Psychology 1315 SPRING 2009, Section 001 Life Sciences Bldg Room 100 MoWeFr 9:00AM - 9:50AM Instructor: Linda Perrotti, Ph.D. Office: 511, Life Sciences Bldg. Office Hours: Mo We 2-3 PM. Mailbox: Psychology Department, Box 19528 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www3.uta.edu/faculty/PERROTTI/ Department website: http://www.uta.edu/psychology/index.htm Required Textbook: "The Science of Psychology" by Laura A. King, 1st edition McGraw Hill (study guide optional, but strongly recommended) The text is also available as an ebook at www.coursesmart.com or http://textbooks.vitalsource.com Course Description: The course is a general survey of the various areas of psychology and is intended to provide a scientific basis for understanding thoughts, emotions, and behavior. The course is designed to interest and meet the needs of both majors and non-majors. Course Learning Goals and Objectives: Instructional goals are directed toward enabling students to recognize and recall basic facts and describe major concepts and terminology in all fields of psychology. Instructional materials will be provided in assigned textbook, study guide and lecture presentations. Assessment of mastery of these goals will be via exams with questions that focus on each of the above knowledge skills. Attendance: Attendance will be periodically monitored. Drop Policy: A course drop grade will be assigned in accord with UTA policy (see current catalog). Examinations: There will be four exams. The exams will cover lectures, videos and assigned textbook readings. Students arriving late after the scheduled class start time, on an exam date, will not be allowed to take the exam after the first completed exam is turned in. Missed Exams & Quizzes: Makeup exams requests will be approved only when appropriate documentation is provided that indicates that compelling circumstances prevented a student from taking a scheduled exam. Examples of such circumstances include funeral attendance, religious holidays, and illness. No information should be provided in a makeup exam request that is private or confidential in nature. A note from a friend or family member is not acceptable documentation. A request for a makeup exam must be made, in writing, before or no later than the next class period following the missed exam or in the case of a final exam, within 3 days after the scheduled final exam date. Any and ALL makeup exams will be taken on Friday May 8th from 9-9:50AM in LS 100. Research Participation Requirement: Students enrolled in PSYC 1315 must complete a research participation requirement. This requirement may be satisfied by serving a total of six hours as a participant in psychological research or by preparing six summaries of published research in journals or some combination of the two options that totals to six. More details will be provided in an orientation session and in an information handout. . Summaries must be submitted by the last class meeting. Points are not added to the course grade for completion of the research participation requirement.Course Evaluation & Final Grade: The course grade will be based on the mean of the three highest exam grades. If you miss an exam and do not have an University approved excuse for doing so this will be the grade that is dropped from the final average. Grading Format, Weighting/Point Value of Assignments, and Examinations: The grade for each exam will be the % correct of exam questions. The minimum points for a letter grade are (A=90-, B= 80, C=70, D= 60, and F= below 60). All exams are of equal weight. Rounding will be applied only for the calculation of the course grade. This will consist of raising a decimal fraction of 0.5 or greater to 1. For example, a course grade of 79.5 will be rounded to 80 for a course letter grade of B. A course grade of 79.4 will yield a course grade of C. Borderline Grades Stay Borderline: Every semester some people score just below the borderline of the next highest grade. I have great sympathy for people who find themselves in that position, but I have also found that raising those grades simply uncovers more people whose grades are near the new borderline. This situation makes everybody edgy. Therefore, my policy must be that borderline grades stay borderline. Avoid that unhappy region and we will all be better off. Final Review Week: A period of five class days prior to the first day of final examinations in the long sessions shall be designated as Final Review Week. The purpose of this week is to allow students sufficient time to prepare for final examinations. During this week, there shall be no scheduled activities such as required field trips or performances; and no instructor shall assign any themes, research problems or exercises of similar scope that have a completion date during or following this week unless specified in the class syllabi. During Final Review Week, an instructor shall not give any examinations constituting 10% or more of the final grade, except makeup tests and laboratory examinations. In addition, no instructor shall give any portion of the final examination during Final Review Week. Classes are held as scheduled during this week and lectures and presentations may be given. Student Evaluation of Teaching: Evaluation forms provided by the University will be used for student course evaluation. Americans with Disabilities Act: The University of Texas at Arlington is on record as being committed to both the spirit and letter of federal equal opportunity legislation; reference Public Law 93112 -- The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. With the passage of new federal legislation entitled Americans with Disabilities Act - (ADA), pursuant to section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act, there is renewed focus on providing this population with the same opportunities enjoyed by all citizens. As a faculty member, I am required by law to provide "reasonable accommodation" to students with disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the basis of that disability. Student responsibility primarily rests with informing faculty at the beginning of the semester and in providing authorized documentation through designated administrative channels. Academic Dishonesty: It is the philosophy of The University of Texas at Arlington that academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in
View Full Document
Unlocking...