New Message 10-23 about grades

Course Objectives: There are four major objectives:

1. Students will learn about the scientific nature of psychology and appreciate its importance in the practice of psychology. 

2. Students will learn about career opportunities in the discipline and how to prepare themselves for such careers.

3. Students will acquire basic skills used by psychologists including critical reading skills, research skills, statistics skills, APA writing skills, and ethical reasoning skills.

4. Students will apply the psychology skills they learned to completing a small group research project.

Textbooks: There are two required textbooks for this course.
Landrum, R. E., & Davis, S. F. (2010).  The psychology major (4^th ed.).  Upper Sadler River, NJ:  Pearson.
Stanovich, K. E. (2010).  How to think straight about psychology (9^th ed.). Upper Sadler River, NJ:  Pearson.

Grading:  There will be two exams. A take-home midterm exam (15% of the grade) will be based on the material from the lectures, assigned readings, class discussions, and the textbook assignments.  A short answer exam, based primarily on the Stanovich book will be given towards the end of the semester. Three written assignments are also required. The first is a group project in which students review and critique a particular form of pop psychology (Pop Psychology Paper 10%). The second is an individual exploration of the job of a particular psychologist (Psychologist Paper 10%). The third is a full APA paper (APA 10%) reporting on data we analyze in class.  Two formal presentations and four planned informal discussions and are also required. The two formal presentations, each worth 5% of your grade, include group presentations of the pop psychology paper and a Stanovich chapter. The planned informal discussions (see calendar) are based on responses to prepared questions or activities and reports on papers.  Finally, as the success of this class depends very much on students engagement, it will be graded in three different ways: Attendance (showing up), Participation (being involved), and Reading Reviews (being prepared).  I am asking that students complete reviews of two required or background readings listed for each lecture. The reviews can be about a page long and summarize the article and then react to it by commenting on, among others things, what you: a) learned), b) you agreed with c) disagree with, d) found stimulating, etc.

Distribution of Grades:
      Exams(2)......................................30%
               Take Home.....................15%
               Research Exam.................15%
      Papers(3).....................................30%
               Pop Psychology Paper..........10%
               Psychologist Paper............10%
               APA Paper.....................10%
      Presentations/Discussions(5)..................25%
               Informal Discussions (4)......15%
               Pop Psychology Presentation....5%
               Stanovich Presentation.........5%
      Student Engagement............................15%
               Attendance.....................5%
               Participation..................5%
               Reading Reviews (2)............5%

Course Structure: The over-arching question, which will be a theme running throughout the course is, "What is involved in becoming a psychologist?" To answer this question, the first four weeks of class will be devoted to examining the fundamental question of why psychology demands that its practitioners be scientists (the scientist- practitioner model). We will discuss the model and its alternatives (the practitioner-scholar) and then consider the image, limitations and dangers of pop psychology which seems to be not scholarly, scientific, or evidence-based. Pop Psychology includes the worst kind of self-help books, media psychologists, and other charlatans. We will go to great pains to distinguish between frivolous pop psychology and serious scientific psychology. The second four weeks of classes will explore pathways to becoming a psychologist. We will explore career options, graduate school preparation, and how best to negotiate the undergraduate major in psychology to position yourself for a psychology-related career. Invited speakers will give students an opportunity to talk to those in the profession or those who are joining it.  Students will explore the profession themselves by researching a particular career path available to psychologists. Over the last 4 or 5 weeks, we will learn how to think like a psychologist. We will spend two weeks reviewing the book, How to Think Straight about Psychology, which is an engaging and a well defended account of psychology as a science. Finally, during the last few weeks of class, students will learn the skills of a psychologist.  These skills include research design, using APA style, calculating statistics, and ethical reasoning.  To apply these skill students will work on a small research project in which they collect data, analyze it, and write it up in APA style.

Class Policies:  To read the policies of the class, click here.