PSYCHOLOGY Fall Semester Section M02 CRN # Fundamentals of Psychology I. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30-13:20 A130 (Newberry Hall)

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1 Instructor: Office: PSYCHOLOGY 1115 Fall Semester Section M02 CRN #30377 Fundamentals of Psychology I Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30-13:20 A130 (Newberry Hall) ***You are responsible for all of the information in this syllabus!*** Ian McBain B252L Phone: Office Hours: Textbook: Course Website: imcbain@langara.bc.ca (this is the best way to contact me outside of class) Tuesdays and Thursdays 13:30-14:20 or by appointment Myers, David G., (2010). Psychology (9 th Edition). Worth Publishers, N.Y. You have two textbook options: (1) a hardcover textbook packaged with an e-book (PsychPortal) accesscode card and a study guide ($101.33, including tax), or; (2) the e-book access-code card and study guide without the hardcover textbook at approximately half the cost ($49.61, including tax). through mylangara on Blackboard CE: PSYC 1115: Fundamentals of Psychology I Sec M : 1 Course Description Welcome to Psychology 1115! Psychology is an exciting scientific discipline that relates to many aspects of our daily lives. PSYC-1115 is a survey course, designed to introduce students to some of the core areas within the field, including historical and contemporary approaches to psychological inquiry, research methods, biopsychology, consciousness, sensation, perception, nature and nurture, learning, memory, and life-span development.

2 This section of PSYC-1115 is a hybrid or mixed-mode course, which means that one half of the course material is delivered in a traditional classroom setting and the other half is experienced in an on-line format. The class meets for two 50-minute sessions per week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30-13:20. The in-class component will comprise of informal lectures and other activities that will be based mainly, but not exclusively, on topics covered in the textbook. In addition to these classroom periods, you are expected to spend additional time each week (approximately two hours) on-line. The on-line component will consist of a variety of activities, including tutorials, videos, assignments, discussions, and quizzes on the course s Blackboard and PsychPortal websites. For a complete introduction to the field of Psychology, you can also take Psychology 1215 (Fundamentals of Psychology II). PSYC-1115 and PSYC-1215 can be taken in any order or even together in the same semester. Course Objectives (Learning Outcomes) PSYC-1115 is intended to provide you with an opportunity to enhance both your critical reasoning skills and your ability to apply psychological principles to your everyday life. To do well in this course, you must adopt the role of an active learner, thinking critically about psychological theories and applying the concepts of the course to your life outside the classroom, rather than just passively memorizing names and definitions. Although you will need to learn about the important people and concepts in Psychology, adopting an active learning approach will allow you to develop an understanding of psychological ideas that will forever change the way in which you view yourself and the world around you. Many of the classroom and on-line activities have been designed to aid you in this venture. To be successful in this course, you must synthesize information presented in-class, in the text, and from on-line activities. Specifically, this means that your studying for tests should involve reviewing and integrating the essential ideas contained in all aspects of the course. Upon the successful completion of this course, you should be able to: summarize the key concepts and major research findings in the various areas of Psychology covered in the course; comprehend the scientific methods employed to gather information and form conclusions about human thought and behaviour; 2 critically evaluate information about psychological research; relate information in this course to your own personal life; use your knowledge and understanding of psychology to serve as a foundation for taking more advanced courses in psychology and other related disciplines.

3 Blackboard CE Online Course Materials This semester, our class website will be located on Blackboard CE. Through this site, you will be able to access the syllabus (this course outline), lecture notes, discussions, your grades, general announcements, and other useful information. To access Blackboard CE, login to your mylangara account. Once you are in mylangara, select the MyCourses tab at the top of the page. Listed under Blackboard CE, you should see Psyc 1115: Fundamentals of Psychology I Sec M Click on this link to open the course website. PsychPortal In addition to our Blackboard site, we will also be using PsychPortal. PsychPortal is an interactive learning site that supports the e-book for Psychology by David Myers (9th edition). This site improves on the traditional reading experience in many ways, with frequent interactive demonstrations, activities, and opportunities to test yourself embedded within each chapter. You will be able to access reading material, online activities, and other study materials through PsychPortal. There will be PsychPortal learning modules for each chapter, outlining the readings and activities required to complete the online portion of the course. Because using PsychPortal is an integral part of this course, all students must purchase access to it. I strongly encourage you to plan on reading the course material through the e-book. However, students who prefer to own a hard copy of the textbook can purchase one in addition to the PsychPortal website access code. To access PsychPortal: 1. Point your browser to 2. Click on the STUDENTS REGISTER YOUR CODE button 3. Click the Register Your Code link next to your textbook s title 4. You will be prompted to follow the on-screen instructions to find your course. You will start by selecting the school s state/province (B.C.), the school name (Langara), then your instructor (McBain), and/or section (M02) 5. You will enter the access code that came with your textbook or that you purchased on its own. You will also be asked to enter your address, choose a password. You will then be ready be PsychPortal-ized! 3 IF YOU HAVE ANY DIFFICULTIES DURING THE REGISTRATION PROCESS, PLEASE CALL or techsupport@bfwpub.com

4 Psychology, Ninth Edition By David G. Myers Get the Most Out of Your Course Materials Did you know that the PsychPortal includes valuable study materials to help you achieve success in your course, including: Self-quizzing to help you practice for exams. Flashcards, activities, and an interactive glossary to help you master important terms from the text. If you have difficulties getting access to student materials, please feel free to call our tollfree technical support number (800) You may also us at Your PsychPortal includes: E-book access: The e-book version of Psychology includes activities, simulations, exercises all integrated with an electronic version of the text. You can even bookmark and highlight as you would with a paper book. Diagnostic Quizzing: A robust source for self-testing and mastery learning. Take the Pre-lecture quiz to find out how well you are retaining what you ve read. Based on how you do, it will also recommend additional PsychPortal resources to help you study. Scientific American News Feed: Collections of recent articles provide you with a first step to research topics, and offer more insight into key course concepts. Course Materials: There are numerous valuable study aids such as: simulations and demonstrations, electronic flashcards, Scientific American Podcasts, and Anatomical Art: self-quizzes just to name a few. In addition, many students find these resources interesting and helpful: o o o PsychSim5: Simulated research activities help you master concepts by making you part of the experiment you can be the subject in some experiments, or experimenter in other activities. PsychInquiry: Resources and activities complete with animations, video clips, illustrations, and self-assessment tools without the download time. Video Tool Kit: Combining video, animations, and exercises correlated to any Worth Introductory Psychology book, the Video Tool Kit brings unprecedented learning opportunities to your first psychology course. The Video Tool Kit includes both research and news footage. 4 Explore the PsychPortal to find out how it can be one of the keys to your success.

5 3 In-Class Tests Course Requirements There will be three in-class tests during the semester that will consist of multiple-choice questions designed to assess your mastery of the material discussed in the textbook, classroom, and online components of the course. A tentative test schedule is listed below: Test Date Chapters # MCQ Value in Course 1 Thursday, Sept. 30 Prologue, Appendix, % 2 Tuesday, Oct. 26 2, 3, % 3 Tuesday, Nov. 23 6, 7, % FINAL EXAM Final Exam TBA, Dec All of the above, 5 KNOW EVERYTHING! 60 20% There will also be a comprehensive final exam during the final exam period (December 9 to 17*) that will review the entire course (Prologue, Appendix A, and Chapters 1 to 8) and be worth 20% of the final course mark. As with the three in-class tests, this exam will cover material from the textbook, classroom, and on-line components of the course. It will consist of 60 multiple-choice questions. Approximately one-third of the exam will focus on the last chapter in the course (Chapter 5), which will not have been covered on a previous test. *Note: The Final Exam schedule is not likely to be finalized until mid-semester. Thus, at this point, the Final Exam could occur at any time during the Final Exam period (December 9 to 17). I have no control over the schedule. Once the schedule is published, if you have a conflict that requires a rescheduled exam, then you must formally apply for it at the Registrar s Office. Keep this in mind when plotting your escape from this institution in mid-december. 5 Test Requirements and Restrictions You must bring your Langara student ID card, a No. 2 pencil, and an eraser to all tests. You are absolutely not permitted to bring electronic devices of any kind (e.g., dictionaries, calculators, computers, cell phones, CD or tape players, etc ) into the tests. Bound paper English dictionaries are permitted if cleared for use by the instructor before the commencement of a test. No psychology dictionaries are permitted.

6 PLEASE NOTE: You are expected to take the tests on the specified dates. If you going to miss a test, it is your responsibility to contact me by or telephone before the test takes place. You should also provide suitable documentation (e.g., doctor's note, court order, death certificate) to verify your absence immediately upon your return to school. Failure to do so will result in a score of 0 on the test in question. Once you have received permission from me to write a make-up test/ quiz, you will contact Kathy McBride in the psychology lab (A236; phone ) to schedule the make-up. Make-ups tests must be completed within one week of your return to school. PsychPortal Pre-Test Quizzes As you will see below, a portion of your grade is based on your completion of 9 time-sensitive Pre-Test Quizzes within PsychPortal. The Pre-Test Quiz for each chapter must be completed BEFORE the specific date listed in PsychPortal). You will receive credit for successful completion of 7 out of 9 possible Pre-Test Quizzes, although it is expected that you will attempt each quiz as part of your preparation for the in-class tests and final exam. Successful completion of a Pre-Test Quiz requires that you obtain a score of 75% or higher. There is no limit on the number of times that you may attempt the quizzes before the cut-off dates. The Pre-Test Quizzes will account for 7% of your final mark in the course. PsychPortal Tutorials A good portion of your on-line activity will be dedicated to the completion of numerous on-line tutorials for each chapter. These tutorials will tend to focus on aspects of the course that are NOT covered in class. You will receive credit for successful completion of 16 out of 18 possible tutorials. To receive credit for each tutorial, you need to complete the quizzing exercise for the relevant tutorial before the due date. The due dates will be listed in PsychPortal. Each tutorial will be worth 1%. Thus the PsychPortal Tutorials will account for 16% of your final mark in the course in the course. Discussion Posts on Blackboard You are also required to make weekly discussion posts on the discussion board on Blackboard. I will post discussion questions for each chapter and you will participate just as you would participate during an in-class discussion. These will be graded based upon both the amount and quality of your participation. In order to receive a grade of 100% in this part of the course, you will need to make a minimum of three on-topic posts for 7 out of 9 possible modules. Each module corresponds to a particular text chapter and the Discussion Topics will close at a specified date/time at the end of each module. Each post will be graded as follows: 6 1 point: on-topic, insightful post; correctly applies course material.5 points: attempts to make a post relevant to course material; may contain errors 0 points: off-topic post; or doesn t apply course material

7 You may receive a maximum of 3 points for each module, for a possible total of 21 points, which will then be divided by 3 to arrive at your final mark. The Discussion Posts will account for 7% of your final mark in the course. You are encouraged to post your own questions and comments above and beyond the posts that I have made to get discussion going. You are also expected to respond to posts that other students make as part of their participation. You must keep up with discussion posts. I will only grade contributions made during the time when we are dealing with a particular topic in-class. After the cut-off date for each topic, the discussion will be shut down and you will not be able to make any more posts for that particular chapter. In-class Group Assignments You are required to participate in and submit 4 in-class group assignments, each worth 2.5% of your final grade, for a total of 10%. See the course schedule below for dates. For each group assignment, you will be randomly assigned to a group of four or five students. Your group members will be posted on Blackboard a few days before the in-class assignment takes place. On the given date you will come to class and complete the assignment with your group members during class time. The assignment is due at the end of the class. Be sure to bring course notes and the text to class on those days they will be most helpful in completing the assignments! PLEASE NOTE: Because group assignments require contributions from all group members, it is mandatory that all group members show up on the scheduled day to complete the assignment in class. If you fail to show up to class on these days, for any reason at all, you are in effect letting your group members down. As such, failure to show up in class for a group assignment will result in you receiving a score of 0 for this assignment with no exceptions! Extra Credit Bonus Points! You will be allowed to earn up to 3% in extra credit this semester by participating in research conducted by psychology students in the two PSYC-2320 Research Methods classes. You can receive 1% extra credit points for each study you participate in, to a maximum of 3%. You may participate in as many studies as you wish, however, you will receive no more than the 3% for credit in this course. Studies are only available for a limited period of time, usually in the second half of the semester (late October through November). Exact dates and descriptions of studies will be posted on the subject pool link under the Psychology Lab in Blackboard. Further details will be provided later on in the c 7

8 Evaluation In summary, you will be evaluated in the course, as follows: Evaluation Component % of Final Mark Test #1 10% Test #2 15% Test #3 15% Final Exam 20% PsychPortal Mastery 7% Quizzes PsychPortal Tutorials 16% Blackboard Discussion Posts 7% In-Class Group Assignments 10% TOTAL 100% Your overall grade will reflect your mastery of the course material as measured by all of the indicators, listed above. The cut-off percentages for the various grade categories are as follows: Percentage Ranges Letter Grades 97+ A A A B B B C C C D <50 F The instructor reserves the right to adjust the letter grade cut-off percentages under certain conditions. It is also worth noting that all final grades in this course are subject to the approval of the Psychology Department Chair, the Social Sciences Division Chair, and the Social Sciences Dean of Instruction. Therefore, this letter grade table is only intended as a rough guideline and in no way guarantees that a given percentage will result in the letter grade indicated. Academic Dishonesty 8 Cheating on a test or plagiarism on an assignment will result in: (a) a grade of 0 on the test or assignment, a failure in the course (a grade of F ), or expulsion from the college (depending on the nature of the offense and the student s record) there are NO warnings for first offenses; (b) a letter to both the Dean of Instruction and the student detailing the offense and penalty, and; (c) a permanent record of the offense in the student s file at e. For further details regarding academic dishonesty, please refer to e s policy on academic conduct

9 CLASS Projected Course Schedule* DATE TOPIC(S) (T - Tuesday, R - Thursday) 1 T - Sept. 7 Welcome to PSYC R - Sept. 9 An Introduction to Blackboard and PsychPortal (Trance Techno?) ASSIGNED CHAPTER(S) 3 T - Sept. 14 Psychology in Historical Context: Men With Beards Prologue, Appendix A 4 R - Sept. 16 Psychology Today: Can I Get a Job? Prologue, Appendix A 5 T - Sept. 21 Psychological Science + guest lecture 1 6 R - Sept. 23 Correlation versus Cause & Effect 1 7 T - Sept. 28 In-class Assignment #1 1 8 R - Sept. 30 TEST #1 Prologue, Appendix A, 1 9 T - Oct. 5 The Biology of Mind 2 10 R - Oct. 7 The Biology of Who You Are 2 11 T - Oct. 12 In-class Assignment # R - Oct. 14 Altered States of Consciousness 3 13 T - Oct. 19 Drugs, Drugs, and More Drugs 3 14 R - Oct. 21 Nature Needs Nurture 4 15 T - Oct. 26 TEST #2 2, 3, 4 16 R - Oct. 28 From Sensation to Perception 6 17 T - Nov. 2 Subliminal EXperiences 6 18 R - Nov. 4 Learning About Learning 7 19 T - Nov. 9 In-class Assignment # T - Nov. 16 A Model of Memory 8 21 R - Nov. 18 What Did You See? Eyewitness Memory 8 22 T - Nov. 23 TEST #3 6, 7, 8 23 R - Nov. 25 Little People 5 24 T - Nov. 30 Little People Grow Up 5 25 R - Dec. 2 In-class Assignment #4 5 TBA - Dec FINAL EXAM KNOW *Note: This schedule is subject to change at the instructor s discretion! EVERYTHING! Withdrawal Deadline The deadline for withdrawing from this course is Friday, October 29 th. By this date you will have received approximately one-third of your mark in the course. It is a good idea to seek consultation with your instructor before making a decision regarding withdrawal from any course. A withdrawal is recorded as a W on your transcript and has no impact on your Grade Point Average. If you do not withdraw by the deadline but fail to complete the course (i.e., do not write the final exam), you will receive an N on your transcript, which has a Grade Point value of An N will remain part of your overall Grade Point Average until you successfully repeat the course in the future.