Introduction to Psychology Psych 100 Online Syllabus Fall 2014

Introduction to Psychology Psych 100 Online Syllabus Fall 2014 Contact Information Professor: Dr. Deborah Maher Office: C&L (Classrooms and Labs) 119 Office phone #: (714) 432-0202, x21190 (best to email me) Office hours: M-W, 2:30pm to 3:30pm Online Office hour: Monday 9:00pm to 10:00pm Email: from inside Blackboard (see instructions below) Outside email: dmaher@occ.cccd.edu Website: http://occonline.occ.cccd.edu/online/dmaher Course Description This course is an introduction to the scientific study of human mental processes and human behavior. The following topics will be explored: history of psychology, research methods in psychology, physiology of the nervous system, sensation and perception, states of consciousness, learning and memory, intelligence, thought, language, human development, motivation, emotion, human sexuality, health and stress, personality theories, abnormal disorders, and therapies. Student Learning Outcomes 1. Demonstrate how the techniques and strategies presented in class can be used to develop effective life skills. 2. Differentiate among various concepts, theories, and perspectives used in psychology. 3. Demonstrate the ability to comprehend research used to study mental processes and behavior conducted in psychology. Preparing for Your Online Course YOU NEED TO DO ALL OF THE FOLLOWING BEFORE THE FIRST DAY OF CLASSES: 1) Browser Check: Conduct a software search on your computer by going to: http://www.orangecoastcollege.edu/academics/online_classes/pages/preparing-for- Your-Online-Class.aspx. Do #1 under the check list Prepare your computer for Your Online Class checking to make sure you have the correct systems requirements. You will also need to make sure you have Microsoft Word 2010 or Word:Mac 2011, RealPlayer, Adobe Reader, and Flash Player installed on your computer so that you can view the lectures, files and do some of the assignments. If you do not have them, then contact Tech Support for instructions on how to download them. 2) SKIP STEP 2 - DO NOT EMAIL INSTRUCTOR BY WED OF FIRST WEEK instead to save your place in the class you will need to log into Blackboard to assure your place in the class. You must log in by Wednesday of the first week or you will be dropped. Due to the large lecture size, I cannot possibly keep track of 350 emails, so instead of emailing me to tell me that you are in the class

(like most online courses), just log in to Blackboard and it will keep track of it for me. Even if you don t do any coursework, at least log in by Wednesday and spend a few minutes online checking out the website, and saying Hello in the Welcome part of the Discussion section. We are required to drop all No-Shows (students who do not show up (log in) to class by Wed of the first week). This course is 100% online. THERE ARE NO MEETINGS ON CAMPUS. All exams are done online. Getting Started Login ID and Password: YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO ACCESS THE COURSE UNTIL THE FIRST DAY OF CLASSES. You must log in by Wednesday of the first week. To log into Blackboard go to: https://occ.blackboard.com/webapps/login/. Please bookmark or shortcut it for future reference. Your Blackboard login is the same userid and password that you use for MyOCC. Once you log in a Blackboard window for the course will open. You can also log in from MyOCC but you will need to close the MyOCC window as it will log you out of Bb if it remains open. You don t want to get logged out when you are in the middle of a test or some other work! Contact Protocol Once you log in, a Blackboard window for the course will open. If you need to email me, I prefer that you email me from within the Blackboard supplement for the class. To email me from within the Blackboard: click on the Email course tool on the left hand side of the page and a window will open up with Send Email at the top. To email me, click on "All Instructor Users". Type in your subject and message in the box that opens up and hit Submit. It will send the email to MyOCC email below. To check for responses from me just go to your MyOCC student email account. All Blackboard email is set to external email. That means when anyone emails from within Blackboard it will go directly to their occ student email. You can also email me at my general email address directly from your occ student account or from your personal email account. When emailing me at dmaher@occ.cccd.edu, please make sure you include your first and last name, your student ID#, your class and time (e.g. - Psych 200, 12:45 pm) and your question. I do have other Psych classes and I won t know who you are if you email me from outside of Blackboard and your email address is egyptianhunk2000. To encourage you to help each other, I want you to use the online discussion area to ask all of your technical and course content questions. Questions like "Where do I find the weekly assignments? OR Could you please explain the repair and restoration theory? Do not post on the discussion board or ask me for answers to the questions on the study guide. It is your responsibility to listen to the lectures and do the reading and find the answers on your own. Also don t forget to check previous posts before you post a question so that you are not reposting questions that have already been answered. Let's keep direct email for "personal" correspondence--things like grades.

Tech Support If you are having technical problems or a test crashes and you need it reset you need to contact Tech Support by clicking on tech support button and filling out a support request form. No extensions will be given on any class work due to your own computer problems. You can use the computers in the library or computing center on campus if you are having problems with your internet or your computer. Textbook/Workbook Package Psychology: Exploring Our Universe Within Online Package - includes 4Eupdated Alexander and Yakel, Pearson Custom Publishing with Student Workbook for Psychology: Exploring Our Universe Within ONLINE EDITION, 2ED, by Deborah Maher, Pearson Custom Publishing ISBN: 9781269594981 *Note: You must have both the textbook and the workbook! They are both needed for the homework and the exams. Make sure you get the right package (there is a different one for the on campus class). The online workbook has an orange circle in the middle and looks like the photo on the right. The student workbook contains lecture outlines to aid you in taking notes. It also includes the audio narration to the lecture in written format so that you may refer to it later. It is required that you purchase it. It will save you a LOT of work and help you to fill out your study guides more quickly. You may purchase the textbook/workbook package at the Orange Coast College bookstore. They have been discounted 20%! ONLINE EDITION Student Workbook for Psychology Exploring Our Universe Within Dr. Deborah Maher Attendance and Drops Attendance is an extremely important part of this course. Although, there will be no classes or meetings held on campus, it is important that you log in frequently to keep up with the lectures, assignments, exams, extra credit discussions, and announcements. Although, other than the first log in, there are no specific required times or amounts of time that you must log in. There is something due EVERY Monday, so I forgot something was due is not a valid excuse. You must log in by Wednesday of the first week or you will be dropped from the course. IF you want to make sure you are tracked post a hello message under Welcome in the Discussion area. Class Requirements Class Schedule: Every four weeks, you will cover 3 units of lectures, an assignment, an exam, and one or two extra credit discussion postings. It is very important that you try to discipline yourself to stick to the schedule. The schedule is attached to your welcome email AND posted on Blackboard and gives you a guide as to when you need to be listening to each unit s lectures and the corresponding reading; and it also gives the deadlines for the assignments, exams, and extra credit discussion postings. Missing a

deadline because you didn t remember or put it into your calendar on the wrong date is not an excuse for missing an assignment, exam, or discussion posting. Except for the first week, you will ALWAYS have a discussion, assignment, or exam due on Monday of each lecture week, unless Monday is a holiday, then you will have an extra day and it will be due on Tuesday. This regular schedule gives you no excuse for mixing things up. If you have a problem missing deadlines, print out your schedule and tape it to your computer! Or enter all the deadlines into your phone and give yourself at least a 24 hour alarm notification! Discussions, assignment, and exams will become available two weeks before they are due. You may submit them at any time before the deadline once they become available. If you get too far behind to catch up, then you should drop yourself from the course. No extensions will be given during finals week for any reason, so make sure you do not wait until the last day to take your final exam. If you have internet problems on the last day you will not be given an extension for any reason, personal or technical. It is your responsibility to keep up with the class! The only reason I will give extensions is if Blackboard or MyOCC goes down on the day an assignment or exam is due. In that case, I will extend the deadline by one day. I will not be held responsible if you do not check back in on time to finish by an extended deadline. Lectures: The lectures are grouped into 12 units. You are expected to read and listen to 1 unit of lectures a week and read the corresponding chapters in the text (except on the weeks that the exams are due). You may listen to the lecture at any time that you wish as long as it is before you do the assignment or take the exam for the week. I would recommend having the study guide and the workbook in front of you as you listen to lecture, so that you may write down the answers to the exam questions as you learn them. If needed, you may pause the lecture at any point in order to take notes. The student workbook contains lecture outlines and the audio narration to aid you in taking notes. It is required that you purchase it. It will save you a LOT of work. EXAMS: This class is 100% online. THERE WILL BE NO EXAMS OR QUIZZES ON CAMPUS. Students are expected to take an online exam every fourth week. You may take the exam up to two weeks prior to the deadline but feedback on your grade will not be released until a week after the deadline when all exams are in. This is due to the fact that we will be giving makeup exams the week following the exam. You may check your incorrect answers on the exam once the feedback is released by going to My Grades and clicking on the score of the exam. Answers will not be released until all exams are taken in order to prevent students from sharing the answers to the exam. Each 50 multiple-choice question exam may be taken only once and will be timed at 60 minutes, so make sure you prepare BEFORE you open the exam. After your hour is up, then the test will lock you out and not allow you to save any more answers to questions,

so make sure you are saving your answers as you go along. Also, on the day of deadline the exam will lock at 11:59pm. You must FINISH your test by 11:59pm on the day of the deadline. If you begin the test at 11:49pm then you will only have 10 minutes to take the exam. Make sure you save each answer after you answer AND that you save all answers before you hit submit. Any saved answers can generally be retrieved. You cannot retake an exam once it has been taken or if it has been open for a reasonable amount of time in which you could have read the exam. If the exam crashes on you during the exam, please go to the tech support button and fill out a support request form. They will assess your problem and reset the test if necessary. Exams will not be allowed to be taken late unless you have written verification of a major illness, or surgery. If you do have and illness, then email me WITH the written verification within a week of the exam due date. Since you can take exams early any other excuse is not valid. You should take exams early to make sure that you have plenty of time to get it in. Technical malfunctions on your side that cannot be verified or personal emergencies will not be accepted as a valid reason to take a makeup exam. These exams are open book and open note, however, you will not have enough time to find the answers if you are not prepared. Study Guides (with all possible questions) for each unit will be available inside the Blackboard course when you log in. Because this is an open note exam you are not allowed to share or copy another student s study guide answers. This is considered cheating. It is also considered cheating if you try and access other portions of the course or the internet during an exam. If you do so the exam will close on you and you will not be given the opportunity to retake the exam. If you fill out the study guides prior to the exam and have it in front of you while you take the exam you shouldn t have any trouble having enough time for the exam. Your test will be timed and you will have one hour to take the exam. Keep in mind that in a regular on-campus class you would only get an hour to take a 50 multiple-choice exam. The only way it will not seem enough time is if you are not prepared with your study guide and are trying to look up all the answers during the exam. Ninety percent of the students finish in around 30 to 40 minutes, so if you are having trouble completing the test in time, I can only assume that you are not preparing and relying on your study guide alone. There will be NO CUMULATIVE FINAL EXAM. The fourth exam will just consist of the last quarter of the material and will be just like the first three exams. Assignments: There will be a total of 4 assignments, one that should be completed every third week. Each assignment will be worth 50 points and will consist of several exercises designed to apply to the previous three units of lecture material. Assignments can only be

submitted via the assignment section in Blackboard. Make sure you do your assignment in Word first and save a copy of your assignment before you paste it into the submission box and submit it. If there is a submission failure all of your answers will be erased and you will have to redo the entire assignment if you do not have a copy of your answers. Immediately after you submit it, you should check in the Assignment section to make sure it has been submitted and that all of your answers are there. If you can t see the submitted assignment there then neither can I. Make sure you did not submit it as an attachment as I do NOT grade attachments and any assignments submitted only as an attachment will receive a ZERO grade and will not be allowed to be redone. If you find that you submitted it incorrectly you can email me the assignment AS LONG AS you email me immediately after submission, before it has been graded. Once an assignment has been graded then it cannot be redone or added to after grading. Assignments will be accepted late up to 4 days after the original deadline. However, you will receive a 5 point penalty for each day it is late. Allow at least one week AFTER the late deadline for your assignments to be graded and released before you email me about a missing grade. Keep in mind that I have over 350 students in this class, so that is a lot of grading for me, so try to be patient! The more you email me about grades, the less time I have for actual grading. I will send out a class email and announcement when I finish grading all of the discussion postings or all of the assignments. Extra-Credit Assignments: You can find the extracredit assignments under the Discussion section in your Course Tools. For some Units, there will be instructions showing you how you can get extracredit for that unit by posting on the discussion board. It is possible to get 6 extra credit points for each unit of discussion postings. This allows you a maximum of 42 extra credit points. Please check the schedule for extra credit discussion posting deadlines. You may do them ahead of time, if you wish. However, they will not be graded until that discussion s deadline is passed. You cannot submit extra credit late for any reason. Grades You may check your grade at any time by clicking on the My Grades course tool on the left hand side of course list page (found under the My Institution tab). However, remember that exam grades are not released until AFTER the deadline for the exam has passed and that the assignments and discussions will take one to two weeks after the deadline before that grade appears in My Grades. A green exclamation point! means the item has been submitted but hasn t been graded yet.

Grading Scale Final Class Grading Scale Total Pts. 4 Exams = 400 points 87-100 % A 522 and up 4 Assignments = 200 points 77-86 % B 462-521 Total Pts. Possible = 600 points 67-76% C 402-461 Extra-Credit pts = 42 points 57-66% D 342-401 56 % or below F 341 and below Progress Reports Please do NOT email me for progress reports, as FERPA does not allow us to send grades over email. To obtain a progress report for an online class, all you need to do is log into the class, click on My Grades within the class and print up your current grades. Just staple you re My Grades report to your progress report form and turn it in. You do NOT need my signature, so there is no need for you to try and find me on campus. Class Policies Be Respectful of Others: You should not behave in a way that is disrespectful of others while online. This includes such behavior as swearing or sexual innuendos, harassing emails and negative or insulting comments during discussion. As a matter of policy, any such language will be deleted from the discussion board and the student will receive a warning and will not receive a grade for that posting. If, in my judgment, any student is disrespectful to me or to other students, that student may be removed from the class and receive an F grade in the class. Disabilities: If any student has a disability that will make it difficult for them to complete this course they should contact the Disabled Student s Center (714-432-5535) before the course begins. Their staff will assist you in arranging accommodations that can aid you in completing the course. If you have a learning disability, you will need to have the learning center email me explaining any special arrangements you may need. Academic Honesty Policy: Copying or sharing answers on study guides, exams, assignments, or discussion postings will result in course failure or a zero on the assignment for both parties. Since you are taking open note exams, any email or posting requesting answers from the study guide will be considered cheating, and may result in an automatic zero on the exam as I cannot be certain whether another student has emailed you the answers. Just the request alone is enough to get you a zero! If you are having trouble finding answers to certain questions on the study guide you may ask me or other students for where to find it in the text and/or lecture but not for the answer itself. It is considered plagiarism if a student shares or copies even part of a sentence or answer from another student, a website, or third party for an assignment, exam, or study guide. *Note - This syllabus is subject to change or revision due to the need to make course adjustments based on the instructor s judgment. This syllabus (and any changes to it) should be seen as a road map to help students attain academic success and maximize their potential.