Syllabus

PSYCH-110x-(A Session)
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

Fall 2005

Faculty Information:

Dr. Al Campbell

E-mail: acampbell@tp.devry.edu

 campbell@wolverton-mountain.com

Web Site: www.wolverton-mountain.com

Phone: (219) 928.5598 or (219) 942.5595

Course Identification:
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: 3.5
Days/hours course meets: Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00-1:50pm

Course Description

In this course students examine individual behavior through studies of human development and personality theory.  Adjustment to family, work and society is further explored in the context of social and group influences.

Required Texts

Psychology in Action, DeVry Edition  ( 2003) by K. Huffman and G. Piggrem
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 0471453072

Terminal Course Objectives

This course provides a foundation for the understanding, prediction, and direction of behavior. Organized within a framework encompassing the self, others, and groups, the course focuses on application of psychological principles and concepts to the individual, family, and workplace. Topics include learning, problem solving, motivation, personality, leadership, group dynamics, social influence, and communication.

1. Given an intellectual, scientific, or work-related problem, such as a research problem or an employee-management problem, apply the empirical approach of the social sciences to define, analyze, and formulate an optimal solution to the problem.

2. Given a need to understand why an employee has a particular individual style of thinking and behaving, compare and contrast the viewpoints on behavior of the major psychological schools of thought, and point out the strengths and weaknesses inherent in each approach.

3. Given a task such as training a new employee in a specific job skill, or helping a child learn more socially appropriate behaviors, apply the principles of learning to develop a plan for increasing desired behaviors and reducing or eliminating undesirable behaviors.

4. Given increasingly erratic behavior by a coworker, friend, or family member, analyze the behavior and suggest how a psychologist might determine if the behavior is "abnormal" or not, what basic type of disorder it might represent, and the types of treatment options that might be considered by a therapist to address the problem.

5. Given a particular work or interpersonal situation, such as discussing with co-workers the problems within a department, or talking to friends about the accuracy of an umpire's call in a baseball game, compare/contrast the ways different people might perceive the same situation and indicate how perception may affect their beliefs about and reactions to the situation.

6. Given a fellow student or employee who is having difficulty paying attention or is suffering from a sleep disorder, analyze the factors that affect consciousness, alertness, and self-awareness in this case.

7. Given a student who is struggling academically in a grade-school class, assess the potential of IQ tests or "culture fair" intelligence tests for indicating the sources of the student's difficulties.

8. Given an interpersonal, group, or social situation, analyze how one's thinking and behavior can be shaped or influenced by interaction with another person, or group, or by the dynamics inherent in the situation.

9. Given someone with a strongly positive or negative attitude about something, such as a person who loves classical music, hates supervisors, or is highly bigoted against women or minorities, analyze the factors that may contribute to the formation and persistence of such an attitude.

10. Given a group project assigned to an interdepartmental task group, work team, quality circle, or peer group, analyze the dynamics involved in the group's thinking and behavior, and identify the possible roles individuals can play within the group.

11. Given a need to communicate clearly and effectively, as in making a major business presentation, dealing with a customer complaint, or teaching a class, use effective communications principles to design an appropriate strategy for this situation.

12. Given a need to communicate clearly and effectively, as in resolving a dispute, giving employees specific job instructions, handling a customer complaint, or debating an issue, analyze the barriers that can develop to prevent effective communication and explain how they inhibit the communication process.

13. Given a highly competitive departmental work situation, analyze the potential for conflicts among co-workers, and devise a strategy for resolving each potential conflict.

14. Given a case study exemplifying successful leadership, determine what style of leadership is employed and analyze its effectiveness in the particular setting described.

15. Given a work group with varying levels of involvement and commitment, use one of the major motivational theories (e.g., Maslow's, Vroom's, Holland's, Herzberg's) to analyze the workers' motivation and develop a strategy for improving their motivational levels.

16. Given an account of a stressful situation at home, at school, or at work, identify the sources of the stress, evaluate the impact of the stressors, and identify several stress management techniques appropriate for the situation.

Course Schedule

This Opt2mize course provides you with the opportunity to take advantage of both classroom and online learning. The classroom learning activity will give you access to the instructor each week - in person - along with your classmates. The online activity will provide you with ready access to documents, websites, fast exchange of assignments and exams and feedback, and most importantly, a regular dialogue with your classmates and the instructor on key topics for each week through the threaded discussion activity (TDA). The TDA activity provides for your contributions (“posts”) to the “threads,” on your schedule (as long as you make a post on at least 3 separate days for each topic). You will be graded on your threaded discussion activity, so there will be a need to keep aware of the TDA topics and make quality responses to the topic and other’s contributions. These threads will provide you with a new opportunity for continuous engagement with what is expected that week and what others in your class are thinking and doing, plus the instructor’s feedback and explanations, daily if appropriate.

To take full advantage of this new Opt2mize delivery, you need to (1) plan to come to class ready to participate in the scheduled classroom activity shown in this syllabus and provide feedback from the week’s threaded discussions, and (2) arrange a time at least every other day when you review the threads for all topics and post your contributions. You will find that reviewing the threads will take some time, so be prepared to spend at least 2-3 hours per week in reviewing and participating in threads, in addition to assignments, research, and course projects.

This syllabus schedule is organized to help you see what is expected, when, and how you can use both onsite and online to meet course requirements and further your learning.

The author's PPT material located in each week's Lecture is from a previous edition of the text but is applicable to each week's assigned reading.

Grading Policies

1. Term paper (GRADED)
   The term paper is a 12-page paper, which will address a psychological issue that relates to you.  The instructor will clear the topic.  2-pages will be an outline of the issue, 5-pages will be Internet research about dealing with that issue.  The final 5-pages will be how the student will resolve this issue.    
2. Threaded Discussions (GRADED - ONLINE) Answer questions posted in the Threaded Discussion and comment on responses made by other students and myself. You should sign in and participate in the Threaded Discussion Area at least three days a week, as required by school policy. I require you to post in each major topic three times, as well, in order to facilitate good interaction in the threads. Failure to post responses in each thread at least three days during the week will result in a loss of at least 10% of the weekly available points for each day missed in each thread. There are one or two threaded discussion topics each week. Your comments will be graded on their substance and thoughtfulness, and should reflect appropriate application of emerging knowledge and vocabulary in the topic area. Each posting should add value to the discussion. Your contributions to the threaded discussions are worth 5 points each week for a total of 20% of your final grade.
3. Exams (GRADED): midterm and final exam are essay style exams.  You will have two hours to complete each exam and each is weighted 25% of your final grade.

Course Policies and Procedures

1. All assignments are due by Sunday midnight (your time zone) of the week for which they are assigned. (The TDA's are an exception because of the requirement that you participate at least 3 days per week.) It is important that you heed this deadline because no late work will be accepted.
2. The policies and procedures set forth in the DeVry Student Handbook provide the guidelines for your conduct in this class.

Learning Activities include:

1. Reading Assignments - Textbook and selected materials
2. Online Quizzes found at the Wiley Publishing site for the Huffman text (optional): http://www.wiley.com/college/psyc/huffman249327/resources/index.html
3. Try This Yourself exercises in the textbook and/or Online Tests to learn more about yourself (optional).
4. Interactive Internet Links (GRADED - e-mail to instructor) -- Internet link(s) and questions will be included in each week's plan. Comment on article or answer questions in a short response of about 35 words for each exercise.
5. In the News Online Research (GRADED - e-mail to instructor) -- Answer questions at the end of each "In the News" article in about 250-300 words.
6. Threaded Discussions (GRADED - ONLINE) -- Answer questions posted in the Threaded Discussion and comment on other students' responses. School policy requires participation in threads at least three days a week; I also require three responses in each discussion per week. Therefore, if there are two topics for the week's threads, six responses made on three different days would be the minimum expectation. See a more detailed definition of the criteria used to grade TDA's in the next section of the Syllabus.
7. Exams (GRADED) midterm taken online, final exam proctored.

TDA Grading Criteria

Key to the learning process in an online educational environment are the interactions among students, the interaction between faculty and students, and the collaboration in learning that results from these interactions. In an online course, the primary way this is accomplished is through the use of “threaded discussions.” We believe threaded discussions are critical to the success of a top-quality online course. Why? Because online threaded discussions mirror the discussions that take place in a site-based classroom. Online discussions take place asynchronously with each student posting or commenting by logging on to the class at different times. Students initiate discussions, ask questions, react to other students, respond to ideas shared by others in the class, and become more creative in their own learning process. This interaction not only allows students to grow cognitively but collegially. Threaded discussions provide for the formation of learning communities, communities where knowledge is imparted and meaning is co-created, thereby setting the stage for the accomplishment of learning outcomes.

TDA Guidelines
To gain maximum benefit from threaded discussions and to ensure a common understanding of student and faculty expectations, the following policies, standards, and guidelines apply:

Students are expected to logon and participate in weekly threaded discussion activity at least every other day. In the majority of courses, participation at least every other day is necessary if students are to meaningfully interact on discussion issues presented in class. In other courses, it is necessary for students to complete readings and problem assignments prior to meaningful participation and thus the “every other day” requirement may be appropriately interpreted as three days per week. Students are expected to fully participate in the “discussion.” This means that, in addition to posting a response to the thread topics presented, students are expected to respond to comments and questions from the instructor and/or other students. Instructors are expected to participate in weekly threaded discussions a minimum of four times per week and no less than every other day.

A threaded discussion is a conversation and not a bulletin board or “chat room.” The instructor is expected to facilitate discussions between student and instructor, student and student, and groups of students. The role of the instructor is not to answer every comment or question but to frame issues and extend the discussions through leading and directed questions.

Threaded discussions give students the opportunity to accomplish one of DeVRY’s institutional objectives: to strengthen students’ ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing. Keeping this educational objective in mind, both students and instructors are expected to post “threads” that are well thought out, well written, and apply the principles of effective communication. Students and instructors are expected to conduct themselves professionally when interacting with one another in threaded discussions. To this end, they are expected to follow the “Net Etiquette” guidelines that can be found in the Course Policies/Forms section of any online course.

Threaded Discussion Grading Criteria and Policy
Note: Discussion participation will take place in the TDA area of the course. The participation grade will be based on quality and timeliness of the student's participation throughout the course. Students are expected to log in and participate in the threaded discussions a minimum of 3 times each week. This should be every other day to assure that students are able to review postings and share thoughts in a manner that allows other students to respond within the class week. The instructor will take great interest in your on line time and your participation in these discussions. Failure to effectively participate will have a notable impact on overall performance and ultimate grading outcome.

For grading purposes, the threaded discussion participation will be evaluated in the week in which it occurs. Simply put, you must participate actively according to the TDA guidelines for that week to positively impact your grade outcome. Participation in the threaded discussions (TDA) is a very important component of on-line courses.

Here is an explanation of how your participation grade (20% of your total course grade) will be developed.

I look for both quality and quantity of responses. I think a lot of the real learning takes place in the TDAs, so I 'd like to see everybody in the TDAs 3 or 4 times/week, but I know, that's not always possible, so I look for contributions that add value to the discussions at hand.

0 = Minimal Quality. At the low end of the spectrum, no participation gets an "0". If you're not there, you don't earn anything. If you let me know, that for some valid reason you don't have access to the Internet for a period of time, and can't participate in a TDA, I'll try to work around it with you.

2 = Fair Quality. Moving up the scale, a "2" means, "meets minimum standards." You earn a 2 in the TDA by just showing up and making minimal comments like " I agree" without adding any new thought to the discussion. At least, I know you’re there and reading what's being discussed.

3 = Average Quality. A "3" represents adequate participation. If you're there at least once or twice a week in every TDA and say something new, you'll get a 3.

4 = Above Average Quality. When you start making 3 and 4 comments a week, then I can see you're getting the material and contributing to the class. That's worth a "4". These comments should add value for the other students in the class.

5 = Outstanding. At the high end of the spectrum, to get an "5", I'd like to see 5 or 6 substantive contributions per week. By that I mean postings that add something more to the discussion than has already been posted. That could be an elaboration on a previous comment, an explanation to help a fellow student, or a point of debate. You can agree or disagree with whatever has been already said in the TDA, as long as you back up your statement. To earn an "5", you need to be making original comments as well as responding to comments by others. By the time you're up in the 5-6 comment range, I can tell you're really into the discussion and taking some ownership in your progress in the class. At this level, you're making some serious contributions to the class as whole. That, to me, is superior performance and rates an "A".

There are various shades of gray that come up in the discussions, which is where plusses and minuses come into play. There may be occasions, where someone makes 7 or 8 postings, but they don't add much to the discussion, so it's hard to justify a full "5". On the other hand, there may be someone, who make 4 really incisive comments, and that might go beyond a "4" to a "4.5" or "4.8".

Each threaded discussion closes at the end of the week. Your postings must be in the threads by that time in order to be counted. Each week will be graded with grades posted in the grade book in the following week. I'm always willing to discuss any grade I assign.

Integrity Statement

Academic and Professional Conduct

Ensuring academic integrity is an educational objective we take very seriously at DeVry Online. Based on respect for individual academic achievement, each student and faculty member commits to being a part of a community of scholarship that prides itself on honesty and integrity. DeVry Online Academic and Professional Conduct is as follows:

Students have a responsibility to maintain both the academic and professional integrity of the School and to meet the highest standards of academic and professional conduct. Students are expected to do their own work on examinations, class preparation and assignments and to conduct themselves professionally when interacting with fellow students, faculty and staff. Students must also make equitable contributions to both the quality and quantity of work performed on group projects.

Academic and/or professional misconduct is subject to disciplinary action including course failure, probation or dismissal. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on examinations, plagiarism, bribery, falsification of student records and improper attempts to influence Instructors or School officials.

For additional clarification, please see DeVry's Academic Integrity Policy as stated in the online Student Handbook. The Student Handbook can be found under Student Services on the online site.