Syllabus for Spring 2007 (TR 11:00 - 12:15)
Instructor: Dr. Scharff
Office: EDU 215f, Lab: EDU 117c TEC: Library 202H
Hours: M 10 -11:30, T 9:30 - 10:30, W 1:30 - 3:00, R 9:30 - 10:30,
and by appointment
Phone: 468-1415
Email: lscharff@sfasu.edu
TA: Kathy Yeager
Office: ED 256 Email:
yeagerkl@titan.sfasu.edu Hours: tba
Check out the Assignments and a Note about the assignments.
*** How do I check my grades? ***
Instructions for forwarding your titan email to another email account.
Instructions for Online Sign-up for Experiment Participation
TEXT:
Psychology, 5th edition *
by Stephen F. Davis & Joseph J. Palladino
* should come bundled with Time Magazine Supplement
Some class announcements and assignments will be sent to you via email. I will use your titan account that you are assigned through SFASU. It will be your responsibility to check your email regularly. It is possible to forward your titan account email to another account if you prefer (e.g. a hotmail account). I will also send Psychology news updates; these are optional readings unless otherwise noted.
The objectives of this course are to provide you with a general background of the many areas comprising the scientific field of psychology and to promote critical thinking about our lives as humans. As much as possible we will relate the course material to current events and events in your lives. Because I believe that I will be better able to assess your understanding of the material through the use of more than one assessment method, this course will require you not only to take content exams, but also to read ahead in the chapters to answer questions, perform experiments, attend class, and complete some assignments that will involve writing. During the semester we will cover 10 of the chapters from your text.
Exams: There will be five exams plus a comprehensive final. Questions on the exams will be drawn from the assigned chapters in the text, AS WELL AS FROM THE LECTURES. All of the exams will consist of 50 multiple-choice questions, and they will be computer graded. Each exam will be worth 100 points, and the final (75 questions) will be worth 100 points. The final exam is required, and it can replace a regular exam grade if it is higher (i.e. in such a case it would be counted twice, once for the regular exam grade and once for the final exam grade).
Chapter exams are scheduled to last 55 minutes at the beginning of class (full class time each day is 75 minutes). After each exam we will have an in-class New Topic Activity. The highly probable chapter exam schedule is as follows:
Exam 1 February 6 (Tuesday) Chs 1 & 14 (Intro to Psychology
& Health)
Exam 2 February 27 (Tuesday) Chs 2 & 3 (Biopsychology &
Perception)
Exam 3 March 27 (Tuesday) Chs 4 & 5 (Consciousness &
Learning)
Exam 4 April 17 (Tuesday) Chs 7 & 9 (Memory &
Developmental)
Exam 5 May 3 (Thursday) Chs 11 & 15 (Personality &
Social)
Final May 8 (Tuesday) Comprehensive
**You must provide your own scan-tron sheets for the exams (you'll need six of them). Be sure to buy the NCS 30423 sheets. (They are 8 x 11 inches in size and use blue ink.) They are available at the bookstore.
NO make-ups will be given except for a DOCUMENTED emergency. (In other words, weddings, vacations, oversleeping etc. will not qualify as a legitimate excuse.) Make-up exams will be short answer in format. In order to qualify for a make-up, you must contact me as soon as your emergency allows, and you must take the make-up within one week of returning to class. If you know ahead of time that you have a university-related conflict, give me documentation prior to missing the exam.
If you require special arrangements for taking exams, and you are registered with Disability Services, please see me as soon as possible to discuss this before the first exam.
Assignments: There will be 6 assignments that will consist of both content questions over the material as well as reflection questions that will involve the relation of chapter material to your personal life (no intimate details required!). The assignments and due dates will be given during class. You will be given at least one week to complete each assignment. These assignments should be 1.5 - 2 pages in length when typed using 12 pt. Times New Roman font and double-spaced lines. (Do not turn in single-spaced papers.) Un-typed papers will receive a deduction. Be sure not to plagiarize. (The source of the information should be cited. Changing no, one, or a small number of words in a sentence and otherwise using it verbatim will count as plagiarism.)
Each assignment will be worth 25 points. You must have written documentation to turn in a late assignment without penalty. I will accept late assignments without documentation, but there will be a 2-point-per-day (including weekend days) penalty for late papers. Late papers on the due date (i.e. turned in later than the beginning of class) will be given a 1-point penalty.
Evaluation of All Assignments: The evaluation of your assignments will be based primarily on how fully and effectively you complete the assignment. However, I will expect all writing to use the conventions of standard written English, which includes usage, punctuation, and mechanics (especially spelling). Assignments should be turned in typed (use spell check or else!), using 12 pt. Times New Roman font and double spacing. See the syllabus attachment for an explanation of point deductions.
Experiments: Psychology is a science, and thus, is based upon experimentation. Therefore, in freshman level courses, the Psychology Department requires that students to participate in experiments conducted by either faculty members or students in the department. In order for you to better appreciate this important aspect of Psychology, you will be required to participate in 3 department experiments. Each experiment will be worth 15 points.
We have moved to an online experiment management system. Here is how you use it.
1) TODAY, go to <http://sfasu.sona-systems.com/>http://sfasu.sona-systems.com and register as a user. In the lower left-hand corner, you will see the question: New User? Click on: Request an account here. Immediately upon completing the brief registration page, an email will be sent to the address you provide. You will be assigned a random password which you may change when you return to the login screen.
2) As experiments are posted on the system, you may scan what is available. Find studies being conducted at times convenient for you and simply sign up. You can cancel your sign-up anytime up to 1 hour prior to the experiment being run.
The experimenter will take attendance during the experiment and report that to the instructors. If you sign up for an experiment, but you forget to go, you will be penalized in that you will be required to perform an additional experiment before receiving credit for your required ones. If for some reason you cannot participate in the department experiments, you may instead complete 2 computer experiment simulations with a short write-upsummary (see me for more details). If you are replacing a department experiment with a computer simulation and write-up, they must be completed and submitted to me by May 1st.
New Topic Activities: Following each of the first four exams, we will have 20 minutes of class time during which we will do an in-class activity. The purpose of the activity will be to introduce the content material that will be covered for the next exam. As part of each activity you will turn in some reflection or other proof of participation (e.g. a chart or answers to some questions). Some of the activities will be group activities while others may be more individual activities. Each New Topic Activity will be worth 5 points. Superficial work will not receive full credit.
Attendance/Lateness: Although attendance will not be recorded, you are strongly urged to attend class everyday. Approximately 25% of the material on each test will ONLY be covered in lectures (i.e. it will not be in the textbook). Further, many assignments will be distributed in class. Therefore, it will be to your advantage to attend the lectures.
Although I realize that occasional tardiness cannot be avoided, late arrivals disrupt the lecture, which is not fair to those students who do arrive on time. If you do arrive late, please SIT AS CLOSE TO THE DOOR AS POSSIBLE, so you will disturb as few of your peers as possible. We will reserve a few desks close to the door to accommodate late arrivals or individuals who must leave early (e.g. for a doctor's apt). Please let me know ahead of time if you must leave class early.
Extra Credit: There will be several ways to earn extra credit (max possible 2% of course grade, or 16 points). Opportunities may include: activities in class, a web assignment, attending the department poster session and turning in a short survey sheet, etc. There will be no make-ups for the extra credit opportunities (overall, more than 16 points will be available).
WebCT: All your grades will be posted on WebCT. To access WebCT, you will use your mySFA ID and password. There are further instructions on the class web page. Additionally, we will return all paper assignments to you in class so that you may benefit from the comments on them.
Course Grade: Points from the five exams (500), the final (100), the assignments (150), the experiments (45), and the New Topics Activities (20) will be summed (total possible points 815), and course grades will be determined by the following cut-offs:
A 90 - 100% B 80 - 89% C 70 - 79% D 60 - 69%
Notes:
It will be to your benefit to keep up with the chapter readings as they are covered in lecture. If you desire additional material or help in preparation for the exams, there are study charts, review summaries, and practice quizzes within the text chapters. These are highly recommended. Always at least 1 question per chapter on the exams will come directly from these practice quizzes.
If you have any questions over the course material, please come discuss them with me or with the teaching assistant. (It helps to do this before the tests rather than after...) You may also email me at any time.
Academic Dishonesty: THE NEW POLICY STATES: "After a determination of dishonesty, the faculty member shall notify the Office of the Dean of the student's major by submitting a Report of Academic Dishonesty form, along with supporting documentation as noted on the form. This report shall be made part of the student's record and shall remain on file with the Dean's office for at least four years. The Dean shall refer second or subsequent offenses to the University Committee on Academic Integrity established under this policy. The faculty member shall also inform the student of the appeals process available to all SFA students (Policy A-2)."