INTRODUCTION
TO PSYCHOLOGY (PSYC 100-01)
FALL,
2007
MWF
9:40-10:40 a.m.
|
Professor: Joan Ostrove Office: 325
Olin Rice Phone: x6464 E-mail: ostrove@macalester.edu Office hours: Wednesdays
1-4 p.m. and by appointment Writing assistant: Katie Smith Phone: 952-454-7671 (cell) E-mail: ksmith@macalester.edu Office hours: Sundays 4 – 6 p.m., psychology
department student lounge Lab instructor: Jamie Atkins Office: 328 Olin Rice Phone: x6107 E-mail: atkins@macalester.edu Office hours: Tuesdays and Wednesdays 10-11
a.m. |
Course description and overview:
This
class will introduce you to key ideas, controversies, and research in the very
broad field of psychology. The field is
so broad in large part because we humans are so complex! We are an amazing interplay of biological,
psychological, social, and cultural events and influences. The course will introduce you to how
psychologists think, ask questions, and conduct research from biological,
cognitive, social, and cultural perspectives in order to understand why and how
we think and behave in the ways that we do.
It will begin to teach you how to “think like a psychologist” and will
help you develop general critical thinking skills. Because the class is introductory, we will
move quite quickly through many topics.
There are intermediate and advanced courses offered in the department on
virtually every area that is covered in the course; I strongly encourage you to
take more courses on any topic that particularly interests you.
The course also has a laboratory
component. You will meet in a separate
lab section for an additional 1.5 hours a week with our lab instructor, Jamie
Atkins. This is a wonderful opportunity
to learn more – in a much more “hands on” way – about how research is conducted
in the field. That class has its own
syllabus and requirements. Sometimes the
topics you will be working on in the lab will coincide exactly with what we’re
learning in our class at the time; other times, our timing will be a bit out of
synch but it will all come together in the end!
Your performance in the lab will be included in your grade for this
course.
Course
goals:
- Develop
critical thinking skills
- Find,
evaluate, and analyze relevant ideas, information, data
- Understand
multiple perspectives on an issue or idea
- Develop
your skills as a writer
- Learn
and apply important concepts in the field of psychology
- Learn
basic research methods in psychology
- Understand
and appreciate human complexity and diversity
Required text and readings [available at the
campus bookstore in Lampert unless otherwise noted]:
- Myers,
D. G. (2007). Psychology (8th
edition). NY: Worth Publishers.
- Additional
readings will be available online via the syllabus on my website or through
the psychology department office.
Requirements:
It
is your primary responsibility to come to class prepared, having read and
thought about the readings for the day.
You will also be expected to be an active participant in
class. Participation may mean a lot of
different things – showing up prepared for class; sharing your ideas and
thoughts; listening well to others’ ideas; asking questions; connecting the
course material to issues in your life or the lives of other people you know,
and/or to issues on campus and in the world, etc.
In addition, the course
has the following requirements:
·
“Human nature” essay This assignment will be handed out on the
first day of class.
·
Field trip report This
assignment will be handed out during the first week of class.
·
Eight reaction papers
over the course of the semester (due dates are on the syllabus). This 2 page (typed, double-spaced) paper is
an opportunity for you to think “on paper” about the article(s) (not the
textbook chapter) that is/are assigned for that day. The first page should be a summary, in your own
words, of the article and its key points.
The second page is your response to the reading: your opinions and reactions to the article
and/or any unanswered questions you have about the material covered in the
article.
·
Hour exams There
will be six, non-cumulative hour exams throughout the semester. You may drop the one lowest grade you receive
on an exam. As the grading system allows
for one examination grade to be dropped, NO make-up exams will be given except
under extraordinary circumstances (which will require documentation from the
health center or the Dean of Students).
Missing an examination (beyond the ONE hour exam that may be dropped)
without prior approval by me will result in a grade of zero for the missed
exam.
·
Research paper You
will have the opportunity to write a paper that reviews psychological research
in an area of your choosing. Details
about the assignment will be handed out in class early in the semester.
Your final grade will
be calculated as follows:
Class participation/ Reaction papers/Field trip report 5%
Exams
(6 @ 10% each; lowest grade dropped) 50%
Human nature essay 5%
Research paper (2% annotated bib; 5% draft; 13% final) 20%
Laboratory 20%
Course
policies:
·
Academic integrity: I expect all of you to follow the college’s
guidelines regarding academic integrity, outlined in the Student Handbook. Please talk to me if you are not clear how
these guidelines apply to the course. I
will report any suspicion of academic dishonesty (including plagiarism and
cheating, see the detailed descriptions of these in the Academic Honesty
handout) to the Dean of Academic Programs.
Academic dishonesty may result in a zero on the assignment or in a
failing grade in the course.
·
Late work: You may not receive extensions on work in the
class, except in the most extraordinary circumstances (in which you will need
documentation from the Dean of Students’ Office or Health Services). Reaction papers will receive a “check-minus” if
they are turned in late (but it’s a lot better to turn it in late than to get a
“0” factored into your grade!). Research
papers that are turned in late for any reason (besides an extraordinary
circumstance) will have a third of a grade taken off for each day that it is
late (e.g., a B+ would become a B if you hand in work any time after the exact
time that it is due – the “day late” begins immediately after the time the
assignment is due). The exams may not be
made up (or taken early) as described above.
·
Incompletes: I will only grant incompletes under
extraordinary circumstances that occur in the second part of the semester. This will not include being really busy at
the end of the semester.
·
Written assignments: This is a “writing intensive” course, in
which you will be expected to do a lot of different kinds of writing, both for
class and for the lab. Katie Smith is
the writing assistant for the course, and it is part of her job to help you
with these assignments. You may go to
her (or to me!) with questions before you start the assignments, or with drafts
as you are working on the assignment. I
strongly encourage you to make use of her assistance and experience. Please also see the information about the
Some other points about written
assignments: Please type, double-spaced
with 12-point font, all of your written assignments for this course. Please do not use margins that are larger
than 1 inch – all around. Don’t use
smaller margins, or smaller font, either.
Length is not necessarily strength, but when I expect you to write at
least a page on a topic, I’d like it to be a full page!
·
Accommodations for students with
disabilities: I will
provide any reasonable accommodation for students with disabilities that will
assist in making this course accessible and will provide an optimal educational
experience for everyone. Please speak
to me at the beginning of the semester so that we can make an effective plan. Assistant Dean of Students Irene Kao is an
excellent resource if you would like assistance thinking about accommodations.
