Course Syllabus

Summer 2024 | PSY-1060-VO01 - Introduction to Health Psychology

Online Class

Online courses take place 100% online via Canvas, without required in-person or Zoom meetings.

Faculty

Kimberly Evans
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Kate Hughes

General Education Requirements

VSCS Social Sciences

Note

Many degree programs have specific general education recommendations. In order to avoid taking unnecessary classes, please consult with additional resources like your program evaluation, your academic program catalog year page, and your academic advisor.

Courses may only be used to meet one General Education Requirement.

Course Description

Examines ways in which psychological factors can affect health and well being as well as the influences of cultural and biopsychosocial factors on mental and physical health and health/illness related behaviors. Topics include primary prevention of illness, health enhancing and health damaging behaviors, psychosomatic illness, stress and coping, pain management, and how individuals interact with the health care system.

Essential Objectives

1. Develop an understanding of the complex interplay between one's physical well-being and a variety of biological, psychological, cultural and social factors.
2. Analyze how psychological research methods, theories, and principles can be applied to enhance biomedical approaches for promoting health and treating illness.
3. Understand the nature of the stress response and its impact in the etiology and course of many health problems and discover how behavioral and cognitive methods can help individuals cope with stress.
4. Develop skills for designing programs to improve one's own and others' personal health habits and lifestyles across the lifespan.
5. Compare how psychological and medical methods for relieving pain differ and are often combined to enhance treatment effectiveness.
6. Discover how psychological methods and principles can be applied to help patients manage and cope with chronic illness.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV IT Support page. https://support.ccv.edu/general/computer-recommendations/

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

This course uses one or more textbooks/books/simulations.

Summer 2024 textbook details will be available on 2023-11-06. On that date a link will be available below that will take you to eCampus, CCV's bookstore. The information provided there will be specific to this class. Please see this page for more information regarding the purchase of textbooks/books.

PSY-1060-VO01 Link to Textbooks for this course in eCampus.

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.

Methods

Methods:

• Discussion based on assigned readings and personal exploration of weekly topics using reputable research sources.

• Interactive projects and/or activities

• Multimedia presentations and resources

• Readings, writing, and inquiry-based research

• Video Viewing, Summarizing, and Reflection

Evaluation Criteria

EVALUATIVE CRITERIA

Assignment			Total Points	Percent
Discussions	12	16 points	192	20%
Assignments	24	10 points	240	20%
Quizzes	4	100	400	20%
Health Behavior Change Project	1	100	100	15%
Research Proposal	1	100	100	15%
Final Reflection	1	100	100	10%
Total			1232	100%
This course uses a weighted categories system to calculate final grades

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Participation Expectations

Discussions & Participation Expectations: Discussions are one of the best things about online classes. It is a chance for you to learn about a particular topic and to be the class expert in that area. It is also a great chance to learn from each other. In order to receive credit you will need to check into the discussion folder several times each Module. It is expected that you contribute at least one initial posting and respond to at least one other posting and answer any questions in your forum. You will be graded on the depth of your posting, the number of responses to other posts and the answers to questions posted in your forum.

New discussion folders will be opened at the start of each Module. You will have until Thursday to do the initial posting and Monday to respond to other postings. If you do not post or respond, you will receive a 0 for that Module. You cannot go back and post once the Module has ended.

Assessment of Students' Learning and Performance

1. Completing assignments on time
2. Completing exams on time
3. Participating and engaging in group discussions in a meaningful way

Missing & Late Work Policy

Please note all graded assignments must be completed by the due date listed. Late assignments will be automatically penalized with a 1% per day late rate. Assignments over 7 days late will not be accepted. This process is built in Canvas and will be automatically applied. Students experiencing extenuating circumstances should contact me right away to discuss any difficulty meeting your due dates and getting back on track.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity