Course Syllabus

Spring 2024 | PSY-1010-VO07 - Introduction to Psychology

Online Class

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

Faculty

Katherine Penberthy
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Gilberto Diaz Santos

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

This course is a survey of the basic issues, concepts, theories, and methods of psychology. Students explore the scientific approach to understanding human behavior through a study of sensory processes, perception, emotion, motivation, intelligence, learning, and personality formation.

Essential Objectives

1. Discuss the development of psychology as a social science, including practices that create, maintain, or dismantle social inequalities.
2. Analyze how current research in neuroscience influences our understanding of the biological and environmental foundations of behavior.
3. Explore how environmental stimuli are sensed and perceived.
4. Describe the nature of consciousness and its relationship to psychological well-being.
5. Experiment with learning and memory formation and evaluate how intelligence is measured.
6. Understand key milestones in language, cognitive, and socio-moral development.
7. Compare theories of motivation and emotion.
8. Identify psychodynamic, behavioral, social, cognitive, and humanistic theories of personality and discuss the approach each takes to understanding human behavior.
9. Discuss how individuals and groups are influenced in social settings over time.
10. Evaluate how socio-cultural norms and values shape psychological diagnosis and treatment and discuss the importance of cultural competence in the field of psychology.
11. Demonstrate proficiency in understanding the scientific method and in interpreting and evaluating statistical and other quantitative data as applied to human behavior in an ethical manner.
12. Explore career opportunities in the field of psychology and related professions.

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.

Spring 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-1010-VO07 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

Teaching Methods will include:

A weekly discussion board assignment related to textbook content and/or
A small group discussion board related to course material.
Students will also pose and respond to questions weekly.
Weekly quizzes will be administered.
An annotated bibliography on a topic of interest in psychology with APA citations will be completed by the end of the semester.

Evaluation Criteria

Discussion Questions

During the weeks that you are assigned a discussion question you will be expected to complete all aspects of that question i.e. in addition to answering the assigned question you must also:

1. Post your response to the discussion question. As a general guideline, be sure to post at least two complete paragraphs.
2. Post a question you have either about the reading that week, one of the discussion questions, or a posting by another student.
3. Respond to a fellow students question.
4. Respond to any follow-up questions I. the instructor, pose directly to you.

All discussion questions will be responded to in the discussion board forum for that week.

If you complete all of the above, in a comprehensive and insightful manner, while paying attention to the general grading guidelines given below, you can expect to receive an A grade.
Overall these points will combine to make up 40% of your score

Group work

Group work or cooperative learning is an integral part of your coursework and while it will not be a requirement every week, it is something you can expect to participate in, especially during the completion of your final research papers when you will be peer reviewing the work of other members of your group.

I appreciate that group work can result in some anxiety, either because some members of your group are not contributing or because you feel you do not know the other members of your group and so cannot effectively communicate with them. In order to ensure such situations do not occur I have placed you in groups that you will stay in for the duration of the semester. I will also be grading you on the following 3 aspects of your group work:

1. The amount of work each individual contributes.
2. The process: here I will look out how individual members work to create group bonds and get the group working well together.
3. The end result.

Group work will be completed in your group discussion boards which can be found by clicking on "Groups".

If you complete all of the above, in a comprehensive and insightful manner, while paying attention to the general grading guidelines given below, you can expect to receive an A grade. Overall these points will combine to make up 15% of your score.

Annotated Bibliography

You will be required to complete one annotated bibliography paper in this class. The annotated bibliography will require that you summarize and critique 3-5 articles on a topic of your interest and cite your sources using APA format. Look in the first module of class to find more detailed information on the research paper.

The annotated bibliography will be submitted to me under assignments. I will return the paper to you, with comments. Discussions regarding topic selection and the process of writing an annotated bibliography will happen in a designated discussion board forum.

The annotated bibliography is worth 15% of the grade.

Quizzes
Throughout the semester there will be quizzes covering each major topic. These quizzes are not meant to test your recall on the subject, rather they are there as a review, designed to enhance and strengthen your understanding, and also to provide you with insight into your own progress. You can therefore feel free to use your text when you respond. Once you have completed and submitted your quiz, it will automatically be graded and the score entered into the gradebook.

Your quizzes are worth 30% of your total grade.

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

You are expected to participate actively in class by responding to other students in the discussion forum, small groups, and discussion questions and responses. You need to complete the assignments by the deadline which is usually Friday at midnight and Sunday at midnight; although, there are some exceptions such as week 5 when an assignment is due my Wednesday. I would like you to get online every 48 hours and work to turn in your assignments before the deadline.

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