by David G Myers; by Richard Straub, University of Michigan-Dearborn, ISBN: 0-7167-5275-1

. For every major content section, longtime author Richard Straub has divided each chapter by major topic; each section includes:

• a "Preview" (objectives that require short answers) and "Stepping Through the Section" (which include detailed fill-in-the-blank questions);
• 3 review tests, including 2 progress tests (20 multiple-choice, matching and/or true/false test questions);
• a critical thinking test (20 multiple-choice questions and one essay questionKey terms;
• "Cross Check" Crossword puzzles;
• "Summing Up" flow charts;
• updated "Web Sightings" (Internet activities); and
• "Focus on Vocabulary and Language" sections--developed by Cornelius Rea, Douglas College, British Columbia--to clarify idioms or phrases likely unfamiliar to students especially for whom English is a second language.

• Detailed Chapter Overviews, which provide students with a snapshot of chapter material, and highlighting key concepts to remember.
• Almost 50 "Thinking Critically" Exercises, tied to each chapter, link to more than 100 Web sites and encourage students to further research key topics.
• Over annotated 150 Web Links are related to the study of psychology and are updated regularly.
• Interactive animations, which pair various pieces of art from key chapters with "drag-and-drop" quizzing exercises.
• Dozens of Simulations and Demonstrations reinforce important terms and concepts. These range from physiological animations to interactive sensation and perception activities.
• Question Mark Online Quizzing allows students to take pre-written, multiple-choice quizzes for each chapter (not from the test bank). Students receive instant feedback and can take the quizzes multiple times.
• Interactive Flashcards tutor students on all chapter/text terminology and allow them to then quiz themselves on the terms.
• PsychQuest: Interactive Exercises for Psychology by Thomas Ludwig, Hope College. PsychQuest is a state-of-the-art simulation program that allows students to explore various psychological research topics, participate in experiments and simulations, review content, and link to the Web for additional information. Each module fosters critical thinking by relating key concepts to intriguing real-world issues.
• PsychSim 4.0 by Thomas Ludwig, Hope College. This award-winning software contains 19 modules that place the student in the role of experimenter or the subject in simulated research, or provide dynamic demonstrations illustrating fundamental psychology principles. It is a significantly enhanced version from the original, which received the Educom/NCRIPTAL Higher Education Software Award for "Best Psychology Software".

Student Activity CD-ROM to accompany Exploring Psychology, Fifth Edition, by David G. Myers
Designed for students with limited Internet access or for lab settings, the Student CD-ROM provides all of the multimedia content from the Web Companion including PsychQuest and PsychSim 4.0, plus installer software for Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Shockwave, and Quicktime.

My Personal Suggestion:
I like the paper-bound Student Study Guide because of the practice exams it includes; I like the Psychology Web Companion and the Student Activity CD-ROM because of the richness of the interactive material provided - the same material is included in each. In an ideal world I'd suggest you have the Student Study Guide and either the Psychology Web Companion or the Student Activity CD-ROM available for the different features they include. If you need to choose just one - I'd suggest you choose the Student Study Guide - again, because of the practice exams it contain.

This term we will explore the material presented in Chapters 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, and 15. Topics covered will include:
 

This class is moderately paced and individually oriented. It is assumed that students are:

• primarily responsible for their own learning;
• able to meet course requirements without the on-going, personalized assistance of  the instructor; and,
• able to operate the hardware and software necessary to compete in on-line, computer mediated environments.

I find that many  students enroll in on-line classes expecting  to get the same personalized attention from instructors as they can get in an on-campus class. As much as I would like to make that happen - it simply doesn't occur in this class. It just isn't feasible. Most of the time I spend with this class will be absorbed with the tasks associated in getting exams to you and then collecting them once you have completed them; and with analyzing the results of the exams and informing you of the points you have gotten on them. This may be far from ideal but it has been my experience in the on-line classes I've taught previously.

You will be responsible to complete your assignments and prepare and take your exams without prompting from me. This means you need to note the dates that assignments are due and exams are scheduled. I'm sure that reminders will occur during the course of our discussions but if not, you are still expected to follow the time lines for the class.

As the instructor, I will:

• contribute the basic structure, guidelines and grading system;
• make introductory remarks at the opening of each chapter or assignment; and
• periodically offer comments, questions, prompts for thought, and, when able, assistance in navigating within this computer mediated, learning environment.

My focus in teaching this course will be directed toward the class as a whole rather than the individual student. I'll make comments to individuals but they will be tailored to inform the group as a whole. That's not to say I won't give feedback and comments. On the assumption that we learn through observation, I'll make comments about your work and respond to concerns and questions in public messages far more often than I will in private. I encourage you to make a practice of reading all the messages that are posted to the Message Area so you'll stay properly informed.

And ... you need to know in advance that I will not be of much help to you with your hardware and software questions and concerns. I don't have the skill or the time to be of much assistance. I am semiliterate in computer technology but, out of necessity, I leave you pretty much to your own resourcefulness to make sure you get assignments to the appropriate conferences in the Message Area as scheduled.

If you need help with the technical aspects of this course, contact the people at the Chemeketa On-line Help Desk. Don’t hesitate to e-mail or call.

To e-mail, send your messages to Chemeketa On-Line at:

You can also contact Chemeketa Online by phone at:

Before sending a message to Tech Support, please read the Frequently Asked Questions page on the Chemeketa On-Line Home Page for a possible answer. New entries to this page are added often.If you leave a message, be sure that you state your full name as well as the class you are in when you are having trouble. Be as specific as possible.

This is a valuable resource for when you can't get your system to do what you know it should be able to do. I'm always calling to find out about one thing or another.

Finally, I'm always curious - I love to watch these on-line classes unfold. Each class that I've taught has it's own unique set of characteristics.
 

In this course our goals, or ‘student outcomes' as they are now referred to in professional discussions, will all relate to "Psychology ... the scientific study of behavior and mental processes." (Feldman, Understanding Psychology, 1999, p.4).

These goals include that you will be able to:

• apply the scientific method to examine behavior and cognition,
• employ the general terminology of psychology,
• conduct research on specific aspects of behavior,
• analyze behavior and cognition through the five perspectives of psychology, and
• understand the interactions of biological, cultural and environmental influences on human behavior and cognition.

Your grade for this course will be compiled from points you will earn from:

• 3 multiple choice exams taken at a pre-arranged, proctored, exam site; and
• the completion of 1 assignment.

There will be three exams given in this course - in order to get any grade you must take all three of the exams. Each exam will have 60 multiple choice questions to test your recognition and recall of the material and your critical thinking skills. Each exam will be worth 60 possible points; you'll have one hour in which to complete each. Questions on the exam will be drawn from the assigned material in your textbook; they will be both factual and conceptual.

Exams will be given in Scantron format which requires a #2 pencil to mark your responses and a soft eraser to correct any errors you might make while taking the exam. I'll supply a copy of the exam and the Scantron form, you'll be responsible to take #2 lead pencils and a soft eraser to the exam site.

For your convenience, exams will be available in two day testing periods. You should schedule with your proctor to take an exam during these periods. Appointments, especially at some of the larger college testing centers, are sometimes difficult to schedule unless you make your appointment well in advance of the time you wish to take your exam. I strongly encourage you to make your appointments early so you won't have to put yourself at my mercy by telling me at the last minute that you couldn't get an appointment during the scheduled exam period. Your proctor must put the exam and Scantron form  into the mail on it's way back to me no later than the afternoon of the last scheduled day of the testing period so I can collect and grade them in a timely fashion.

The chapters, possible points and testing periods for each exam will be:
 

I need to warn you that collecting and grading these exams takes more time then you'd imagine it does. Inevitably, for one reason or another, exams don't get back to me as scheduled. I can't grade any of the exams until I'm reasonably sure that I have collected all of the exams that are going to come back. Please, to help insure that this process takes as little time as possible, take your exams within the scheduled time periods. If for some reason you cannot take an exam during the scheduled times, please contact me in advance to make the necessary arrangements. I reserve the option to deduct points for late exams depending upon the circumstances.
 

Grades on Exams
Your letter grade for each exam will be determined by the points you earn on the exam compared to a distribution of the pointsof all students that are taking this exam this term. Since on-line classes tend to be smaller and have higher average scores on exams then my on-campus classes, I want to make sure that your grades are fair - comparatively. In addition to the information I gain from this distribution of points I'll look at descriptive data taken from past groups that have taken the exam on-line and on-campus as well as at descriptive data from this class. The combination of this information will give me  a solid foundation for assigning a grade and will give you assurance that you are being graded fairly.

Letter grades for individual exams are assigned to give you a general idea of how you did on each exam relative to the group. When assigning a final grade I won't use the letter grades from the exams, I will use the total of the points you have earned on all three exams plus the Proctored Exam Site assignment. Points from exams are only a portion of the points you can earn toward a final grade for the course.

For each exam I'll send you an e-mail with your points on the exam, your grade, and descriptive statistical information, privately, to the e-mail address you included in your profile when logging onto the Class WebBoard message area. I can't do this until after exams from all students have been returned from the testing sites and graded. Expect that this process will take me at least a week and a half after the scheduled exam periods.

Folks ... this testing issue takes time and attention to some detail. Please, to help insure that this process goes smoothly, make arrangements for a proctored exam site immediately. Set your appointments to take the exams within the scheduled exam periods and post this information in the Exam Sites  conference on the Class WebBoard for me to see. Don't delay in this.

Exam Sites
Before you can take your first exam you need to make arrangements for an exam site and a proctor. The site should be at a local college, community college, or public library. The proctor is someone that will offer us the assurances we need in order  to know that everyone is taking their own exam and that there is security and uniformity in the process. There is wide variation in the circumstance of those taking this class so the specific details of exam sites and proctors will vary. For more detail on this assignment read the complete instructions in the Proctored Exam Site Seminar you'll find on the Class Home Page.

I understand this process can be cumbersome - but it's essential to protect the integrity of the exam process. Testing for on-line classes is still in it's infancy; we're always working to develop better options. Don't delay in finding this exam site or I won't be able to get your first exam to you in time for you to take it during the scheduled exam period.

Assignments

There are two assignments in this course. One  enables me to send your exams to the proper location so they'll be there when you go to take them. The other is designed to give me, and others in this class, a better picture of who is in this class. The first carries points toward your final grade, the second does not. Both, essentially, are housekeeping details

In your first assignment, Proctored Exam Site, you'll need to make arrangements for a proctored exam site. More information on this assignment can be found in Seminar #1: Proctored Exam Sites on the Class Home Page. This assignment is worth 20 possible points.

For  your second assignment, Introductions, I'm asking you to introduce yourself to the class. More information on this assignment can be found in Seminar #2: Introductions, that you'll find on the Class Home Page. This assignment does not carry any points toward your final grade in the class and, technically, you're not required to complete it in order to get a grade - but I encourage you to post one to the WebBoard.

The points and due dates for the assignments are:
 

I understand that everything on the web takes more time than anticipated, but still, watch the time lines closely - I assign points, in part, based on whether you post your work according to the schedule. I won't remind you to post your work on time ... or to post it at all, but you can only get the full points for the assignments if you post them by the due dates.

Final Grades

To get a final grade for this class all that you are required to do is post the location of your Proctored Exam Site and take the three exams. Everyone must take all three exams. You can choose to do the Introduction ... or not. Your final grade is determined by the number of points you accumulate during the term. Your final grade will be based on:
 

To determine your final grade for the course I'll use the same sources of information as I used when assigning grades for the individual exams you have taken. If you do not take all three of the exams you cannot get a grade for the course.

If for some reason you need to negotiate an Incomplete in the course it is your responsibility to contact me before grades are assigned at the end of the term and make the necessary arrangements.
 
 
 

If you have or suspect that you might have any type of disability or perceptual impairment, are a second language student or have other circumstances that need academic adjustment, please make contact with me so that we can make the necessary arrangements. I'm more than willing to work with you. Post a message to me that we need to have a private exchange of messages and I'll help us do that. Please, do not wait until the day of the activity or exam to let me know that you need individual consideration.
 

Diversity

Several years ago Chemeketa adopted this statement to guide our interactions with others.

We are a college community enriched by the diversity of our students and staff. Each individual and group has the potential to contribute in our learning environment. Each has dignity. To diminish one is to diminish the dignity of us all.