Syllabus - George F Chavez
General Psychology, 101-02 (#1243) Chavez, Spring 2015 Professor George F. Chavez 2115 McCormick Center Psychology Department McCormick Center for Human Services Bloomsburg University 400 East Second Street Bloomsburg, PA 17815-1301 Office: (570) 389-4957 Email: gchavez@bloomu.edu www.georgefchavez.com/courses_genpsych.html Office Hours: Mon | Wed | Fri 1:00pm-3:00pm Class Room and Hours: 2303 McCormick Center Mon | Wed | Fri 10:00am-10:50am Final Exam: 5/7/2015, 10:15am-12:15pm If you have little knowledge of what psychology is, it's likely that the first image that pops into your head is of an old, white-bearded man, suspiciously peering at you through thick glasses, grimacing through a wooden pipe. You might be surprised to learn that the world of psychology is both vast and largely unexplored. This course will introduce you to the many areas within psychology, the various discoveries psychologists have so far made, and future possibilities for growth. You may find that the understanding of psychology as the scientific study of behavior and experience is much easier to relate to than a bearded man in an armchair. Course Goals: Knowledge of basic vocabulary and terminology employed by psychologists Understanding of both the major areas of study and the perspectives within the discipline of psychology Familiarity with how psychologists apply the scientific method and the key principles of psychological science Application of basic psychological concepts to everyday circumstances Required Text (use the current edition specified) & Site (in addition to BOLT: http://bolt.bloomu.edu) Text: King, L. A. (2013). Experience Psychology (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Site: http://connect.mheducation.com/class/genpsych_chavez_spring2015 Classroom Rules You may use laptops, but only for taking notes or looking up relevant class materials. Anything that Professor Chavez deems disruptive is grounds for immediate dismissal from class. Additional policies Email: I will respond to emails sent to me as quickly as possible. However, I generally will not respond to emails between Friday 4:00pm and Monday 8:00am (the weekend). I may still send you emails for important notices during the weekend. Personal Responsibility: As adults attending courses at the university level, you are responsible for knowing and following university and course policies and regulations. You are expected to read this syllabus in full. 1 Copyright 2015 (George F. Chavez) as to this syllabus and all lectures. During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to or being paid for taking notes by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of Professor Chavez. Information in this syllabus is subject to change at Professor Chavez’s discretion. Students are advised to check for updates on BOLT. General Psychology, 101-02 (#1243) Chavez, Spring 2015 Grading (All grades will be posted to BOLT) 50% Exams 1 – 5 20% Final Exam (Each worth 10%) 15% Online challenges (Each worth 1%) 15% Attendance (Each call worth 7.5%) Exams: Five non-final exams will be given throughout the semester. Each exam is 30 multiple choice questions. These exams are not cumulative. Final Exam: The final exam is 20% of your final grade. It is composed of 60 multiple choice questions. Part of the exam will cover material from the last few chapters, and part of the exam will be cumulative/comprehensive. Online Challenges: You will find these challenges on the CONNECT (textbook) website. There are 15 online challenges that are each composed of 20 multiple choice questions. Some challenges are cumulative. I will let you know when a challenge is cumulative. All challenges are due by 5:00pm, the day of the due date. I will not accept any late challenges. There are no excuses for not completing these challenges before the due date. Attendance: I will randomly call 10-20 names at the start of class. Throughout the course, I will call every student’s name two times. This means that if you want to be SURE that you will get full attendance, you will attend ALL classes. LearnSmart: You can access LearnSmart modules through the CONNECT website. Your performance on these exercises is NOT graded. However, you will find that doing these exercises can greatly improve your performance on the exam. Doing the LearnSmart exercises is a great way to prepare for graded assessments (e.g. Challenges & Exams). Course Grades 100 – 92% 91 – 90% A A- 89 – 88% 87 – 82% 81 – 80% B+ B B- 79 – 78% 77 – 72% 71 – 70% C+ C C- 69 – 68% 67 – 60% D+ D 59 – 0% F Conventional rounding procedures from hundredths to non-decimal whole numbers are used when calculating grades. A student with a 91.50% may round their percentage to a 92% (A), but a student with a 91.40% must round to a 91% (A-). Furthermore, a student with 91.45% may round to a 92% (A), but a student with a 91.44% must round to a 91% (A-). Professor Chavez will not be swayed by attempts from students to argue out of this rule. Grades will be posted on BOLT. 2 Copyright 2015 (George F. Chavez) as to this syllabus and all lectures. During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to or being paid for taking notes by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of Professor Chavez. Information in this syllabus is subject to change at Professor Chavez’s discretion. Students are advised to check for updates on BOLT. General Psychology, 101-02 (#1243) Chavez, Spring 2015 Grading Issues Missing grades or errors: If you have taken an exam and your grade is not posted to BOLT, contact Professor Chavez within the week. Failure to do so within one week may result in a 0 (zero) for the exam. Excused absences from exams: Only the following conditions will excuse an absence during an exam day: Severe personal illness accompanied by a doctor’s note, NOT a note from the health center. Death of a family member accompanied by official documentation. Official BU activity accompanied by note from advisor/coach/etc. Official military activity accompanied by note from superior officer. Pro-rated exam for excused absences: Grades for missed non-final exams will be replaced by your final exam grade if you have an excused absence (see above). It is NOT a good idea to miss an exam, since some students find the final exam MORE difficult than other exams. Performance Issues Accommodations: Any students eligible for classroom accommodations are invited to meet with Professor Chavez to discuss their concerns and to present their disclosure forms from the Office of Accommodative Services. Our University provides reasonable accommodations to students who have documented disabilities. If you have a documented disability that requires academic accommodations and are not registered with the Accommodative Services Office, please contact the Accommodative Services Office in the Warren Student Services Center, Room 043 as soon as possible to establish your eligibility. Tutoring and Support: If you feel you need extra help to improve your academic performance in this or any of your courses, please consider requesting a tutor in University Tutorial Services (UTS). UTS offers peer tutoring at no charge to Bloomsburg University students. The UTS office is located in Warren Student Services Center, Room 13. Questions about grades: If you wish to discuss your grade or performance in the course, please set up a time to meet with me before the last two weeks of class. After that point it is very unlikely that you can do anything to address your grade. Cheating: I will not tolerate cheating in any form. This includes copying of answers and discussing exams with students who have not yet taken the exam. At minimum, if you are found cheating, you will receive a zero on the relevant exam/assignment. Here is the University’s official policy on cheating: http://www.bloomu.edu/policies_procedures/3512 Disruptive Behavior: I consider any behavior that interferes with normal academic functioning as disruptive. This includes: Verbal, physical, or psychological threats, harassment, and violence. Refusal to comply with my directions Repeatedly arriving late or leaving early Talking or speaking out of turn Distracting use of electronic devices (e.g. phones, laptops, etc.) Activities that are not relevant to the class (e.g. reading the newspaper) If your behavior is disruptive, you will receive only one warning before I direct you to leave for the day. This will result in you losing attendance points. Important Note on Lectures & The Text Attending lecture is NOT a replacement for reading the textbook. If you decide to attend the lectures, but never read the text, then it is very unlikely that you will do well on either the exams or challenges. During class, I will NOT cover all of the material in the book. Therefore, exam questions may address topics that were in the book but not in the lecture. 3 Copyright 2015 (George F. Chavez) as to this syllabus and all lectures. During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to or being paid for taking notes by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of Professor Chavez. Information in this syllabus is subject to change at Professor Chavez’s discretion. Students are advised to check for updates on BOLT. General Psychology, 101-02 (#1243) Chavez, Spring 2015 Spring 2015 Schedule for General Psychology Week 1 Date 1/21 1/23 Topics Introduction to Psychology BOLT Connect A brief history Reading & Assignments Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Challenge 1 Due Week 2 Date 1/26 1/28 1/30 Topic The scientific method How research gets done The nervous system & neurons: How do you feel? How do you do? Reading & Assignments Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Challenge 2 Due Week 3 Date 2/2 2/4 2/6 Topic Brain structures The human “code” Reading & Assignments Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Challenge 3 Due Exam 1 Week 4 Date 2/9 2/11 2/13 Topic Sensation & Perception Vision: From light to sight Hearing: Good vibrations Reading & Assignments Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Challenge 4 Due Week 5 Date 2/16 2/18 2/20 Topic Memory encoding and storage: Getting it “down” Memory retrieval: Bringing it “up” How to remember (how not to forget) Reading & Assignments Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Challenge 5 Due 4 Copyright 2015 (George F. Chavez) as to this syllabus and all lectures. During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to or being paid for taking notes by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of Professor Chavez. Information in this syllabus is subject to change at Professor Chavez’s discretion. Students are advised to check for updates on BOLT. General Psychology, 101-02 (#1243) Chavez, Spring 2015 Week 6 Date 2/23 2/25 Topic Conditioning: Learning by association? Cognition and culture in learning 2/27 Reading & Assignments Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Challenge 6 Due Exam 2 Week 7 Date 3/2 3/4 3/6 Topic Cognition Thinking and intelligence Physical development Reading & Assignments Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Challenge 7 Due Week 8 Date 3/9 3/11 3/13 Topic Spring Break, y’all Spring Break, y’all Spring Break, y’all Reading & Assignments Note that Challenge 8 is due on Monday, 3/16 Week 9 Date 3/16 3/18 Topic Cognitive development Emotional and gender development 3/20 Reading and Assignments Challenge 8 Due Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Challenge 9 Due Exam 3 Week 10 Date 3/23 3/25 3/27 Topic Motive: Why you do what you do Biological factors in motivation Maslow’s hierarchy Emotion and motivation The biopsychosocial model Reading & Assignments Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Chapter 14 Challenge 10 Due Week 11 Date 3/30 4/1 4/3 Topic Adjustment and change Stress and coping Reading & Assignments Chapter 14 Chapter 14 Challenge 11 Due Exam 4 5 Copyright 2015 (George F. Chavez) as to this syllabus and all lectures. During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to or being paid for taking notes by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of Professor Chavez. Information in this syllabus is subject to change at Professor Chavez’s discretion. Students are advised to check for updates on BOLT. General Psychology, 101-02 (#1243) Chavez, Spring 2015 Week 12 Date 4/6 4/8 4/10 Topic Freud and the mind Humanism and the person The trait perspective: You. . . in five words Social cognition and interactionism in personality Reading & Assignments Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Challenge 12 Due Week 13 Date 4/13 4/15 4/17 Topic What your genes say about you Social cognition in social psychology Why we help and why we harm Reading & Assignments Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Challenge 13 Due Week 14 Date 4/20 4/22 Topic Group conflict Close personal relationships 4/24 Reading & Assignments Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Challenge 14 Due Exam 5 Week 15 Date 4/27 4/29 5/1 5/7 Topic Introduction to abnormal behavior What is a disorder? Stigma Biological therapy and psychotherapy Reading & Assignments Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Challenge 15 Due Final Exam on Thursday, May 7th, 2015 10:15am-12:15pm 6 Copyright 2015 (George F. Chavez) as to this syllabus and all lectures. During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to or being paid for taking notes by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of Professor Chavez. Information in this syllabus is subject to change at Professor Chavez’s discretion. Students are advised to check for updates on BOLT.
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