BUSINESS PSYCHOLOGY SYLLABUS SPRING 2014 COURSE CRN: 83019

Transcription

1 HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE CENTRAL DEPARTMENT OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES PSYCHOLOGY 2303 BUSINESS PSYCHOLOGY SYLLABUS SPRING 2014 COURSE CRN: Course Location/Times: Course Length: Type of Instruction: Online 16 weeks Online INSTRUCTOR CONTACT INFORMATION NAME: CAROL L. WATSON, JD., MA PHONE: via Eagle2 course page Course Description: Business Psychology or as it is also known, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, is designed to introduce the student to the study of psychology as it is applied to the workplace. In this course you will be introduced to the basic concepts and theories of I/O Psychology. We will study various research methods used in I/O psychology, as well as look at specific content areas such as human resources, psychological testing in the workplace, performance appraisal, leadership and employee motivation just to name a few. Our goal in this course will be apply the basic concepts to real world situations so that the student will begin to think critically and creatively about work psychology. The information attained in this course can be applied to enhance the student s own work experience. This online course will utilize Eagle2. You can expect to sharpen your writing skills as well as your critical thinking ability as we enter into the exciting world of work psychology. Core Curriculum Competencies: This course addresses core competencies as follows: Reading: Students are required to read a college level textbook. Writing: Students are required to write essays. Discussion: Students are required to participate in online class discussions Listening: Students are required to listen critically to discussion entries/responses. Critical Thinking: Students are required to respond to critical thinking questions. Computer Literacy: Students are required to use the Internet to complete course requirements. 1

2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES Chapter 1: Describe Industrial-Organizational (I-O) psychology, what I-O psychologists do, and where they work. Outline the scope and history of I-O psychology. Understand how I-O psychologists conduct research. Identify the major areas of I-O psychology. Explain the contemporary challenges facing I-O psychologists. Know what they can do with an I-O major. Describe the problems faced by I-O psychologists. Chapter 2: After reading and studying Chapter 2, students should be able to: Understand the requirements, limitations, and methods of psychological research. Explain the experimental method, how to design an experiment, and how to select participants in research. Explain the use of naturalistic observation, polls, and surveys to collect data. Describe how to construct a representative sample. Understand the basic concepts in descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and meta-analysis. Chapter 3: After reading and studying Chapter 3, students should be able to: Explain the recruitment process and the importance of recruiter characteristics, campus recruiting, and realistic job previews. Understand the selection process and the critical contribution of job and worker analyses. Explain the legal and regulatory aspects of fair employment practices, including how to determine adverse impact, what are discriminatory questions, and reverse discrimination. Define job analysis, what it s used for, and how it is conducted. Compare and contrast four major techniques for employee selection: biographical information, interviews, references and letters of recommendation, and assessment centers. Chapter 4: After reading and studying Chapter 4, students should be able to: Explain the principles of psychological testing. Describe the implications of fair employment practices. Present an overview of a sample testing program. Describe the administrative implications of the different types of psychological tests. Identify the types of psychological tests used in the workplace. Understand the limitations of psychological testing. Chapter 5: After reading and studying Chapter 5, students should be able to: Define performance appraisal and specify the related HR functions. Describe how to ensure appraisal systems comply with EEOC guidelines. Understand the nature of opposition to appraisal systems from labor unions, employees, and managers. Explain and provide examples of the two approaches to measuring performance. Identify the techniques used to evaluate managerial performance. Describe and control for sources of rater error. Understand how to improve the effectiveness of performance appraisal systems and how to best conduct the post-appraisal interview. 2

3 Chapter 6: After reading and studying Chapter 6, students should be able to: Describe the scope of organizational training programs. Specify the goals and staffing requirements for organizational training programs. Explain the pre-training environment and attributes of employees, as well as conditions that facilitate learning. Describe fifteen different training methods. Understand the need for lifelong learning, career development, and planning. Appreciate the necessity for evaluation of training programs and why many organizations don t evaluate their programs. Chapter 7: After reading and studying Chapter 7, students should be able to: Explain the approaches, theories, and styles of leadership. Understand the role of power and expectations in leadership. Describe the functions of leadership. Identify the characteristics of successful and unsuccessful leaders. Describe the characteristics of successful management teams. Understand and explain the problems of leaders in general as well as those of women and minorities in management. Chapter 8: After reading and studying Chapter 8, students should be able to: Explain the content theories of motivation, including achievement, needs hierarchy, motivatorhygiene, and Job characteristics theories. Explain the process theories of motivation, including expectancy, equity, and goal-setting theories. Understand job satisfaction, its measurement, its relationship to job performance, and the mediating effect of personal characteristics. Describe the personal impact of job loss. Apply motivation theories to predict the effect of pay equity issues, merit pay, and wageincentive systems. Compare and contrast job involvement and job commitment. Chapter 9: After reading and studying Chapter 9, students should be able to: Contrast classic and modern organizational styles. Describe the nature of total quality management (TQM) programs and why some programs fail. Explain the nature of worker participation programs, and quality control programs. Describe the organizational development (OD) process. Understand the socialization of new employees and also new members of labor unions. Describe the affect of organizational culture and informal groups on behavior. Explain how computer technology has impacted organizational structure and work procedures. 3

4 Chapter 10: After reading and studying Chapter 10, students should be able to: Identify the key elements of physical working conditions Describe the focus of environmental psychology Explain how lighting, noise, color, music, and temperature affect employees in the workplace Describe how temporal working conditions affect worker satisfaction, productivity, and absenteeism Explain how social-psychological working conditions relate to the design of the job and its effects on employees Distinguish between Ethnic Harassment, Sexual Harassment and Gender Harassment List the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting Chapter 11: After reading and studying Chapter 11, students should be able to: Understand the seriousness of safety, violence, and health issues in the workplace. Describe the nature of work-related health problems. Appreciate the understated nature of accident statistics. Identify causes of accidents, both personal factors and workplace factors. Explain accident prevention efforts commonly undertaken by organizations. Describe the nature of violence in the workplace, how to identify potentially violent employees, and steps to take to protect employees from violence. Understand the effects of alcoholism and drugs in the workplace. Explain the unique risks to health presented by computers in the workplace. Chapter 12: After reading and studying Chapter 12, students should be able to: Describe the physiological effects of stress. Identify the contribution of individual differences in stress responses. Understand the nature of work-family conflict. Identify the causes and effects of stress in the workplace. Describe the various approaches to treatment of stress in the workplace. Chapter 13: After reading and studying Chapter 13, students should be able to: Define ergonomics and describe its role and function in the workplace. Outline the history and scope of engineering psychology. Explain the relationship of displays, controls, and the human operator in a person-machine system. Describe the major considerations involved in the design of a workspace. Contrast the advantages and disadvantages of auditory and visual presentation of information. Define telematics and its importance to engineering psychology. Describe the use of human factors in everyday life, with examples. Understand and explain the factors that should be considered in the design of a computer work station. Understand the role and impact of robots in the workplace. Chapter 14: After reading and studying Chapter 14, students should be able to: Describe the scope of consumer psychology, what consumer psychologists do, and where they work. Describe the research methods used by consumer psychologists. Describe the nature and scope of advertising. Explain the relationship between consumer behavior and motivation. Understand differences in advertising approaches to different demographic groups. 4

5 Required Textbook: Students will need the following text to complete the course: 1) Schultz, D. & Schultz, S. (2010). Psychology and Work Today, 10 th edition (ISBN 10: ) Prentice Hall Publishing THE TEXTBOOK IS REQUIRED. YOU CANNOT SUCCEED WITHOUT IT. The book is available in the HCC-Central bookstore in the Distance Education section, or you can go to the website, at hcc.bkstore.com If you purchase the book from an Internet bookseller, or directly from the publisher, be sure to request Priority Mail handling, in order to expedite the delivery of your textbook. If you prefer an e-book, options you may have include an inexpensive ebook via Coursesmart.com or you can rent the textbook. Chapter Power Points Notes PowerPoints on each Chapter are posted on the Eagle On Line course page. These are available for your convenience to aid in your reading of the chapter. Please do not use the powerpoint notes as a substitute for reading the chapter. POLICIES Instructor Policies & Student Responsibilities 1. Eagle On Line is the primary means of communication between the instructor and students. Students should use the tool on the Eagle On Line course homepage to contact the instructor. 2. This is a Distance Education, Internet-delivered course in which instruction will be delivered via the World Wide Web utilizing Eagle On Line, (Moodle) software. 3. Students with disabilities who require modifications must notify the instructor of the specific need as soon as possible after enrollment. To be eligible for modifications, students must clients of the HCCS office serving students with disabilities or of a comparable department at their home institution. Distance Education will advise us of these accommodation needs. 4. Instructions for submission of all assignments must be followed. If an assignment specifies electronic submission of materials, no other format is acceptable. 5. Students are expected to read the syllabus, read the textbook as assigned, adhere to specified deadlines and policies, and to keep up with assignments. Please see the Course assignment schedule posted on Eagle. 6. Assignments, quizzes, and other materials that have specific due dates must be submitted by 11:59 PM (Central time) on the date indicated in the course schedule. 5

6 7. Questions for the instructor are to be submitted via Eagle On Line Students who are dropped from the class for administrative reasons (e.g. TASP/THEA compliance, failure to pay) may not submit assignments or take exams until documentation of correction of the problem is provided to the instructor. 9. A grade of "I" (incomplete) will be considered only for those students who have completed at least 80% of quizzes, exams, and assignments. Only students who are unable to complete the class because of illness or other extraordinary circumstance may receive an I. In addition, only students who discuss their situation with the instructor prior to the end of the semester may receive an I. In all cases, regardless of circumstances, the instructor reserves the right to refuse to award an I. 10. The instructor reserves the right to change the syllabus at any time during the course. 11. NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED, for any reason! NOTICES Last Day to Receive a W If you decide to withdraw from the course, you must do so by the designated school deadline. Please check with the counselors in the Distance Education Department about the withdrawal policy. If you fail to withdraw from the course prior to the deadline, you will receive a grade for the term. To speak to a Distance Education counselor please call Prerequisite Courses and Skills PSYC 2303 requires college-level reading and writing skills. Research indicates that you are most likely to succeed if you have already taken and passed ENGL The minimum requirements for enrollment in PSYC 2303 includes placement in college-level reading (or take GUST 0342 as a co-requisite) and placement in college-level writing (or take ENGL 0310/0349 as a co-requisite). If you have enrolled in this course without having satisfied these prerequisites, you are at higher risk of failure or withdrawal than students who have done so, and you should carefully read and consider the repeater policy notice that follows. Repeater Notice Students who repeat a course three or more times are subject to additional course fees at HCC and other Texas public colleges and universities. If you are considering course withdrawal because you are not earning passing grades, confer with your instructor/counselor as early as possible about your study habits, reading and writing homework, test-taking skills, attendance, course participation, and opportunities for tutoring or other assistance that might be available. Students with Disabilities Any student with a documented disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the appropriate HCC Disability Support Service (DSS) Counselor at the beginning of each semester. Faculty are 6

7 authorized to provide only the accommodations requested by the Disability Support Services Office. Students who are requesting special testing accommodations must first contact the appropriate DSS counselor for assistance. International Students Receiving a W in a course may affect the status of your student visa. Once a W is given for the course, it will not be changed to an F for the purpose of maintaining an international student s visa. Please contact the International Student Office at if you have any questions about your visa status and other transfer issues. EVALUATION Chapter Discussions. It is class time! Here we will meet during the week to discuss various topics pertaining to each weeks lesson. I will begin identify the topic of discussion each week and you and your peers will each be required to post comments about the topic. You must make at least two comments each week and the comments must be relevant to the weekly topic. Each comment must contain a minimum of 50 words. You will receive 50 points each week for your class participation. Your maximum points for chapter discussions will be 700 points. Chapter Exams Students will complete multiple-choice online chapter exams (20-25 questions each). The exams are available at the beginning of the course, so students can complete them at the prescribed pace. However, each exam must be submitted by 11:59 PM on the due date shown in the schedule below. Each exam will count 100 points, for a maximum of 1300 points. Follow these steps to do well on the exams: Final Project 1. Read the assigned chapter. 2. Read the chapter powerpoint notes that are posted on Eagle On Line. Review the assigned chapter and notes. Ask the instructor questions about anything you don't understand. 3. Take the exam. You can use the book, but there is a two hour time limit on each exam. So, if you don't know the chapter very well before you start, you are unlikely to have time to use the book to your best advantage. Select an I/O topic that you will develop a powerpoint presentation on to illustrate the concept. The topic must be approved by the instructor prior to Spring Break. The final project will be due at the end of class instruction. Please see course assignment schedule for the exact due date. A separate handout setting forth the assignment specifics will be posted on Eagle. The final project will count for a maximum of 500 points. 7

8 Course grades Grade Points Required A (90%+) B points (80-89%) C points (70-79%) D points (60-69%) F <1499 points (<60%) Grades will be available on the course homepage and at hccs.edu. College policy prohibits posting of grades. Extra Credit There is no extra credit in this course. 8