Course Psychology 1315 Fall 2010 Section 006 Meeting place and time Life Sciences Bldg Room 100 Tu Th 9 30AM 10 50AM Instructor Linda Perrotti Ph D Office Telephone 511 Life Sciences Bldg x21202 Office Hours Tu Th 8 30AM 9 30AM Email Perrotti uta edu Before you email me be sure to read this syllabus As a general rule I do not reply to student emails when the answer to their question can easily be found by reading the course syllabus Department website http www uta edu psychology Required Textbook Psychology around us by Ron Comer and Elizabeth Gould 1st edition Wiley ISBN 978 0 471 38519 6 2011 Note this textbook is REQUIRED meaning that you will need to read and study from it in order to pass this course Course Business communication The use of WebCT is required in this course Occasional syllabus updates and course announcements will be communicated via WebCT Quiz and course grades are posted on WebCT only Go to http webct uta edu and login with your usual UTA Net ID and password If you are unfamiliar with how to work within this system contact the Help Desk in the Central Library You must bring a photo ID with you You can also email them for assistance helpdesk uta edu 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 is technically not mandatory However students do not do well in this course unless they are present but I have no attendance requirement Students who miss a class meeting s due to absence or portions of a class or classes due to tardiness or early departure will still be held accountable for all of the material that is covered during those sessions Drop Policy A course drop grade will be assigned in accord with UTA policy see current catalog Assessments There will be four 4 exams and 10 quizzes These will cover lectures videos and assigned textbook readings Exams will be taken in class Students arriving after the scheduled class start time on an exam date are not allowed to take the exam after the first completed exam is turned in Quizzes are optional extra credit and will be taken on WebCT You must complete all quizzes by the due dates All due dates are listed in the course schedule which is located at the end of this syllabus Missed Exams Quizzes Makeup exam requests will be approved only when appropriate documentation is provided that indicates compelling circumstances prevented a student from taking a scheduled exam http wweb uta edu catalog content general academic regulations aspx 4 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 within three days of the missed exam There will not be any occasion to make up the quizzes as they serve as an extra credit opportunity Any and ALL makeup exams will be taken on Friday Dec 10th from 9 30 10 50AM in LS 100 There will be no opportunity to make up a makeup exam Research Participation Requirement The Psychology Department requires that all students taking Introduction to Psychology complete a 6 credit research requirement This consists of participating in experiments conducted by Department Faculty and their Research Assistants These experiments are approved by the UT Arlington Human Research Review Committee A typical 30 minute experiment is worth 0 5 credit The purpose of the requirement is to give you first hand knowledge of psychological experimentation In lieu of participating in experiments you may choose to write reviews of current research articles Each review is worth 1 credit You will not be graded on your performance in an experiment or on your reviews FAILURE TO COMPLETE THE REQUIREMENT WILL RESULT IN AN INCOMPLETE FOR THE CLASS You will then need to complete your requirement during the next semester or the incomplete will turn into an F For additional information about this requirement please go to http www uta edu psychology and click on Participant Pool Information in the Links section to receive a copy of the latest Psychology Pool Handout More details will be provided in an orientation session and in an information handout Points are not added to the course grade for completion of the research participation requirement The Final Course Grade The final course grade will be based on the mean of the three highest out of the four exam grades Points earned from weekly quizzes up to a maximum of 10 will be added to the lowest of the three exam scores that comprise the student s final grade 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 not be rounded and will yield a course grade of C This grading policy is not flexible under any circumstances No consideration for special circumstances will be given The numbers will dictate the grade 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 the policy must be that borderline grades stay
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