INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY—COURSE SYLLABUS

WINTER 2021—PSYC 131

Instructor:  Aaron Morandini

Email:  acmorandini@hfcc.edu
Course Location:  Online at MOODLE/WILEY PLUS
Required Attendance:  2 out of 7 days per week (9/17/2020 –
12/13/2020)
Required Textbook: Real World Psychology, Sanderson/Huffman
2nd Edition, Wiley Publishing YOU MUST PURCHASE THE ACCESS
CODE

Online Support
https://wpsupport.wiley.com/s/
https://www.hfcc.edu/online-learning/contact

COURSE DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES:

The Course:

This course will examine the nature, scope, and methods of psychology
as behavioral science, emphasizing development, biological foundation of
behavior, sensation, and perception, learning, emotion, motivation, and
personality.

Course Outcomes:
#1. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to
identify the historical and current perspectives, or schools of thought.
#2. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to
identify the basic structure of the nervous and endocrine systems as they
relate to behavior.
#3. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to
describe the overall development process from conception to death.
#4. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to
describe the basic principles pf classical conditioning, operant
conditioning, and social learning/observational learning and describe the
role of memory as it relates to learning.
#5. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to
describe the forces that energize and direct behavior.
 #6. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to
describe causes of and reaction to stress, including physical and
psychological adaptations.
#7. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to define
the concept of personality and describe the major theoretical
contributors.

 
 
 
TENTATIVE WEEKLY SCHEDULE:
 
WEEK 1: {2/1-2/7}
SYLLABUS
WEEK 2: {2/8-2/14}
Chapter 1—Introducing Psychology & Research Methods
Chapter 2 – Neuroscience & Biological Foundations
WEEK 3: {2/15-2/21}
Chapter 3—Stress and Health Psychology
Chapter 4—Sensation and Perception
WEEK 4: 2/22-2/28}
Chapter 5—States of Consciousness
WEEK 5: {3/1-3/7}
Chapter 6— Learning
Chapter 7—Memory
SPRING BREAK: {3/8-3/14}
WEEK 6: {3/15-3/21}
Midterm Exam (chapters 1,2,3,4,5,6,7)
WEEK 7: {3/22-3/28}
Chapter 8—Thinking, Language, and Intelligence
Chapter 9 – Life Span Development
WEEK 8: {3/29-4/4}
Chapter 10– Motivation and Emotion
Chapter 11 – Personality
WEEK 9: {4/5-4/11}
Chapter 12 – Psychological Disorders
WEEK 10: {4/12-4/18}
Chapter 13— Therapy
WEEK 11: {4/19-4/25}
Chapter 14— Social Psychology
WEEK 12: {4/26-5/2}
Final Exam (chapters 8,9,10,11,12,13,14)
DAYS OF THE WEEK & DUE DATES:
Each week will begin on MONDAY and end on SUNDAY. Assignments
and activities for each week will have specific due dates according to the
days of each week. 

Basically, each assignment (with the exception of reading assignments)

will have a due date.  And what this means is that you will need to
submit the assignment to the specified location on or before the day that
it is due.  All assignments must be in before midnight of the specified day
to be considered for credit.  For example, if an assignment is due on
Wednesday, you will have until 11:59pm on Wednesday to get that
assignment submitted.  It will be VERY IMPORTANT that you abide by
the due dates.
 
NOTE:  I do not accept late assignments.  If an assignment comes in at
12:00am on Saturday when it was due before midnight on Friday…it will
be considered late, and no credit will be given. So, be sure to get your
work in on time!
 
  

WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS:
Each week I will post a “Module” of various assignments and activities
that pertain to the assigned chapters.  Many of your assignments will be
subjective (i.e., you’ll have to provide a quality answer to demonstrate
your knowledge), and others will be objective (i.e., you’ll have to provide a
specific answer). 
 
As you might guess…subjective assignments will be graded subjectively
and objective assignments objectively.  For subjective assignments I will
be looking for quality answers (not necessarily quantity). A quality
response is one in which you explain yourself thoroughly, and express
your knowledge of the topic at hand (i.e., after reading your post I should
be convinced that you understand and are knowledgeable about the topic
being discussed).  Objective assignments will simply be graded as correct
or incorrect.  
 
 
Retrieving the Weekly Assignment Modules:
To review the weekly assignment Modules you will need to do the
following:
Go to the Wiley Plus site (link provided in your Moodle course) and log in.
www.wileyplus.com
Find the correct Module tab and click on it.

Reading Assignments
Each week you will have a reading assignment that will include chapters
and corresponding lectures (the lectures have been linked, so all you
have to do is click on each lecture to open and read it).  The reading
assignments will be located in each weekly assignment module.
 
Discussion Board
A majority of your assignments will require you to post a response (and
in many instances replies to your classmates) to a specific discussion
board (also referred to as discussion forums, or groups). For full credit
you must reply to at least two of your classmates (which breaks down to
three posts per discussion question – your response to the question (1)
and two replies to your classmates (2). Your response to the
discussion question should be a minimum of 100 words, and your
responses to your classmates should be a minimum of 50 words.
 
For every assignment that makes use of the discussion board there will
be a direct link within the assignment description in the weekly module. 
You can also access the discussion forums by clicking on the
DISCUSSIONS tab on the menu on the left.
 
Posting a response to an assignment in the discussion board:
To post a response (also referred to as a thread) you will need to click on
the appropriate discussion forum, and then on “reply.”  After you type in
your response in the message box (or copy/paste it from a word
document that you prepared ahead of time) you will need to click on
“post.”
 
I HIGHLY suggest that you complete all of your assignments in a word
program on your computer (e.g., Word), and save them.  When you are
ready to submit your work to the class you can simply copy and paste
your work into the appropriate discussion forum. This will serve as a
back up just in case you get “bumped off” while in the middle of an
assignment, and will eliminate the frustration of losing your work.  If you
save your assignments you may also choose to upload them as
attachments via the “attachments” button.
 
Also, it will always be in your best interest to double check the
discussion forum after you have submitted your response to make sure
that your post/thread arrived safely. 
  
Replying to a classmate in the discussion board:
As mentioned in the ‘Days of the Week & Due Dates’ section, there will be
many assignments that will ask you to reply to your classmates. This
requires you to respond to at least two classmates.  As college students,
you will be expected to submit QUALITY replies.  A quality reply entails:

(1) Reiterating specifically what you are replying to (start by putting the
specific statement of your classmate in quotes—you can do this by
copying/pasting a portion of the message you are replying to—I will
demonstrate this as I reply to messages, please follow my lead).

(2) indicating whether you agree/disagree, etc.-- AND MOST

IMPORTANTLY,
 
(3) explaining WHY!  If you simply reply to a classmate by saying, “I
agree/disagree,” or “I didn’t think of it that way,” or “good job” (or
anything along these lines), you will NOT receive credit for your reply!  In
order to receive credit for your replies you need to elaborate in a
scholarly manner.
 
Here is an example of a quality reply:
Joe’s Response:  I think psychology is an interesting topic because it’s all
about life.  Everyone can relate to the topic in one way or another.
 
Bob’s Reply:  Joe, you said, “Everyone can relate to the topic in one way
or another.”   I agree with you because as I was looking through the
chapters I could relate to each topic, and I could see how some of the
topics relate to people I know. Particularly, the chapter on stress related
to my current situation.  I am taking 5 classes and work full-time.  As for
others I know, the chapter on psychological disorders would apply.  I
have a friend who is currently seeking therapy for depression.
 

DO NOT DO THIS:
 
 

There will be no partial credit given for discussions. Your answer to

the posted topic is worth 5 points. Each of your responses to your
classmates (2 responses per topic) are worth 5 points. You can earn
either 15, 10, 5, or zero points per discussion post.

Discussion Rubric (1)

Discussion Rubric (1)
Criteria Ratings Pts
Completely and accurately answered the discussion 5.0 pts
question meeting minimum word count (100 words) Full Marks
0.0 pts 5.0 pts
No Marks

Completely and accurately responded to first classmate 5.0 pts

discussion post (50 words) Full Marks
0.0 pts 5.0 pts
No Marks

Completely and accurately responded to second classmate 5.0 pts

discussion post (50 words) Full Marks
0.0 pts 5.0 pts
No Marks

Total Points: 15.0

The general discussion forum:

I have created this forum as an “off ground” place to have discussions,
make comments, or ask questions that do not pertain to the material in
the other forums.  Material in this forum will not be graded, however, if
you post something it will count toward your attendance (as long as it is
legitimate…in other words, if you post a question such as “did everyone
have a nice weekend?” it will not count!). Occasionally, I might post a
discussion stimulator in this forum…so keep your eyes open! 
 
 
QUIZZES AND THE JOURNAL CRITIQUE:
There will be quizzes for every chapter.  In addition to the quizzes there
will also be weekly assignments.  For the weekly assignment, you will be
posting your answers and responses to other students on the discussion
board.  You will be assigned 2 journal article critiques for this course.
You will be receiving information on the requirements for the journal
article critique later in the course. 

ADAPTIVE PRACTICE:
I have added the adaptive practice at the request of past students.
Completion is not required, and it will not be graded.
 
GRADING:
This course will be based on a point system.  Approximately two to three
days after the end of each week I will post your grades. 
 
 
At any point during the semester you can determine what your letter
grade is in the class.  All you have to do is divide the total number of
points that you have earned by the total number of points available (at
that point in time).  Multiply the decimal by 100 to convert it to a
percentage, and refer to the scale below to determine your letter grade.
 
93-100        A
90-92          A-
87-89          B+
83-86          B
80-82          B-
77-79          C+
73-76          C **
70-72          C- 
67-69          D+
63-66          D
60-62          D-
0-59            E 
 
**NOTE:  A letter grade below a “C” will not transfer to a four-year
university.
  
 
MISCELLANEOUS:
A few tid bits…
 
Withdrawal
If you chose to drop this course you MUST withdraw from the course by
the official withdrawal date. If you do not withdraw from the course, and
just stop attending, you chance receiving the letter grade of an E on your
report card.  This will negatively affect your grade point average (GPA).
 
Conversation vs. Plagiarism
When you are contributing to the discussions, be sure that you are
responding in your own words.  If you were sitting in an actual
classroom chances are you would respond to conversations using your
own language!  Do the same here. Just for the record, plagiarism is
defined as taking the words, thoughts, ideas, or writings of another and
using them as one’s own.  To safeguard against plagiarizing, be sure to
reiterate research materials in your own words, and when it is necessary
to reiterate verbatim use quotation marks and cite the reference.  If you
have any questions regarding this matter please contact me via email,
telephone, or the general discussion board.  I want us to develop a very
relaxed and comfortable atmosphere in our classroom.  To do that,
simply write the way you talk.  I can assure you that we will quickly be
able to detect that we are “seeing” the real you!
 
Cheating
My policy on cheating is as follows: Plagiarism, or any other form of
cheating (on assignments, exams, etc.) will result in FAILURE OF THE
COURSE. 
 
Student etiquette/netiquette
It is very important to me that everyone feels comfortable to offer his or
her opinions, experiences, and beliefs.  This approach allows us to see
things from a different perspective, and acquire knowledge that we had
not otherwise contemplated.  As an advocate of interactive discussions, I
strongly emphasize that every individual is entitled to his/her opinions
and beliefs, and that it is unacceptable to criticize, degrade, or insult
another for his/her offerings.  It is evident that interactive discussions
will produce conflicts and disputes between students.  However, these
arguments can be healthy and provide an extraordinary learning
experience as long as they are handled with respect and an open mind. 
 
My point is…please respect your fellow classmates.  In the virtual world,
there is no such thing as body language.  So, we must be very careful in
the words we chose to not come across as rude, criticizing, or sarcastic. 
Humor is certainly welcome, and I hope all of you incorporate it into the
discussions because it really does make learning more fun!  Just be very
careful as to not insult or offend anyone, and please be sure to refrain
from using inappropriate language!
 
 
ATTENTION: After you have finished reading the syllabus, take
the SYLLABUS TEST.